Diagnostic Testing Instructions

Follow the steps below for Diagnostic testing. The teacher and student can use a desktop or laptop computer, a Chromebook™, or a tablet.

For guidelines for the assessment administrator during testing, see Diagnostic Directions During Administration.

1. On the teacher device, log in to your Renaissance site. After you log in, if your Home page looks like the example below, select Star Phonics under Assess Students, then select Educator Login.
   
   If you have Renaissance Next as your Home page (shown below), select Star under My Apps on the left side of the page; then, select Star Phonics in the menu that opens and select Educator Login.
     
2. Select Diagnostic Testing.
   
3. Next, select New Diagnostics or Pending Diagnostics. For New Diagnostics, you choose the skills to assess; for Pending Diagnostics, you assess students on skills that were previously flagged as needing diagnostics.
   
4. New Diagnostic:
   If you chose "New Diagnostics," select the options for Diagnostic Testing; then, select Next.
   
   Pending Diagnostic:
   If you chose "Pending Diagnostic," select the student and test to view pending diagnostics for. Then, choose the diagnostic test to begin by selecting Start Diagnostics next to the corresponding skill. The skills that are listed are those that were checked on the Student's Recommended Diagnostic Report (typically skills for which the student's score was less than 3).
   
5. You'll see the code for the student device. Do not select Begin Test until the code has been entered on the student device as described in the following steps. Note: The code expires after 10 minutes - if you enter the code on the student device after it has expired, you'll receive an alert; to get a new code, select Refresh Student Code on the teacher device.
   
6. On the student device, do one of the following:
   • Log in with your user name and password on the student device. If you have the Home page (see the first example below), select Star Phonics, then Student Test Code Page from the popup menu. If you have Renaissance Next, select Star on the left, then Star Phonics, and then Student Test Code Page.
        
   • Have the student log in to the Renaissance site. Then, have the student select Star Phonics.
     
7. Enter the code on the student device; then, select Enter. If you are administering the assessment remotely, tell the student the code so they can enter it on their device.
   
8. On the teacher device, you can select the diagnostic student directions, which include a paragraph for you to read to the student and guidance for marking incorrect and correct pronunciations. You can also find guidelines in Diagnostic Directions During Administration.
   
9. When you're ready to begin the test, select Begin Test.
   
   The teacher device will look like this:
   
   The student device will look like this:
   
10. Students should only be given 3 seconds to read each word. The orange blinking dot is a visual reminder of the time allowed; it blinks in 1-second intervals.
    
    As the student reads the words, mark the words according to the scoring instructions on the page. You can close the instructions by clicking the x. To open the instructions again, select i.
    
    The rhyming word below each nonsense word helps you identify the correct pronunciation.
    
    As noted in the instruction box, you can select individual letters or letter combinations to mark part of the word incorrect.
    
    Select the green box to mark the entire word correct.
    
    Select the orange box if the student sounded the word out first, then read it correctly. The word will still be considered incorrect, but in the Student Tile Report, you'll be able to distinguish between these words and words the student read incorrectly.
    
    Select the yellow circle to mark the word skipped. All skipped words will appear at the end of the test, giving the student a second chance to read them. (Select Skipped Words at the end of the assessment to show the words.)
    
    To add notes, click in the Notes field under the applicable word and type the note.
    
    Once you are done marking the words, select Next to go to the next set of words. This will also advance the student's screen. Repeat this step until the test is complete; on the last item, select Submit.
    
11. Once the Diagnostic Test is complete, 3 reports are automatically generated:
    • First you'll see the Diagnostic Student Tile Report, which shows you the student's incorrect pronunciations in red and words sounded out first in orange. You will also see the number and percentage of words read correctly. You can select View Notes to see any notes you entered during the assessment. Select Print to print the report. Select Next to see the next report.
      
    • Next, you'll see the Diagnostic Instructional Recommendations, which shows the student's score on each of the skill categories and the student's errors at the beginning, middle, or end of words. Select Back if you want to go to the previous report; select Print to print this one.
      
      If your school or district has Lalilo, you may also see recommendations for Lalilo lessons, which you can assign directly from Star Phonics. For more information, see Assigning Lalilo Lessons Through Star Phonics.
      
      Select Next to see the next report.
    • Finally, you'll see the Diagnostic Student Bar Graph, which shows up to 5 of the most recent diagnostic scores for the tested skill. Select Done when you're done viewing the reports.
      

For questions, please contact Support.