Administering Star Preschool English Literacy Assessments – Star Help

Star Preschool 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.

The assessments available for a student depend on that student's grade: Early Education (EE) (two years before kindergarten) or Pre-Kindergarten (PK) (one year before kindergarten).

As you administer Star Preschool assessments, it's important to read and follow the instructions on the screen and the scoring rules that are available before and during each assessment. You can also refer to Star Preschool Scoring Rules.

Both the teacher and the student need a computer or tablet for Star Preschool English Literacy assessments.

On the Assessments Dashboard and the English Literacy tab, use the drop-down lists to choose the school and/or class where you can find the student. Each drop-down list is only available if you have more than one item to select; if not, the school and/or class that you have access to will be shown, and you won't have a drop-down list.
All assessments in the table are recommended for each student. To start with the first assessment, select Start in the first column for the student. Once you administer the first assessment, you'll have the opportunity to start the next one or to continue later; this continues through all assessments available for the grade level. You will also have the opportunity to show students brief, engaging animations between assessments as you make notes about the previous assessment and get ready to go on to the next one.

If you prefer to start with a different assessment, select the three dots in the column for that assessment and the row for the student. Then, select Start Assessment.
On the next page, you'll see a brief description of the assessment that you are starting first. Select Scoring Rules to open the rules on the right. Review the rules for scoring and administering the assessment. When you're done reviewing the rules, select Close. (You can also refer to Star Preschool Scoring Rules.)
Once you're ready to start the assessment, it's time to get the student's tablet or computer ready. To open the assessment for the student, do one of the following on the student device:
- Use the camera to scan the QR code at the bottom of the page. If you need a larger version, select Enlarge to open a larger version in a popup window. When you're done, select Close.
- Go to the address shown in the lower right corner of the page.
You will go to the student launch page, where you will be asked to enter the code to start the assessment. Enter the code that is shown on your teacher page below the address (in the example above, the code is 816680). After entering the code, select Go to Assessment.
In many cases, the student will see an animation of a bear and a bee until you start the first assignment. If the assessment has audio, the student will see a picture of a bear pointing to a bell instead; the student selects the bell to ensure that they can hear the sound on their device.

You will see that the student has been logged in and is ready. When you're ready to start, select Begin Assessment.
The first assessment will begin. Follow the instructions on the screen for the assessment that you are administering. You'll also find some notes about each type of assessment below. Some assessments have demonstration items that the teacher completes and practice items that the student completes before the actual assessment.

In the top right portion of the teacher page, you'll see what the student sees; you can choose to hide the student view if you prefer not to see it.

After the student has answered each item and it is marked Correct, Incorrect, or No Response, you can select Next > to go to the next item.

Oral Language Assessments

For each item, the student either names the picture shown or selects a picture that matches what is named. For items answered aloud, the teacher then marks the item Correct, Incorrect, or No Response; follow the Scoring Rules to decide whether answers are correct. Answers that the student selects on their device are marked Correct or Incorrect automatically.

Alphabet Knowledge I

In these assessments, students may be asked to identify a letter, choose the correct letter from multiple choices, or choose the letter that is oriented correctly. For "point to" items, the student can select the answer, and it will be marked Correct or Incorrect; the student can also respond verbally. For all items answered verbally, the teacher marks the item Correct, Incorrect, or No Response (follow the Scoring Rules).

Phonological Awareness I

At the beginning of this assessment, you ask the student to select the bell to ensure that the student's speakers are working and are turned up to an appropriate volume. Then, the student is introduced to the robot. For each item, the student hears the robot speak the words in phonemes; the student then selects the picture that matches what the robot says, and the student’s answer is marked Correct or Incorrect. If the student responds verbally, the teacher selects Correct, Incorrect, or No Response.

Alphabet Knowledge II

Before an Alphabet Knowledge II assessment, students are asked to select the bell. When they do this, they will hear a ding. This shows you and the student that the speakers are on and working and the student will be able to hear the assessment. In the assessment, for each item, the student will be asked which letter makes a certain sound. The student selects a letter and the answer is marked Correct or Incorrect, or the student answers verbally and the teacher selects Correct, Incorrect, or No Response.

