About What Kids are Reading 2026 This year’s report is based on reading data for the 2024–2025 school year for 4.7 million kids who read 161 million books at 19,962 schools and the 1.5 million kids who spent 545,888,348 minutes reading digitally. What Kids Are Reading displays popular books by grade range, by grade level, and—new this year—for Growing Readers (kids who started the year with low reading achievement but finished with exceptionally high growth). Two research spotlights dig further into the data to share what we know about How Kids Are Reading and our Insights on Growing Readers. Dr. Tiffany P. Hogan, a Professor at MGH Institute of Health Professions and Research Associate at Harvard Medical School, wrote the introduction to the report. The Full Report and additional information is available online: <https://www.renaissance.com/resources/what-kids-are-reading/>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Iowa Star Reading and Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from Iowa's achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Iowa's state tests (ISASP) and Star Reading and Star Math scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R52870>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Arkansas Star Reading and Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from the ATLAS achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking ATLAS and Star Reading and Star Math scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R45710>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Utah Star Reading schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from Utah's achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Utah's state test (RISE) for English Language Arts Utah Aspire Pluse Reading and Star Reading scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R52928>.

This study explores the impact of Accelerated Reader on student reading achievement and growth. Accelerated Reader is designed to motivate, monitor, and manage students' independent reading practice and support their stamina and skill growth through wide reading. Research-based guidelines, goal-setting features, and tools for matching students with appropriate texts promote dynamic reading practice that is shown to optimize academic growth. For this study, we drew upon a sample of over 1.8 million students from the 2023-2024 school year. The findings indicate that students using Accelerated Reader, particularly at recommended levels, showed significantly higher growth compared to non-users. Struggling readers and English Language Learners also benefited from Accelerated Reader. The study concludes that Accelerated Reader is an effective tool for boosting reading skills and closing achievement gaps, with higher fidelity in usage leading to better outcomes.The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R58148>.

From the Introduction: "To provide optimal power and usefulness within our Star Assessments and many of our practice products, Renaissance takes a unique approach to content creation through the development of custom learning progressions. In general, learning progressions are descriptions of successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about key disciplinary concepts and practices across multiple grades, which outline intermediate steps toward expertise (Pellegrino, 2011). Learning progressions lay out in words and examples what it means to move toward more expert understanding (Wilson & Bertenthal 2005) in a subject area. While not unlike a traditional scope and sequence, learning progressions are far more thoughtfully developed and emphasize a holistic, cross-grades focus."The Full Report is available online: <https://renaissance.widen.net/s/jdm9kgx5cw/780549-lpfocusskills-whitepaper>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Florida Star Reading and Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from Florida's achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Florida's state test (FAST) and Star Reading and Star Math scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R45709>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Vermont Star Reading and Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from theVermont achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking VTCAP and Star Reading and Star Math scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R58547>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for New Jersey Star Reading and Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from New Jersey's achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking New Jersey's state test (NJSLA) and Star Reading and Star Math scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R45930>.

FastBridge is committed to providing psychometrically sound assessments that provide valid and fair results for all students. This manual contains the psychometric evidence of the FastBridge Assessments. The full report is available online: <https://renaissance.widen.net/s/zh2slrtqdr/pefastbridge>.

This technical manual is a compendium of all relevant information about content and item development, item and scale calibration, reliability and measurement precision, validity, norming, and score definitions for Star Math High School (Algebra and Geometry).Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of the technical manual from the Renaissance Research Department.

These Freckle for Math and Freckle for ELA studies involved more than 420,000 students from Grades K-12 (math) and Grades K-12 (ELA). The studies examined Freckle usage, normative achievement on Star Assessments, and growth in general math or reading ability (Star Student Growth Percentile) over the fall-to-spring period in the 2022-2023 school year. Practice with Freckle was associated with a greater percentage of students meeting Star proficiency benchmarks at the end of the year compared to the beginning of the year, and higher levels of growth in general math or reading ability. These positive outcomes increased as students engaged in practice that met or exceeded Freckle usage guidelines and as students used the program for a larger portion of the school year.The full study is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R67477>.

The purpose of this project is to statistically link the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and Star Assessments scales in order to facilitate the conversion of MAP RIT scores to Star scaled scores. Linkages were completed between MAP Reading to Star Reading, MAP Language Usage to Star Reading, and MAP Math to Star Math. The resulting conversion table makes it possible for present or future Star users to translate their MAP RIT scores to Star scores.The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R57878>.