High (6+) Tested most on STAAR
Mid (3–5) Tested regularly
Low (1–2) Tested occasionally
⬜ Not tested Not on released exams
Frequency = number of items across 2023, 2024, and 2025 released STAAR English I exams. English I TEKS only — ESOL I strand numbers differ.
No standards match your search.
1
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills — oral language
7 standards
↔ Eng I · 1
▼
1A
Engage in meaningful and respectful discourse by listening actively, responding appropriately, and adjusting communication to audiences and purposes.
1B
Share prior knowledge with peers and others to facilitate communication. ESOL-specific
1C
Follow, restate, and give complex oral instructions to perform specific tasks, answer questions, or solve problems and complex processes.
1D
Give a presentation using informal, formal, and technical language effectively to meet the needs of audience, purpose, and occasion, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, purposeful gestures, and increasing mastery of conventions of language.
1E
Participate collaboratively, building on the ideas of others, contributing relevant information, developing a plan for consensus building, and setting ground rules for decision making.
1F
Develop social communication and produce oral language in contextualized and purposeful ways. ESOL-specific
1G
Conduct an interview, including social and informative. ESOL-specific
2
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills — beginning reading and writing
2 standards
ESOL I only
▼
2A
Acquire, demonstrate, and apply phonetic knowledge. ESOL-specific
2B
Write complete words, thoughts, and answers legibly. ESOL-specific
3
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills — vocabulary
6 standards
↔ Eng I · 2
▼
3A
Use print or digital resources such as glossaries or technical dictionaries to clarify and validate understanding of technical or discipline-based vocabulary.
3B
Discuss and analyze context and use cognates to distinguish between the denotative and connotative meanings of words and phrases.
3C
Determine the meaning of foreign words or phrases used frequently in English such as bona fide, caveat, carte blanche, tête-à-tête, bon appétit, and quid pro quo.
3D
Identify and use words that name actions, directions, positions, sequences, and locations. ESOL-specific
3E
Identify, understand, and use multiple-meaning words, homographs, homophones, and commonly confused terms correctly. ESOL-specific
3F
Investigate expressions such as idioms and word relationships such as antonyms, synonyms, and analogies. ESOL-specific
4
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills — fluency
1 standard
ESOL I only
▼
4
Adjust fluency when reading grade-level and language proficiency-level text based on the reading purpose. ESOL-specific
5
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills — self-sustained reading
1 standard
↔ Eng I · 3
▼
5
Self-select text and read independently for a sustained period of time.
6
Comprehension skills — using multiple texts
9 standards
↔ Eng I · 4
▼
6A
Establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts.
6B
Answer and generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to acquire and deepen understanding and gain information.
6C
Make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures.
6D
Create mental images to deepen understanding.
6E
Make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
6F
Make inferences and use evidence to support understanding.
6G
Actively participate in discussions to identify, understand, and evaluate details read to determine key ideas.
6H
Synthesize information from two texts to create new understanding.
6I
Monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.
7
Response skills — using multiple texts
11 standards
↔ Eng I · 5
▼
7A
Describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts.
7B
Write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing texts within and across genres.
7C
Use text evidence and original commentary to support a comprehensive response.
7D
Paraphrase and summarize texts in ways that maintain meaning and logical order.
7E
Interact with sources in meaningful ways such as labeling, notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating.
7F
Respond using acquired content and academic vocabulary as appropriate.
7G
Discuss and write about the explicit or implicit meanings of text.
7H
Respond orally or in writing with appropriate register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
7I
Reflect on and adjust responses when valid evidence warrants.
7J
Defend or challenge the authors' claims using relevant text evidence.
7K
Express opinions, ideas, and feelings ranging from communicating single words and short phrases to participating in extended discussions. ESOL-specific
8
Multiple genres — literary elements
4 standards
↔ Eng I · 6
▼
8A
Identify and analyze how themes are developed through characterization and plot in a variety of literary texts.
8B
Identify and analyze how authors develop complex yet believable characters in works of fiction through a range of literary devices, including character foils.
8C
Identify and analyze non-linear plot development such as flashbacks, foreshadowing, subplots, and parallel plot structures and compare it to linear plot development.
8D
Identify and analyze how the setting influences the theme.
9
Multiple genres — genre-specific characteristics and structures
6 standards
↔ Eng I · 7
▼
9A
Read and respond to American, British, and world literature.
9B
Identify and analyze the structure, prosody, and graphic elements such as line length and word position in poems across a variety of poetic forms.
