Item: Renaissance Star Assessments
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Star 360 school-wide in our K-6 building. We use the Star Reading and Math assessments to give us an idea of the strengths and weaknesses for our students. This helps us to plan strategic interventions to help them be successful. We also use this information to help us place students in interventions to help them grow.

Pros and Cons

The reports are easy to understand for both teachers and parents.
The assessments provide more than just a score. The data can be broken down by standard to really target interventions.
Star 360 is easy for students to use. The user platform is not complicated or distracting.

It always seems that once I know where something (i.e. report) is located, that they move things around.
It would be nice if teachers had more control over certain settings for their students, rather than an administrator who may not know a group of kids.
It would be nice if there were features for students to adjust the content on their screens (color, size, etc.) like we have on state testing to make it more consistent.

Return on Investment

It has helped our school to plan how to help our students by providing data and resources.
Our students are excited to see how they do when they finish the assessment. This gives them motivation while taking the test to do their best.
We are able to give the planning reports that lists out the standards to our tutoring teachers to help them plan meaningful after school activities.

Other Software Used

PowerSchool Student Information System, Google Classroom, CrisisGo

Likelihood to Recommend

Star 360 is a great tool to use as a teacher. I am able to see the level my students are currently working. I use the results to conference with each of my students individually. We look at the areas they did well in and then look at the standards where they scored lower. We use this to set smart goals for each student to work towards. The one area I feel it is not well suited for is giving an accurate representation of where students will be as we move forward in the school year. It seems that there is a predictable pattern of which times of the year students will show growth on the test and then the times when scores take a step back. I have seen that in two separate districts I have used Star in.

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Usability
Product Reputation
Prior Experience with the Product
Vendor Reputation
Existing Relationship with the Vendor

Having used Renaissance programs over the years made it a very easy choice to go with STAR assessments. Our faculty was used to the look of the user dashboard and reports. It made it an easy move into the program with little push back from faculty and administrators.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

We would not change anything as we considered several options and felt the most at ease with renaissance products.

Reaching for the stars with Star 360

Overall Satisfaction with Renaissance Star 360