How the Diocese of Green Bay Transformed Assessment with Renaissance Solutions

Liz Goldman, Associate Superintendent of Instruction and Academic Accountability, guided the diocese through a comprehensive transformation of its assessment program. The journey from outdated tools to cutting-edge solutions offers valuable insights for educational leaders seeking to enhance learning outcomes while streamlining administrative processes.

Moving beyond traditional assessment

When Goldman joined the Diocese of Green Bay, the organization had been using the same assessment platform for nearly twenty years. While teachers were familiar with the system, it lacked critical features that modern education demands.

“Teachers were using an assessment that did not have the option for progress monitoring, so it was just the three universal screening windows,” Goldman explains. “Our teachers knew how to use the assessment and the data, but they weren’t getting as much opportunity to see where kids were at between testing windows.”

The limitations became increasingly apparent over the course of the school year. Between the fall and winter testing windows, for example, students engaged with increasingly challenging content in ELA and math classes, and they made some growth each month. However, the lack of ongoing assessment data made it difficult to determine whether students were growing enough or were encountering challenges. This gap in the data represented missed opportunities to support student development and adjust instruction accordingly.

Transitioning to Star Assessments: A strategic decision

Drawing from her previous experience with Renaissance solutions in the neighboring Diocese of Madison, Goldman recognized the potential for transformative change. The adaptive nature of Star Assessments offered immediate advantages over traditional standardized testing methods.

“I was really fascinated by the new style of testing, and my teachers loved it,” Goldman recalls. “Teachers in Madison really took advantage of doing progress monitoring with Star throughout the year, making sure they weren’t just testing during the three testing windows.”

The decision to implement Star Assessments addressed several additional key objectives:

• Immediate data availability: Unlike traditional assessments requiring days or even weeks for results, Star provides instant reporting.
• Adaptive testing approach: Questions adjust to student ability levels, providing more accurate insights into what students know and what they’re ready to learn next.
• Progress monitoring capabilities: Teachers can track student development between formal screening windows.
• Assessment-driven instruction and practice: Star connects to Renaissance instruction and practice products to support differentiated learning.

Custom implementation for a complex organizational structure

The Diocese of Green Bay’s unique structure required a customized approach to implementation. With 53 schools organized into various configurations, a standard setup wouldn’t suffice.

“We have multiple structures. We have some traditional parochial schools that are parish-based, and we have other schools grouped into systems. Our biggest system, GRACE (Green Bay Area Catholic Education), has nine schools, including a high school,” Goldman explains.

Renaissance worked closely with the diocese to develop a custom solution that addressed these complexities. The implementation included:

• Hierarchical access controls, to provide diocese-level oversight with system-specific viewing capabilities.
• A flexible reporting structure, with customized reports that consolidate data across the entire diocese.
• Streamlined administrative access, which reduced login requirements from 13 separate accounts to a unified Renaissance dashboard.

Renaissance Next for Leaders: Comprehensive data management

The introduction of Renaissance Next for Leaders marked a significant advancement in the diocese’s data management capabilities. This platform provides Goldman with comprehensive oversight while maintaining appropriate access levels for individual schools and systems.

“Most of the time, unless I’m helping with a specific school, I don’t have to get into individual Star reports. I can just go to Renaissance Next for Leaders and get the information I need. I asked for something I didn’t know was even possible, and the fact that Renaissance made it happen was unbelievable.”

— Liz Goldman, Associate Superintendent of Instruction and Academic Accountability

Renaissance Next for Leaders enables Catholic School Leaders in the Diocese of Green Bay to:

• Track progress across all 53 schools from a single dashboard.
• Quickly spot schools or classrooms requiring additional support.
• Generate comprehensive reports and drill into the data without accessing multiple systems.
• Easily access consolidated information for strategic planning.

Comprehensive professional development strategy

Recognizing that successful implementation requires proper training, the diocese developed an extensive professional development program in partnership with Renaissance. This multi-faceted approach ensured all educators could effectively utilize the new assessment tools and involved two key components.

Component 1: Differentiated training for educators

The program provides educators with multiple options for professional learning, including:

• Webinar-based training: Initial sessions covering basic assessment administration and data interpretation.
• Customized school sessions: At least one hour of personalized training for each school, tailored to educators’ specific needs.
• On-site intensive training: Four simultaneous training sessions for teachers to select topics based on their self-assessed learning needs.
• Keynote presentations: Expert speakers addressing system-wide implementation strategies.

“This past year, every school had a one-hour PD session where they could choose what they wanted to focus on,” Goldman explains. “Options included assessment basics, the Freckle practice program, and specific data collection and usage techniques.”

Component 2: Building internal capacity

The diocese also focused on developing internal expertise to sustain long-term success. This process involved:

• Administrative training: Principals and educational leaders receive specialized training on system oversight and data interpretation.
• Teacher mentorship programs: Experienced educators support colleagues in adopting new assessment practices.
• Ongoing support structures: Regular check-ins and additional training opportunities maintain momentum.

Expanding the Renaissance ecosystem—and supporting high achievement

Beyond Star Assessments, the diocese strategically adopted additional Renaissance products to create a comprehensive educational technology ecosystem. Schools can choose from four practice products, based on their specific needs and student populations:

• Freckle, which provides math and ELA practice that adapts to students’ needs.
• Accelerated Reader, an independent reading practice program that builds student motivation.
• myON, a digital reading platform offering thousands of engaging books.
• Lalilo, a foundational literacy program aligned with the Science of Reading.

“Many teachers have shared how much they enjoy the programs.” Goldman shares, noting that all four use Star data to support assessment-driven practice. “It’s a way we can take our assessments and make them useful for teachers and students every day of the year, instead of just a couple of touchpoints.”

The Renaissance ecosystem helps the diocese to address this challenge as well, through:

• Differentiated instructional support, with practice products that adapt to individual student needs.
• Advanced content access, with higher-level materials for accelerated learners.
• Continuous progress monitoring, with regular assessment helping to prevent learning plateaus.
• Personalized learning pathways, so students can advance at their own pace.

Measuring success and impact

Two years into the implementation, the diocese has experienced significant improvements in both administrative efficiency and educational outcomes. The impact extends beyond simple test score improvements to encompass systemic changes to how educators approach assessment and instruction.

The Renaissance implementation has also streamlined numerous administrative processes, providing:

• Reduced assessment time: Shorter testing periods leave more time for instruction.
• Simplified data access: Consolidated reporting saves administrative time.
• Improved communication: Teachers can better explain assessment results to families.
• Enhanced oversight capabilities: Diocese-level monitoring supports targeted interventions.

Renaissance’s overall impact

The impact of the Renaissance ecosystem continues to emerge. From providing teachers with the immediate feedback they need to make real-time instructional adjustments to identifying struggling students so they can receive targeted support more quickly, Renaissance’s partnership with the Diocese of Green Bay will continue to grow and provide benefits to both teachers and students.

Interested in learning how your schools can achieve similar success? Connect with an expert to get started.