Last spring, students from small farming communities, wealthy enclaves and booming cities all sat down to take the same STAAR tests.

Though the exams were identical, student circumstances were not. Some students sat in classes as small as six, others in groups as large as 40. Some kids woke up before the sun rose to catch their bus, while others rolled out of bed 15 minutes before class. Texas is home to some of the poorest and richest school districts in the country, according to Census Bureau data.

Unsurprisingly, results on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR exams, varied. A handful of districts reported a 90% passage rate, while others had less than half of their exams hit that benchmark.

An Express-News analysis of 2026 STAAR results found that higher passing rates — defined as the share of exams marked as approaching grade level or better — were generally associated with wealthier districts.

Wealthier districts tend to do better on STAAR. See how districts in your area did.

San Antonio-area districts

Other Texas districts

Predicted passing rate based on income

Grades 3–8End-of-course

Districts with fewer than 500 STAAR tests were excluded.
Chart: Eshaan Sarup

For elementary and middle school exams, a $20,000 increase in a district’s median household income was associated with a passing rate nearly 4 percentage points higher.

For high school end-of-course exams, a $20,000 increase was associated with an increase of just over 3 percentage points in the passing rate.

Established in 2012, the STAAR exam measures how well students meet state standards in math, English, science and social studies. For students, teachers and administrators, the stakes are high.

High school students are required to pass all five STAAR end-of-course exams to graduate. STAAR scores also play a major role in determining a campus’ letter grade, which is issued by the state each fall. Schools that score a failing grade five years in a row face closure or a districtwide state takeover. Teachers can receive up to $32,000 in bonuses for improving students’ STAAR performance.

Income is not the only factor that affects test scores. A 2019 report from the National Academies, a nonprofit that evaluates scientific evidence in different fields, found several other variables influence academic success, including students’ home lives, housing stability, neighborhood safety and the quality of teaching.

The Express-News analysis found that household income accounted for about one-quarter of the differences in elementary and middle school STAAR passing rates between districts and almost one-third of the differences in high school end-of-course STAAR passing rates.

Which San Antonio districts beat the odds?

Across Texas, some low-income districts still beat the odds, and some high-income districts did considerably worse than their peers.

In the San Antonio area, Somerset and Alamo Heights independent school districts and three districts serving families on military bases performed more than 5 percentage points better than expected based on income alone on either the elementary and middle school exams, end-of-course exams or both.

Somerset ISD Superintendent José Moreno credited part of his district’s success to weekly meetings held on every campus where administrators meet with veteran teachers to assess student performance on “mini tests” and address shortcomings.

Assistant Superintendent Jimmie Walker at Alamo Heights ISD said the district provides strong support in the early grades so that learning gaps do not develop, as well as after-school and Saturday tutoring sessions for students.

Lackland ISD Superintendent Burnie Roper said the district focuses on high-quality instruction and strong teacher retention, noting that military families have “significantly lower out-of-pocket expenses for housing, healthcare, and other essential needs than civilian families with the same reported income.”

Representatives from Fort Sam Houston and Randolph Field ISDs, which also serve families on military bases, did not respond to requests for comment.

On the other hand, East Central, Harlandale, Judson, San Antonio, Southwest and South San Antonio ISDs had passing rates 5 percentage points lower than expected on the elementary and middle school exams, end-of-course exams or both based on the income analysis.

Brandon Oliver, a spokesperson for East Central ISD, said that improvement over time paints a “fuller picture” of a district’s performance, citing an analysis from City Education Partners — a nonprofit that aims to “cultivate a vibrant educational ecosystem across San Antonio” — that identified East Central ISD as San Antonio’s most-improved school district.

San Antonio ISD spokesperson Laura Short called STAAR performance a complex issue that can’t be explained by any variable alone, while also noting that socioeconomic factors “do not diminish our responsibility to ensure every student has access to a high-quality educational experience.”

Representatives from Judson, Harlandale, Southwest, and South San Antonio ISDs did not respond to requests for comment.

Edgewood ISD was a major outlier among San Antonio-area districts in the Express News’ analysis. Its elementary and middle school passing rate was 13 percentage points below expectations based on income alone, while its end-of-course passage rate was 11.4 percentage points below.

Since the STAAR exam was redesigned in 2023 to rely less on multiple choice and combine reading and writing exams, Edgewood ISD has not outperformed the state on any end-of-course exam or any English-language STAAR exam in grades 3–8. A representative from Edgewood ISD did not respond to requests for comment.

Which districts stood out?

Across the state, a handful of districts soared past — or lagged behind — what the Express-News analysis predicted based on household income.

Just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, Roma ISD elementary and middle schoolers boasted an 80% passing rate despite the district’s median household income of around $30,000, less than half of the statewide median.

Manor ISD — a suburb of Austin with a median household income around $100,000 — had only half of elementary and middle schoolers pass the STAAR.

Roma and Manor were among just 21 districts whose elementary and middle school passing rates were at least 20 percentage points above or below what the model expected.

Diana Salinas, Roma ISD’s executive director of curriculum, credited their strong performance to frequent testing to identify learning gaps, strategic use of federal and state resources that the district receives as a high-poverty district and targeted support for students learning English and receiving special education services.

Representatives from Manor ISD did not respond to requests for comment.

The Express-News shared its methodology with Angela Valenzuela, director of The University of Texas Center for Education Policy, which uses research to advocate for historically disadvantaged students in Texas public schools. Valenzuela – whose research focuses on urban education reform – said the Express-News’ findings align with decades of research showing test scores are correlated with a child’s financial background.

Sarah Woulfin, who chairs the University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, noted that district median household income does not directly measure the wealth of students. Not all residents living in a district have children, and some families opt for charter and private schools, she said.

Often, affluent families enroll their kids outside the public school system, so public schools may serve a higher proportion of low-income students than indicated by the district’s median income.

Clay Robison, spokesperson for the Texas State Teachers Association, said that he was not surprised by the findings. He alleged the STAAR exam “discriminates” against low-income children.

“[Low-income students] don’t do as well on the test as kids who have more resources, kids whose parents can afford to pay for tutors or whose parents … have the time to help them with homework,” Robison said.

Representatives from the Texas Education Agency did not respond to requests for comment.

Methodology

The Express-News examined grades 3 through 8 STAAR assessments from 677 public school districts and end-of-course exams from 432 districts. Each analysis excluded districts with fewer than 500 tests to minimize the impact of very small districts. Some districts were included in the elementary and middle school group but excluded from the end-of-course analysis, including districts with a small high school population like Lackland ISD and a handful of districts that bus high schoolers to neighboring school systems.

Income data came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020–2024 American Community Survey, which estimates the median household income of all residents living within a school district’s geographic boundaries. Highland Park and Carroll ISDs were excluded from the analysis, because their median household income was reported at $250,000 or more instead of an exact number.

The Express-News used a least-squares linear regression, a common statistical method used to better understand the relationship between two variables, to see how median household income within a district was related to STAAR passing rates. The results were statistically significant in both cases, meaning the pattern was unlikely to be the result of random chance.

The analysis found that differences in household income do not fully explain why some districts do better than others. Income accounted for about one-quarter of the variation in elementary and middle school STAAR passing rates and almost one-third of the variation in high school end-of-course STAAR passing rates.

CreditsReporting and visuals by Eshaan Sarup. Editing by Karina Kumar and Emily Donaldson. Design and development by Andrew Williams.

Originally published on Aug. 27, 2026