Preparing for OFSTED using
Renaissance Place™
Pupils should be taught to read fluently, understand
extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction) and be
encouraged to read for pleasure. Schools should do
everything to promote wider reading. They should
provide library facilities and set ambitious
expectations for reading at home.
National Curriculum framework
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place™
Contents
What to expect?
4.
Where to start?
5.
What you should be doing now
6.
What to do when you hear Ofsted are coming
7.
Aiming for Outstanding
7.
Resources
10.
Appendix 1: Characteristic Report
11.
Appendix 2: STAR and AR End of Year Report
12.
Appendix 3 : Literacy Action Plan Template
13.
Appendix 4 : Literacy Policy Supplement
14.
Endnotes
17.
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place™
Throughout the new common inspection framework, OFSTED have continued to emphasise
the importance of seeing literacy provision in place and improvement in literacy outcomes.
This means schools need to consider literacy as a whole school initiative that integrates
literacy into long term planning, rather than looking for quick fixes or considering it
something that is the sole responsibility of the English Department.
The Teachers’ Standardsii clearly explain that a teacher must:
demonstrate an understanding of and take responsibility for promoting high standards of literacy, articulacy and the correct use of
standard English, whatever the teacher’s specialist subject (Part 1, point 3).
Additionally, a report on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education, Overcoming the barriers to literacy,
recommends that secondary schools should develop cross-departmental strategies to improve literacy.iii
Therefore, it is crucial you consider how your school is implementing literacy across the curriculum. Renaissance Learning™ can
help you do this in many ways. To help guide you, below is a summary of some of the areas Inspectors typically report on and how
you may use Renaissance Learning products to help support your schooliv:
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Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
Long term planning for literacy, rather than a focus on ‘quick fixes’
• You may wish to use our customisable resource to adapt your whole school literacy policy to include the rationale
behind Accelerated Reader™ (AR™) and the expectation of how teachers will use it.
• You should keep your Renaissance School Partnership (RSP) folder up to date. It sets out very clear long term goals
(the excellence standards) and both monitors and evaluates how the school is performing in achieving these
standards.
The performance of particular groups of students (especially those groups who achieve less
well currently, those in receipt of the pupil premium and those eligible for the Year 7 catch-up
funding) and the literacy provision and outcomes that result.
•
You may wish to assign characteristics to your students in order to pull reports for OFSTED on those groups who
typically achieve less well in your school. Inspectors will wish to see how well those who are in receipt of the pupil
premium are progressing and if gaps are closing with other students who do not receive the funding. The same is
true of students in Year 7 who are in receipt of the literacy catch-up funding.
Head teachers and senior leaders give active, consistent and sustained support. Specialist
knowledge is used to support individual departments and teachers
•
The senior leadership member of the core team should be organising and documenting any consultation days in
their Renaissance School Partnership (RSP) folder. They should also be recording any remote training sessions they
have set up to support struggling teachers and the impact those have had. Opportunities for best practice to be
observed by underperforming teachers should be identified by the core team.
A case is made for literacy in all subjects: literacy teaching and the application of literacy
skills as a focus across the school and of the different subjects
• You may wish to encourage all teachers to use our public search domain, AR Book Finder (www.arbookfind.co.uk),
to create lists of extended reading for their subject. In the advanced search tab, teachers can search for their subject
and narrow the results by topic, interest level, fiction and non-fiction and ZPD range.
Teachers identify effective practice in different areas of the curriculum and learn from
each other
• Specialist knowledge is shared out: RSP consultation days may be used to train a particular group of staff (Heads of
House/Year, The English Team, The Core Team, etc.) and then that training is cascaded down.
Practical ideas are emphasised that teachers can use in longer term plans and schemes of work
• You may wish to put together literacy boxes for your classrooms. These may contain a variety of items that may be
useful in a range of subjects and contexts. e.g. Higher order thinking dice, thinkmarks, letter tiles, sentence
prompts, etc.
