In recent years, we’ve entered a new era of education—one that leverages data, insight, and, yes, testing to understand what learning looks like for every student and to meet new state standards. One of the new exams is the summative assessment from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). Developed with a $176 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, this test is aimed at transforming testing with newly innovative ways to evaluate deeper levels of understanding. Implemented in 18 states to date, educators and students across the country took the SBAC test for the first time during the 2014–2015 school year.

To better understand how Renaissance Assessment’s testing platform maps to this summative exam, we conducted a study exploring the relationship between Star assessments and the SBAC test. What we found confirmed that Star’s data is an effective indicator of SBAC test readiness.

The study was conducted using performance data from the 2014–2015 school year with over 50,000 students from four states (CA, OR, WA, and CT). Correlations between the two tests were very high, well above the industry standard threshold for measurement, indicating a strong relationship. Other analyses in the study revealed high levels of predictive accuracy.

Because Star is built on a growth-oriented learning progression model, educators have access to a wealth of data that charts each student’s cumulative growth onto education standards at dozens of touch points throughout the year. Statistically linked to almost every state test in America, Star as a progressive interim assessment tool can support millions of students and teachers in helping students make progress to the height of their potential.

Renaissance Star Reading and Renaissance Star Math have already proven to be effective in charting standards mastery and learning path, and now they’ve been validated as indicators of readiness for the SBAC test. As these core education products continue to get smarter and more optimized, Renaissance will continue to support teaching in every moment and helping students reach their fullest potential each year.