9C
Identify and analyze the function of dramatic conventions such as asides, soliloquies, dramatic irony, and satire.
9D
Identify and analyze characteristics and structural elements of informational texts such as:
i
Controlling idea and clear thesis, relevant supporting evidence, pertinent examples, and conclusion.
ii
Chapters, sections, subsections, bibliography, tables, graphs, captions, bullets, and numbers.
iii
Multiple organizational patterns within a text to develop the thesis.
9E
Identify and analyze characteristics and structural elements of argumentative texts such as:
i
Clear arguable claim, appeals, and convincing conclusion.
ii
Various types of evidence and treatment of counterarguments, including concessions and rebuttals.
iii
Identifiable audience or reader.
9F
Identify and analyze characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.
10
Author's purpose and craft — using multiple texts
8 standards
↔ Eng I · 8
▼
10A
Identify and analyze the author's purpose, audience, and message within a text.
10B
Identify and analyze use of text structure to achieve the author's purpose.
10C
Identify and evaluate the author's use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes.
10D
Identify and analyze how the author's use of language achieves specific purposes.
10E
Identify and analyze the use of literary devices such as irony and oxymoron to achieve specific purposes.
10F
Identify and analyze how the author's diction and syntax contribute to the mood, voice, and tone of a text.
10G
Identify and analyze the use of rhetorical devices, including allusion, repetition, appeals, and rhetorical questions. ESOL-specific
10H
Identify and explain the purpose of rhetorical devices such as understatement and overstatement and the effect of logical fallacies such as straw man and red herring arguments.
11
Composition — writing process
7 standards
↔ Eng I · 9
▼
11A
Plan a piece of writing appropriate for various purposes and audiences by generating ideas through a range of strategies such as brainstorming, journaling, reading, or discussing.
11B
Develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing in timed and open-ended situations by:
i
Using an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, topic, and context.
ii
Developing an engaging idea reflecting depth of thought with specific details, examples, and commentary.
11C
Revise drafts to improve clarity, development, organization, style, diction, and sentence effectiveness, including use of parallel constructions and placement of phrases and dependent clauses.
11D
Edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:
i
A variety of complete, controlled sentences and avoidance of unintentional splices, run-ons, and fragments.
ii
Consistent, appropriate use of verb tense and active and passive voice.
iii
Subject-verb agreement.
iv
Pronoun-antecedent agreement.
v
Apostrophes to show possession.
vi
Accurate usage of homonyms.
vii
Correct capitalization.
viii
Punctuation, including commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes to set off phrases and clauses as appropriate.
ix
Correct spelling, including abbreviations.
11E
Use sentence-combining techniques to create a variety of sentence structures and lengths. ESOL-specific
11F
Develop voice. ESOL-specific
11G
Publish written work for appropriate audiences.
12
Composition — genres
4 standards
↔ Eng I · 10
▼
12A
Compose literary texts such as fiction and poetry using genre characteristics and craft.
12B
Compose informational texts such as explanatory essays, reports, and personal essays using genre characteristics and craft.
12C
Compose argumentative texts using genre characteristics and craft.
12D
Compose correspondence in a professional or friendly structure.
13
Inquiry and research — using multiple texts
10 standards
↔ Eng I · 11
▼
13A
Develop questions for formal and informal inquiry.
13B
Critique the research process at each step to implement changes as needs occur and are identified.
13C
Develop and revise a plan.
13D
Modify the major research question as necessary to refocus the research plan.
13E
Locate relevant sources.
13F
Synthesize information from a variety of sources.
13G
Examine sources for:
i
Credibility and bias, including omission.
ii
Faulty reasoning such as ad hominem, loaded language, and slippery slope.
13H
Display academic citations, including for paraphrased and quoted text, and use source materials ethically to avoid plagiarism.
13I
Incorporate digital technology when appropriate. ESOL-specific
13J
Use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, pictorial, or multimodal, to present results.
No standards match your search.
1
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills — oral language
4 standards
↔ ESOL I · 1
▼
1A
Engage in meaningful and respectful discourse by listening actively, responding appropriately, and adjusting communication to audiences and purposes.
1B
Follow and give complex oral instructions to perform specific tasks, answer questions, or solve problems and complex processes.
1C
Give a presentation using informal, formal, and technical language effectively to meet the needs of audience, purpose, and occasion, employing eye contact, speaking rate, volume, enunciation, purposeful gestures, and conventions of language.
1D
Participate collaboratively, building on the ideas of others, contributing relevant information, developing a plan for consensus building, and setting ground rules for decision making.
