1. STAR Early Literacy & Star Reading
Administration Training

2. Agenda STAR Overview 2015-2016 STAR Updates When is STAR Administered?
Who is required to take STAR?
Assessment Accommodations
Test Administration Activities
Accessing Data
Resources & Support
Practice (Assign Products, Set Preferences, Questions)

3. STAR Overview

4. What is the purpose of star?
STAR assesses students’ progress in literacy and informs instruction by:
Sampling student performance on early literacy and reading built for the Common Core
Providing periodic estimates of growth
Informing programmatic decisions (e.g., intervention or acceleration groups);
Providing summative information from screening windows that can be used in both determining student placement and in informing district accountability measures
STAR is the district reading interim test for all district schools K-5.
STAR measures student performance on early literacy and reading comprehension skills.
STAR testing can be used for progress monitoring outside the three required district assessment windows. This year our school will have a standardized administration of STAR in Sept/Oct., December, and April.
Share your school’s STAR testing schedule with teachers at this time.

5. How are STAR data used?
Instructional
Accountability & Evaluation
Grouping students for instruction
Identifying focus for instruction
Determine if student is responding to intervention
Measure progress toward school achievement targets
SLO’s – measuring student growth
STAR can be used to inform instruction, such as identify areas for instructional focus and for creating small reading groups. In addition, STAR can be used to measure student growth in reading over the course of the school year and for use as a progress monitoring tool. Because STAR is an online assessment there are no scoring requirements and student results are immediately available after testing.
ALL INSTRUCTIONAL DECISIONS MUST BE BASED ON A BODY OF EVIDENCE

6. What do STAR Reading and STAR Early Literacy measure?
Reading Concepts
STAR Early Literacy
STAR Reading
DRA2
Overall Reading Ability
Scale Score ( )
Scale Score ( )
Text Level (P-80)
Instructional Grouping
Urgent Intervention, Intervention, On Watch, & At/ Above
Compare Text Level to Text Grade Level Expectation
Literary Classification
Early Emergent
Late Emergent
Transitional
Probable Reader
Instructional Rdg Level
Instructional Rdg Level (FALL)
Zone of Proximal Development
Independent Rdg Level (SPRING)
Percentile Rank
Grade Equivalent & Percentile Rank
Fluency
Est. ORF
Rate
Fluency Score
Expression
Phrasing
Accuracy
STAR Early Literacy and STAR Reading give Scale Scores, while DRA2 gives a Text Level. In STAR Early Literacy, a student has to have a 775 to be considered a Probable Reader. In STAR Reading the student is about a 1.9 GE to be a Probable Reader.
STAR Reading and STAR Early Literacy also identifies students who need more intervention with the Urgent Intervention, Intervention, On Watch and At/Above categories. These help teachers group students for instruction.
STAR Early Literacy also gives the Literary Classification for students so you can better pinpoint their level. STAR Reading and DRA2 give and Instructional Reading Level. STAR will give one each time a student assesses.
The other scores STAR has are Percentile for both STAR Reading and STAR Early Literacy. STAR Early Literacy may have a percentile rank score but it is not a normed test. STAR Early Literacy is a criterion referenced test. Students in STAR Reading will also receive a Zone of Proximal Development for students’ independent reading level and Grade Equivalent. Even though these scores are important, when looking at a student’s growth, use the scale score. It is the only score that will show the smallest amount of growth.
STAR Reading and Early Literacy was also aligned with Dibels. They give an Estimated Oral Reading Fluency Score.

