Freckle by Renaissance vs. Renaissance Star Assessments

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Freckle by Renaissance
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Freckle’s differentiation platform is designed to makes it easy for teachers to reach each student at their own individual level—without having to spend extra time preparing many different lessons every day. The Freckle platform was designed by Freckle Education in San Francisco, and was acquired and is now supported by Renaissance Learning (acquired May 2019).N/A
Renaissance Star Assessments
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Star Assessments are a suite of assessments for reading, math, and early literacy, in both English and Spanish, boasting users among over 30,000 schools. Star Assessments helps educators to gain accurate insights into student learning, growth, and achievement—so they can help all learners reach their full potential. The full Star Assessment suite includes the computer-adaptive Star Reading (K–12), Star Math (K–12), and Star Early Literacy (pre-K–3) assessments; a formative assessment tool, Star…N/A
Pricing
Freckle by RenaissanceRenaissance Star Assessments
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Freckle by RenaissanceRenaissance Star Assessments
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Freckle by RenaissanceRenaissance Star Assessments
Considered Both Products
Freckle by Renaissance
Chose Freckle by Renaissance
I personally love the other products more than freckle math. I love the name Freckle, and I love the concept, but I don't think my class benefits from Freckle in an exponential way. I have been through many trainings and I just don't see it the same as other Renaissance …
Chose Freckle by Renaissance
I liked Khan Academy and the students liked doing the activities. I liked that I could assign lessons for specific skills based on the area of need. Khan Academy does not have free access. I like that Freckle allows me to get on and really use it so I can see if it will be a …
Chose Freckle by Renaissance
I think that Freckle is a great supplemental support for students who are working at a K - 3 grade equivalency. The content is better than Moby Max, IXL, and FlashtoPass. However, freckle is very elementary with the look, sounds, incentives, and avatars. It is difficult to …
Chose Freckle by Renaissance
Freckle is a better program than Accelerated Math in the sense that teachers can customize practice more for students and create groups for their classroom. Students also like the homepage of Freckle and have more buy-in than Accelerated Math. It has more buy-in for …
Renaissance Star Assessments
Chose Renaissance Star Assessments
Freckle by Renaissance is a great tool to use once the students have taken the Renaissance Star Assessments. You can use the data provided by the Star Reports to assign assignments for your students at the level of their need.
Chose Renaissance Star Assessments
Renaissance Star Assessment works better for progress monitoring over time. It is easy to set up goals and monitor growth. The diagnostic reports can be viewed and printed for use as evidence when needed.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Freckle by RenaissanceRenaissance Star Assessments
Small Businesses
Google Classroom
Google Classroom
Score 8.1 out of 10
iSpring Learn
iSpring Learn
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Schoolmint Hero
Schoolmint Hero
Score 9.7 out of 10
WileyPLUS
WileyPLUS
Score 9.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Schoolmint Hero
Schoolmint Hero
Score 9.7 out of 10
WileyPLUS
WileyPLUS
Score 9.4 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Freckle by RenaissanceRenaissance Star Assessments
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(13 ratings)
9.0
(64 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(3 ratings)
8.7
(9 ratings)
Usability
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.3
(5 ratings)
Availability
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
9.1
(3 ratings)
9.0
(15 ratings)
Online Training
9.1
(1 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.0
(1 ratings)
8.2
(4 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(1 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.1
(1 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
Freckle by RenaissanceRenaissance Star Assessments
Likelihood to Recommend
Renaissance Learning
Freckle is a fantastic online learning platform. I think it works well in multiple learning environments. Last year I used Freckle in a distance learning model and this year on individual iPads in class. I love that it is a quick platform to assess student achievement. I haven't experienced a scenario where Freckle would fail however, lack of access to the internet is always a factor.
Read full review
Renaissance Learning
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.
Read full review
Pros
Renaissance Learning
  • Freckle does a great job adapting lessons.
  • Freckle does a great job motivating students and participation.
  • Freckle is very interactive with students and teachers to support continued participation.
  • Freckle provides DOK challenge questions that support students' understanding after standards are met.
  • Student inquiry and problem-based questions are also new additions to Freckle that help support led activities.
