The Compare Classes view shows you the percentage of students in each benchmark category for each class and for all classes in a school. The graphs also show how many students haven't been screened yet on the measure in the selected screening window.
Users with access to more than one class in a school can access the Compare Classes page; for those who only have access to one class, the link is not available.
How to Go to the Compare Classes View
- On the Star Preschool Assessments Dashboard, select the Reports menu, then Comparisons & Growth.
- On the Comparisons and Growth page, in the School drop-down list, choose to see data for all schools. Then, do one of the following:
- Select the measure name in the list. This will open the Compare Schools page with that measure selected.
- Select Compare Schools next to "English Literacy." This will open the Compare Schools page with the first measure selected.
- Select the measure name in the list. This will open the Compare Schools page with that measure selected.
- On the Compare Schools page, select the Compare Classes link for a school.
Choosing the Data to View
At the top of the page, you can use the drop-down lists to choose the school, grade, screening window, and measure that you want to see data for. If you only have access to one school, that school will be selected automatically.
For the grade, you can choose Early Education and Pre-kindergarten (EE and PK), just Early Education or Pre-kindergarten, or All Grades (which includes students in grades K and higher).
For the screening window, you can choose Fall, Winter, or Spring; the dates are after the screening window names. Since only windows that have started in this school year can be selected, in the Fall, that screening window is automatically selected and cannot be changed.
The assessment type is always English Literacy and cannot be changed.
The measure name that was selected on the Compare Schools page is selected by default; however, you can select any measure in the drop-down list. The measures that are listed are those that apply to the grade(s) that you selected in the first drop-down list.
When you've finished making your selections, select Update under the drop-down lists.
What the Compare Classes Page Shows
For All Classes and then for each individual class, you will see a graph showing the percentage of students who scored in each benchmark category on their screening assessments. Each graph also shows the percentage of students in the classes who have not been screened.
If you unassigned measures for some students, the students are not included in the data for those measures.
About the Benchmarks
Scores on the graphs are shown in the following benchmark categories. For more about the benchmarks, see Star Preschool Benchmarks.
Green with a check mark means the scores are At/Above Benchmark. The students appear to be on track (Tier 1), making the developmental progress needed to meet long-term goals to be successful in Kindergarten.
Blue with an eye means the scores are in On Watch. More information is needed. Consider this result plus other observations and data to determine whether extra instructional/intervention support is needed for these students.
Red with an exclamation point means Intervention. The students' scores are significantly below benchmark. Consistently offer Tier 2 or Tier 3 instructional/intervention support. Progress monitoring is recommended.
Dark gray with a D means the assessments were Discontinued, either because the students couldn't answer the practice items correctly or because the teacher stopped the assessments because the students were struggling. For more information, see Discontinued Star Preschool Assessments. Note: For Oral Language and Alphabet Knowledge I, assessments aren't discontinued if the student answers the practice items incorrectly.
Light gray with no symbol means that some students in grades K or higher have taken the assessment, so no benchmarks are available for those assessments.
White with a dashed line shows you the percentage of eligible students who haven't taken the assessment. For Alphabet Knowledge I, Oral Language, and Phonological Awareness I, this includes Early Education students in Star Preschool classes who have not taken the assessment. For other measure, this includes Pre-K students and higher grades who are in the selected Star Preschool class(es).
Choosing How to List the Classes
By default, the individual classes are listed alphabetically. Using the options above the graphs, you can choose to sort the classes by the percentage of students in the Intervention category (with the highest percentage first) or by the percentage of students in the At/Above Benchmark category. No matter which sorting method you choose, the All Classes graph is always first.
Hiding Classes with No Data
Check Hide classes with no assessments taken if you want to omit classes that have no Star Preschool data in the selected screening window.
Viewing a List of Students in a Category
To see a list of the students in a category for a class or all classes (including students not assessed yet), select that category on the graph.
Printing or Saving the Compare Classes View
To print the Compare Classes view, or to save it to a PDF, select Print or Save under the drop-down lists. Then, choose a printer, or choose the option to save as a PDF.
Downloading Data to a File
To download your assessment results to a file that can be opened in spreadsheet programs, select Download Data. A .csv (comma-separated value) file will be downloaded to your computer.
For each class, the file includes this data:
- client ID for your site
- grades selected
- screening window (fall, winter, or spring)
- assessment type (English Literacy)
- measure name
- school name
- class name
- the percentage and number of students in each category (Discontinued, Intervention, On Watch, At/Above Benchmark, and Not Assessed)
Choosing the Language to View the Page in
At the top of the page, you can choose whether to view the page in English or Spanish (Español). Select the link for the language you prefer.
Going to Other Pages
To go back to the Comparisons and Growth page, select Comparisons & Growth in the top left corner of the page.
To go back to Compare Schools, select the Compare Schools link.
Select Assessments Dashboard in the top right corner of the page to go to the Assessments Dashboard for the class.
To open the Class Growth Report instead, select the Reports menu, then Class Growth.