Texas Formative Assessment Resource

What is the Texas Formative Assessment Resource?

The Texas Formative Assessment Resource (TFAR) is a free online platform that helps educators design, give, and share formative assessments. Formative assessment data is used to inform teaching decisions and improve instructional support. 

TFAR assessments should be combined with a broader set of classroom formative practices that are part of a coherent instructional framework. The assessments should not replace other ways of checking and monitoring student learning in the classroom.

• TFAR Educator Guide

Who Can Use the Resource?

TFAR is an optional tool available at no cost to Texas public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools and not tied to accountability. To use TFAR, contact your campus or district testing coordinator. 

What Are the benefits of Using the Resource?

Districts that use TFAR may experience the following benefits:

• Increased Student Access to TEKS Aligned Questions—TFAR includes released State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR^®) questions and STAAR item-type templates that allow educators to create targeted curriculum-based formative assessment items based on daily instruction. 
• Increased Familiarity with Testing Platform—TFAR is administered on the same online platform as STAAR, giving students additional opportunity to interact with the system's functionalities, including accommodations and accessibility tools.
• Access to Real-Time Data on Student Learning—Results are reported in the Centralized Reporting System with data on TEKS alignment.

What Other Resources Are Available?

• TFAR Frequently Asked Questions
• Creating Spanish Items and Assessments
• 2024–2025 TFAR Data File Format (Updated 11/25/2024)

The following trainings are available in the Texas Assessment Program Learning Management System:

• TFAR Overview
• TFAR Authoring System