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Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
Effective use is made of the library and librarian
• The librarian should have an active role in your core team. This person should be regularly promoting competitions,
checking up on students to ensure they are reading within their ZPD and redirecting those who are not. They should
be encouraging student voice in the programme and ensuring new books are regularly added to the collection.
• The library should be regularly updated addressing any deficits you may have in your collection. You can identify
these deficits from the book analysis you received when joining RSP.
• The librarian should regularly analyse library usage if using a Library Management System.
Senior leaders keep a close eye on developments through systematic monitoring and
evaluation
• Data team meetings should be regularly occurring within your core team.
• Keep your consolidated reports that track your progress within AR filed in your RSP folder.
• Use the progress monitoring tools in STAR Reading™ to track any other literacy interventions taking place.
Provision [is provided] that is measurable in both educational data and other indicators over
time
• You may wish to use a Duolog Reading Programme or other supportive literacy programmes that are then trackable
by using the progress monitoring tools in STAR.
• Teachers may use the ATOS analyser to ensure that all material being used is accessible and appropriate for the
students.
The school has a comprehensive policy on the teaching and application of literacy skills
within all subjects
• You may wish to use our customisable literacy policy to help define your expectations for literacy across the school.
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
What to Expect
[The OFSTED Inspectors] are required to collect evidence about literacy (communication, reading and
writing) from more than just English lessons and assessment datav. Therefore you must consider where your
proof of literacy intervention and provision is being documented. Your RSP booklet will be key to ensuring
you are prepared when OFSTED arrive.
What inspectors may choose to inspect when judging literacyv:
• tracking a particular group of pupils (or individuals) in several different lessons to assess the quality of their literacy
skills and whether they receive any specific support or teaching (This might well be alongside other trails such as
behaviour, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and so on.)
• observing particular intervention or support sessions to evaluate their impact on literacy skills
• reviewing the work of particular pupils or groups of pupils – not necessarily just English work – to evaluate literacy
skills and look for evidence of effective marking, specific teaching, and guidance on improvement (Again, this
might form part of a wider trail.)
• visiting particular activities which the school identifies as developing literacy skills – for example individual
reading in tutor periods or library lessons to explore the promotion of reading
• interviewing selected pupils, either as part of a more disparate group or as a specific group [Again, this might be
part of a wider process.]
• interviewing particular pupils after observing them in English, intervention or other lessons to identify how far they
understand their performance in literacy and how they are helped to improve
• meeting a group of pupils to find out what and how much they read, and their confidence in and understanding of
reading as an aid to learning
What are they looking for?
As stated in OFSTED’s Reading and Literacy FAQsvii:
1. They will be trying to judge how well leaders and managers foster a culture of high expectations in terms of
reading so that every single child is a good reader by the time she or he leaves the school
2. Whether leaders and managers know enough about reading – both to challenge where teaching is not good
enough and standards need improving and to provide practical support for teachers
3. If leaders and managers have clear, simple, consistent procedures and recording systems to track pupils’ progress
in reading
4. If It [is] clear where responsibility lies for these pupils’ progress
5. How quickly failing or struggling readers are identified and supported. Who is responsible for this and takes the
overview across the school
What will they look at?
As stated in OFSTED’s Reading and Literacy FAQs, OFSTEAD will look at:
1. ‘A range of lessons, in English and other subjects’
2. ‘The impact of particular activities and approaches that have been designed to improve pupils’ literacy skills’
3. Pupils’ work
4. They may also ‘listen to some of them reading or speak to them about their learning, including literacy’
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
5. The data and impact of what provision has been provided
6. ‘The range and volume of books (and other material) that pupils are reading within and beyond English lessons,
how often pupils read, and the school’s system for monitoring pupils’ progress—not just whether they can now
read but whether they are continuing to develop as readers’
7. ‘What is being done to raise standards’
8. ‘The leadership and management of reading’
Where to start
How does OFSTED plan their inspection of literacy? The questions below are listed in the guidance and
training for inspectors. Therefore, the first step is to answer these questions for your school. It will then be
easy to identify the areas that OFSTED are likely to scrutinise on their next visit and begin to prepare
materials to show you are actioning the areas of concern.