7. SR and SEL Measurements Cont’d
Reading Concepts
STAR Early Literacy
STAR Reading
DRA2
Comprehension
Sub-Domain (0-100)
Skill Set Scores (0-100)
Domain (0-100)
Comprehension Score on Skills Assessed in Continuum
Questioning/ Predicting
Summary,
Reflection, etc.
Performance on State Standards by Category
Above, Within, Below
Core Learning Progressions
Alphabetic Principal
Concept of Word
Visual Discrimination
Phonemic Awareness
Phonics
Structural Analysis
Vocabulary
Sentence-Level Comprehension
Paragraph–Level Comprehension
Early Numeracy
Read: Foundational Skills
Phonics and Word Recognition
Reading Literature:
Key Ideas and Details
Craft and Structure
Range of Reading and Level of
Text Complexity
Reading Informational Text
Language
Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Focus for Instruction Checklist
Previewing
Retelling
Reflection
Making Connections
Use of Text Features
Literal Comprehension
Prediction
Interpretation
STAR Early Literacy changed very little over the summer. Teachers will receive Domain and Skill Set Scores. The skills are listed in Core Learning Progressions. Numeracy was added at the end of last year.
STAR Reading was completely rebuilt over the summer. STAR Reading has changed the names of the Domains. Under Core Learning Progressions, one can see how it is Common Core.

8. Think & Discuss STAR Early Literacy STAR Reading
Explain why a first grade student may be identified as On Watch (just below grade level) on STAR Early Literacy and be almost a year below grade level according to the student’s DRA2 text level?
STAR Reading
Explain why a fifth grade student’s Instructional Reading Level on STAR Reading may be higher than the student’s DRA2 Text Level?
Two data points not to be compared but to look at student trends.

9. STAR Updates

10. Overview of 15-16 Changes STAR Early Literacy (SEL)/STAR Reading (SR)
Rebuilt for the Common Core with new interface
Integrated Progress Monitoring – non-Enterprise tests vs. Enterprise tests
Skill Probes, Teacher Activities and Performance Tasks in Record Book
Kindergarten Literacy Readiness Indicators
3rd Grade Reading Proficiency Indicators
STAR Historical Extract –
Verify how well STAR predicted state test performance
Identify where students ended last school year for class planning
Identify trends in student or teacher performance or growth

11. New Interface Student View Teacher View
Many have seen the new interface.

12. Integrated Progress Monitoring
Administrator Edits Enterprise Tests
Teachers Edit Classroom Preferences
Integrated Progress Monitoring is a new feature that allows you to give STAR Enterprise during the district window and a shorter assessment called STAR Non Enterprise for progress monitoring. This feature in the software, when set up, will automatically determine if the student should take Enterprise or Non Enterprise.
The caveat to this working is goals have to be set in STAR under Screening, Progress Monitoring and Intervention. This will allow teachers and administration to set SMART goals and to track a students response to the intervention used.

13. Skill Probes in Record Book
Skill Probes have been added to the Record Book and can also be accessed through Enterprise Home. The Skill Probes allow you to quickly assess whether students know the skill or not and how deeply you may need to teach it.

14. Skill Probes
This is an example of a first grade skill probe and a 5th grade skill probe. Teachers can put these on the SMART Board or print them out.
Performance Tasks will start appearing in here during the fall. There is an example in Resources.

15. Kindergarten Literacy Indicators
STAR Early Literacy added Kindergarten Literacy Readiness Indicators. Renaissance Learning has identified a list of skills that designate reading proficiency at each grade level from kindergarten through grade 3. The document is located in Resources.

16. 3rd Grade Literacy Indicators
Here is an example of the 3rd grade proficiency indicators.

17. STAR Historical Extract
Renaissance Learning also created this powerful Historical Extract. This will pull data from 2001 to present. This report does not pull like the others in Renaissance Place. When you click on Historical Extract and go through the filters, a link will appear below.

18. STAR Historical Extract
When you click on the link, an extract will pull up. A notepad document will come up, here one can just copy it into excel for sorting. The data found on this report is every student during the date ranges, all of their scores and who their teacher was. This report can be used to analyze teachers and to analyze students longitudinally.

