TrustRadius Insights for Renaissance Star Assessments are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.
Pros
Valuable Information and Alignment: Many users have stated that Renaissance Star Assessments provide valuable information about students' reading levels and progress over time. They appreciate that the assessments are aligned well with what they are said to be measuring.
Adaptive Tests for Customized Assessment: The adaptive tests feature of Renaissance Star Assessments has been praised by users. It adjusts the difficulty level of questions based on students' performance, providing a customized assessment experience.
Integration and Tracking with Other Platforms: Users find the data synchronization feature of Renaissance Star Assessments with platforms like Freckle and Nearpod to be helpful. This allows for seamless integration and tracking of student performance, as well as assigning lessons tailored to each student's needs.
We use Renaissance Star Assessments to get baseline data and track progress among our students. We also use the data to direct our remediation and gap efforts for students with learning gaps and deficiencies. We test twice a year once in the fall and again in the spring for most students. Some students are tested more often to ensure that their testing data is accurate.
Pros
Provides easy to use online testing
Provides a variety of reports.
Allows for teachers and administrators to review data.
Cons
More links to free resources within the testing platform.
Likelihood to Recommend
Renaissance Star Assessments are great for getting baseline data for students with a minimal reading level. It also, provides read aloud accommodation for students who struggle with reading. It does not have a good solution for students who simple want to skip through the test without reading the prompts or working through the problems.
We use Renaissance Star Assessments quarterly to assess student mastery of Math and ELA. We then use the results to provide data points for targeted skills that students are struggling on.
Pros
Provide data points
Provide targeted skills for students to work on
Provide instructional practices for the future
Cons
Not applicable
Likelihood to Recommend
Renaissance Star Assessments is well suited for students who are Pre-Primer and above in Reading and have a basic knowledge of basic math skills.
STAR Reading and Math Assessments are less geared toward non-readers. Those students should utilize Early Intervention.
I use the Renaissance Star Assessments to test VPK children three times a year on what they have learned throughout the school year. This helps to prepare them for the material they will learn in kindergarten. With these assessments, it also helps to guide the curriculum in determining what is good for the children to learn while in preschool.
Pros
Gives relatively simple questions for the children to answer
The use of many easy to understand pictures in the question
The option to repeat the question so that the child can hear it
The option to use either a tablet or a computer, so the child can use the device that they are more comfortable with
Cons
Support for students who are learning English as a second language
Bigger pictures
Likelihood to Recommend
Renaissance Star Assessments are great for students who already know English and know how to use a device, especially a tablet. The children can listen to the question, choose an answer, then move on to the next question. These assessments are less appropriate for students learning English as a second language. Since the questions are in English, and most students primarily speak another language, they do not understand the questions and get many of them wrong. As a result, they score low and it appears as if the child has not been learning when in fact the low score is due to a language barrier. I think there should also be some type of block to choosing an answer until after the question is presented because some children like to press answers before the question is finished and then try to move on. I think having the answers be unclickable before the question is finished would be a benefit for the children to pay more attention to the question.
We use this program to help students to assess their reading and show growth. We use it as progress monitoring and it is used multiple times a year. They typically take the test in both reading and math for the year.
Pros
Grade level equivilency
Shows clear information to parents
Creates small groups with targetting skills to work on
Cons
Students accessing their own scores
Open opportunities for practice
Likelihood to Recommend
The information is both easy to access and easy to use. It allows us to specifically look at targets. It also gives clear reporting for both students and their families. This makes the steps simpler for others to get to and the students know exactly what to expect. The tests cater to the students by getting easier/harder based on how they are doing.
Our district uses Renaissance Star Assessments are used three times a year. The students are tested at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, and at then end of the year. This is done to to show growth throughout the year. We also use it to find out their ZPD and what their instructional level is.
Pros
rigor
easy to use
reminders
Cons
more time
more animation
number of questions
Likelihood to Recommend
I believe it's well suited for some students but some first graders are just beginning to read. This is why some of them take a little bit longer to read. I have noticed that beginning readers don't have enough time to answer the questions because their time for the question is up.
In our district, we use Renaisance Star Assessments to look at ZPD and the instructional level. We use it to measure what the students still need help with while allowing them to check out books from our library using the ZPD that is recommended. We test our students 3 times a year BOY, MOY and EOY. The growth is used to measure teacher input at the end of year with other state assessments.
Pros
Easy to use
Staggered question rigor
Reminders
Cons
Give a bit more time
Need a bigger time up reminder
Pictures for ELLs
Likelihood to Recommend
Star is well suited for testing reading level in schools. It allows teachers to get a base idea what their comprehensional level is based on what they read independently. It helps to plan out the level of books students can and should be checking out at school library and how to challenge themselves.
