From the abstract: "The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a correlation existed between ELL student's success on the Renaissance's Star Reading test, and their success on the reading portion of the WASL. To accomplish this purpose, a review of selected literature was conducted, essential baseline data and information was obtained and analyzed, and related conclusions and recommendations were formulated. Data analyzed supported the hypothesis that there was a positive relationship between spring, 2008 Star Reading scores and spring, 2008 WASL reading scores of 3rd grade MES students at .05 and .01. The hypothesis was not supported at .001." The full report is available online: <https://web.archive.org/web/20170810031506/http://www.heritage.edu/library/mastersprojects/Cyr_Lisa_M_2009.pdf>.Citation: Cyr, L. M. (2009). A correlational study of the relationship of ELL student success on Star and WASL reading tests of 3rd grade ELL students at McClure Elementary School Yakima Washington (Unpublished master's project). Heritage University, Toppenish, WA.

Star Early Literacy, Star Reading, and Star Math have been rated highly by the National Center on Response to Intervention as screening assessments. The Full Review is available online: <https://web.archive.org/web/20181224051733/https://rti4success.org/resources/tools-charts/screening-tools-chart>.

Star Early Literacy was favorably reviewed as an universal screening tool for RTI by Juli L. Pool, Ph.D., and Evelyn S. Johnson, Ed.D., for the National Center on Learning Disabilities RTI Action Network. The full report is available online: <http://www.rtinetwork.org/essential/assessment/screening/screening-for-reading-problems-in-preschool-and-kindergarten>.

From the abstract: "The cost-effectiveness of class size reduction (CSR) was compared with the costeffectiveness of rapid formative assessment, a promising alternative for raising student achievement. Drawing upon existing meta-analyses of the effects of student-teacher ratio, evaluations of CSR in Tennessee, California, and Wisconsin, and RAND cost estimates, CSR was found to be 124 times less cost effective than the implementation of systems that rapidly assess student progress in math and reading two to five times per week. Analysis of the results from California and Wisconsin suggest that the relative effectiveness of rapid formative assessment may be substantially underestimated. Further research regarding class size reduction is unlikely to be fruitful, and attention should be turned to rapid formative assessment and other more promising alternatives." Citation: Yeh, S. S. (2009). Class size reduction or rapid formative assessment?: A comparison of cost-effectiveness. Educational Research Review, 4(1), 7-15. Email research@renaissance.com to request the Full Peer-Reviewed Article from the Renaissance Research Department.

From the abstract: "Benefit-cost analysis was conducted to estimate the increase in earnings, increased tax revenues, value of less crime, and reductions in welfare costs attributable to nationwide implementation of rapid assessment, a promising intervention for raising student achievement in math and reading. Results suggest that social benefits would exceed total social costs by a ratio of 28. Fiscal benefits to the federal government would exceed costs to the federal treasury by a ratio of 93. Social benefits would exceed costs to each state treasury by a ratio no lower than 286, and fiscal benefits would exceed costs to each state treasury by a ratio no lower than 5, for all but two state treasuries. Sensitivity analyses suggest that the findings are robust to a 5-fold change in the underlying parameters." Reference: Yeh, S. S. (2009). Shifting the bell curve: The benefits and costs of raising student achievement. Evaluation and Program Planning, 32(1), 74-82.

DETAILS: District Profile (McCracken County Public Schools): 6,854 students in grades: Pre-K-12; District Demographics: Rural, Free/reduced-price lunch: 44%; District Race/Ethnicity: Black or African American: 4%, White: 91%, Hispanic or Latino: 2%, Asian or Pacific Islander: 1%, American Indian or Alaska Native: 1%, Other: 1%. Focus School Profile (Concord Elementary School): 423 students in grades: Pre-K-5, Title I. RESULTS: Just 4 years after this district standardized use of Accelerated Reader with best practices, the percent of students at the proficient or distinguished levels in reading on the Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) increased 11 percentage points in 4th grade, 11 points in 7th grade, and 17 points in 10th grade--maintaining higher gains than the state. REPORTING EDUCATORS: Barbara Vick, assistant superintendent; Ann Fendley, library media specialist. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R37030>.

DETAILS: Location: 24 U.S. states; Design: Independent, correlational, peer-reviewed; Sample: 45,670 students in grades 1-12 at 139 schools; Measure: Star Reading; Duration: 1 school year. RESULTS: To explore whether different balances of fiction/nonfiction reading and challenge might help explain differences in reading achievement between genders, data on students who independently read more than 3 million books were analyzed. Moderate (rather than high or low) levels of challenge were positively associated with achievement gain, but nonfiction was generally more challenging than fiction. Nonfiction reading was negatively correlated with successful comprehension and reading achievement gain. Overall, boys appeared to read less than girls, but proportionately more nonfiction. In the upper grades, boys also had lower reading achievement than girls. Differences between classes in promoting successful comprehension of nonfiction were evident, suggesting intervention could improve achievement. Implications for research and practice were explored. PLEASE NOTE: Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of this peer-reviewed journal article: Topping, K. J., Samuels, J., & Paul, T. (2008). Independent reading: The relationship of challenge, non-fiction and gender to achievement. British Educational Research Journal, 34(4), 505-524.

