STR exam now required for some education majors

Alejandra Yañez | THE RIDER

UTRGV students who are in the Early Childhood-6,  Early Childhood-3 or English Language Arts/Reading 4-8 programs must pass the new Science of Teaching Reading TExES exam for certification, in compliance with House Bill 3.

The Science of Teaching Reading exam is part of the exam mandate passed in the bill which requires “that all teacher candidates who teach students in grades Pre-K-6 demonstrate proficiency in the science of teaching reading on a new, stand-alone certification exam,” the Texas Education Agency website reads.

The requirement took effect on Jan. 1.

House Bill 3 is a school finance bill passed by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019 and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. 

“The bill provides more money for Texas classrooms, increases teacher compensation, reduces recapture and cuts local property taxes for Texas taxpayers,” the Texas Education Agency website reads. “HB 3 is one of the most transformative Texas education bills in recent history.”

Erica Villarreal, director of UTRGV Educator Preparation, said anyone specializing in the pre-K through sixth grade levels must pass the exam to attain certification. 

Asked how students reacted to the test requirement, Villarreal replied that the university took a proactive approach in notifying the students. 

“We did let them know a year before the implementation of the exam,” she said. “So, we started preparing them with ample time so those candidates that were going to be impacted were ready, and they knew the implications of this exam, and they knew what to prepare for. So, we didn’t necessarily have any type of negative pushback.”

Villarreal said the program requires candidates to go through preparation exams before taking the actual test.

Students are required to take a practice exam and participate in a content review and constructed response workshop.

“Once they have those three items completed, they are given approval to test for the exam,” she said.

Students do not need to pass every domain of the exam to pass.

“A candidate will be scored on the exam as a whole,” the Texas Education Agency website reads. “The scaled score for the selected-response sections will be combined with the scaled score for the constructed-response section to produce a total test scaled score.”

Students who are seeking certification in English Language Arts grade levels four through eight must also take the exam. 

Additionally, students who are specializing in English grade levels seven through 12 may challenge the Science Teaching Reading exam but must pass the ELAR 4-8 content exam to be certified.

Alexandra Cantu, an English education senior graduating this semester, said she plans to challenge the exam after graduation.

Cantu said she is taking her exam after she graduates because she is an English seven through 12 content area student and will challenge the exam after she passes requirements for her content area this semester. 

“Any extra certification exams, I can’t take until I graduate,” she said.

Asked how she feels about the new exam, Cantu replied, “I kinda feel like that was just thrown at us just out of the blue, and we are not having enough time to prepare for the exam. For myself, I cannot take the exam until I graduate, but I know, for example, for students who absolutely need the exam before they graduate, it’s not enough time to prepare.”

She said she received study tools and materials from the university to help prepare for the exam.

“They just recently gave us some dates for a study workshop, and we need to take a diagnostic test prior to taking the exam,” Cantu said.

For more information about the Science of Teaching Reading exam, visit the TEA website.