STAAR Results Rise as More HISD High Schoolers are Taking Advanced Courses

This article is about the this spring's Texas standardized test results for high school-level courses. Visit this article to read about the growth in grades 3-8.

Houston ISD students posted another year of academic gains for the high school-level End-of-Course (EOC) exams, marking the district's third consecutive year of improvement. 

The growth coincides with HISD’S effort to increase advanced coursework enrollment, giving more students access to college-level learning opportunities, district officials said. 

As more students are participating in challenging courses, the results across varying test scores are rising. 

"It turns out when you raise expectations for both staff and kids, the teachers rise to the level of expectation. And so do the students,” Superintendent Mike Miles said.

The Results are In 

With some exceptions for alternative courseworks, students need to approach the grade level standard on all five EOC exams to graduate high school. 

Though students pass the exam if they approach the grade level standard, district officials have placed the target on meeting the grade level standard since the benchmark has stronger links to success in future grade levels. 

Districtwide, EOCs saw the largest gains since 2023, with most of the growth occurring in the last year, including: 

• Algebra I grew 24 points, with eight points in the last year
• English I grew 10 points, with five points in the last year
• English II grew 14 points, with six points in the last year
• Biology grew 33 points, with 10 points in the last year 
• U.S. history grew 8 points, with four points in the last year  

The district is now outperforming the state average in Algebra, Biology, and U.S. History—a turnaround from being behind in all areas in 2023, Miles said. 

Increasing Advanced Coursework 

HISD officials are drawing a link between the EOC score increases and the push towards advanced coursework enrollment. 

Historically, access to advanced coursework has been limited by campus offerings and parents' advocacy to enroll the student. In the 2024-25 school year, the district shifted to a data-driven approach where potential students were identified through their STAAR, Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP), and the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) scores. 

Since 2023, the students enrolled in an Advanced Placement (AP) course taken have increased by 4,575. In the case of AP tests—when students have to pass a cumulative test to receive college credit—the more students who take these tests, the better the passing rate for the district. 

Since 2024, the enrollment in Pre-AP classes, which prepares students for more rigorous AP courses, rate has over doubled from 17,940 to 40,841. 

Maja King, a rising senior at Jack Yates High School, said she has taken part in every AP class since she was a ninth grader at the campus. Namely, she credits AP Research and Seminar—a two-year sequence that results in an academic paper and oral diffense—to building her critical thinking skills. 

“They definitely have not only challenged me, but made me grow in so many different ways outside of just learning in textbooks,” King said. “AP classes taught me how to be a scholar rather than just a student."

At Yates, AP enrollment number has grown from 145 to 340 since the 2022-23 school year. 

Moving forward 

This coming school year, district leaders will continue to create a clear pathway for students to access advanced coursework. Through the Accelerated Math program, HISD is now placing all rising fifth and sixth graders on a track to complete Algebra I by the eighth grade.

Completing Algebra I in middle school opens the door to a sequence of higher-level math and science courses that are critical for success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Additionally, enrollment of  Algebra I by eighth grade also has a strong correlation with future earnings and college admissions, according to 2026 research from Good Reason Houston. 

“These results show that our students have tremendous potential when given the right opportunities," HISD’s Executive Director of Math and Science Tracy Fox said. "By expanding advanced math programs, we can ensure more students not only reach grade-level standards but are challenged to excel beyond them.”