Phonological Awareness II

In Phonological Awareness II assessments, the teacher shows the student a picture and says the name of that picture, then shows the student a series of additional pictures. The teacher says the name of each picture, then says each name together with the name of the original picture. The teacher asks the student to select the picture whose name rhymes with the first picture. The student selects a picture and the answer is marked Correct or Incorrect, or the student answers verbally and the teacher selects Correct, Incorrect, or No Response.

Comprehension

In Comprehension assessments, the teacher shows the student a series of pictures and says the name of each picture, then asks the student which picture doesn’t belong. The student selects a picture and the answer is marked Correct or Incorrect, or the student answers verbally and the teacher selects Correct, Incorrect, or No Response.

Phonological Awareness III

In Phonological Awareness III assessments, the student is asked to choose the picture whose name starts with a certain sound. Audio plays as the teacher selects each one, displaying the picture for the student. The student selects a picture and the answer is marked Correct or Incorrect, or the student answers verbally and the teacher selects Correct, Incorrect, or No Response.

Scoring

For each assessment option, the teacher has three scoring options: Correct, Incorrect, and No Response. For assessments in which the student selects the answer, it is automatically marked correct or incorrect; for assessments in which the student responds verbally, the teacher selects Correct or Incorrect; the Scoring Rules give you guidance on when to choose each. You will see a Scoring Rules link on each page if you need a reminder. If the student does not respond at all (either physically or verbally), the teacher can select No Response.

Practice Items and Discontinued Assessments

Most assessments begin with one or more practice items. If the student struggles with the practice items, Star Preschool may discontinue the assessment:
- If the student answers the first practice item incorrectly or doesn't respond, the student gets another chance to answer that item. If the student answers incorrectly or doesn't respond the second time, the test is discontinued.
- The same is true of the second practice item. If the student has answered the first item correctly, but answers the second item incorrectly or does not respond after two attempts, the test is discontinued.
Students cannot fail practice for Oral Language and Phonological Awareness I assessments; these assessments will not be discontinued based on student practice responses. Alphabet Knowledge I assessments have no practice items.

When an assessment is discontinued, students cannot take it again in the screening window unless you deactivate the discontinued assessment.

Quitting Assessments
The teacher can also choose to discontinue an assessment by selecting Quit in the lower left corner of the teacher page.

If you quit during a sample (practice or demo) item, the assessment simply closes, and a new test can be started later. When you quit during an actual assessment item, you will be asked to choose whether you're quitting because the student isn't ready for the assessment measure or for another reason. If you choose the first option, the assessment is marked Discontinued, and the student cannot take the assessment again in this screening window unless you deactivate the assessment. If you choose the second option, you can start the assessment again another time.

Restarting a Question
For some assessment items, you have the option to restart the question in the lower left corner. This resets the item so that you can begin it again. You should only restart a question when something has affected your scripted presentation of the question, not to give the student another chance to provide a correct response.
After each assessment, you will see a Finish Assessment page where you can enter information. As you do this, you can select Give a short break to show the student a brief animation to help keep them engaged until you're ready to start the next assessment. The animation after each assessment is different, showing a bear finding items for a picnic.

Once you start the animation, you will also see it under "Here's what the student sees" in the upper-right portion of your screen, and you have the option to pause the animation while it's playing.

Meanwhile, you can enter the following:
- Notes: Enter any notes you have about the assessment administration so that you can refer to them later.
- In Person or Remote: Choose how the assessment was administered.
When you've finished, select Finish Assessment. If you are playing the animation, you may want to wait until it's finished before you do this.
If there is another assessment available for the student in this screening window (based on grade and screening window), the next page gives you two options: you can start the next assessment now, or you can stop now and continue with the next assessment later:

If you choose to continue later, when you're ready to start the next assessment, on the Assessments Dashboard, select the Start icon in the row for the student.
When you have finished all of the student's assessments for the screening window, you'll see a page like the one below. The links on the page give you two options:
- You can return to the Assessments Dashboard, where you will see the benchmark scores for all students in the class.
- You can go to this student's Scores and Notes page, where you can see all of this student's scores for this screening window and review and change notes if necessary.
For progress monitoring assessments, the message is similar, but it does not include the picture.