Running head: PROGRAM EVALUATION: STAR 1

Educational Leadership Program Evaluation: STAR

Katie Wissman

Longwood University

I, Katelyn Wissman, have neither given nor received help on this work, nor am I aware of any infraction
of the Honor Code.
PROGRAM EVAULATION: STAR 2

As a school that serves a population of primarily low income, minority students, many struggle

with the academic rigor of our classes. To help meet our students’ needs and track their progress, our

district and special education department decided to invest in a program called STAR. This program is

produced by a company called Renaissance Learning and is available in several subjects including

Reading, Math, Spanish, and Early Literacy. Our schools invest specifically in the Reading and Math

products. These products are designed to assess the specific learning needs of our diverse population of

students. It provides meaningful feedback and suggestions for instruction to target areas of need

identified as well as tracks and monitors progress. Assessments are aligned with specific state standards

to help predict student success on state tests. Data provided by the assessments can also be used to

compare student performance to school and statewide data. The program and assessments are

administered online and can be given any time (“Renaissance Learning,” n.d.).

The Manassas Park City School district’s mission and vision centers around a positive community

and academic environment for students while setting high standards of excellence to create global

citizens. A focus of the district’s strategic plan is on closing the achievement gaps in Special Education.

Specifically, the STAR program ties in with Goal 1, Objective 1 of the Manassas Park City School Strategic

Plan which states, “MPCS will ensure improved academic achievement for all students (MPCS Strategic

Plan, 2018).” A performance standard of this goal is to improve student SOL scores in Reading, Math,

and Science. Using the STAR program, teachers and the district can see specific areas of need in Math

and Reading to be addressed and project how the students in the special education department will

most likely perform on these state assessments. As these state test scores impact accreditation, the

STAR program is valuable for closing the gaps in special education student learning and improving

instruction and overall test scores.

At the middle school level, our district only pays for the number of licenses for the program to

test students identified by the special education department, so not all students are tested. However, at
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the elementary level, all students are tested. The funding for the program is taken from the special

education budget line and cost $1,500 for the 110 issues needed for the middle school. According to an

interview with our Special Education Coordinator, our district chose this program because it gives

constant feedback on grade level equivalent and weaknesses that are typically only determined at the

initial evaluation of the student for the special education program (Scheuttler, 2019).

To determine the impact of the STAR program on instructional planning and implementation, a

survey was administered to all the Math, Language Arts and Special Education teachers (as they are the

primary people giving the tests and monitoring results). Questions that were asked included how

frequently a STAR test was given, the teacher’s opinion on the validity of the test results, and the effects

the data provided had on instruction. 17 out of 30 possible people responded to the survey. Questions

that ask for a rating use 1 as the lowest amount or opinion and 5 as the highest. The results of the

survey are represented in the charts and graphs below:

PROGRAM EVAULATION: STAR 4

(Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1n2p_p-8mbeXnqA7WIb7PPqVW-QTyiYBOzQnhUTGemOE/edit)

As is shown by the data, the STAR program is met with mixed reviews throughout the building.

82% of teachers only give tests when told to do so, which is primarily at the end of each quarter, and are

not taking advantage of the opportunity to track progress more frequently. Many feel the STAR program
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is more beneficial for Special Education teachers than it is for general education teachers as the data

provides good feedback for the writing and monitoring of IEPs and student goals. 41% of teachers

admitted that they do not use the feedback or use it minimally when planning for student instruction.

When asked why, 82% said they feel the feedback isn’t accurate because the students don’t take it

seriously. They know it is not for a grade and therefor are not motivated to do well. Furthermore, this

test comes at the end of the quarter when all other subject areas are giving quarter exams, making this

just one more test on the pile for them and eventually causing burnout. 58% of teachers also find it

difficult to find time to administer the test because it is only given to a few students in the class and time

must be found for them to take it in a quiet area while at the same time continuing with class, causing

those students to miss instruction (Wissman, 2019). Overall, it seems teachers are only giving the STAR

assessment because they must. It is valuable to the Special Education department but not so much for

the teachers of inclusion classes.

To better understand the instructional and student benefits of STAR, we must delve deeper into

the program itself. Examples shown are from a recent STAR Reading test administered to a 6th grade,

male student. The results of the test provide indications of ability including Lexile level, grade level

equivalent, instructional reading level and percentile rank. A scale ranking of ability is also provided to

help gauge need. Pictures of these results are shown here:

(Retrieved from https://hosted411.renlearn.com/29070/SR/SRReportController.rli)

Once the test is given, content specific feedback is provided. For a reading test, instructional suggestions

are given in areas including vocabulary, fiction and nonfiction. An example of this feedback is provided

here (note: student name has been removed):

PROGRAM EVAULATION: STAR 6

(Retrieved from https://hosted411.renlearn.com/29070/SR/SRReportController.rli)

Using this feedback, teachers can see that this student would benefit from instruction focused on areas

surrounding the comprehension of fiction texts. Specific examples include instruction and practice with

making predictions, elements of fiction, foreshadowing, and inference making through cause and effect.

Through the use of tailored instruction, student achievement can be projected to improve over the

course of the school year. This feedback is provided to intervention specialists, general and special

education teachers. Special education teachers can combine this data with other forms of assessment to

write specific goals for learning and improvement on IEPs. General education teachers and intervention

specialists can use this data to differentiate instruction and create tailored learning activities. When

used on a large scale, the program will also group students based on ability or areas of need, to allow for

tailored small group instruction.

Overall, the STAR program, in theory, is extremely useful and valuable. The feedback provided is

meaningful for the planning of tailored instruction for students. By targeting the areas of need, student

test scores and achievement can be expected to improve. The STAR program is useful for tracking data

and monitoring progress for students with IEPs. However, at the middle school level, teachers struggle

to use the data and implement recommendations for instruction with fidelity, thus rendering the

program far less useful than it could be. While the data and uses of the program are beneficial, given the
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feedback from teachers, it is questionable as to whether this program is valuable to invest in at the

middle school level.

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References:

Manassas park city schools strategic plan. (2018). Retrieved February 10, 2019, from

https://www.mpark.net/uploaded/DistrictDocs/About_MPCS/MPCS_Strategic_Plan_2018_2023

_Final.pdf

Schuettler, M., (2019, February 5). Coordinator Interview [Personal interview]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ucXbrcsvva4-5jwZj-5pFaNfTKCUo3t8iEefKohiDMs/edit

Star report photographs. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2019, from

https://hosted411.renlearn.com/29070/SR/SRReportController.rli

Star Reading - K-12 Assessment - Growth and Mastery. (n.d.). Retrieved February 8, 2019, from

https://www.renaissance.com/products/assessment/star-360/star-reading-skills/

Wissman, K., (2019, February 4). Wissman- Star test survey. Retrieved from

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1n2p_p-8mbeXnqA7WIb7PPqVW-

QTyiYBOzQnhUTGemOE/edit