from the tests. However, university-level experts in each of the fields review each high school-level test for accuracy. Grade-level teachers also review test items for appropriateness prior to field testing and review the field test results in order to select the best questions for inclusion in the test item bank. Transition to End-of-Course exams With Senate Bill 1031 in spring 2007, Texas legislators repealed TAKS in favor of End of Course exams in high school; however, this change will happen gradually. Students who enter ninth grade in the 2011-2012 school year will have to take end-of-course exams in core subjects. Students who entered ninth grade before 2011 will still have to pass the exit-level TAKS to graduate. A calendar which shows the field test and implementation schedule has been developed. According to the Texas Federation of Teachers, the EOC will require students taking either the Recommended or Advanced curriculum to take three end-of-course exams in each of four core subjects: English I, English II, English III; Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry; Biology, Chemistry, Physics; World Geography, World History, U.S. History In 2010, Texas Commissioner of Education Robert Scott announced a retooled version of the proposed EOC exams, called the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). STAAR will be used for the 12 end-of-course assessments mandated by SB 1031 in 2007 and the new grade 3-8 assessments mandated by HB 3 in the 2009 legislative session. In June 2013 TEA announced another change to the testing requirements as a result of HB 5. The five assessments required for graduation are Algebra I, English I (combined reading/writing), English II (combined reading/writing), biology, and U.S. history and the scores on the STAAR test were no longer calculated into a students final grade for the course. The new tests will be used beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. Students in the graduating Class of 2015 will be the first students who must meet the end-of-course testing requirements, as well as pass their classes, in order to earn a diploma. The new tests will be significantly more rigorous than previous tests and will measure a child’s performance, as well as academic growth. The grade 3-8 STAAR tests in reading and mathematics, by law, must be linked from grade to grade to performance expectations for the English II and Algebra I end-of-course assessments. During a speech at the Texas Association of School Administrators’ Midwinter