Dictionaries & References

STAAR® DICTIONARY POLICY*
The Texas State Assessment Program has issued policies (Texas Education Agency, 2019) for dictionary use on the STAAR® (including STAAR Modified). Dictionaries must be available to all students taking:
Reading assessments at Grades 3–8
Writing assessments at Grades 4 and 7
Spanish Reading assessments at Grades 3–5
Spanish Writing assessment at Grade 4
English I, II, and III Reading and Writing assessments

Although a thesaurus is not required, they are allowable on all of the assessments listed above, either in combination with a dictionary or as a separate resource.

THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF DICTIONARIES ARE ALLOWABLE ON THE STAAR®:
Standard dictionaries in English or the most appropriate language
Dictionary/thesaurus combinations
Bilingual dictionaries*
ESL dictionaries*
Sign language dictionaries
Picture dictionaries
* Bilingual and ESL dictionaries should be provided in
accordance with individual student needs based on how