Remember: preparing for OFSTED is not something that can be done overnight. You need to put the large scale changes in now.
Then when you are notified of their visit, you will be able simply to pull your most recent data to prove your plan is having ‘long
lasting impact on daily practice’.viii
Questions to use when interrogating school achievement data:
As taken from the distance learning materials for inspection within the framework: Guidance and training for
inspectorsix:
• Is attainment in English at any key stage below that found nationally?
• Is attainment for English and mathematics below the national floor standard?
• Is attainment in English significantly lower than that in mathematics (or than other subjects at Key Stage 4 with
proportionately large entries, e.g. science)?
• Is the attainment of any particular groups in English significantly lower than the average for the school and for all
pupils nationally?
• Is attainment in any of reading, writing or speaking and listening significantly lower than the other skills?
(NB Generally, attainment in writing is lower than in reading which is lower than speaking/ listening, although this
does vary slightly by key stage and in some schools.)
• Is the attainment of any broad ability group in English significantly lower than others, especially those pupils who
were working below expectations at the previous key stage?
• Is progress in English by the end of the key stage (as evidenced by value added scores) significantly below
expectations?
• Is progress in reading or writing (if the data are available) significantly below expectations? Is there evidence that
pupils leave the school without the expected level of reading skills?
• Is progress in English for any particular group of pupils, including by prior attainment, significantly below
expectations?
• Does attainment and progress, overall and for groups, fluctuate over three years and unrelated to any contextual
factors in the pupil cohort?
Helpful Hint: take a look at the latest RAISEonline to help you. The transition matrices for English now include
information on how well those in receipt of the pupil premium are progressing in terms of making expected and more
than expected progress, in comparison with other students.
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Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
What you should be doing now:
1. Establish a reading routine across all groups during reading time.
2. Complete learning walks to ensure teachers are proactive and are making data driven decisions.
3. Keep records of your learning walks in your RSP folder.
As taken from the distance learning materials for inspection within the new framework: Guidance and training
for inspectorsx:
Questions to use when observing ‘literacy’ in any subject:
• Are key terms and vocabulary clear and explored with pupils to ensure that they recognise and understand
them? Are they related to similar words or the root from which they are derived?
• Do teachers remind pupils of important core skills – for example how to skim a text to extract the main
elements of its content quickly or to scan a text for information about a key word or topic?
• Do teachers make expectations clear before pupils begin a task – for example on the conventions of layout in a
formal letter or on the main features of writing persuasively?
• Do teachers reinforce the importance of accuracy in spoken or written language – for example, emphasising the
need for correct sentence punctuation in one-sentence answers or correcting ‘we was…’ in pupils’ speech?
• Do teachers identify when it is important to use standard English and when other registers or dialects may be
used – for example, in a formal examination answer and when recreating dialogue as part of narrative writing?
• Do teachers help pupils with key elements of literacy as they support them in lessons? Do they point out
spelling, grammar or punctuation issues as they look at work around the class?
• Does teachers’ marking support key literacy points? For example, are key subject terms always checked for
correct spelling? Is sentence punctuation always corrected?
4. Create a Literacy Policy for your school using our customisable resource.
5. Add Accelerated Reader (AR) links to existing schemes of work. Have each subject consider where they could use
it: either making extended reading lists using the ZPDs of their classes or using the ATOS analyser to help ensure
all students can access their curriculum. Ensure any novels being looked at are being quizzed on. Encourage
teachers of other subjects to use the teacher made quiz option for a text (article, book, play, etc) being looked at.
6. Use the Vocabulary Practice Quizzes and Literacy Skills Quizzes to draw clear links to English.
7. Run assemblies so all students understand the school’s stance on reading and why it is so important.
8. Use STAR’s progress monitoring tools to track interventions and change those that are not working. To do this you
will set targets for the specific students you have identified for intervention. Then you will STAR test those students
more regularly (as often as once a week). After four STAR tests, you will be able to run the progress monitoring
report to see if an intervention is helping a student make progress.
