Tarrant’s 2025 STAAR results show Carroll ISD, charters lead in math, reading
Charter schools across Tarrant County are outpacing public school districts — except for one — in third-grade test scores, according to statewide assessment data released on Tuesday morning.
The Texas Education Agency released the spring 2025 test scores for grades 3-8 on Tuesday, June 17, for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exam. The district-level and campus-level data shows education leaders, community members and parents how well students performed in reading, math, science and social studies at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
The percentage of Tarrant County’s third- through eighth-graders who performed on grade level across all subjects was 43%, an improvement of two percentage points compared to last year but two percentage points lower than the statewide average, according to the Commit Partnership.
When looking at third-grade scores for reading and math, Carroll ISD in Southlake was the highest-performing public school district in Tarrant County, matching up against the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts.
The district took the overall lead in Tarrant County in third-grade math — 88% performing on grade level — but was outperformed by the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts in third-grade reading. The spring 2025 scores showed 100% of the public arts charter schools’ third-graders reading on grade level, while 93% of Carroll ISD third-graders met this metric. The academy had 40 students who tested in this grade and subject while Carroll ISD had 579 students.
The CEO, president and superintendent of the Texas Center for Arts + Academics, which the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts is part of, said in a statement the test results reflected the dedication of students and staff in the classroom.
“Our STAAR results are a clear testament to the dedication of our students and staff in delivering a rigorous and well-rounded education. By integrating fine arts with academics, we equip our students with critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills that prepare them to succeed — not only on standardized assessments, but in all areas of life,” Anika Perkins said in a statement.
Other Tarrant charter schools, including the Westlake Academy Charter School and Arlington Classics Academy, closely followed in third-grade performance in reading and math.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD was the second highest-performing public school district in Tarrant: 69% of third-graders were reading on grade level, while 62% met this performance level in math.
“GCISD is incredibly proud of our students and teachers for their hard work and the many areas where they’ve excelled. While STAAR is just one measure of success, it’s a valuable tool that helps us identify our strengths and opportunities for future growth. We are excited to see the continued progress our students will make in the coming years,” officials said in a statement on Tuesday.
Leila Santillán, chief operating officer at Fort Worth Education Partnership, said schools within the city of Fort Worth saw an uptick in performance that mirrored Tarrant County. There was an increase of two percentage points — 35% to 37% — across all grades and subjects of students performing at grade level. There were notable concentrations of progress seen in the third- and eighth-grade test results, which respectively saw 4 percentage points and 3 percentage points in gains, she said.
“I’m encouraged because I know a lot of systems set goals around third-grade and eighth-grade proficiency targets. I think it’s encouraging to see that really consistent goal setting and following progress toward those goals may have made a difference,” she said.
Statewide scores show Texas students exceeding pre-pandemic levels in reading with gains seen across almost all grade levels, TEA officials said in a news release. In spring 2025, 49% of third-graders were reading on grade level compared to 43% in spring 2019.
“These results are encouraging and reflect the impact of the strategic supports we’ve implemented in recent years,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath. “With RLA (reading language arts) scores now surpassing pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing meaningful signs of academic recovery and progress. While this year also saw some improvements in math, clearly more work is needed.”
Santillán said Fort Worth schools surpassed pre-pandemic levels in reading but not in math.
“While we’re seeing a bump, and we’re seeing more kids moving on grade level, there’s still a gap and still plenty of work to be done when we think of making sure that all Fort Worth and Tarrant County students are on grade level,” she said.
This story was originally published June 17, 2025 at 10:25 AM.