Read full review
Renaissance Learning
  • 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.
Read full review
Cons
Renaissance Learning
  • My students get bored with just answering questions the whole time. They complain about having to get on to Freckle.
  • I would like to see open ended or open response questions.
  • I would like for Freckle to be able to assess fluency.
Read full review
Renaissance Learning
  • The graphs for each subject are not consistently the same. (ie. some graphs are by 5s and some are by 50s.) It's very confusing to read them.
  • The questions are not rigorous enough for state standards.
  • Different reports will show data that does not align. If 'state' is chosen, then all reports should show the same data. The Parent Report will show the child in 'green', but every sub-skill is in 'red'. That is super confusing for parents and teachers.
  • All reports should be based on the same score, but they are not. It is like comparing apples to oranges on the same child.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Renaissance Learning
Freckle is an excellent educational tool. The platform supports students and provides them with the opportunity to be successful in mathematics.
Read full review
Renaissance Learning
I give it this rating because it is an essential program in our school. We set up reading groups throug( the Star assessment. We set goals based on the assessment. Students comfort zones are based on the zpd data in Star. We track students progress through the data found in Star.
Read full review
Usability
Renaissance Learning
user friendly
Read full review
Renaissance Learning
I love the idea that it takes only a short period of time for the students to be able to take the quizzes and obtain results. I appreciative how quickly the teacher has plans on implementation in her/his hands as soon as the class has completed the quiz.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Renaissance Learning
No answers on this topic
Renaissance Learning
It’s wonderful
Read full review
Performance
Renaissance Learning
No answers on this topic
Renaissance Learning
I absolutely love this program
Read full review
Support Rating
Renaissance Learning
Such an excellent program that is a hidden gem at no cost for teachers to use with students.
Read full review
Renaissance Learning
After using the product for multiple years, I am very pleased with the assessment administration and report options. I use STAR Assessment data regularly and review the different reports to guide instruction. There are many different report options to help meet the needs of the teacher and student. STAR Assessments are a valuable assessment tool for the classroom
Read full review
Online Training
Renaissance Learning
No answers on this topic
Renaissance Learning
I just feel this way.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
Renaissance Learning
No answers on this topic
Renaissance Learning
When presenters show us how to use the program they need to have a full class size of data. During training, there were only 5 or 6 sample students. Classes are more like 25 and that makes the training more realistic to have similar data to what we will use.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Renaissance Learning
I personally love the other products more than freckle math. I love the name Freckle, and I love the concept, but I don't think my class benefits from Freckle in an exponential way. I have been through many trainings and I just don't see it the same as other Renaissance products.
Read full review
Renaissance Learning
Renaissance Star Math Assessment provided a proven data collection tool. This was also being used at the lower grades in our district, so it made sense to continue with its use to provide a more reliable and accurate picture of our students entering the middle school. The continuation of the data trail should continue to help their overall growth.
Read full review
Scalability
Renaissance Learning
No answers on this topic
Renaissance Learning
Great overall program with lots of advice in implementation
Read full review
Return on Investment
Renaissance Learning
  • I used Freckle in the free version and was very pleased with the opportunities it offered my students and the engagement is achieved.
  • I currently use Freckle premium and continue to enjoy the benefits that Freckle provides to my student's growth, more so it now provides weekly reports and other analytical reports to support students.
Read full review
Renaissance Learning
  • It has positively impacted student time to learn by reducing testing times and allowing more time for instruction
  • The reduced testing time also positively impacted our schools by freeing the computer labs and making the planning and creation of testing schedules easier. This has allowed more computer lab use for education and learning.
  • It has negatively impacted the time and effort required by support staff, administrators, and some teachers by requiring more time spent on looking up results or going to multiple spots and manually combining results because a larger group couldn't easily be made.
  • Another negative impact on our district is that it has also taxed those few educators with more technical ability and data knowledge moreso than other programs. The need to create/summarize/write programs to deal with full, raw data export files since the smaller, more specific reports and summaries are not downloadable into a format that can be manipulated easily (pdf only, not csv exports), and to constantly back up data exports and to have to search through them when the State wants results on past students etc.
Read full review
ScreenShots