19. When is STAR Administered?

20. Student Growth Percentiles
Scores are reported in Winter and Spring
3 SGP Scores
Fall to Winter
Winter to Spring
Fall to Spring
Students must have taken a test within Renaissance SGP windows to receive a SGP
Fall: September 1 – October 31
Winter: January 1 – February 28
Spring: May 1 – June 30
Resources
Student Growth Percentiles (SGP)
In order for students to receive a Student Growth Percentile, they must test within the fall to winter, fall to spring or winter to spring windows. DPS has already established their windows that will give you Fall to Spring data. In November, Renaissance Learning is expanding their windows so you should be able to get all SGPS.

21. STAR can be administered as a progress monitoring tool anytime outside the READ Act windows
May be used for progress monitoring
May be administered to students individually

22. Which STAR assessment should I choose?

23. Criteria for Selecting Appropriate STAR Test
Who is required to take STAR Early Literacy?
Students grades K-2 without previous STAR test history or K-2 students with a previous STAR Early Literacy scale score less than 775
Students grades 3-5 that do not pass the STAR Enterprise practice questions
Who is required to take STAR Enterprise?
Students grades K-2 with a previous or current scale score of at least 775 (Literacy Classification is “Probable Reader”) on STAR Early Literacy
Students grades 3-5

24. When might it be appropriate to administer both STAR Early Literacy and STAR Reading?
Testing lists are in school folders.
You may want to administer both assessments to students who are in K-2 grade who are nearing the end of the early literacy skills and ready for the reading progressions. You may want to give students in grades 3-5 both if they are behind in reading and are lacking the early literacy skills.

25. Potential Reasons You May Need to Retest
Test session is interrupted and the score may not be valid (e.g., technical issues, fire drill, student becomes ill, etc.)
Validity of test score is in question (e.g., student headphone volume was too low, student did not take test seriously, student took the test with incorrect login, etc.)
Special Needs Accommodations
A student’s last score within an assessment window will be used for district reporting.
The testing was interrupted for any reason as a sick child, technology issues, fire drills etc…A student may need to retest if you notice they are not testing with their best effort, the headphone were faulty.
A student’s last test score is what will be counted toward the district data. To abort out of a test click on ctrl-A for windows computers and command-A for mac users. You will have to enter the password which is defaulted to admin.
Ctrl-A will abort test; password = ADMIN

26. Assessment Accommodations

27. What are assessment accommodations?
Changes made to assessment procedures that provide students with an equal opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and skills
Changes that do NOT affect the reliability or validity of the assessment
Changes that do NOT alter the instructional level, content, or the performance criteria

28. Who can receive accommodations?
Any student who needs an accommodation
For example: Students with an IEP, 504 Plan, ILP
Students must receive an allowable accommodation if their IEP or 504 Plan specifically states that it is required for them.
SALs must work with the special education staff in their building to identify students with disabilities who need accommodations.

29. What are acceptable assessment accommodations for STAR?
What does the accommodation look like?
Large Print
Configure computer settings to increase font size (see Large-Print slide 27)
Scribe
While a scribe is not an approved accommodation for an adaptive test, the test proctor can use the mouse or keyboard to respond for students with physical limitations that prevent students from answering independently
Must be tested individually and have a separate test setting
Extended Time
Only available in STAR Reading
Estimated Instructional Reading Level
Only for students new to the district
Enter estimated IRL for ELL (Does not affect scores)
Presentation accommodations such as braille, signing, or teacher-read directions are not available for a computer adaptive assessments, in these cases please use an alternate literacy assessment to measure student reading achievement and progress.

30. Large-print
Computer monitor font size can be increased for students who require large-print
For Macs use “Command or (Apple)” and the “+”
For PCs use “Ctrl + or –”
For Notebooks use F11 to switch to full screen view
Please coordinate efforts for testing these students with the vision specialist teacher or the special education teacher as needed.

