Nearly 105,000 Texas 5th and 8th graders—about 1 in 7 students—could be held back in the coming school year because they couldn’t pass the STAAR reading exam in three tries, says a Texas Education Agency report from last week.
Those students already got a break this year when state Commissioner of Education Michael Williams waived the requirement that students pass the math exam to be promoted, citing tough new math standards that were imposed in the 2014-15 school year.
Despite their failure in reading, most are likely to be promoted because state law allows a review panel to exempt students from having to pass the test.