What you should do when you hear OFSTED are coming:
OFSTED Preparation: ensuring your RSP folder is up-to-date.
1. Ensure the status of the Class Record and Diagnostic Reports are available from each teacher for OFSTED to see.
2. Print your STAR test record report, customising dates to show last year as well, provides a full record of every
reading test for each student.
3. Print your STAR growth report. Use this to show comparison between two testing periods. Look at how much as an
average the class have changed in scaled score points, reading ages and percentile rank.
4. For students who have not made progress:
a. Run the STAR diagnostic report and look at the time spent. Choose one student’s diagnostic reports for whole
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Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
year to compare time spent on each test. This will help explain cases where STAR results may have declined for
a student if they rushed through some of their tests.
b. Customise AR Diagnostic report to the same date period as between two STAR tests. Did students meet an 85%
average in this period and therefore have they completed high quality reading practice in order to achieve
growth by the next STAR test
5. Fill in Appendix A. Run your growth report again using characteristics to provide evidence of OFSTED how your ‘at risk’ students are performing. OFSTED are often very interested in schools reporting on progress of the following:
i. Free School Meals
v. SEN
ii. Pupil Premium
vi. EAL
iii. Looked After Children
vii. Gender
iv. Children from Service Families
6. Consolidated Reports are very good for showing progress to OFSTED. Print off your consolidated reports
and half-termly reports in your RSP folder to show how you track progress and have data driven planning taking
place.
7. Write up an end-of-year report each year using the template provided in appendix B (for when you complete RSP).
8. Go through the checklist on the next page to help you talk about long term planned innovations.
Aiming for Outstanding?
Consider the following criteriaxi:
• Excellent practice that ensures that all students have high levels of literacy appropriate to their age.
• Pupils read widely and often across all subjects
• Pupils develop and apply a wide range of skills to great effect, in reading writing and communication.
• The teaching of reading, writing and communication is highly effective and cohesively planned and implemented
across the curriculum.
• Excellent policies ensure that pupils have high levels of literacy, or pupils are making excellent progress in literacy.
• All groups of students must be seen to make good or better progress in order to achieve outstanding and it will be
measured in each parameter: achievement, teaching and leadership and management.
Please Note: to measure this, run your Growth Report. Look at the summary for the class and look at the time that
has elapsed between the two screening dates. If it has been three months between the two STAR tests, your
students should have made a minimum of three months progress for expected progress and four months or more
for better progress.
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
What OFSTED may look for:
Evidence you could provide
Promoting and developing reading
Your Renaissance School Partnership (RSP) portfolio
Students show understanding of and respond to what they
have read
Consolidated Reports are very good for showing how the
whole school understands what they have read
A coherent and consistently articulated whole school
literacy policy on developing reading skills and an overall
conception of what makes a good reader
The school’s existing literacy policy with Accelerated Reader (AR) and RSP clearly identified. (A literacy policy supplement is available in appendix 4)
A reading advocate or coordinator
The checklist for the AR coordinator on your core team
Readers able to select, analyse and synthesise information
from what they have read and to comment on the
thematic, structural and linguistic elements of texts
Literacy skills quiz reports
Across subjects, students are reading fluently and
accurately along with being able to skim and scan texts
for information
Non-fiction quizzing
AR links across the curriculum
AR promotes reading for pleasure.
A reading culture that promotes reading for pleasure and in
Status of the Class should be used and checked up on to
which students enjoy reading and improve their skills
ensure students improve
Intervention in place for students whose literacy levels are
below those expected for their age
Duolog Reading Programme
Evaluation of provision to evaluate its effectiveness
The STAR progress monitoring reports (you must set up
your progress monitoring to be able to pull these reports)
An attractive and well stocked library
Using the AR book analysis to order stock in areas that
show deficits
Including Student voice in choosing new books
Teachers whose attitudes towards reading are positive and
promote students participation and enjoyment of reading
Book recommendations are being made
Teachers are having conversations about reading during
the reading time with students
An enthusiastic librarian who raises the profile of reading
and provides good opportunities for students to share their
views on books and widen the range of authors and genres
they experience
Motivators in place in the library.
