Texas Gifted and Talented Testing Programs

View All STAAR Levels Here!

• Statewide Testing
• Gifted Identification by City/District
• Houston – HISD Vanguard
• Houston – HAIS
• TestPrep-Online's STAAR Test

Statewide Testing

The STAAR Test is used in all Texas public schools in grades 3-8. It is used to assess the knowledge and achievements students have gained in their respective grade levels. The main purpose of the STAAR Test is to track the level of all Texas public school students. It is based on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) curriculum, which is taught in Texas public schools.

The Texas STAAR tests also vary depending on the grade of the student. Some tests include more sections (for example, science, social studies, writing), and of course the difficulty of the question changes in accordance. For some cases, the STAAR can also be taken in Spanish.

This is the reason why being informed and seeing the test your child will be taking is crucial for their success. It is not only a matter of number of questions, but also the format, the difficulty, the topics, and reasoning behind it.

In the case of the STAAR, there is a fixed number of questions where the answer has to be recorded in a separate answer sheet. Other questions feature formulas to solve an arithmetic problem instead of the actual outcome of the calculation. This is to say, the STAAR relies more on theoretical understanding than practical use.

Gifted Identification by City/District

Different school districts in Texas use different assessments to identify gifted and talented students. See list of cities below for more information about the tests and our products.

You can also check out our Gifted VS Bright page for a detailed description of the differences between the two, some of the struggles they can find, and how schools have different programs for each.

Houston – HISD Vanguard

The Vanguard program is for a gifted and talented program for public school students in grades K–12 in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). In order to gain admissions to a Vanguard program, students must take the CogAT and the Iowa Assessments.

You can check out our practice pack for the CogAT, CogAT Screening Form, IOWA assessment test and more in our gifted tests section.

Houston – HAIS

Houston's private schools, which are affiliated with the Houston Association of Independent Schools (HAIS), include both religious and preparatory private school programs. Different HAIS programs require at least one, or a combination of the following tests, generally in grades 5–8: OLSAT, ISEE, and HSPT.

TestPrep-Online's STAAR Test

NEW! We have recently released our gifted and talented STAAR practice pack for third grade. Get prepped for upcoming Texas gifted and talented testing now!

The STAAR for 3rd grade consists of a math section and a reading comprehension section. This test is based more on the ability to reason rather than the calculations that will get you the correct answer. This is why, it is very important to understand the reasoning behind all the arithmetic operations. For the reading section, it is important to feel comfortable with the language of the passages, and the length. Drawing conclusions from different passages is a skill that can be trained and it is vital that your child knows how to recognise details of a passage in order to succeed in the test.

Our preparation pack for the STAAR includes one full-length simulation that recreates the conditions of the test in terms of time constraints, conditions, scoring method, and difficulty of questions.

In addition to this, the STAAR practice pack contains the solution for the 2017 STAAR test. This includes detailed explanations for each question, suggested strategies, and in some cases alternative solutions.

Finally, you can do some extra practice by checking out the math enrichment section. If at any time your child needs to refresh, strengthen, or reexamine some of the topics, you can simply use some of our study guides. By using our practice pack, you can be familiar with the content of the exam, the types of questions that appear, and the proper solution to apply the day of the exam.

Our practice tests can be taken many times in order to track the improvement of your child prior to the test. Make sure that your child solves the full-length simulation as well as our enrichment section, and check out our 2017 formal solution to learn new ways and strategies for similar questions.

If you or your child have any questions about the test, a solution, or one of the study guides, you can always contact our customer support team and we will kindly guide you and help you succeed.