HB5 Graduation

House Bill 5 Overview
While HB5 will impact a number of areas in the Texas Education Code, the new law will significantly change the requirements for high school graduation, graduation planning and state testing requirements at all levels. HB5 is designed to instill more flexibility in public education by enabling students to either pursue a traditional path into colleges and universities or move directly into the workforce to help fill what business leaders say is a critical skills shortage.

How does HB5 impact testing and STAAR?

The governor signed HB5 on June 10, which means Texas students now need to pass five end-of-course exams instead of 15 to meet state graduation requirements. English I, English II, Algebra I, U.S. history and biology EOCs are required, while the state will no longer require students to pass STAAR chemistry, physics, geometry, world history, world geography, Algebra II and English II EOC tests to graduate. HB5 also eliminated the requirement that districts include the EOC results as 15 percent of course grades.