A book club in place
Displays
Students ambassadors
Consistent focus and guidance for students reading in tutor
A clear reading routine in place for reading time
time or dedicated reading time, if provided
Students reading at the right level
All students know and have their ZPD range recorded
Students having opportunities to discuss what they have
read
Teachers are using before, during and after reading
activities to promote discussion
Senior Leaders and Head Teachers involved in providing
effective provision for literacy across the school
SLT ensure reading time is taking place and support the
project manager by taking learning walks and attending
data meetings
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
What OFSTED are looking for:
Evidence you could provide
A specific literacy action plan
Your half-termly reports are printed off and included in your
RSP folder
The lead teacher in each subject to ensure there are
opportunities to lead on literacy in their subject area
ZPD ranges available on a shared drive or all teachers could
be provided with access to Renaissance Place
www.arbookfind.co.uk used to create recommended
reading lists for other subjects
The ATOS analyser and teacher made quizzes can also be
used
Monitoring of outcomes in literacy and evaluating the
effectiveness of actions and provisions
STAR progress monitoring reports can be printed off or
Student Growth Percentiles can be provided
Intervention and alternative provision made for SEN, EAL,
looked after children, free school meals and other students
falling in the lowest 20%
STAR progress monitoring tools are set up
The gap between the performances of those students
requiring intervention and urgent intervention and all
students nationally is being narrowed
Students are encouraged to read widely
Printing the screening reports for the beginning of the year
and end of year to show the narrowing of the gap
The growth report can also be used to show that reading
age growth is accelerated and therefore narrowing the gap
Students may use reading passports that they have
stamped each time they have read a book in a different
genre
Plans that include the direct teaching of skills across the
subjects such as : skimming, scanning, using an index,
glossary and table of contexts; identifying key points and
making notes; etc.
There is provision for literacy across all departments
Use opportunities to have students read aloud and
consider the range of strategies that can be used for this:
popcorn reading (a student reads till they are tired and
then says ‘pop.’ At which point another student picks up
where they left off); choral reading (all students read out at
the same time; narration (in a text that has speech identified, the teacher assigns characters and the students focus
on bringing that text to life); etc
There are opportunities for enrichment activities such as
reading groups and opportunities for writers to work with
students in school
Video conferencing with local authors or students in other
local schools [Shadow the Carnegie Medal, or
another book award]
Organise a book club or creative writing club that meets
regularly and heavily features student voice
Literacy is taught in contexts that are relevant and
meaningful to the students
An objective for literacy (as identified in STAR Reading
Learning Progression) is included in all lessons for all
subjects
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
What OFSTED are looking for:
Evidence you could provide
The school is closing the gap between reading age and
chronological age
Print and file your growth reports after each screening
window
SLT promotes students’ learning and progress in literacy
and has high expectations so that every child is a good
Ensure that in school improvement plan, Literacy is
reader by the time he or she leaves the school (Reading and allocated a central role
literacy FAQs)
Strong links between school and home
Send your School to Home reports out to parents to report
to them on their child’s reading age as well as subject
progress
9
STAR Reading Characteristics
Children from
Service Families
Free School
Meals
Looked After
Children
EAL
SEN
Girls
Boys
Number of students
School Name
Last year:
Average
Reading Age
201_ /201_ Academic Year
Provision Made:
Current
Figures:
Average
Reading Age
School Name:
Appendix A:
Next Step:
Person
Responsible:
Deadline:
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
STAR Reading
Parameters
Accelerated Reader Parameters
Average reading age
Average ZPD range
Average book level
Engaged time per day (Benchmark: 15-20min)
Number of quizzes passed
Number of quizzes taken
Percentage of students at risk
(Benchmark: <10%)
% Students achieving 85%
(Benchmark: 90%)
Average percentage
correct (Benchmark: 85%)
Number of students
School Name
Last
year:
School Name:
Appendix B:
Current
Figures:
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
