STAR 360 or Bust! - (Part 1) Fall Screening for Math and Reading

I apologize in advance that this is not an exciting post, but it is a necessary one.  Next week, I promise to share something exciting that the Berlin Grade 4-6 team is cooking up around personalized learning. For now, the purpose of this post is to provide WCSU teachers in grades 1-10 with the information they need to administer the STAR Math and Reading screening assessments for our fall window.

The Nitty Gritty

Here are the basics, see the embedded links for more detailed info.

• When? The screening window is Tuesday, September 5 - Monday, September 18, 2017. 
• Where? The STAR 360 link for both students and teachers can be found here and also under the "Staff" links on any of our school websites (see the screenshot included at the top of this post).
• Who? All students in grades 1-10 will take the STAR Math assessment.  All students in grades 3-10 will take the STAR Reading assessment.  Any teacher or special educator can administer the assessment.
• How? Last year I created this site (WCSU STAR 360 Training Site) with modules 1 and 2 explaining how to log in, verify that your class is there, etc.*
• Why? STAR 360 is "universal screener" that is part of our balanced and comprehensive assessment plan for WCSU (for more info you can find the plan linked here).  It is used to identify students who are experiencing difficulty (or are likely to) and who are in need of further diagnostic assessment or possibly additional support within the MTSS-RtII.**  

*Just a note on organization... For elementary multi-age classes, I have created two "classes" in STAR 360 one at each grade level, for example Cindy Gauthier's 3-4 class shows up as "Gauthier 3" in grade 3 and "Gauthier 4" in grade 4.  At U-32, each grade is organized by team, for example "Porthos 7" in grade 7 and "A" in Grade 9.

**Later STAR can also be used to diagnose difficulties and progress monitor interventions.  You can check out how to access reports in module 4 on the training site (linked here).  I'll post more on this later.

Questions?

If you have any questions/concerns/difficulties, please contact Michelle Ksepka at central office or me (edorsey@u32.org).

Additionally, resources at the building level are:

• U-32 - Kendra Christiana
• Berlin - Kimberly Farone
• Calais - Mary Carpenter
• Doty - Sonya Rhodes
• East Montpelier - Anne Carter
• Rumney - Chip Hedler