STAR 360 or Bust! - (Part 2) So What?

With a few bumps in the road, we made it through the fall screening window for STAR 360.  Now that we've got the data, what can we do with it?

In this post, I will address these topics:

• What is the purpose of this assessment?
• What is the relationship between RtI (or MTSS) and STAR 360?
• How to use various reports to access the data and use it to formulate an instructional response?
• How to use STAR to monitor progress for students receiving interventions?

What is the purpose of this assessment?

We use STAR 360 as a "universal screener" for math and reading meaning that it gives us an indication of students who are at risk for poor learning outcomes.  Screened students are placed in one of four categories based on their national percentile rank:

• Urgent Intervention (0th-9th%) - These students are at the most risk and likely require the most intensive level of intervention (highest frequency).
• Intervention (10th-24th%) - These students are at risk and likely require some intervention.
• On Watch (25th-49th %) - These students may have some risk and require monitoring.
• At or Above (50th-100th%) - These students are not at risk.

The assessment can be used to screen students, it can also be used to as a tool for diagnosing and planning interventions for students who are at risk.  Finally, it can be used to monitor the progress students are making through interventions and other instructional responses.

What is the relationship between RtI (MTSS) and STAR 360?

Response to Intervention (RtI or Multi-tiered Systems of Support - MTSS in Vermont) is a systematic process for assessing student needs and creating opportunities for learning for all students.  It is a three-tiered system beginning with Tier 1, which is high quality, inclusive first instruction for all students.  Tier 1 students are screened regularly (in WCSU we do this three times a year using STAR 360) to look for students who might benefit from an intervention to supplement (not replace) Tier 1 instruction.  Regularly, we need to monitor student progress resulting from inventions to see if they are working.

WANT MORE INFO? Here is a overview video describing the three tiers:

  

How to use the various reports to access the data?

Once your students have taken a STAR assessment, there are various reports that are helpful for taking a closer look at the data.  The four reports I will highlight are the Screening, Diagnostic, Instructional Planning, and Growth reports.  Here's a description of what they are and how to access and use them.

Screening Report

The first report you will want to look at after a screening window is the Screening report.  How to find it:

1. Start at the Home screen.
2. Click on either Reading Assessments or Math Assessments. 
3. Select "Reports."
4. Select "Screening."
5. Click on the class you want to look at.
6. Click on the categories you want to look at (Urgent, Intervention, On Watch, At or Above and/or Students Not Tested).
7. Generate the report. 

Still having trouble?  Here is a video showing you how to access this report.

 Use this report to find out what students need a closer look.  Plan on looking at all of your students who are not "At or Above" using the other reports.

DID YOU FIND OUT SOME OF YOUR STUDENTS MISSED THE TEST?  No problem! Even though the window is closed, you can still have them take a test.  They will not be included in the Screening report for this window, but you can still see their scaled score and percentile rank relating to their test date and use this information to respond.  Likewise, you can still run Diagnostic, Instructional Planning and Growth reports on those after they have taken the test.

Diagnostic Report

The Diagnostic report breaks down each student's scaled score into content domains and skill areas within those domains showing the student's percent mastery of various grade-level skills.  This report is helpful in finding a student's relative strengths and weaknesses.  It is also useful to notice trends among students that can inform Tier 1 instruction.  

For example, last year we noticed that geometry was a relative weakness for our students in grades 3-5, so we made the decision to switch around our scope and sequence for math, addressing some geometry skills at various points earlier in the year.

How to find it:

1. Start at the Home screen.
2. Click on either Reading Assessments or Math Assessments. 
3. Select "Reports."
4. Select "Diagnostic."
5. Click on the class you want to look at.
6. Click "No" you don't want to look at the grade equivalent (because this is based on percentiles, not standards).
7. Click "Yes" you do want to see skill area scores. 
8. Generate the report.

Still having trouble?  Here is a video showing you how to access this report.

NOTE: This is a good report to share with students and/or parents (make sure you do not show the grade equivalent though!).  It could help them to see their relative strengths and weaknesses and how weaknesses will be addressed through the scope and sequence at their grade-level and any interventions the student may have.

BEWARE:  This report is replaced every time a student takes an assessment.  So if you want to be able to refer back to it later (for example, to look at growth in a skill area) you will need to save this file.  I recommend saving it with the date in the filename. 

Instructional Planning - Student Report

The Instructional Planning - Student report shows you the skills that each student is ready to learn. I would recommend running this report on all students who are flagged as needing some sort of intervention.  Use this to find potential focus skills for interventions (suggested focus skills are highlighted with double arrows).  

How to find it:

1. Start at the Home screen.
2. Click on either Reading Assessments or Math Assessments. 
3. Select "Reports."
4. Select "Instructional Planning - Student."
5. Click on the class or individual students you want to look at.
6. Click "No" you don't want to look at the grade equivalent (because this is based on percentiles, not standards).
7. Generate the report.

Still having trouble?  Here is a video showing you how to access this report.

BEWARE:  This report is replaced every time a student takes an assessment.  So if you want to be able to refer back to it later you will need to save this file.  I recommend saving it with the date in the filename. 

Growth Report

Once students have taken more than one STAR assessment in a school year, you can use the growth report to look at changes in a student's scaled score and percentile rank.  The scaled score should always increase.  If the scaled score drops, one of two things are likely happening: 1) the student did not take the assessment seriously; or 2) the student regressed because of health, injury or trauma.  Either way, you will want to take a closer look at this student to see what's going on.  

You will also want to note students at risk whose scaled scores increased, but their percentile rank did not.  This indicates that these students did grow, but that their current rate of growth is not allowing them catch up with (or keep pace with) their peers.  For these students, you will want to rethink Tier 1 supports and interventions in an attempt to gain ground.

How to find it:

1. Start at the Home screen.
2. Click on either Reading Assessments or Math Assessments. 
3. Select "Reports."
4. Select "Growth."
5. Click on the class or individual students you want to look at.
6. Click "No" you don't want to look at the grade equivalent (because this is based on percentiles, not standards).
7. Generate the report.

Still having trouble?  Here is a video showing you how to access this report.

How to use STAR to monitor progress for students receiving interventions?

Once you have determined an instructional response for a student (or a group of students) flagged as needing intervention, you can use STAR to monitor the progress of that response.  You may have students take a STAR assessment any time you want outside of the screening windows to gather progress monitoring data.  From a student's perspective, this would look exactly like it does when they take a test during the screening window.

I recommend having students take a test to monitor progress every 3-4 weeks and share their progress with them using the Diagnostic and Growth reports.