Encoding Assessments – Star Help

Encoding assessments are untimed assessments that measure the student's ability to translate spoken words into written words. The teacher or test administrator reads each word aloud and reads a sentence that includes the word, and the student writes the word. Encoding assessment scores are shown as percent correct.

The steps for administering Encoding assessments are different from those for other assessments; follow the steps below. You can administer the assessment to a single student or all students in the class. For guidance as you administer these assessments, see Guidance for Star CBM Reading: Sight and High-Frequency Words and Encoding Measures.

Star CBM assessments can be administered by any adult who has some experience working on academic material with students — current and retired teachers, para-educators, academic subject-area coaches, administrators, or experienced volunteers. The only requirement is that the adult can read the instructions aloud to the student and score responses as correct/incorrect as described in the instructions for each measure. No special training is required.

Note: Encoding assessments for grades K-3 have benchmarks, while Encoding assessments for grades 4-6 are being field tested. For that reason, these assessments are in separate columns in the Record Book. The steps below apply to both types of Encoding assessments; any differences are noted.

Who can do this with the standard user permissions?

District Level Administrators, District Staff, School Level Administrators, School Staff, Teachers

On the CBM English Assessments tab of the Star Record Book, select Encoding, Rapid Naming above the table of students and scores.
If you are administering the assessment to one student, select the cell for the student in the Encoding or Encoding Field Test column; then, select Start or Print Assessment. (The cell may show three dots or a score, depending on whether you have administered the assessment to the student before in this school year.)

If you want to administer the assessment to all students in this class, select the link for the applicable grade levels after "Assign Encoding to Multiple Students": Grades K-3 or Grades 4-6 Field Test.

Things to note:
- You won't see both links unless you have students from both grade ranges in your class.
- The link is not available if some students have unscored Encoding assessments for grades K-3 or Encoding Field Test assessments for grades 4-6. When you remove or score the assessments, the assign link for multiple assessments will be available again.
- The link is also not available if all students have already taken the assessment for their grade level.
If you are generating the assessment for just one student, on the next page, the Print format is selected, and the student's grade level is selected by default in the Word Level drop-down list. If you want to change the level, select a different grade in the drop-down list. Select Next > to go on. Note: For grades K-3, students can only take one Encoding assessment at their grade level per season; after they've taken that assessment, their grade level is not available in the drop-down list until the next season. Although progress monitoring isn't available at the student's grade level, students can receive assessments at other grade levels.

If you are generating the assessment for all students in the class, the next page will show you the grade level(s) that will be used for the assessment based on the students' current grade level(s). If the class includes students at different grade levels, you'll see more than one grade, with the applicable students listed under each grade. Select Next >.
For encoding assessments, teachers may use a printed form or simply view the PDF file on the computer; students can write their responses on a printed form with numbered blanks or on a plain sheet of paper. If you have previously printed the forms or downloaded PDF files, use the information in the popup window that opens to identify the forms to use. Then, select Got It.

If you haven't printed or downloaded the forms yet, select Print Forms. The forms will be downloaded as PDF files; make sure popups are allowed so that the files download properly. If you started the assessment for the whole class, and the class includes students at more than one grade level, you'll receive a separate file with student and teacher forms for each grade. Open each PDF file and print the forms. When you are done, select Got It.
You will go back to the CBM English Assessments tab in the Star Record Book.
To administer the assessment, tell students to write each word. Then, read each word aloud to the student(s), read the example sentence, and read the word again. Wait 10 seconds; then, go on to the next word.
When you're done, go back to the CBM English Assessments tab in the Star Record Book with Encoding, Rapid Naming selected. Select Enter Scores for one of the students in the Encoding or Encoding Field Test column; then, select Enter Scores in the window that opens.
On the next page, you will see a list of the words that were given to the student and the sentences that include the word. No action is required for words that the student spelled correctly; for each word that the student spelled incorrectly, select the word. The word will be shown in red with an X to the right of it. In the "Student's Misspelling" column, type the student's spelling.

If a word has an apostrophe and the student has omitted the apostrophe, be sure to mark the word incorrect. Words with apostrophes were chosen specifically because they are part of a key instructional pattern to demonstrate an important understanding of possession or an omitted letter. Therefore, when the apostrophe is omitted, the student is not demonstrating they understand that pattern and the item is incorrect.
At the top of the page, check the date administered. If you need to change the date, select the date field to open the calendar; then, select the assessment administration date in the calendar. (Use the left and right arrows or the drop-down list to go to a different month.)
If you want to make notes about the assessment, enter them in the Notes field.
When you have finished scoring this student's spelling test, select Next.
On the next page, choose whether the assessment was administered in person or remotely.
If you generated the assessment for just one student, select Save.

If you generated the student for the whole class, and you want to go on to score the assessment for the next student, select Save and Next Student; then, use the drop-down list to choose the next student to score a test for and select Begin Scoring as shown in the second screen below. If you want to leave the page and score assessments for other students later, select Save and Exit.
After you finish scoring, you will go back to the CBM English Assessments tab in the Star Record Book. At first, you will see "Score Pending" with a refresh icon where each student's score will be.

After a few minutes, the score will be available. You can select to refresh the view and to see if the score is available yet.
When the score is available, you will see the percent correct in the Record Book. The example below shows Encoding scores for grades K-3; Encoding Field Test scores for grades 4-6 have a gray background and the words "Field Test."

If you select the score, you can see the date the assessment was taken. The popup window shows you the scores and dates for the student's last four assessments for this measure during this school year. Select Details for an assessment to go back and see the words spelled incorrectly, the student's spelling for those words, and your notes; you can also edit this information if necessary.