Boston – November 05, 2026 -- The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has provisionally approved NWEA's MAP Growth for use by Texas districts under House Bill 8, the law that sets up a new statewide assessment system from the 2027-28 school year. TEA also approved MAP Reading Fluency and MAP Growth under House Bill 2, which directs funding and resources to K-3 foundational literacy and numeracy, NWEA said.
HB 8 replaces STAAR with the Student Success Tool
HB 8 ends the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) and moves the state to a through-year assessment model under the new Student Success Tool. Districts may select TEA-approved alternative assessments for beginning-of-year and middle-of-year testing.
Approval covers two school years and remains conditional
The provisional approval applies to the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years and is subject to TEA's requirements for continued approval. Reviews under HB 8 and HB 2 each followed separate criteria. These included alignment to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), early literacy and dyslexia requirements, and Spanish-language availability.
NWEA General Manager Sabine Wallis said the approval gives educators the flexibility to keep using the company's assessments to understand where students are in their learning.
TEA clears MAP Growth in math, reading, Spanish reading and science under HB 8
Approved alternative beginning-of-year and middle-of-year assessments under HB 8:
- MAP Growth Math: grades 3-5 (English and Spanish), grades 6-8, and Algebra I
- MAP Growth RLA: grades 3-8 and English I
- MAP Growth Spanish RLA: grades 3-5
- MAP Growth Science: Elementary Science, Middle School Science, and Biology
HB 2 approvals cover K-3 literacy and numeracy
For K-3 foundational literacy under HB 2, TEA approved MAP Reading Fluency, English only. For foundational numeracy, it approved MAP Growth Math for grades K-3 in English and Spanish.