Texas STAAR Algebra I EOC (TEA): the reporting categories, the redesigned item types, the reference materials, and how to study for the End-of-Course assessment

The STAAR Algebra I End-of-Course (EOC) assessment is the Texas state test for the Algebra I course, administered by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as part of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. It is built directly from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for Algebra I, the state standards adopted in 2012. This page is the index for the whole course: it explains the five reporting categories, the redesigned (2023+) item types, the reference materials, the calculator policy, the performance standards, and how to study each strand. The topic pages below carry the worked STAAR-style questions, including the new technology-enhanced formats.

What the EOC is and why it matters

STAAR EOC assessments replace a single exit exam with a set of course-level tests. Algebra I is the math EOC. Texas students must take it on completing the Algebra I course, normally in grade 9 (accelerated students sometimes in grade 8), and reaching at least the Approaches Grade Level standard is one of the assessment requirements for a Texas high school diploma. Because Algebra I is the gateway math EOC, it is the highest-stakes math test most Texas students sit, and it feeds forward into Geometry and Algebra II.

The Algebra I EOC is delivered online and has a five-hour time limit, though most students finish comfortably inside it. A spring primary administration is supported by retest windows (commonly summer and December) so a student who does not reach Approaches can retake it.

The five reporting categories

STAAR organizes the TEKS into five reporting categories, and TEA publishes an approximate percentage of points for each. Linear and quadratic content dominate the test.

Two consequences follow from this blueprint. First, linear content is the largest block (categories 2 and 3 together are over half the points), so fluent linear skills are the surest route to Approaches. Second, quadratics are heavily weighted (about a quarter of the test) and are usually where the Meets and Masters standards are won or lost.

Within each category, the TEKS are split into readiness standards (the priority content, more heavily sampled) and supporting standards (sampled less often). The topic pages flag the readiness standards as you go.

The redesigned item types

Texas law (House Bill 3906) capped traditional multiple choice at no more than 75 percent of the points beginning with the 2022 to 2023 school year. The remaining points come from technology-enhanced items (TEIs) delivered in the online platform. You will meet these on Algebra I:

• Multiple choice (MC). Four options, one correct, no partial credit. Still the largest single share of points.
• Multiselect. A list where more than one option is correct; the prompt says "Select all that apply" or "Select TWO." Partial credit is common, so read how many to choose.
• Equation editor. You build a mathematical response (a number, an expression, an equation, or an inequality) from an on-screen palette of grade-appropriate symbols, for example entering $y \ge 2x + 1$ or $\frac{3}{4}x - 2$.
• Drag and drop. You drag numbers, expressions, ordered pairs, or labels into tables, categories, or onto a figure.
• Hot spot. You click one or more points or a region directly on a graph or number line, for example plotting a vertex, selecting the solution region of an inequality, or choosing an open or closed circle and the direction of a ray.
• Number entry and fraction entry. You type a numeric answer (the redesign's version of the old griddable), as an integer, a decimal, or a fraction.
• Inline choice (dropdown). One or more dropdown menus embedded in a sentence or equation, for example choosing whether a relationship is linear, quadratic, or exponential.

Because many TEIs allow partial credit and exact-match scoring, the redesign rewards precise work: a sign slip that a multiple-choice distractor would have caught now simply costs the point.

The reference materials

Every STAAR Algebra I test includes a one-page reference materials sheet (the Texas equivalent of a formula chart). It is deliberately short, and knowing what it does not give you is as important as knowing what it does.

The sheet provides:

• Linear forms and slope. Slope $m = \frac{y_2 - y_1}{x_2 - x_1}$; slope-intercept form $y = mx + b$; point-slope form $y - y_1 = m(x - x_1)$; standard form $Ax + By = C$.
• Quadratic forms and tools. Standard form $f(x) = ax^2 + bx + c$; vertex form $f(x) = a(x - h)^2 + k$; axis of symmetry $x = \frac{-b}{2a}$; the quadratic formula $x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}$.
• Factoring identities. Perfect-square trinomials $a^2 + 2ab + b^2 = (a + b)^2$ and $a^2 - 2ab + b^2 = (a - b)^2$; difference of squares $a^2 - b^2 = (a - b)(a + b)$.
• Properties of exponents. $a^m \cdot a^n = a^{m+n}$, $\frac{a^m}{a^n} = a^{m-n}$, $(a^m)^n = a^{mn}$, $a^{\frac{m}{n}} = \sqrt[n]{a^m}$, and $a^{-n} = \frac{1}{a^n}$.

