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HB 8: Commissioner’s List of Approved Alternative BOY and MOY Assessments

Submitted instruments were reviewed to determine whether they met applicable statutory and agency requirements, including requirements related to measuring student performance in relation to the essential knowledge and skills adopted by the State Board of Education for the applicable subject area and grade level. Instruments were also reviewed for their capacity to report student academic growth, including, as applicable, norm-referenced growth based on comparisons of student performance across administrations to measure through-year growth.

Assessments meeting the applicable requirements were approved for inclusion on the commissioner’s list. Approved instruments may remain on the list for up to two school years, contingent upon continued compliance with statutory and ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú requirements. Vendors are required to maintain compliance with applicable RFABMA requirements, including requirements related to technical support, data sharing and reporting, interoperability with state data systems, applicable state statutes and administrative rules, and ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú-established suitability and quality criteria. Changes to statutory or agency requirements, assessment specifications, or program criteria may require corresponding updates to approved instruments. Failure to maintain applicable requirements may result in removal of an instrument from the commissioner’s list.

Provisionally Approved HB 8 Alternative BOY/MOY Providers​

The instruments included on this list have been granted provisional approval at this stage of implementation. Provisional approval is intended to provide school systems with information about assessment options while ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú continues implementation activities related to HB 8 requirements. 

Vendors are responsible for maintaining an instrument's provisional approval status. To do so, vendors must continue to meet all applicable statutory, regulatory, programmatic, and administrative requirements; comply with ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú requests and directives; provide information, documentation, and other support requested by ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú; participate in required validation, comparability, and alignment activities; and address identified issues within timelines established by ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú. 

An instrument may be revised, suspended, or removed from a provisional approved list if a vendor does not fulfill these responsibilities, if the instrument does not satisfy applicable comparability or alignment expectations, or if other circumstances require action under applicable law, rule, agency process, or program requirements.

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Provisional Approval Period

ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú grants provisional approval for the following period.

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Procurement Considerations for School Systems 

ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú recognizes that school systems will need to make procurement decisions before all implementation activities have been completed.

The instruments included on the provisional approved lists are expected to remain available for use by school systems so long as vendors continue to satisfy applicable requirements and maintain their approval status. However, because provisional approval is contingent upon ongoing participation in ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú implementation activities, school systems should consider the possibility that an instrument's approval status could change if a vendor does not meet applicable requirements or if the instrument does not satisfy ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú's established expectations for comparability, alignment, or other program requirements.

To help manage this risk, ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú recommends that school systems:

• Avoid entering into agreements that extend beyond the 2028–29 school year.
• Ensure procurement documents and agreements account for the possibility that an instrument may be removed from a provisional or approved list before publication of the final approved lists.
• Include provisions that permit the school system to discontinue use of, or terminate an agreement for, an instrument that is no longer included on an applicable ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú-approved list.

School systems remain responsible for ensuring that any instrument used to meet TEC, §39.023(q) requirements appears on the applicable ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú-approved list at the time of administration.  

For additional information, please refer to the HB 8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

HB 2/HB 8 Intersection 

Under Texas law, Grade 3 students are subject to both the HB 2 foundational literacy and numeracy instrument requirements and the HB 8 SST requirements during BOY and MOY administration windows.

To minimize duplicate testing, school systems administering SST during Grade 3 BOY and MOY windows may use that assessment to satisfy both HB 2 and HB 8 administration and reporting requirements.

An alternative SST provider may satisfy HB 2 requirements only if it is also approved as a foundational literacy instrument and/or a foundational numeracy instrument. For a list of providers that have been approved for both purposes, visit the Data Tool Selection Guidance webpage.

School systems using an alternative SST provider that is not approved for foundational literacy and numeracy usage must administer separate approved foundational literacy and numeracy instruments and report those results to ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú.The ºÚÁÏÍø×îÐÂÈë¿Ú conducted a review of BOY and MOY assessment instruments submitted by qualified publishers and local educational agencies pursuant to Texas Education Code (TEC), §39.023. The review included BOY and MOY assessment instruments for grades 3–8 and EOC for consideration for placement on the Commissioner’s List of Approved Alternative BOY and MOY Assessments for statewide use beginning with the 2027–28 school year.