New reports demonstrate the success of STAR Reading and STAR Math assessments in forecasting summative exam preparedness for Smarter Balanced Assessment

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis., (November 10, 2015) – Renaissance Learning, a K12 assessment and learning analytics company with a presence in more than a third of U.S. schools, today announced the validation of its Renaissance STAR Reading and Renaissance STAR Math programs as solid indicators of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) summative exam.

The study was conducted over the 2014–2015 school year with over 50,000 students from four states (CA, OR, WA and CT), with results demonstrating Renaissance Learning platform’s ability to directly predict student performance on the summative Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA). In comparing Renaissance STAR Reading and Renaissance STAR Math to the SBA, connections in data indicate a strong relationship between the two tests. Concurrent correlations by grade ranged between 0.81 and 0.86, well above the 0.7 threshold industry standard indicating a strong relationship between the two tests.

The Renaissance STAR programs are built on a growth-oriented learning progression model — a sequencing of skills a student must master from kindergarten to high school graduation — that is also statistically linked to nearly every state test in America. This sequencing helps educators plot students along a research-validated learning growth path so students can make progress to the height of their potential. Nearly 20 million students and teachers use Renaissance cloud-based offerings in schools across the world.

Additional analyses evaluated the extent to which STAR predicted SBA outcomes and revealed high levels of predictive accuracy.

“Interim assessments, like Renaissance STAR, are essential tools for educators to support their real-time teaching goals and to help students reach their growth potential,” said Jack Lynch, CEO of Renaissance Learning. “Today it is critical that classroom assessments reduce the student testing burden overall and give back instructional hours to teachers. Our findings prove that Renaissance STAR assessments do deliver on the promise to estimate student success on end-of-year exams and help educators demonstrate student growth, even as new standards and summative exams are implemented.”

The SBA was developed with a $176 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, aimed at transforming testing with newly innovative ways to evaluate deeper levels of understanding.

In total, Renaissance Learning has assembled 18 comprehensive technical reports, illustrating the results of their SBA correlation study for each state in further detail. The new data will be available to users in SBA states in early December.

About Renaissance

Renaissance, the leader of K-12 cloud-based assessment and learning analytics, has a presence in more than one-third of U.S. schools and 60 countries around the world. By delivering deep insight into what students know, what they like and how they learn, Renaissance enables educators to deliver highly personalized and timely instruction while driving student growth in reading, writing and math. To learn more, visit: www.renaissance.com.