2
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills — vocabulary
3 standards
↔ ESOL I · 3
▼
2A
Use print or digital resources such as glossaries or technical dictionaries to clarify and validate understanding of the precise and appropriate meaning of technical or discipline-based vocabulary.
2B
Analyze context to distinguish between the denotative and connotative meanings of words.
2C
Determine the meaning of foreign words or phrases used frequently in English such as bona fide, caveat, carte blanche, tête-à-tête, bon appétit, and quid pro quo.
3
Developing and sustaining foundational language skills — self-sustained reading
1 standard
↔ ESOL I · 5
▼
3
Self-select text and read independently for a sustained period of time.
4
Comprehension skills — using multiple texts
9 standards
↔ ESOL I · 6
▼
4A
Establish purpose for reading assigned and self-selected texts.
4B
Generate questions about text before, during, and after reading to deepen understanding and gain information.
4C
Make and correct or confirm predictions using text features, characteristics of genre, and structures.
4D
Create mental images to deepen understanding.
4E
Make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
4F
Make inferences and use evidence to support understanding.
4G
Evaluate details read to determine key ideas.
4H
Synthesize information from two texts to create new understanding.
4I
Monitor comprehension and make adjustments such as re-reading, using background knowledge, asking questions, and annotating when understanding breaks down.
5
Response skills — using multiple texts
10 standards
↔ ESOL I · 7
▼
5A
Describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts.
5B
Write responses that demonstrate understanding of texts, including comparing texts within and across genres.
5C
Use text evidence and original commentary to support a comprehensive response.
5D
Paraphrase and summarize texts in ways that maintain meaning and logical order.
5E
Interact with sources in meaningful ways such as notetaking, annotating, freewriting, or illustrating.
5F
Respond using acquired content and academic vocabulary as appropriate.
5G
Discuss and write about the explicit or implicit meanings of text.
5H
Respond orally or in writing with appropriate register, vocabulary, tone, and voice.
5I
Reflect on and adjust responses when valid evidence warrants.
5J
Defend or challenge the authors' claims using relevant text evidence.
6
Multiple genres — literary elements
4 standards
↔ ESOL I · 8
▼
6A
Analyze how themes are developed through characterization and plot in a variety of literary texts.
6B
Analyze how authors develop complex yet believable characters in works of fiction through a range of literary devices, including character foils.
6C
Analyze non-linear plot development such as flashbacks, foreshadowing, subplots, and parallel plot structures and compare it to linear plot development.
6D
Analyze how the setting influences the theme.
7
Multiple genres — genre-specific characteristics and structures
6 standards
↔ ESOL I · 9
▼
7A
Read and respond to American, British, and world literature.
7B
Analyze the structure, prosody, and graphic elements such as line length and word position in poems across a variety of poetic forms.
7C
Analyze the function of dramatic conventions such as asides, soliloquies, dramatic irony, and satire.
7D
Analyze characteristics and structural elements of informational texts such as:
i
Clear thesis, relevant supporting evidence, pertinent examples, and conclusion.
ii
Multiple organizational patterns within a text to develop the thesis.
7E
Analyze characteristics and structural elements of argumentative texts such as:
i
Clear arguable claim, appeals, and convincing conclusion.
ii
Various types of evidence and treatment of counterarguments, including concessions and rebuttals.
iii
Identifiable audience or reader.
7F
Analyze characteristics of multimodal and digital texts.
8
Author's purpose and craft — using multiple texts
7 standards
↔ ESOL I · 10
▼
8A
Analyze the author's purpose, audience, and message within a text.
8B
Analyze use of text structure to achieve the author's purpose.
8C
Evaluate the author's use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes.
8D
Analyze how the author's use of language achieves specific purposes.
8E
Analyze the use of literary devices such as irony and oxymoron to achieve specific purposes.
8F
Analyze how the author's diction and syntax contribute to the mood, voice, and tone of a text.
8G
Explain the purpose of rhetorical devices such as understatement and overstatement and the effect of logical fallacies such as straw man and red herring arguments.
9
Composition — writing process
5 standards
↔ ESOL I · 11
▼
9A
Plan a piece of writing appropriate for various purposes and audiences by generating ideas through a range of strategies such as brainstorming, journaling, reading, or discussing.
9B
Develop drafts into a focused, structured, and coherent piece of writing in timed and open-ended situations by:
i
Using an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, topic, and context.
ii
Developing an engaging idea reflecting depth of thought with specific details, examples, and commentary.