31. Fidelity

32. Ethical Responsibilities
Understand the purpose of the test
Test every eligible child in a standardized manner
Perform all professional responsibilities with honesty, integrity, due care, and fairness
Practice active proctoring
ACTIVE PROCTORING
Actively monitor students during the test (i.e., walk around the room).
Do not interact with students while they are responding to a question.
Do nothing (verbally or nonverbally) that may impact a student’s answer.
Keep the computer monitors in view. (i.e., students SHOULD NOT browse the web during the test)
Make students aware that computer-based assessments are tests. Students should not talk during the test administration or look at each other’s computer monitors.
After the student completes a computer-based assessment, he or she should logoff of the computer and sit quietly until the testing session is complete. Students may read. They should not get back on the computer.

33. Active Proctoring – Best Practices
Think & Discuss Rate your school on active proctoring Where are you having success? Why? What can you do so that you improve active proctoring at your school?

34. Consequences of Unethical Behavior
Invalid assessment data collected
Inaccurate picture of student performance
Loss of instructional time
Potential disciplinary actions

35. Test Administration

36. What Do I Need to Do Before the Assessment Window Opens?
Verify Access to Renaissance Place Using SchoolNet one teacher click log in
Verify Access to School Folders ( use your Outlook login)
Determine where students will test
Check the testing environment (STR check-in)
Headphones - count & working status
Reboot computers night before assessment
Bookmark Renaissance Place student login page
Take a test on the demo site (look for your region’s test login in 9/19/12 STAR SAL )
Print student testing list (school folders)
Print student login cards (school folders)
Check school STAR administration schedule
Use your STAR SAL Year-At-A-Glance Calendar to keep you on-track!

37. STAR Student Login Cards
Login cards are sorted by teacher homeroom
Username is DPS followed by student’s 6-digit student number
Passwords are student’s 8-digit birthdate (mmddyyyy)

38. What Do I Need to Do During the Assessment Window?
Monitor Student Participation
Reports
Renaissance Place  Add-Ons (Reports)  STAR Screening Results (cannot account for optional students, but immediate)
Renaissance Place STAR Reading/SEL Test Activity Report (cannot account for optional students)
Schedule make-ups as needed
Monitor Administration Best Practices
2 adults in testing room
Keep internet use at a minimum during STAR testing
STR Check-ins
Computers are being rebooted daily
Have technical issues come up? Have administration issues come up? Have appropriate contact been notified?

39. What Do I Need to Do After the Assessment Window?
Reflect – What went well? What did not go well? Make an action plan for next district assessment window.
Pull Screening Report to determine whether all students are being serviced based on their screening status.

40. Accessing Data

41. Accessing Historical STAR Data
Teachers
Schoolnet
Go to Teacher Portal
Questions go to DoTS Hotline
Principals – School-wide Data
Must Create Custom Report
Renaissance Longitudinal Report
Historical Extract

42. Resources & Support

43. THE ASSESSMENT HOTLINE (720-423-3736)
Who Do I Go to for Help?
DoTS Hotline ( ) 
THE ASSESSMENT HOTLINE ( )
Student Issues
 Log-in issues
Product assignment issues
Roster issues
Issues with aborting a test
Teacher Issues
Log-in issues
Issues accessing the appropriate classes
Permissions issues
Other
Assigning Products
Computer/Browser issues
Internet Connectivity
Tests Crashing
Any Unknown Issue
General Administration Questions
Test Requirements
Accommodations
Procedures
Accessing Information on the ARE website
Accessing School Folders
Locating Reports
STAR Specific Information
Deadline/requirements questions or concerns
Questions about materials/ resources
School Admin Account Issues (other than resetting passwords)
Data Interpretation/ Assessment Use

44. Resources for Updates SEL Updates
There are resources in Renaissance Place. The teacher would access them through the teacher portal.

45. Resources for Updates
Renaissance Training Center at
Renaissance Learning also has a training center. The training center has many short videos to watch on how to do certain things. There are also the Free Getting Results Guides on the left hand side. These are the best practices in this free downloadable book.

46. SAL Resources ARE website at http://dpsare.com/district-tests/star/
There are many resources in the ARE Department folder.