Next Steps to be completed by __/__/__:
201_ /201_ Academic Year
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
Autumn 2
20__
Spring 2
20__
Summer 2
20__
__/__/__
to __/__/__
___ students
20__/__
to __/__/__
(# students)
__/__/__
to __/__/__
____ students
20__/__
to __/__/__
( # students)
Percentage
Change
Points
Levels
Minutes
Average points earned per
student
Average book level
Engaged time per day
(in minutes)
Average reading age
Average Percentile Rank
STAR Reading Parameters
Change
Points
Total points earned
Percentage of students at risk
Books
Average number of books read
per student: based on quizzes
passed
Percentage of quizzes taken
and passed
Quizzes
Summer 20__/__
Summer 1
20__
Number of quizzes passed
Spring 20__/__
Spring 1
20__
201_ /201_ Academic Year
Quizzes
Autumn 20__/__
Autumn 1
20__
Number of quizzes taken
Average percentage correct
Students achieving benchmark
of 85%
Quiz participation
Accelerated Reader
Parameters (# students)
School Name:
Appendix C:
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
Summative comments regarding STAR Reading and Accelerated Reader:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Focus Areas
Excellence
Standard
Student
Participation
100%
Average
Percentage
Correct
85%
Percentage of
Students at
Risk
<10%
Engaged Time
in Minutes
25
Current
Target
Step
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Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
Appendix 4: Whole School Literacy Policy
Supplement
Rationale of Accelerated Reader (AR) and STAR Reading:
Reading, writing and maths are the necessary foundations on which all additional learning must be built. This policy
aims to help teachers to improve children’s futures by flourishing academically and developing a lifetime of learning.
We recognise that every child is unique. Children learn in different ways and at their own individual pace. Our literacy
policy is designed around this premise, enabling teachers to evaluate a child’s attainment and then tailor their learning
programme accordingly. We make sure that every child can experience accelerated learning in an environment that is
safe and non-threatening, fostering successful practice working towards learning objectives and longer-term goals.
About Accelerated Reader
AR is the world’s most popular reading management software. Used in thousands of schools across the UK, AR helps
teachers to monitor students’ regular reading practice. It gives teachers the information they need to ensure that
students are habitually reading and understanding the books that will best develop their reading skills.
Why Accelerated Reader works
A student’s reading level is determined by a STAR Reading assessment. This is a computer-adaptive test that takes
approximately 20 minutes to complete. It gives rise to the student’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which is the
ideal range of text complexity for that student. Students achieve the most significant gains in reading skills when they
read books that are neither so easy as to be unchallenging nor so hard as to be frustrating.
AR Book Levels are determined with the ATOS readability formula, which measures the complexity of the text of an
entire book. The formula takes into account the average sentence length, average word length, the difficulty of the
words used and the total number of words in the book.
Using Book Levels and their reading range as a guide, the student then chooses books that interest them and reads
them. A free online book-searching tool AR BookFinder allows students, teachers and parents to find interesting books
at the appropriate level.
After finishing a book, students take an online reading practice quiz within AR. These quizzes check that the student has
understood the book and provides an opportunity to praise the student and give verbal or written feedback.
The Home Connect feature notifies parents and guardians when the student has taken quizzes and allows them to
monitor progress from home.
Over 27,000 quizzes are available with AR; approximately 2500 are added every year. In addition to reading practice
quizzes, many high-frequency texts also have vocabulary practice quizzes and literacy skills quizzes, which test 24
higher-order thinking skills. Students can take AR quizzes in school using a computer, iPhone®, iPad® or iTouch®.
Comprehensive reports allow teachers and senior leaders to monitor students’ progress and to determine the
effectiveness of intervention. The reports flag students who are at risk of falling below benchmark levels of attainment
and enable teachers to determine what steps are necessary to improve their attainment. This ongoing monitoring
of reading practice, combined with periodic STAR assessments, provides teachers with valuable data to inform their
instruction and gives students a persistent motivation to make progress with their reading.