9C
Revise drafts to improve clarity, development, organization, style, diction, and sentence effectiveness, including use of parallel constructions and placement of phrases and dependent clauses.
9D
Edit drafts using standard English conventions, including:
i
A variety of complete, controlled sentences and avoidance of unintentional splices, run-ons, and fragments.
ii
Consistent, appropriate use of verb tense and active and passive voice.
iii
Pronoun-antecedent agreement.
iv
Correct capitalization.
v
Punctuation, including commas, semicolons, colons, and dashes to set off phrases and clauses as appropriate.
vi
Correct spelling.
9E
Publish written work for appropriate audiences.
10
Composition — genres
4 standards
↔ ESOL I · 12
▼
10A
Compose literary texts such as fiction and poetry using genre characteristics and craft.
10B
Compose informational texts such as explanatory essays, reports, and personal essays using genre characteristics and craft.
10C
Compose argumentative texts using genre characteristics and craft.
10D
Compose correspondence in a professional or friendly structure.
11
Inquiry and research — using multiple texts
9 standards
↔ ESOL I · 13
▼
11A
Develop questions for formal and informal inquiry.
11B
Critique the research process at each step to implement changes as needs occur and are identified.
11C
Develop and revise a plan.
11D
Modify the major research question as necessary to refocus the research plan.
11E
Locate relevant sources.
11F
Synthesize information from a variety of sources.
11G
Examine sources for:
i
Credibility and bias, including omission.
ii
Faulty reasoning such as ad hominem, loaded language, and slippery slope.
11H
Display academic citations, including for paraphrased and quoted text, and use source materials ethically to avoid plagiarism.
11I
Use an appropriate mode of delivery, whether written, oral, or multimodal, to present results.
No standards match your search.
1
Learning strategies — cross-curricular second language acquisition
8 standards
▼
The ELL uses language learning strategies to develop an awareness of his or her own learning processes in all content areas.
1A
Use prior knowledge and experiences to understand meanings in English.
1B
Monitor oral and written language production and employ self-corrective techniques or other resources.
1C
Use strategic learning techniques such as concept mapping, drawing, memorizing, comparing, contrasting, and reviewing to acquire basic and grade-level vocabulary.
1D
Speak using learning strategies such as requesting assistance, employing non-verbal cues, and using synonyms and circumlocution (conveying ideas by defining or describing when exact English words are not known).
1E
Internalize new basic and academic language by using and reusing it in meaningful ways in speaking and writing activities that build concept and language attainment.
1F
Use accessible language and learn new and essential language in the process.
1G
Demonstrate an increasing ability to distinguish between formal and informal English and an increasing knowledge of when to use each one commensurate with grade-level learning expectations.
1H
Develop and expand repertoire of learning strategies such as reasoning inductively or deductively, looking for patterns in language, and analyzing sayings and expressions commensurate with grade-level learning expectations.
2
Listening — cross-curricular second language acquisition
9 standards
▼
The ELL listens to a variety of speakers including teachers, peers, and electronic media to gain an increasing level of comprehension of newly acquired language in all content areas. ELLs may be at the beginning, intermediate, advanced, or advanced high stage of English language acquisition in listening.
2A
Distinguish sounds and intonation patterns of English with increasing ease.
2B
Recognize elements of the English sound system in newly acquired vocabulary such as long and short vowels, silent letters, and consonant clusters.
2C
Learn new language structures, expressions, and basic and academic vocabulary heard during classroom instruction and interactions.
2D
Monitor understanding of spoken language during classroom instruction and interactions and seek clarification as needed.
2E
Use visual, contextual, and linguistic support to enhance and confirm understanding of increasingly complex and elaborated spoken language.
2F
Listen to and derive meaning from a variety of media such as audio tape, video, DVD, and CD ROM to build and reinforce concept and language attainment.
2G
Understand the general meaning, main points, and important details of spoken language ranging from situations in which topics, language, and contexts are familiar to unfamiliar.
2H
Understand implicit ideas and information in increasingly complex spoken language commensurate with grade-level learning expectations.
2I
Demonstrate listening comprehension of increasingly complex spoken English by following directions, retelling or summarizing spoken messages, responding to questions and requests, collaborating with peers, and taking notes commensurate with content and grade-level needs.
3
Speaking — cross-curricular second language acquisition
10 standards
▼
The ELL speaks in a variety of modes for a variety of purposes with an awareness of different language registers (formal/informal) using vocabulary with increasing fluency and accuracy in language arts and all content areas. ELLs may be at the beginning, intermediate, advanced, or advanced high stage of English language acquisition in speaking.
