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Belton ISD workshop outlines shift from STAR to three‑window SST and faster score turnaround
Summary
Belton ISD staff explained changes under House Bill 8 that will replace the single‑day STAR test with the Student Success Tool (SST): three adaptive windows (fall, winter, spring), rapid two‑day turnaround after the testing window, continued end‑of‑year static assessments for A–F ratings, and a vendor approval process expected by spring 2027.
Belton Independent School District officials used a May 18 workshop to walk trustees through statewide assessment changes under House Bill 8 that will move Texas from the current single‑day STAR test to a multi‑window, adaptive system called the Student Success Tool (SST).
Assistant Superintendent Gabby Nino said the SST will have three required assessment windows — fall, winter and spring — and described the adaptive tests as “responsive to how a student does.” She added that the end‑of‑year static assessment will continue to be the basis for campus A–F ratings. “It’s not necessarily 2 days after [a student] takes his assessment,” Nino said, explaining that the statute requires rapid turnaround of results within two days after the testing window closes, not two days after each student tests.
Why it matters: the district will keep mid‑year adaptive measures for instructional feedback but the final, shorter static test in May will carry high stakes for school accountability. The switch changes both what students take and what scores are used for district and campus ratings, and it could require new training and technology for teachers and campuses.
Nino told trustees districts will still participate in field tests and that TEA will publish an approved vendor list. “There is typically a comment window that’s open … a window of time to collect both district and community comments,” she said. The district hopes existing platforms it uses, such as Renaissance (Star Renaissance), will be approved but emphasized no vendor approvals are final yet and TEA may also develop an adaptive product of its own.
Board members asked how writing and EOC exams fit into the new schedule. Staff clarified writing will be assessed as a single end‑of‑year/static measure and that the SST’s adaptive windows are mandatory for grades 3–8 while end‑of‑course usage for SST is optional for some EOCs. Special education alternate assessments will continue, but staff said details remain under development.
District leaders described how Belton ISD currently uses Star Renaissance as an instructional and screening platform, linking growth measures to local planning and interventions. Nino said the district has been aligning local assessment blueprints and instructional materials to state priorities and plans to provide slide summaries and additional briefings for trustees and the community.
Next steps: TEA is expected to release a preliminary accountability manual and updated cut scores in summer 2026; the SST will be phased in (some changes showing in fall 2027) and new accountability ratings tied to changed cut scores are anticipated in fall 2028. Board members and staff said they will continue the workshop series as TEA publishes vendor approvals and guidance.
