STAR Scores

In the Tuesday Communicator this week, your child should be bringing home his/her STAR report for Math and Reading.  If you've been at Shades Cahaba long, this is probably something you have seen before.  I just thought I would explain a bit about these tests.

STAR Math and STAR Reading are both online tests that the students complete.  In both tests, questions vary and difficulty level adjusts based on how successful the student is on the previous questions.  These tests are taken at least three times a year and are one part of a collection of data we use to monitor progress throughout the year.


STAR Reading:
GP - This represents the point in the year.  Right now, it says 4.0.  If taken in January, it would say 4.5.

SS - The scaled score is just the score of the test calculated in another way.

GE - This is the number we most often watch.  It is the grade equivalent. This is "a norm-referenced score that represents how a student’s test performance compares with other students nationally. For example, a fourth-grade student with a GE score of 5.6 performed as well as a typical fifth-grader after the sixth month of the school year. This score doesn’t necessarily mean that the student is capable of reading fifth-grade material—it only indicates that the student’s reading skills are above average for the fourth grade."

PR - This is the percentile ranking of your child and how he/she compares to other students across the country who took this test in 4th grade at the same point in the year.

NCE - Normal Curve Equivalence is another way to compare students in a nationally ranked comparison, similar to the percentile rankings but using a different scale.

IRL - This is also an important number to watch.  This is the level at which your child should be able to read independently.  This will be a little bit lower than the GE.

Est. ORF - Based on how long it took your child to answer questions, this is the estimated oral reading fluency score, or about how many words per minute the program believes your child can read.

ZPD - This is the reading range which your child should probably be reading in.  This is JUST a guideline.  The students and I have discussed making sure to choose books that we understand, but ones that also challenge us a bit.

STAR Math:
GP - See Above

SS - See Above

GE - See Above

PR - See Above

NCE - See Above


My apologies, I know that was probably more than you ever wanted to know!  Just wanted to share in case you were a numbers person and wanted to understand what was coming home!