From the abstract: "Learning to read is founded on the acquisition of oral language, phonological processing, print awareness, knowledge, and comprehension skills acquired before school entry. Practitioners who work with very young children have limited means of knowing whether interventions in these areas are helping children make progress toward important language and early literacy outcomes. As a result, reporting of child outcomes in these areas is usually insufficient at the program, state, and national levels. Child performance measures are needed that are easy and repeatable so that estimates of child growth can be obtained and used to inform intervention decisions. Individual Growth and Development Indicators are emerging as a robust approach to assessment particularly well suited to these challenges. This article describes 5 Individual Growth and Development Indicators for measuring progress in young children's early language and literacy. A brief overview of theoretical and empirical background information is provided demonstrating the reliability, validity, and feasibility of this approach for measuring growth in these critical areas of child development. Examples illustrate how these measures are used in early intervention programs for evaluating the progress of children as well as for program evaluation."Citation: Missall, K. N., Carta, J. J., McConnell, S. R., Walker, D., & Greenwood, C. R. (2008). Using individual growth and development indicators to measure early language and literacy. Infants & Young Children, 21(3), 241-253. The research study is available online: <https://web.archive.org/web/20200320220112id_/http://www.myigdis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IYC_UsingIndividual.pdf>.

From the abstract: "Analysis of the cost-effectiveness of 29 Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) models suggests that all 29 models are less cost-effective than an alternative approach for raising student achievement, involving rapid assessment systems that test students 2 to 5 times per week in math and reading and provide rapid feedback of the results to students and teachers. Results suggest that reading and math achievement could increase approximately one order of magnitude greater for every dollar invested in rapid assessment rather than CSR. The results also suggest that reading and math achievement could increase two orders of magnitude for every dollar invested in rapid assessment rather than class size reduction and three orders of magnitude for every dollar invested in rapid assessment rather than high quality preschool." Citation: Yeh, S. S. (2008).The cost-effectiveness of Comprehensive School Reform and rapid assessment. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 16(13). Available online: <http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/viewFile/38/164>

Combining low-cost computerised assessment technology with instruction helps make teachers better at teaching, and students better at learning. Such technology can also be part of the solution to building an effective accountability system for schools, one that provides more reliability, less test anxiety, and more accurate and available value added analyses. AUTHOR: T. D. Paul. Available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R43169>.

From the abstract: "The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference existed between TCAP scores of students who used the Accelerated Reader (AR) program and students who used Sustained Silent Reading strategy (SSR) as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). The variables of grade level (6th, 7th, and 8th), gender, and socioeconomic status (free- or reduced- price meals program) were considered. The population consisted of 108 6th graders who attended a Cocke County school or a McMinn County school in Tennessee. Data were obtained from the TCAP for 3 consecutive years beginning in 2004-2005 for students who completed the tests all 3 years. A t test for independent samples and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine if there was a difference on associations and interactions between variables.The researcher's investigation of the reading achievement of students who used Accelerated Reader and those who used Sustained Silent Reading should assist educators in planning for supplemental reading instruction. The information gathered from this research might be beneficial to other school systems when determining which method of reading instruction to use to increase students' reading achievement.The findings indicated the students who used the Accelerated Reader program had an increase in reading-language arts scale scores for 3 consecutive years. The findings of this study also revealed that gender had no significance on student achievement for 6th graders. The findings did indicate a significant interaction between gender and type of program used during 7th and 8th grades. Females who used the Accelerated Reader program outscored males who used the program. The findings of this study also determined that socioeconomic status had no association with TCAP scores during the 6th, 7th, or 8th grades." AUTHOR: J. Brown. The full report is available online: <https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3256&context=etd>.

This paper describes Renaissance Home Connect, and the mounting research based on the importance of parental involvement. Renaissance Home Connect improves the school-to-home connection by allowing parents and students to login to a website and view progress and current assignments in Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math, and MathFacts in a Flash. With Renaissance Home Connect, parents and students can view performance on reading quizzes and math tests, monitor progress toward goals, and see the students online bookshelf displaying book covers of their recently read books. Students can also practice math assignments in Accelerated Math or MathFacts in a Flash using Renaissance Home Connect, and have the assignments immediately scored at home. Access to online results and assignments promotes discussion between parent and child, which in turn motivates students. Parents, grandparents, or other caregivers can also stay on top of student progress by receiving an email after each Reading Practice or Vocabulary Practice quiz is taken in Accelerated Reader, after each Accelerated Math test, and after each MathFacts in a Flash level has been completed. Renaissance Home Connect extends student practice time, and keeps parents closely involved with their child's education. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R41228>.

From the summary: "School psychologists have a growing portfolio of measures, assessment practices, and infrastructure supports (both data management and training) to support this expansion of effective practices into early care and education. In particular, three measures-Picture Naming (a 1-minute measure of expressive vocabulary) and Rhyming and Alliteration (two 2-minute measures of phonological awareness)-form a suite of EL-IGDIs. These three measures, alone and in combination, can be used to monitor preschool children's progress toward early literacy and reading benchmarks from age 3 to kindergarten, and can be the basis for both more focused program evaluation, RTI programming, and a problem-solving approach to serving preschool children at risk for reading acquisition difficulties in elementary school."Citation: McConnell, S. R., & Missall, K. N. (2008). Best practices in monitoring progress for preschool children. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology (5th ed., pp. 561-573). Washington, D.C.: National Association of School Psychologists.The research study is available online: <https://web.archive.org/web/20150209035556/https://www.myigdis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IGDI-Book-McConnell-Chapter.pdf>.