The sheet does NOT provide, so you must memorize:

• Direct variation $y = kx$.
• Sequence formulas (the explicit and recursive rules for arithmetic and geometric sequences).
• Interest formulas: simple interest $I = Prt$ and compound interest.
• Exponential models $f(x) = ab^x$, $y = a(1 + r)^t$ (growth), and $y = a(1 - r)^t$ (decay).
• Area, perimeter, and volume formulas (none appear on the Algebra I sheet).

The graphing-calculator policy

A graphing calculator is required for the Algebra I EOC, and the school must supply one to any student who needs it. The online test also embeds a graphing-calculator tool. Allowed handhelds must meet TEA specifications; calculators with QWERTY keyboards, wireless or internet access, or computer-algebra-system (CAS) features are prohibited, and administrators clear memory before and after testing. Even with a calculator, you still show structure: the equation-editor items want the actual expression or equation, not just a final number.

Performance standards

Raw points convert to a scale score, reported in four levels:

• Did Not Meet Grade Level - below the graduation standard.
• Approaches Grade Level - meets the graduation requirement; likely to succeed in the next course with support.
• Meets Grade Level - strong readiness for the next course.
• Masters Grade Level - expected to succeed in the next grade or course with little or no intervention.

The raw points needed for each level vary by form, because TEA equates each administration. Aim past Approaches: securing the linear categories reliably and adding the quadratic category is what moves a student into Meets and Masters.

How to study STAAR Algebra I

1. Bank the linear categories first. Categories 2 and 3 are over half the points. Fluent solving, graphing, slope and intercept interpretation, writing equations, and systems are the largest, most reliable block.
2. Master quadratics for Meets and Masters. A quarter of the test is graphing parabolas, transformations, and solving by factoring, square roots, completing the square, and the formula. This is the highest-leverage category above Approaches.
3. Train every item type. Practice equation-editor entry, multiselect, hot-spot graphing, and drag and drop, not just multiple choice. The redesign tests whether you can produce answers, not only recognize them.
4. Memorize what the sheet omits. Direct variation, sequence rules, interest formulas, and exponential models are not on the reference materials.
5. Show structure even with a calculator. Equation-editor and partial-credit items reward the correct expression or setup, so write the model before you compute.

The course, topic by topic

Each topic below has its own answer page with worked STAAR-style questions across the redesigned item types, plus an overview guide and a quiz for each module.

Number and Algebraic Methods (Reporting Category 1).

• Polynomial operations: add, subtract, multiply, factoring polynomials, dividing polynomials, exponents, radicals, and rational exponents, arithmetic and geometric sequences, simple and compound interest.

Describing and Graphing Linear Functions, Equations, and Inequalities (Reporting Category 2).

• Slope and rate of change, graphing linear functions and key features, writing equations of lines, parallel and perpendicular lines and direct variation, graphing linear inequalities in two variables, scatterplots, trend lines, and correlation.

Writing and Solving Linear Functions, Equations, and Inequalities (Reporting Category 3).

• Solving linear equations in one variable, solving linear inequalities in one variable, domain and range of linear functions, writing and modeling with linear functions, solving systems of linear equations, modeling with systems of equations.

Quadratic Functions and Equations (Reporting Category 4).

• Graphing quadratic functions and key attributes, transformations of quadratic functions, domain, range, and representations of quadratics, writing quadratic functions, solving quadratics by factoring, solving quadratics by square roots and completing the square, the quadratic formula and the discriminant, quadratic applications.

Exponential Functions and Equations (Reporting Category 5).

• Exponential growth and decay models, graphing exponential functions, solving exponential equations and linear versus exponential, exponential applications and best fit.

For the official materials

TEA publishes the STAAR Algebra I blueprint, the assessed-curriculum document, the reference materials, released test forms, and the calculator policy on its STAAR mathematics resources pages, and the TEKS themselves live in 19 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 111. Always study from the current released forms and the assessed curriculum, because the item types, the credit allocation, and the standards are specific to the Texas STAAR.