From the abstract: "For young Spanish-English dual language learners (SE-DLLs), early literacy skills, including phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge in Spanish as well as English, are crucial to their reading success. However, there is a lack of research about how SE-DLLs develop early literacy skills, and how their rates of performance can inform evidence-based intervention. This article examined to what degree SE-DLLs with disabilities or at risk for later reading difficulties on early literacy skills demonstrated growth on English and Spanish measures of early literacy when compared with their typically developing peers. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze growth for 325 SE-DLLs on four Individual Growth and Development Indicators that assessed phonological awareness and alphabet knowledge in English and Spanish. Results indicated that at-risk and typically developing children showed significant slopes for all measures and that at-risk children grew faster than typically developing children on Spanish alphabet knowledge measures." Citation: Wackerle-Hollman, A. K., Duran, L. K., & Miranda, A. (2020). Early literacy skill growth in Spanish-speaking children with and at risk for disabilities in early childhood. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 40(1), 24-38.The Full Report is available online: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1257815.pdf>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Wyoming Star Reading and Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from Wyoming's achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Wyoming's state test (WY-TOPP) and Star Reading and Star Math scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R53903>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Florida 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 (Florida End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments for Algebra 1 and Geometry, FSA in the software) and Star Math scaled scores. The Full Report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R63028>.

Many traditional screening measures (CBM) offer only moderate levels of accuracy, necessitating the use of multiple administrations or slopes to inform screening and placement decisions. This study examined the validity and diagnostic accuracy of a computer adaptive test, Star Reading, as a screener to identify state achievement test performance for 1,696 third through fifth graders. It concluded that single time point administrations of Star Reading were strongly related to the state outcome measure within year; using data from multiple administrations (slopes) did not offer a significant improvement over single data points. The authors conclude that Star Reading can work as an appropriate screening measure particularly in the upper elementary grades, when traditional CBMs tend to demonstrate decreased accuracy. Citation: Ochs, S., Keller-Margulis, M. A., Santi, K. L., & Jones, J. H. (2020). Long-term validity and diagnostic accuracy of a reading computer-adaptive test. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 45(3), 210-225. The full report is available online: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330989228_Long-term_validity_and_diagnostic_accuracy_of_a_reading_computer-adaptive_test>.

From the abstract: "Evidence of longitudinal relations between language and early literacy skills in early childhood and later reading (and other) achievement is growing, along with an expanding array of early education programs designed to improve later academic outcomes and prevent, reduce, or close later academic achievement gaps across groups. Assessment systems to support this intervention have been developed, but to date we have little evidence of these systems' outcomes when used at a broad scale in community-based preschool programs. For this broad purpose, two research questions were addressed: (a) How much progress do children make on language and early literacy skills over the course of one school year? And (b) What is the relationship between child characteristics, baseline performance, and growth on language and early literacy skills? Results indicated growth over time for all measures and relations between child age, gender, and free-or-reduced-price status and students' performance at the beginning of the school year, but (with one exception) no relation between these covariates and growth over time. Discussion centers on current status of language and early literacy assessment in early childhood education as well as needs and issues to be addressed in future research and program development."Citation: Kincaid, A., McConnell, S. R., & Wackerle-Hollman, A. K. (2020). Assessing early literacy growth in preschoolers using Individual Growth and Development Indicators. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 45(3), 173-183. The research study is available online: <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327754529_Assessing_Early_Literacy_Growth_in_Preschoolers_Using_Individual_Growth_and_Development_Indicators>.

This manual is a compendium of all relevant information about content and item development, reliability and validity, norming, and score definitions for myIGDIs Early Numeracy by Renaissance.Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of the technical manual from the Renaissance Research Department.

This technical manual is a compendium of all relevant information about content and item development, reliability and validity, norming, and score definitions for myIGDIs Early Literacy by Renaissance.Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of the technical manual from the Renaissance Research Department.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Indiana Star Reading and Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from Indiana's achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Indiana's state test (ILEARN) and Star Reading and Math scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R446201>.

