Texas Districts Requested Record STAAR Test Rescores
Parents and families should know that thousands of student test scores changed after manual reviews this spring.
Updated on Oct. 7, 2026 in Secondary Education
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In spring 2026, Texas school districts filed 64,489 requests for STAAR reading test rescores, a significant increase from the previous year. The Texas Education Agency subsequently updated over 13,300 individual student scores following these manual evaluations.
Why it matters
Schools submit these requests to ensure accuracy for student performance levels and campus accountability ratings, which can affect local educational standing. The shift comes as the state continues to integrate automated scoring for open-ended questions.
Districts requested 64,489 rescores out of 3.2 million tests taken, with nearly 90% of participating networks seeing at least one score increase. Schools pay $50 for each request that does not result in a change.
The players
Texas Education Agency
The state authority responsible for overseeing public education, managing standardized testing, and setting school accountability standards.
Dallas ISD
A major Texas school district that submitted 5,100 rescoring requests during the spring 2026 testing cycle.
The details
The Texas Education Agency utilizes a hybrid model where computers grade open-ended questions using patterns from past human-scored responses, while human graders manually review one-quarter of initial exam scores. The agency estimates that transitioning to full manual scoring would cost between $15 million and $20 million annually. Human scorers conducted all re-scores performed before the August 2026 accountability ratings release.
Timeline
December 2023: The state implemented automated scoring for open-ended questions.
Spring 2024: The state processed 2,758 requests to regrade scores.
Spring 2026: Districts submitted 64,489 requests for test rescoring.
August 2026: The Texas Education Agency released final A-F school accountability ratings.
The Home Front
The push for test score accuracy reflects the high stakes attached to the Texas A-F school accountability rating system. As districts navigate these evaluations, the data highlights the ongoing friction between automated assessment efficiency and traditional manual grading.
If you are concerned about your child's specific test results, check your local district's parent portal for the most recent score updates. Contact your campus administration to understand their policy on requesting reviews for future standardized testing cycles.
The takeaway
The sharp increase in rescoring requests shows that local districts prioritize score accuracy when it impacts campus standing. Families should monitor student assessment portals following testing periods to verify that reported scores are finalized.
Further reading
Learn more about the state's testing requirements in our Secondary Education section.
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Do you trust automated systems to accurately grade student academic assessments as much as human reviewers?