The Renaissance Star Assessment is being use in our district especially with the elementary sector. Our students gets tested at the beginning of the year, middle of the year and at the end of the year. Our campus would retrieve the scores and teachers will gather the information and modify their small group instruction to ensure those skills are being taught. In regards to the business problems the product addresses, I cannot provide any information since we are not part or have access to any product or business problems.
Pros
Access to reports
Easily administered
Quick results
Cons
The star assessment can be more animated for lower grades students such as kindergarten and 1st graders
Likelihood to Recommend
The reports are great and easily to read. There is all types of reports that can be generated, such as growth reports, student individual reports, and many more.
In my organization we use the Star Assessments to assess the VPK children three time a year. The best thing about the Star Assessments is how easy it is to use and how accurate the answer can be. The only issue I have with the assessment is with the students that are not proficient in English. Sometime I am sure the student knows the answer to a certain question but the student gets the question wrong because of understanding.
Pros
Multiple examples
Continue the progress individually
Children can work at the own pace
Cons
How to help second language learners
Is the assessment available in other languages
What other languages can the assessment be taking
Likelihood to Recommend
I have a few children who don't know how to pay attention to the question. Therefore they just pick anything I don't think for such students the test is appropriate.
In 2016, I piloted Star Early Literacy Assessment with Kindergarten students to convince my district that this standardized assessment was the one to use for the grade level. Star Early Literacy and Star Reading has been used since 2016. The assessment is required in Fall, Winter and Spring and is optional at any time a teacher needs achievement information.It tells use the exact skills that children are ready to work on for mastery, helping teachers to group students for literacy skill work. Many report types are available and are teacher and parent friendly to understand. I am able to retrieve an individual student report which tells me which skills to work on for mastery and create small work groups at the click of the mouse. Star is linked with Nearpod, so teachers are able to find appropriate lessons to use to teach assessed skills. The initial testing session begins with a kid friendly how-to tutorial and practice questions. Each testing session thereafter begins with a practice session as a how-to reminder. The assessment itself is 27 questions which includes about 24 literacy questions and 3 math related questions. The questions are read to students with an option to listen to the question again by clicking the bunny icon. If students score 875 or higher on the Early Lit test, it is recommended they take the Star Reading test. Support is always available from Renaissance for teachers and administrators.
Pros
provides usable, easy to understand teacher and family reports
tests required grade level standards
links assessment with Nearpod lessons
provides individual company support
easy and fast to administer during a busy day school day
provides an opportunity to pause the test if needed
Cons
remove the clock icon from the top of the screen/ increase time available to answer questions
ability for teachers to see the exact questions the student missed
ability to see the progression of questions during the test to see when the questions asked became more difficult or easier
separate the literacy and math questions in Early Lit so there is a separate math test
Likelihood to Recommend
Many of my students reach the 852 score and are eligible to take the Star Reading test in the Spring. This is due to the reports telling me which skills to work on and being able to group students according to skill needs.
When I need teacher assistance, online meetings with Renaissance support personnel has been available. Renaissance always welcomes teacher feedback to improve their products. The company has acquired many classroom tools in the last years and connected them fir ease of teacher use, which saves classroom time.
I use Renaissance Star Assessments to monitor reading and math progression in our students. I am a Title 1 Reading Teacher and Dyslexia Specialist, so I work with students who struggle with reading and some who struggle with math. After teaching specific skills to my students for a period of time, usually after 6 weeks or so, I will look to see if my teaching strategies are helping them or not.
Pros
Renaissance Star Assessments gives me a look at each student as an overall reader.
Renaissance Star Assessments shows me the areas of which my students are struggling.
Renaissance Star Assessments is linked with Nearpod, so I can assign lessons based on what each student needs.
Star CBM helps me see whether my students' fluency is improving or not.
Cons
When looking at the record book, I would like to see a comparison of all tests instead of just a couple at a time. I would like to see Star Reading, Star Early Literacy, and Star CBM simultaneously.
I would like to have a test for my 4th through 6th grades that could act as a dyslexia screener. I use Star Early Literacy for k through 3rd grades.
I wish we didn't have to pay for each test separately. I would like there to be one prices for a suite of resources. One price for Star Reading, Star Early Literacy, and Star Math.
Likelihood to Recommend
Renaissance Star Assessments is a tool we use to monitor growth over a period of time. We can use the reports to see what areas of reading and math each student struggles with the most and use that information for remediation. We also use the reports to show students how well they had progressed. That builds their confidence and puts a smile on their faces as they can see that they are capable at succeeding. The parents like the reports so they can see that their children are progressing.
