The STAAR testing curriculum has finally had its supernova! On March 26, House Bill 5 (HB5) was passed. One major change is the reduction of the End-of-Course STAAR requirements from the 12 tests last year to only five this year. These five test requirements are English I, English II, Algebra I, Biology and U.S. History.

“I like the change because I only have one test this year because I passed everything last year,” Leshly Rodriguez, junior, said. “The weeks leading up to testing won’t be as stressful and tiring.”

Some students found the workload of the numerous STAAR tests to be stressful but ultimately more educational than TAKS and with HB5 passed, it means more of the good and less of the bad.

“I think STAAR testing is actually a better alternative to TAKS because it offers more of a challenge and it is more rigorous,” Quentin Parramore, junior, said. “I feel that the class curriculum was more fulfilling. I think having more time to review less subjects will only help students.”

Teachers who now will not have to prepare students for STAAR testing are let down by the testing change and will continue to incorporate STAAR curriculum in their classrooms.

“I’m a bit disappointed in the swinging back and forth between testing requirements and we’re at kind of the point where we’re not having students doing enough,” Mike Roark, physics teacher, said. “We pushed a lot in physics last year to put ourselves in a position to cover all the things we needed to to take EOC tests this year and I don’t want to give that up because I think we’ve done a pretty good job of incorporating all that material so I don’t think we’re going to change anything even though the requirements have changed.”

Other changes made in House Bill 5 will be discussed and commented on by staff and students in future articles.