To order, contact your supplier.

About the Staar Program

The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) is the state testing and assessment program implemented in 2012.

This site is to specifically help Texas educators and parents familiarize themselves with the STAAR Dictionary policy, the key resource required for the reading portion of the STAAR assessment program.

Learn more about the STAAR Program

State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR®) program evaluates:

  • Mathematics at grades 3–8
  • Reading Language Arts (RLA) at grades 3-8
  • Science at grades 5 and 8
  • Social studies at grade 8
  • End-of-course (EOC) assessments for Algebra I, English I, English II, Biology and U.S. history.

Dictionary Policy

Dictionaries must be available to all students taking the following assessments:

  • STAAR grades 3–8 reading language arts (RLA)
  • STAAR Spanish grades 3–5 reading language arts (RLA)
  • STAAR English I and English II 

The following types of dictionaries are allowable:

Access to the Dictionaries

  • While students are working through the tests listed above, they must have access to a dictionary. Students should use the same type of dictionary they routinely use during classroom instruction and classroom testing to the extent allowable. The school may provide dictionaries, or students may bring them from home.
  • Additionally, it is important for language proficiency assessment committees (LPACs) to consider the degree to which an EB student relies on a dictionary during language arts instruction or testing when making exit decisions at the end of the school year.

Information regarding the format of the dictionaries

  • Electronic and paper dictionaries, including applications on a tablet, laptop, or desktop
    computer, are permitted. 
  • If a student uses electronic dictionaries during testing, the Texas
    Education Agency’s (TEA) guidelines regarding this technology must be followed to maintain the
    security and validity of the assessment. Although some technology may be very useful during a
    daily academic setting, functionalities that violate TEA guidelines may not be used during a state assessment. Refer to the Technology Guidelines for the Texas Assessment Program section of the District and Campus Coordinator Resources for more information.
  • Dictionaries may be provided in the language that is most appropriate for the student.
  • However, specialty dictionaries, such as teacher-made,
    student-made, subject-specific, or slang, are NOT allowed.
  • *Bilingual and ESL dictionaries should be provided in accordance with individual student needs based on how much students use them in instruction and classroom testing. 

Minimum Requirement

  • The minimum schools need is one dictionary for every five students testing, but the state’s recommendation is one for every three students or, optimally, one for each student.
  • Although thesauruses are not required, they are allowable on all the tests listed above, either in combination with a dictionary or as a separate resource. If districts make thesauruses available to students during testing, it is recommended that there be one thesaurus for every five students.
  • While there is no requirement regarding a minimum number of bilingual or ESL dictionaries schools must provide, for emergent bilingual (EB) students, it is recommended that there be one dictionary for each student.