HB 8 Texas House · 89th Legislature, 2nd Called Session (2025)

Relating to public school accountability and transparency, including the implementation of an instructionally supportive assessment program and the adoption and administration of assessment instruments in public schools, indicators of achievement, public school performance ratings, and interventions and sanctions under the public school accountability system, a grant program for school district local accountability plans, and actions challenging Texas Education Agency decisions related to public school accountability.

HB 8 creates a new statewide "instructionally supportive assessment program" for Texas public schools, requiring the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to design tests focused on student progress and essential skills. It mandates that schools provide parents with immediate online access to their child's assessment results via a single-click website and maintain parent portals for this access. The bill also establishes school performance ratings based on these assessments and outlines interventions for underperforming schools. These changes directly affect parents, public school districts, and the TEA, shifting accountability toward transparent, student-centered testing.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Aug 2025
Committee Review
Aug 2025
House Passage
Sep 2025
Senate Passage
Sep 2025
Signed into Law
Sep 2025
Introduced Aug 18, 2025 Signed Sep 17, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed Enrolled · 8 edits · Sep 17, 2025
MODERATE
This bill updates Texas public school assessment laws to transition from the current STAAR program to a new 'instructionally supportive assessment program' by the 2027-2028 school year. The changes focus on making assessments more student-friendly, shorter in duration, and better aligned with essential knowledge and skills while maintaining accountability standards.
Scope change
The bill expands assessment requirements to include new provisions for student growth measurement, writing assessment scoring, and accessibility standards, while adding temporary transition provisions for the 2025-2028 school years.
TIMELINE

Establishes a transition period from STAAR to the new instructionally supportive assessment program, with full implementation required by the 2027-2028 school year and a report due by February 15, 2027.

REQUIREMENT

Requires assessment instruments to be shorter, with specific time limits (60-105 minutes) for most students, and mandates that assessments measure student growth through year-over-year comparisons.

Mandates that writing portions of reading assessments be scored with classroom teacher involvement and allows for free rescoring if a student's score could improve by one point.

Requires assessments to be evaluated for readability using research-based metrics and prohibits use of Common Core state standards as the basis for assessment instruments.

Establishes new requirements for teacher committees to review and approve assessment items, with at least 75% committee agreement required for item approval.

Adds provisions for Spanish-language assessments for emergent bilingual students in grades 3-5 and allows provisional approval for alternative assessment instruments during the transition period.

Updates performance level setting procedures to maintain consistency with previous years while accounting for college readiness recommendations.

TECHNICAL

Includes minor formatting and organizational changes to align the bill text with enrolled legislative standards.

Floor votes · Senate Aug 27, 2025 · House Sep 3, 2025

How they voted

227
Passed · 4 other
Total votes 33
Aug 27, 2025
D Democratic12
2 Yea 6 Nay 4
50% Nay
R Republican21
20 Yea 1 Nay
95% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
64
Key actions
18
Committee
9
Amendments
15
Sep 17, 2025
Signed into law
Signed by the Governor
executive
Sep 3, 2025
Upper · Passed
Signed in the Senate
upper
Sep 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed in the House
lower
Sep 3, 2025
Introduced
House concurs in Senate amendment(s)-reported
upper
Sep 3, 2025
Introduced
Text of Senate Amendment(s)
lower
Sep 3, 2025
Introduced
House concurs in Senate amendment(s)
lower
Aug 28, 2025
Introduced
Senate Amendments Analysis distributed
lower
Aug 28, 2025
Introduced
Senate Amendments distributed
lower
Aug 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Senate passage as amended reported
lower
Aug 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
Aug 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed to 3rd reading as amended
upper
Aug 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Amended
upper
Aug 27, 2025
Introduced
Amendment(s) offered
upper
Aug 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendments
upper
Aug 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Vote taken in committee
upper
Aug 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Testimony taken in committee
upper
Aug 27, 2025
Committee
Referred to Finance
upper
Aug 27, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
Aug 26, 2025
Introduced
Received from the House
upper
Aug 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed as amended
lower
Aug 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed to engrossment as amended
lower
Aug 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amended
lower
Aug 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amendment adopted as amended
lower
Aug 26, 2025
Amended
Amendment amended
lower
Aug 26, 2025
Introduced
Amendment(s) offered
lower
Aug 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
Aug 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
Aug 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
lower
Aug 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
lower
Aug 18, 2025
Committee
Referred to Public Education
lower
Aug 18, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
6 primary · 61 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Brad Buckley
Brad Buckley
RRepublican
TX
54
P
Photo of Brooks Landgraf
Brooks Landgraf
RRepublican
TX
81
P
Photo of Keith Bell
Keith Bell
RRepublican
TX
4
P
Photo of Paul Bettencourt
Paul Bettencourt
RRepublican
TX
7
P
Photo of Terry Wilson
Terry Wilson
RRepublican
TX
20
P
Photo of Will Metcalf
Will Metcalf
RRepublican
TX
16
Co
Photo of A.J. Louderback
A.J. Louderback
RRepublican
TX
30
Co
Photo of Adam Hinojosa
Adam Hinojosa
RRepublican
TX
27
Co
Photo of Alan Schoolcraft
Alan Schoolcraft
RRepublican
TX
44
Co
Photo of Angela Paxton
Angela Paxton
RRepublican
TX
8
Co
Photo of Angelia Orr
Angelia Orr
RRepublican
TX
13
Co
Photo of Angie Button
Angie Button
RRepublican
TX
112
Co
Photo of Ben Bumgarner
Ben Bumgarner
RRepublican
TX
63
Co
Photo of Bob Hall
Bob Hall
RRepublican
TX
2
Co
Photo of Brent Hagenbuch
Brent Hagenbuch
RRepublican
TX
30
Co
Photo of Brian Birdwell
Brian Birdwell
RRepublican
TX
22