From the abstract: "Within multitiered systems of support, assessment practices that limit the amount of time students miss instruction should be prioritized. At the same time, decisions about student response to intervention need to be based upon technically adequate data. We evaluated the impact of data collection frequency and trend estimation method on the magnitude of average rates of growth as well as the stability of individual estimates of growth from a computer-adaptive test. Students in Grades 2 through 5 (n>2,000) were progress monitored once a month across the 2015-2016 school year with Star Reading or Star Math assessments. Results suggest that using ordinary least squares regression to estimate growth from triannual screening periods is generally sufficient to make program evaluation decisions about response to instruction across a school year. To make decisions about individual student progress, data should be collected at a minimum bimonthly but preferably once a month."Citation: Van Norman, E. R., & Ysseldyke, J. E. (2020). The impact of data collection frequency and trend estimation method on the consistency of growth estimates from two computer-adaptive tests. School Psychology Review, 49(1), 20-30. The full article is available online: <https://www.proquest.com/docview/2503471456>.

Accelerated Reader is a progress-monitoring system that provides feedback on the comprehension of books and other materials that students have read. It also tracks student reading over time. Currently, more than 180,000 different Accelerated Reader quizzes have been developed and are in use. This report provides reliability and validity data for Accelerated Reader quizzes. The reliability analyses use a large database of nearly 1 million quiz records. Validity is established through correlations with scores from 24 standardized reading tests and through a study that confirms that the quizzes are effective at discriminating between instances of students having read the book versus not having read the book. The report also includes descriptions of the purpose and intended classroom use of Accelerated Reader, descriptions of the types of quizzes, and the processes for quiz development. The report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R35806>.

From the introduction: "The Lalilo English program has been developed to enable students to practice foundational pre-reading and reading skills in English. The skills include Phonological Awareness, Letter Recognition, Phonics, Word Work, Vocabulary, Fluency, and Comprehension. In November and December of 2019, WestEd staff conducted a subject matter expert review and an alignment review of Lalilo's literacy program. In addition, the WestEd team reviewed the program's content and exercises for alignment to the English and Language Arts Common Core State Standards (CCSS)." To obtain a copy of the review, email the Renaissance Research Department: research@renaissance.com.

From the abstract: "Although several measures are available for monitoring kindergarten reading progress, little research has directly compared them to determine which are superior in predicting year-end reading skills relative to other measures, and how validity may change across the school year as reading skills develop. A sample of 426 kindergarten students who were considered to be at risk for reading difficulty at the start of kindergarten were monitored across the year with a set of paper-based progress monitoring measures and a computer-adaptive test. Dominance analyses were used to determine the extent to which each measure uniquely predicted year-end reading skills relative to other measures. Although the computer-adaptive test was the most dominant predictor at the start of the year over letter sound fluency, letter naming fluency, and phoneme segmentation fluency, letter sound fluency was most dominant by December. Measures of fluency reading real words administered across the second half of the year were dominant to all other assessments. The implications for measure selection are discussed."Citation: Clemens, N. H., Hsiao, Y. Y., Simmons, L. E., Kwok, O. M., Greene, E. A., Soohoo, M. M., Henri, M. A., Luo, W., Prickett, C., Rivas, B., & Al Otaiba, S. (2019). Predictive validity of kindergarten progress monitoring measures across the school year: Application of dominance analysis. Assessment for Effective Intervention, 44(4), 241-255. The full report is available online: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1230620.pdf>.

From the summary: "After rolling out a 1:1 Chromebook initiative, Eastside Elementary in Hendry County, Florida faced a challenge: how could they best utilize their new technology to maximize student growth? And how could they leverage technology to support English Language Learners (ELL) students? The district wanted to increase student engagement while keeping teachers in control of their classrooms. After Nearpod trained Eastside teachers on its interactive platform, not only did ELL students benefit, but all students experienced Nearpod’s transformative effects on learning."The full article is available online: <https://news.nearpod.com/pdf/Nearpod's+Impact+on+Student+Achievement+v14.pdf>.