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.
