Understanding the report
The subtest report for STAR shows how a group of students have performed across the different STAR subtests. It provides a quick visual for:
- Student strengths/needs in one reading component
- Comparison of student positions between reading components
The FILTERS provide a fast way to see the position of a specific cohort.
The BAR GRAPH provides a clear visual with the added feature of CLICKING on each BAR to see the names of students with that score. Teachers can go through to INDIVIDUAL REPORTS by CLICKING on a student's name.
The critical score reported for STAR subtests is the score approximately one and a half standard deviations below the national mean for that subtest. NB:Those who reach only the critical score or less, are definitely in need of individual investigation and assistance.
The typical scores are defined as those that show where approximately the middle 50% of students fall nationally. Approximately 25% of students nationally score above the typical scores and approximately 25% of students nationally score below the typical scores.
SUGGESTIONS for INTERPRETATION
WORD RECOGNITION: This subtest is useful to evaluate students' phonic skills by choosing the correct word for the picture -do they know the prefix/suffix/phoneme/graphemes that make up words - a critical skill required in making meaning.
SENTENCE COMPREHENSION: Each sentence requires a word to complete the meaning and students are offered a choice. Choosing the correct word means students have understood the construction and pulled words together to make meaning.
PARAGRAPH COMPREHENSION: This subtest requires the student to make connections between sentences and tests inference skills about finding the main idea or going beyond the text. It tests both making meaning and thinking critically with increasing sophistication as the student progresses through the texts.
VOCABULARY: Making meaning when reading requires students to have an increasing bank of words they know and understand. They will be words they will have heard, have read, have experienced and can therefore apply meaning to when read in sentences - a critical skill required in making meaning.
THE LANGUAGE of ADVERTISING: Thinking critically develops over time through teachers leading discussion and questioning of what students read, helping them to form opinions, predictions, and build inference skills. This subtest gives insight into students' critical thinking skills - can they see through the 'seductive' language and understand its intention to manipulate their thinking and ultimate choices.
THE LAGUAGE of STYLE: By Year 7/8, students are expected to be able to read and interpret different types of texts, understanding the difference between formal and informal language and why it is used. Students have chunks of text and are asked to choose a phrase, or sometimes a word, that fits. To do this correctly they have to know and feel the type of language, the audience it is intended for - this is quite a sophisticated skill but an essential one for when they create mening with their own writing.
IDEAS between the reading components.
Word recognition and Sentence/Paragraph Comprehension: If students score well in the decoding component but poorly in comprehension, teachers can reason that students require more time discussing and questioning texts to build the strategies for comprehension.
Sentence & Paragraph Comprehension: If students score well in sentence but not in paragraph comprehension, there is an indication that students are not making connections or finding the main idea, perhaps unable to infer or create mental images. Students may need to spend more time with texts they have read, talking and extending their thinking to develop richer understandings of what they have read.
Vocabulary: Students scoring well in vocab but low in comprehension may be an indication of a richbank of words but a lack of skills to apply them. Critical thinking and deliberate comprehension strategies may need to be taught.
Students scoring poorly in vocabulary will usually score poorly in comprehension. Building vocabulary and spending time exploring meaning with students will be required.
Language of style and advertising: If students do OK in sentence and paragraph comprehension but poorly in these two areas, it will be an indication they have not spent enough time discussiing and critically dissecting text. Critical thinking when reading is essential to extract full meaning from text. Knowing how authors use words to deliberately impact or affect their audience is important, in particular for student's own writing prowess.