St. Joan of Arc participates in the Renaissance STAR 360 Assessments three times per year: Fall, Winter, and Spring. The test is administered to all students in Grades K-8 in the Archdiocese of Detroit (AOD). STAR Testing is required for all AOD schools and provides schools with approximately 3-4 weeks to complete the testing.
To Note:
Our Kindergarten population takes only the Early Literacy Test, which includes letter recognition, letter sounds, simple math concepts, etc. Students take the test in a small group setting with a staff member, with no more than four students, and the test is read aloud to them through headphones.
Grade 1 students will take the Early Literacy Test in the Fall, and then will attempt to "test" into the Reading Test in the Winter. To participate in the Reading Test, students must be able to read directions and questions by themselves with no audio intervention. The Reading Test is not read aloud to them. All testing in Grade 1 is done in a small group setting with a staff member.
Grade 1 students will also take the Mathematics Test, which will be administered in a small group setting with a staff member. The Math Test is read aloud to them through headphones.
All students in Grades 2 through 8 will take both the Reading Test and the Mathematics Test (on separate days). Testing will be conducted in their classrooms using iPads or Chromebooks. Teachers may also use our Technology Lab to administer the tests. Students in Grade 2 only will have the Math Test read aloud to them through headphones.
Teachers encourage their students to take their time on each assessment. Each test is typically completed within a single 45-minute class period.
Once testing is complete, teachers can access their class scores and adjust their lesson plans to meet the needs of their students. Teachers may also recommend that students attend our Learning Center based on their STAR score for extra help and instruction.
Scoring for the STAR 360 Test is based on Percentile Rank (PR), which compares a student's performance to that of other students in the same grade nationwide. For example, a student with a PR score of 62 performed as well as or better than 67% of other students in the same grade nationally. Over 34,000 schools nationally use STAR 360 Assessments.
Students are placed into five categories: Urgent Intervention (0-14 PR), Intervention (15-30 PR), Approaching Benchmark (31-59 PR), At Benchmark (60-74 PR), Above Benchmark (75+ PR).
Please see the PDF below for our most recent results.