The following frequently asked questions (FAQs) and responses aim to provide quick, easy-to-digest information relating to the Sirius STAAR Formative Assessment Bank (SFAB) product.
Launched for the 2025–26 school year, the Formative Assessment Bank empowers RLA and Math teachers to design custom STAAR 2.0 assignments aligned to tested TEKS—ideal for consistent, low-stakes practice across Grades 3 through EOC.
Created in direct response to educator feedback, this classroom-ready resource offers authentic, flexible STAAR-style items not available in Sirius Online or the Summative Assessment Bank. Teachers can easily build tailored assessments for quizzes, weekly progress checks, and small-group reviews—supporting instructional pacing and boosting student readiness.
Explore the Sirius STAAR Formative Assessment Bank (SFAB) on the Sirius Education Solutions website to discover everything you need, from key features and benefits to pricing details. Be sure to check out the short overview video for a quick introduction.
To schedule a demo or get personalized guidance, contact your account executive. If you are unsure who that is, you can find your representative here.
Classroom teachers are the primary beneficiaries of the SFAB, using it to create reliable assessments that support ongoing progress monitoring. With tools for building bell ringers, exit tickets, and unit assessments, the SFAB streamlines formative checks throughout instruction. Present Mode also enables teachers to guide whole-class lessons with ease, making the platform versatile for both individual and group learning.
RLA (Reading Language Arts) offers three distinct passage types to support targeted instruction and STAAR readiness:
Focused Practice: Short selections that reinforce a single TEKS for precision skill-building.
Mixed Practice: Passages that integrate multiple skills to build fluency, stamina, and cross-TEKS application.
STAAR-Aligned Practice: Full-length selections that mirror STAAR 2.0 format and rigor, ideal for test simulation.
Coverage: All tested courses from Grades 3 through EOC
TEKS Alignment: Every tested TEKS is included, with emphasis on the most frequently assessed standards
New Item Types: 30% of questions reflect new STAAR 2.0 formats
Spanish Support: Translations available for Grades 3–5
This bank is built for flexibility and customization:
Teachers can select passages and items based on student needs
Practice can be tailored by TEKS, skill type, or test-readiness level
Format and rigor align with STAAR 2.0, helping students build familiarity and confidence
Yes—Spanish translations are provided for Math Grades 3–5, supporting bilingual classrooms and dual-language programs.
Assign Focused Practice for reteaching or intervention
Use Mixed Practice to challenge students with integrated skills
Deploy STAAR-Aligned Practice for benchmark assessments or STAAR prep
The SFAB was built by Sirius to flex with your assessment needs. Whether you're designing formative checks, formative evaluations, curriculum-based assessments (CBAs), or practice tests, the SFAB provides the tools to support a wide range of testing scenarios.
To ensure smooth delivery of district-created SFAB materials to teachers, districts should enable their SSO and comprehensive rostering for all administrators, teachers, students, and classes. This setup allows for seamless access and alignment across roles and campuses.
For districts using self-registration, the SFAB is not recommended for district-wide implementation. Centralized rostering and access management are essential to ensure consistency, reliability, and effective delivery of assessment materials.
Review our Sirius Online Rostering Guide for more information on how to use Clever, ClassLink, or Edlink to roster your district.
Not directly. Our items cannot currently be imported to other systems.
Sirius Online provides a robust experience parallel to STAAR, including TEKS reporting on performance and standards, student engagement (tool use, time on task, use of translate or text-to-speech functionalities, etc.), and general usage.
Our platform also has hints, feedback, and rationales for students to use when they return to review their work, such as for our practice activities (but only after students take the assessment), which no other platform provides.
Finally, districts are able to export item analysis data for ingestion into their LMS or other reporting applications.
No, the items in our test banks are not licensed for use within external LMS or testing platforms. They are intended for use exclusively within the Sirius platform to ensure proper functionality and content integrity.
No, printing is not supported. All items and tests created within the SFAB are designed exclusively for on-screen, online administration to maintain functionality and security.
Items within SFAB are not editable, and custom item creation is not supported. All content is pre-developed to maintain consistency, alignment, and quality across assessments. However, test builders can modify pre-built assessments and supplement them with additional items as needed.
SFAB items are fully aligned with the updated STAAR 2.0 assessments, aligning to STAAR in content, format, cognitive rigor, and item types. Each SFAB question reflects the latest blueprint and design standards, ensuring educators can confidently prepare students using materials that mirror the actual test experience. This alignment supports instructional planning, targeted practice, and meaningful formative assessment across grade levels and subject areas.
Before scheduling a training session, the person who will be the SFAB coordinator must complete a survey that includes the names and email addresses of all assessment administrators who will need access to the platform.
To ensure a productive training experience, we ask that all teachers and school administrators have prior experience with the Sirius Online platform. If they haven’t attended a previous training, this requirement can be fulfilled by completing our eLearning modules.
If you are a district assessment administrator or the designated coordinator responsible for organizing training, please access the survey here.
We require teachers and school administrators to attend SFAB 101: STAAR Formative Assessment Bank Product Training for a comprehensive introduction to the platform and its capabilities.
To explore additional professional learning opportunities, please review the offerings available through Sirius Professional Learning.
Training includes a one-hour session with concise demonstrations and interactive, hands-on activities. Following the session, participants continue practicing independently by creating assessments and administering them to students.
Additional follow-up sessions can be tailored to meet district or school needs. For deeper academic support, Sirius offers SFAB 201: STAAR Formative Assessment Bank, a specialized training designed to guide teachers through formative assessment strategies and data-driven decision-making.