Star Information
Fall window: August 26 – September 27
Winter window: December 2 – December 20
Spring window: April 21 – June 5
What is Star?
Star Assessments (published by Renaissance Learning) are a suite of computer-adaptive tests (CATs) and curriculum-based measures (CBMs) that:
- measure students’ reading and math skills
- monitor achievement and growth, and
- track how well students understand skills aligned to the Common Core standards.
Star results are used to identify students who are meeting grade- and term-level benchmarks in literacy and math, as well as those who may need additional support or interventions. As a District, we are also using the CATs to monitor our students’ progress toward meeting our District-wide Board Goals.
Star is administered during specific windows each school year. For the current school year’s schedule, please see the Assessment Calendar.
Both the curriculum-based measures (CBMs) and the computer-adaptive tests (CATs) are timed assessments.
All CBMs are 60 second assessments that are administered by a teacher.
The CATs are timed as well, with time limits varying from 45 seconds to 3 minutes depending on the type of question asked. Unlike the CBMs, students are administered the CATs on a computer. In general, students typically require 15-25 minutes to complete a CAT. Students with IEPs are able to receive extended time for the CATs.
The CATs are adaptive tests, which means that questions become more or less difficult depending on student responses. For example, if a student answers a question incorrectly, the next question may be easier. Therefore, two students taking the same assessment may receive different sets of questions depending on their responses.
Click below for tables that outline the tested skills.
Star Early Literacy (K-2)
Star Early Literacy assesses proficiency in three broad domains: Word Knowledge and Skills, Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning, and Numbers and Operations. Star Early Literacy scaled scores provide an individualized assessment of students’ literacy/numeracy skill development to identify students who need intervention or enrichment on specific skills. Scores will enable teachers to easily track progress and facilitate individualized instruction.
| Domain |
Skills/Topics Assessed |
| Word Knowledge and Skills |
Measures students’ letter recognition, phonemic awareness, and word decoding skills, as well as their ability to apply phonics and vocabulary strategies to identify new words. |
| Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning |
Measures students’ comprehension through written and oral word identification, sentence topic identification, and multiple-choice questions about story passages. |
| Numbers and Operations |
Measures students’ early numeracy development through number naming and recognition, counting and ordering, and simple addition and subtraction. |
Star Reading Curriculum-Based Measures (CBM) (K-5)
Star Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs) are designed to assess discrete, foundational grade-level literacy skills. In kindergarten and first grade, this includes students’ understanding of letters and their sounds, basic phonological awareness, and early decoding. In second through fifth grade, CBMs assess students’ reading progress. CBMs scores are presented as the number of items students answer correctly in one minute. The following section provides additional data about what the Star CBM Reading assessments will measure at each grade level.
| Grade |
Domain |
Skills/Topics Assessed |
| Kindergarten |
Letter naming |
The number of upper- and lowercase letters students can identify in a random sequence. |
| Kindergarten |
Receptive nonsense words |
The number of nonsense words students can identify when presented with both CVC words and CVC nonsense words. Administered as a verbal assessment. |
| Kindergarten, Grade 1 |
Letter sounds |
The number of letter sounds (consonants only; no vowels a, e, i, o, u, or y are included) that students can pronounce. |
| Kindergarten, Grade 1 |
Phoneme segmentation |
The number of phoneme components students can pronounce in common 3-phoneme grade-level appropriate words. |
| Grades 1-2 |
Expressive nonsense words |
The number of nonsense words students can identify when presented with both CVC words and CVC nonsense words. Administered as a written assessment. |
| Grades 1-5 |
Oral passage reading |
The number of words students can identify in a grade-level appropriate text. |
Star Reading (3-12)
Star Reading assesses students’ skills in vocabulary, reading comprehension, analyzing literary text, understanding author’s craft, and analyzing argument and evaluating text. Students are asked a total of 34 reading questions, which include 10 questions about vocabulary in context, as well as a range of questions spanning the domains. However, the number of questions in each domain presented to a student depends on their grade.
| Domain |
Skills/Topics Assessed |
| Vocabulary: Word Knowledge and Skills |
Measures students’ knowledge and understanding of vocabulary, as well as their ability to apply vocabulary strategies. |
| Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning |
Short passages ask students to use strategies such as self-monitoring, making predictions, drawing conclusions, and using the organizational structure of the text to improve understanding. |
| Analyzing Literary Text |
Students are asked to explore the plot, setting, character, theme, and point of view in literary text, as well as the characteristics of different genres. |
| Understanding Author’s Craft |
Measures students’ understanding and analysis of an author’s use of language and literary devices to create certain effects. |
| Analyzing Argument and Evaluating Text |
Asks students to recognize, analyze, and evaluate arguments in persuasive, editorial, and academic writing. |
Star Math Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs) (K-3)
Curriculum Based Measures are designed to assess discrete, foundational grade-level math skills. Star CBM Math will assesses kindergarten and first-grade students’ developing math competency, including recognizing numerals and their value. For second- and third-grade students’ their basic facts in addition, subtraction, and multiplication will be assessed. CBM scores are presented as the number of items students answer correctly in one minute. The following table provides additional information about the math skills Star CBMs will measure at each grade level.
