STAR Analyzing Student Growth Reports 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: On a STAR Growth Report, a student's Scaled Score moves from 420 to 465 over one school year. Which conclusion is best supported?
- The student regressed in the tested domain
- The student demonstrated positive growth (Correct answer)
- The student's score is now at grade-level proficiency
- The student's growth cannot be evaluated without a national norm
Correct answer: The student demonstrated positive growth
An increase in Scaled Score from one testing period to the next indicates positive growth regardless of proficiency cut points.
Question 2: A teacher notices that a student's Lexile measure increased by 80L between fall and spring STAR Reading administrations. What does this indicate?
- The student's reading level declined
- The student's reading ability grew by roughly one grade band (Correct answer)
- The student needs intervention in foundational skills
- The Lexile increase is too small to be meaningful
Correct answer: The student's reading ability grew by roughly one grade band
An 80L gain in Lexile measure represents meaningful reading growth, typically spanning approximately one grade band.
Question 3: Which report in STAR would a principal use to see whether students across an entire school are meeting expected growth targets?
- Individual Student Report
- Diagnostic Report
- Growth Summary Report (Correct answer)
- Reading Practice Quotient Report
Correct answer: Growth Summary Report
The Growth Summary Report aggregates growth data at the class, grade, or school level so administrators can monitor progress toward targets.
Question 4: A student is classified as 'On Watch' for growth in STAR Math. What does this classification most likely mean?
- The student is performing above grade level
- The student's growth is slightly below the expected trajectory (Correct answer)
- The student has not yet been tested this term
- The student's test scores are invalid
Correct answer: The student's growth is slightly below the expected trajectory
'On Watch' indicates a student's growth rate is slightly below the expected trajectory and warrants close monitoring.
Question 5: When interpreting a STAR Growth Report, what does the 'Expected Growth' benchmark represent?
- The growth of the top 10% of students nationally
- The median growth observed for students at a similar starting score (Correct answer)
- The growth required to reach Advanced proficiency
- The growth target set individually by the classroom teacher
Correct answer: The median growth observed for students at a similar starting score
Expected Growth is derived from national norms and represents the median growth for students who started at a similar Scaled Score.
Question 6: A student scored in the 55th percentile in fall and the 58th percentile in spring. How should a teacher interpret this growth?
- The student regressed because percentile ranks rarely change
- The student maintained relative standing and made modest gains (Correct answer)
- The student's percentile gain indicates well-above-average growth
- Percentile ranks cannot be used to measure growth
Correct answer: The student maintained relative standing and made modest gains
A small percentile rank increase while maintaining rank above the 50th percentile suggests the student kept pace with peers and made modest gains.
Question 7: Which of the following STAR data points is most useful for determining whether a student is on track to meet end-of-year proficiency?
- Raw score from the most recent test
- Projected Proficiency based on growth trajectory (Correct answer)
- Number of items attempted during the test
- Student's earliest recorded Scaled Score
Correct answer: Projected Proficiency based on growth trajectory
Projected Proficiency uses the student's current growth trajectory to forecast whether they will reach the proficiency cut score by the target date.
STAR Analyzing Student Growth Reports 2
On a STAR Growth Report, a student's Scaled Score moves from 420 to 465 over one school year.
Which conclusion is best supported?