STAAR Report Card

STAAR Performance Labels: Is ‘Approaches’ On or Below Grade Level?

Introduction: STAAR performance labels offer helpful information to parents and policymakers because they indicate students’ success and are also an early-warning sign that students need more support. The STAAR performance labels are: Masters, Meets, Approaches, Does Not Meet. Each label offers an indication of how a child is performing in three categories: a child’s likelihood...

What Gets Measured, Gets Fixed

For the first time in years, Texas parents finally have access to the truth about how their schools are performing. After years of legal challenges and strategic delays by the very school districts that were being graded, the Texas Education Agency has released long-overdue school accountability ratings. This is more than just a policy update—it’s...

Assessing Tax Trends in Hidalgo County

Does history suggest that property taxes are too high in Hidalgo County? And, if so, have local decision-makers actively helped or hurt the situation?   To help answer these questions, let’s review the county’s 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and gather four types of data—i.e., tax levies, local population, total tax rates, and taxable values—over a 10-year time horizon. Using...