Renaissance Star Assessments

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.

• The reports help us look at individual student needs.
• The record book helps us to create groups.
• The test is easy to access and give.

• Renaissance Star Assessments has helped our students look at their own progress and build confidence in their ability to learn.
• Renaissance Star Assessments is another piece of information we can use to determine a student's capabilities.
• Renaissance Star Assessments can help us determine if further testing is needed.

Evaluate

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.

• It has allowed me to see what content to focus on with the VPK children, both in a group and with individual children
• I realized that I had to focus on having the children learn content not only in their native language but also in English as well
• Sometimes, I do feel as if I am helping the child learn only to be able to pass the Star Assessments rather than focusing on practical material (holding a pencil, being able to tie shoes, writing the name, etc.) as the child grows throughout the year.

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.

• It has helped us plan instruction.
• It has given us useful data.
• It has helped us communicate with parents of students who struggle about specific learning gaps or needs.

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.

• It has increased student skills across the board
• It has helped to identify specific skill gaps for our students

Freckle by Renaissance, Lalilo and Nearpod

Freckle, Lalilo, Nearpod

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.

• Clear communication
• Simple to use
• Accurate

Nearpod, IXL Learning