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Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
Within your school’s literacy policy, you may wish to comment on:
• What you believe makes a good reader.
• Your school’s stance on: guided reading; reading to students; listening to students read and sharing complete
novels.
• The range of texts your students are exposed to both within the curriculum and within the library.
• You school’s expectations of the implementation AR and STAR Reading from: SLT, teachers, those in charge of
pastoral care, the librarian and support staff.
• How you are using Renaissance Place™ as the foundation and measurement tool for your other literacy
programmes.
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
For Ofsted
We recommend providing your Ofsted inspector(s) with a copy of this page.
STAR Assessment are used for screening, progress monitoring and diagnostic assessment in reading, maths
and early literacy. They are computer-adaptive, efficiently determining students’ attainment level in much
less time than classic paper-based tests. The assessments have been proven as valid and reliable, correlating
strongly with other tests.
STAR Early Literacy assesses 41 skills in critical early literacy domains for emergent readers. Tests can be completed in as little as 20 minutes without assistance from a teacher. Tests can be repeated as often as weekly for progress
monitoring, and used as a diagnostic tool for older struggling readers.
STAR Reading assesses attainment in reading and comprehension across all school years. STAR Reading provides
nationally norm-referenced reading scores. Tests are typically completed in 20 minutes, and can be
repeated as often as weekly for progress monitoring.
STAR Maths assesses attainment in mathematics across all school years. STAR Maths provides nationally norm referenced scores and criterion-referenced evaluations of skill levels. Tests are typically completed in 20 minutes,
and can be repeated as often as weekly for progress monitoring.
How STAR works
STAR Assessments are computer-adaptive tests. STAR delivers an initial test item from a bank of several thousand
questions based on a student’s estimated attainment level. As students answer questions correctly, the difficulty of the
subsequent questions increases. Conversely, as they answer them incorrectly, the difficulty decreases. By continually
adjusting the difficulty of the questions, the software determines an increasingly accurate assessment of a student’s
attainment level. In this way, the software dynamically adapts the test to each individual student’s attainment.
Reporting
Comprehensive reports allow teachers and senior leaders to monitor students’ progress and to determine the
effectiveness of intervention. In STAR Reading and STAR Maths, reports flag students who are at risk of falling below
benchmark levels of attainment and enable students to determine the steps necessary to improve their attainment.
Skills-based reports inform instructional planning on an individual or group level, bridging the gap between assessment
and learning.
More information
Full details about the research foundation for the STAR Assessments can be found in the following booklet:
www.renlearn.co.uk/science-of-star
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
Endnotes
The National Curriculum in England : Framework document, July 2013
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/210969/NC_framework_documents_-_FINAL.pdf.
Accessed 26 August 2015
i
Teachers’ Standards, Department for Education,
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283566/Teachers__Standards_information.pdf.
Accessed 26 August 2015.
ii
Report of the Inquiry into Overcoming the Barriers to Literacy, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education,
http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/pdfs/2011-appge-literacy-report.pdf.
Accessed 10 February 2014.
iii
iv
Moving English Forward, Ofsted, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/moving-english-forward. Accessed 10 February 2014.
Reading, Writing and Communication (literacy), Ofsted,
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/reading-writing-and-communication-literacy.
Accessed 10 February 2014.
v
The Framework for School Inspection, Ofsted, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/framework-for-school-inspection.
Accessed 10 February 2014.
vi
vii
Reading and Literacy FAQs, Ofsted, http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/reading-and-literacy-faqs. Accessed 10 February 2014.
Improving literacy in secondary schools: a shared responsibility, Ofsted,
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/improving-literacy-secondary-schools-shared-responsibility.
Accessed 10 February 2014
viii
ix
Reading, Writing and Communication (literacy).
x
ibid.
xi
Improving literacy in secondary schools.
17
Preparing for OFSTED using Renaissance Place
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