| Grade |
Domain |
Skills/Topics Assessed |
| Kindergarten, Grade 1 (Fall) |
Numeral recognition |
How many numbers between 0-100 students can identify when presented in a random order. |
| Kindergarten, Grade 1 |
Quantity comparison |
How many times students can identify the larger number (0-30) in a given pair. |
| Grades 1-2 |
Addition to 10 |
The number of addition problems students can solve correctly. (All answers will equal no greater than 10.) |
| Grade 2 |
Addition to 20 |
The number of addition problems students can solve correctly (all answers will equal no greater than 20.) |
| Grades 2-3 |
Subtraction from 10 |
The number of subtraction problems students can solve correctly (all answers will equal 10 or less.) |
| Grade 3 |
Mixed addition and subtraction |
The number of addition and subtraction problems using numerals between 0 and 20 students can solve correctly. (All answers will equal no greater than 20.) |
| Grade 3 |
Multiplication to 100 |
The number of correct responses to multiplication
problems using numerals between 0 and 10. (All answers will equal no greater than 100.) |
Star Math (3-12)
Star Math assesses students’ skills in numbers and operations; algebra, geometry and measurement; and data analysis, statistics, and probability. Students are asked a total of 34 math questions. However, the number of questions in each domain presented to a student depends on their grade.
| Domain |
Skills/Topics Assessed |
| Numbers and Operations |
Measures students’ ability to count and compare numbers; add, subtract, multiply, and divide whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. This domain also covers primes, square roots, percentages, and numerical expressions. |
| Algebra |
Students are asked to graph points and functions, evaluate variables, solve linear and nonlinear equations, simplify expressions, and complete other key algebraic tasks. |
| Geometry and Measurement |
Measures students’ ability to identify shapes, lines, and angles; determine and convert measurements; tell time; calculate the perimeter, area, volume, and surface area of shapes; and determine missing measurements or dimensions. |
Star measures student performance and growth using multiple metrics. The District uses four primary metrics:
- Scaled Score: A student’s scaled score is calculated based on the difficulty of the questions they answered and the number of correct responses they provided. Because the same range of questions is used for students across all grade levels, scaled scores can be used to compare student performance across grade levels. All norm-referenced scores, such as the Percentile Rank and SGP (see below), are based on a student’s scaled score. Both Star Reading and Star Math scaled scores range from 0 to 1400.
- Percentile Rank: A student’s percentile rank is a norm-referenced performance measure that compares a student’s scaled score to their grade-level peers nationwide. The Percentile Rank is useful for understanding a student’s current mastery of reading and math skills compared to other students in the same grade nationally.
- Tier: A student’s tier is based on their Percentile Rank. Students are categorized into one of four performance Tiers: At/Above Benchmark, On Watch, Strategic Intervention, and Intensive Intervention. The tiers indicate the level of intervention students need in order to reach proficiency.
- Student Growth Percentile (SGP): The SGP is a norm-referenced metric that compares a student’s growth to their “academic peers”—i.e., students in the same grade with a similar Star scaled score history—nationwide. SGP is measured on a 1-99 scale. Lower numbers indicate lower relative growth compared to academic peers, and higher numbers indicate higher relative growth compared to academic peers. For example, an SGP of 75 means that the student has shown more growth than 75% of her academic peers.
The District uses Star data to track school-level proficiency for grades K-12 in Reading and grades 3-12 in Math in alignment with our District’s Board Goals. Additionally, after each testing window, teachers analyze their students’ data using a structured protocol in order to get a sense of student performance in their classroom(s) in terms of both growth and proficiency. Teachers are encouraged to use Star data in considering how they might need to adjust their instruction to best serve their students.
Which Star Tests are available in Spanish?
Star Reading and Star Math Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs) and Star Curriculum Based Measures (CBMs) are available in Spanish.
Are the Spanish versions of the Star Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs) similar to the English versions of these tests?
Yes, the Spanish versions of the Computer Adaptive Tests are also 34 questions long, and consist entirely of multiple choice questions.
Are the Spanish versions of the Star Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs) appropriate for all grade-levels?
The Spanish versions of the Computer Adaptive Tests are most appropriate for students in grades 1-8. High School students who take Star Spanish will not receive certain key data points around their growth and achievement.
How do I know whether a child should take the Spanish versions of the Star Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs)?
The Office of Multilingual Curriculum and Programs has provided guidance for all schools around which Star tests multilingual learners’ need to be administered. Complete guidelines for the 2024-25 school year are available here.
Last modified: August 30, 2024