3A
Practice producing sounds of newly acquired vocabulary such as long and short vowels, silent letters, and consonant clusters to pronounce English words in a manner that is increasingly comprehensible.
3B
Expand and internalize initial English vocabulary by learning and using high-frequency English words necessary for identifying and describing people, places, and objects, by retelling simple stories and basic information represented or supported by pictures, and by learning and using routine language needed for classroom communication.
3C
Speak using a variety of grammatical structures, sentence lengths, sentence types, and connecting words with increasing accuracy and ease as more English is acquired.
3D
Speak using grade-level content area vocabulary in context to internalize new English words and build academic language proficiency.
3E
Share information in cooperative learning interactions.
3F
Ask and give information ranging from using a very limited bank of high-frequency, high-need, concrete vocabulary, including key words and expressions needed for basic communication in academic and social contexts, to using abstract and content-based vocabulary during extended speaking assignments.
3G
Express opinions, ideas, and feelings ranging from communicating single words and short phrases to participating in extended discussions on a variety of social and grade-appropriate academic topics.
3H
Narrate, describe, and explain with increasing specificity and detail as more English is acquired.
3I
Adapt spoken language appropriately for formal and informal purposes.
3J
Respond orally to information presented in a wide variety of print, electronic, audio, and visual media to build and reinforce concept and language attainment.
4
Reading — cross-curricular second language acquisition
11 standards
▼
The ELL reads a variety of texts for a variety of purposes with an increasing level of comprehension in all content areas. ELLs may be at the beginning, intermediate, advanced, or advanced high stage of English language acquisition in reading.
4A
Learn relationships between sounds and letters of the English language and decode (sound out) words using a combination of skills such as recognizing sound-letter relationships and identifying cognates, affixes, roots, and base words.
4B
Recognize directionality of English reading such as left to right and top to bottom.
4C
Develop basic sight vocabulary, derive meaning of environmental print, and comprehend English vocabulary and language structures used routinely in written classroom materials.
4D
Use prereading supports such as graphic organizers, illustrations, and pretaught topic-related vocabulary and other prereading activities to enhance comprehension of written text.
4E
Read linguistically accommodated content area material with a decreasing need for linguistic accommodations as more English is learned.
4F
Use visual and contextual support and support from peers and teachers to read grade-appropriate content area text, enhance and confirm understanding, and develop vocabulary, grasp of language structures, and background knowledge needed to comprehend increasingly challenging language.
4G
Demonstrate comprehension of increasingly complex English by participating in shared reading, retelling or summarizing material, responding to questions, and taking notes commensurate with content area and grade level needs.
4H
Read silently with increasing ease and comprehension for longer periods.
4I
Demonstrate English comprehension and expand reading skills by employing basic reading skills such as demonstrating understanding of supporting ideas and details in text and graphic sources, summarizing text, and distinguishing main ideas from details commensurate with content area needs.
4J
Demonstrate English comprehension and expand reading skills by employing inferential skills such as predicting, making connections between ideas, drawing inferences and conclusions from text and graphic sources, and finding supporting text evidence commensurate with content area needs.
4K
Demonstrate English comprehension and expand reading skills by employing analytical skills such as evaluating written information and performing critical analyses commensurate with content area and grade-level needs.
5
Writing — cross-curricular second language acquisition
7 standards
▼
The ELL writes in a variety of forms with increasing accuracy to effectively address a specific purpose and audience in all content areas. ELLs may be at the beginning, intermediate, advanced, or advanced high stage of English language acquisition in writing.
5A
Learn relationships between sounds and letters of the English language to represent sounds when writing in English.
5B
Write using newly acquired basic vocabulary and content-based grade-level vocabulary.
5C
Spell familiar English words with increasing accuracy, and employ English spelling patterns and rules with increasing accuracy as more English is acquired.
5D
Edit writing for standard grammar and usage, including subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement, and appropriate verb tenses commensurate with grade-level expectations as more English is acquired.
5E
Employ increasingly complex grammatical structures in content area writing commensurate with grade-level expectations, such as:
i
Using correct verbs, tenses, and pronouns/antecedents.
ii
Using possessive case (apostrophe s) correctly.
iii
Using negatives and contractions correctly.
5F
Write using a variety of grade-appropriate sentence lengths, patterns, and connecting words to combine phrases, clauses, and sentences in increasingly accurate ways as more English is acquired.
5G
Narrate, describe, and explain with increasing specificity and detail to fulfill content area writing needs as more English is acquired.