STAAR Alternate 2 Participation Requirements

Owned by Bruce Malone
Last updated: Aug 24, 2023 by Julie Cole
2 min read

All students enrolled in Texas public schools and open-enrollment charter schools are required by federal and state law to participate in the Texas Assessment Program. Students, including students receiving special education services, are required to take academic achievement assessments in specific grades and subjects. A student’s ARD committee must determine if the student has the most significant cognitive disabilities and meets the updated participation requirements for STAAR Alternate 2. The ARD committee must review and determine student participation in STAAR or STAAR Alternate 2 for each school year. If the ARD committee has already reviewed and determined student participation for the 2023–2024 school year based on the previous participation requirements, district personnel must review all eligible students to determine if any STAAR Alternate 2 participation decisions need to be re-evaluated based on the updated participation requirements. For those students whose participation needs to be re-evaluated based on the updated requirements, assessment participation determinations may be made through an ARD amendment (in accordance with 34 CFR §300.324(a)(i)) or a full ARD meeting. For any future assessment participation decisions, the ARD committee should use the updated STAAR Alternate 2 participation requirements.

The following grade-level guidelines apply to students who take STAAR Alternate 2:

  • Students in grades 3–8 who meet all participation requirements will take all applicable STAAR Alternate 2 subject assessments at their enrolled grade level. Students who take STAAR Alternate 2 should not take above-grade-level assessments.

  • Students in grades 9–12 who meet all participation requirements will take STAAR Alternate 2 EOC assessments—Algebra I, English I, English II, Biology, and U.S. History—as they are completing the corresponding course.

In rare circumstances a student’s ARD committee may determine, prior to the administration of the test, that the student will not participate in STAAR Alternate 2 because the student meets the eligibility criteria for “No Authentic Academic Response” or “Medical Exception.” Refer to the eligibility criteria on the STAAR Alternate 2 Resources webpage.

For information about students who enroll before or during the administration window, refer to the Student Mobility page of these Coordinator Resources.