Each STAR test assesses a range of reading skills that correspond closely to the main components of reading skills outlined in The Literacy Learning Progressions (Ministry of Education, 2010).   As students move through school year levels, students will learn to apply these aspects of reading to increasingly complex texts and in more sophisticated ways.
                    

The sub-tests of the STAR assessment tool are designed to provide teachers with reliable information about how well their students have mastered some of the measurable skills of the three aspects listed above. 


Thus, the STAR tests assess student ability to:                         
  • decode high-frequency and familiar words (No. 1 reading aspect above) 
  • make meaning of a range of sentences and longer texts (No. 2 reading aspect above)
  • draw on their vocabulary knowledge (No. 2 reading aspect above).                            


In addition, for Years 7–9 students, the tests assess: 

  • how perceptive they are about the way in which advertisers use emotive words to influence our choices 
  • familiarity with and ability to select phrases to fit different text types (No. 3 reading aspect above). 
                     

STAR is a test that breaks the main components of reading into Sub-tests to allow teachers to gauge and monitor progress in each area:


YEAR 3 - 9

  • Word recognition: simple decoding - can the students identify the word sounds to match a picture
  • Sentence comprehension: the ability to make meaning in short pieces of text
  • Paragraph comprehension: the ability to infer across sentences and beyond the text
  • Vocabulary:  choosing the appropriate word for context supplied


Plus for YEAR 7, 8 & 9 only

  • Language of advertising -  identify and understand emotive language used to qualify - amazing, cost-saving etc
  • Language of style - identify and choose phrases appropriate different styles of writing - formal, informal, 



The STAR tests designed for Years 3–6 take approximately 30 minutes to administer. Those designed for Years 7–9 take approximately 40 minutes. 



NB: Important information for STAR testing

This test must be carefully timed and the teacher must control the timing whether students sit paper or online tests. Each subtest has specific timing outlined in Administering the tests.


It is important these timings are followed if you are wanting to compare student scores to the national reference scoring accurately. Ākonga can take longer on a test but their scores cannot be compared to national norms as they did not complete the test in the same way i.e. a standardised way.