Texas continues to lag nationally when it comes to educating our children, especially in reading. Only 28 percent of Texas 8th graders met the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) proficient standard in 2017, and only 71 percent met the basic standard. This is lower than the national average of 35 percent of students meeting the proficient standard and 75 percent meeting the basic requirement. Texas State Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) data confirms NAEP’s findings.
