Administrator Tasks in Star Phonics – Star Help

Some Star Phonics tasks are only available to District Administrators and School Administrators. The sections below describe how these administrators can set assessment windows (timeframes), add or edit scope and sequences for a school or the district, and export student data. District Administrators can make changes for all schools; School Administrators can make changes for their school only. Use these links to go directly to the information you want:

Screener Assessment windows (adding/editing/deactivating/deleting)	Scope and Sequence (adding/editing)
Setting the category filter for skills not taught	Exporting student data
Questions about setup and rostering

Setting the Assessment Windows

Follow these steps to add, change, deactivate, or delete assessment windows, which are used for screening and reporting. There are typically three screening windows: BOY (Beginning of Year), MOY (Middle of Year), and EOY (End of Year). Although you can add more than one screening window for each time period, it's best to create only one per time period for each school or the district.

Note: The screening windows used for other Star assessments are not used for Star Phonics. Follow these steps to set your Star Phonics assessment windows.

Select Admin Dashboard, then Set Assessment Windows from the menu that opens.
On the Set Assessment Windows page, you can add, edit, deactivate, or delete assessment windows:

To add an assessment window for the district or a school, select Add.

If you are a District Administrator, first select whether to add the assessment window by district (for the entire district) or by school. If you choose "By School," use the School drop-down list to choose the school that the new window is for. (School Administrators can only change assessment windows for their school.)
Next, use the Screener drop-down list to choose whether you are adding the Beginning of Year (BOY), Middle of Year (MOY), or End of Year (EOY) assessment window. Then, enter the start and end dates. As you click in each field, you can enter the dates in MM-DD-YYYY format or you can select dates from the calendar (though you cannot select dates in the past). Finally, choose whether this is an active or inactive assessment window. When you're done, select Add.
To edit or deactivate an existing school assessment window, select the edit icon in the row for that assessment window. On the Update Screener Assessment Window page, you can change the school, the time of year (beginning, middle or end), and the start and end date. If you want to deactivate the assessment window, select Inactive. When you're done, select Update.
To delete an existing school assessment window, select the delete icon in the row for that assessment window. Then, in the message that opens, select Yes, delete it! to confirm that you want to delete the window (or Cancel if you change your mind).
To edit a district assessment window (District Administrators only), select Bulk Edit. This allows you to edit an assessment window for all schools at once. On the next page, select the district name, select the screener assessment window that you want to update, and adjust the start and end dates if necessary. You can also change the status (active or inactive). When you're done, select Add.

Setting or Changing the Scope and Sequence

If your school or district purchased a custom scope and sequence alignment, you can also select the Scope and Sequence for your school(s). Follow these steps:

Select Admin Dashboard, then Select Scope and Sequence in the menu that opens.
On the Scope and Sequence page, you can add or edit a scope and sequence:

To add a scope and sequence to a school or the district, select Add Scope and Sequence.

If you are a District Administrator, use the Update by drop-down list to choose whether to add the scope and sequence to the entire district (all schools) or just one school.
Select the district or school as needed. Finally, in the Template drop-down list, choose the scope and sequence template that you want to use. When you're done, select Add.
To edit a scope and sequence that you have added, select Edit Scope and Sequence above the list.

Then, on the Edit Scope and Sequence page, you can change whether the scope and sequence is for one school or the district (District Administrators only), change a single school, and/or change the template used for the scope and sequence. When you're done, select Edit.

Setting the Category Filter

District Administrators and School Administrators can also set the category filter for scope and sequences so that "Not Taught" skills are not included in student assessments or in reports. Follow these steps:

Select Admin Dashboard, then Category Filter from the menu that opens.
If you are a District Administrator, select whether to add the category filter by district (for the entire district) or by school. If you choose "By School," use the School drop-down list to choose the school that the filter is for. (School Administrators can only add the category filter for their school.)
Next, use the Grade Levels drop-down list to choose whether to apply the filter to all grade levels or a specific grade level. Use the Screener drop-down list to choose the screener that you want to apply the filter to: all, Beginning of Year (BOY), Middle of Year (MOY), or End of Year (EOY). Finally, choose whether this filter is on or off. When you're done, select Update Status. Select OK in the message that opens.

To turn off the category filter, follow the steps above to select the grade(s) that the filter has been turned on for. Then, change the status to "Off" and select Update Status.

To see the filters you have set up, select Admin Dashboard and choose Select Scope and Sequence. On the Scope and Sequence page, the "Category Filter" column shows you whether the "Not Taught" filter is on or off for each scope and sequence, grade, and screener.

the Category Filter column

Exporting Student Data

Any District Administrator or School Administrator can export student data as a .csv file by following these steps. You can choose to export screening or diagnostic assessment data.

Select Admin Dashboard, then Student Data Export from the menu that opens.
On the student data export page, you can export screener data or diagnostic data. Under the heading for the type of export you want, use the School drop-down list to choose whether to export data for one school or all schools (District Administrators only).

Next, for screener data exports, choose the time of year (beginning, middle, or end). For diagnostic data exports, choose whether to export data from all diagnostics or a specific type.

Finally, choose the academic school year for the export. Select Export Data. The data will be downloaded in a .csv file, which you can open in a spreadsheet program.

If you want to export the other type of Star Phonics data as well, repeat this step in the fields for that data.

Questions About Account Setup Or Rostering?

Star Phonics receives its users, schools, classes, and class rosters from Renaissance software. These are the roles that each type of user has in Star Phonics:

District Level Administrators and District Staff in Renaissance software are District Administrators in Star Phonics.
School Administrators and School Staff in Renaissance software are School Administrators in Star Phonics.
Teachers in Renaissance software are teachers in Star Phonics.
Students in Renaissance software are students in Star Phonics.

Renaissance users who are District Dashboard Owners do not have access to Star Phonics.

If you have questions about your setup or rostering, please call or email your Implementation Coordinator or request support at https://www.renaissance.com/request-support/.