The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and diagnostic accuracy of a CAT of reading (Star Reading) as it relates to a statewide, standardized assessment (Texas STAAR). The sample included approximately 1,200 students from grades three through five. Results suggest that Star Reading demonstrated consistently high levels of predictive accuracy across grade levels studied.Citation: Ochs, S., Keller-Margulis, M.A., McQuillin, S., & Jones, J. (2016). The validity and diagnostic accuracy of a computer adaptive test of reading. Research and Practice in the Schools, 4(1), 29-41.The full article is available online: <https://tasp.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/tasp-journal/vol%204%20issue%201%20complete%20issue.pdf>.

From the abstract: "WestEd--a nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development, and service agency--partnered with Freckle to explore whether students who use Freckle exhibitdifferent mathematics achievement outcomes than students who do not use Freckle. A rural school shared data on Freckle adoption and student scores on the Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) in mathematics with Freckle. WestEd used these data to conduct an independent analysis to determine whether or not Freckle use was associated with higher NWEA MAP test scores. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that using Frecklein the classroom results in higher achievement in mathematics. Limitations to the study and future research directions are also discussed."Citation: Freckle Education, & WestEd. (2016). Exploratory analysis of students' mathematics achievement after using Freckle. San Francisco, CA: Freckle Education.The research study is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R63353>.

Using the results from an earlier study that linked Star Reading and Star Math with the Texas state test (STAAR) (R45735), this document provides the Star Reading and Star Math scores that correspond to the updated Texas STAAR cut scores for various Phases outlined as part of a transition period by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Using the Star Reading and Star Math cut score equivalents to the final recommended STAAR Level II and Level III cut scores, Renaissance has computed Star Reading and Star Math progress measure scores equivalent to those used for evaluating annual growth on the STAAR assessments. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R57200>.

The intent of this study was to determine if keeping students engaged with voluntary reading over the summer using myON would prevent the "summer slide" - the tendency of students' reading achievement to decline during the time they are not in school, and are generally not academically engaged. The study involved 280 students who had recently completed grades 2 and 3, most of whom were from low-income families and thus most vulnerable to summer learning loss. It concluded that myON had a significant positive effect on the students' performance on the Aimsweb literacy measures over the summer, in contrast with a comparison group that did not use myON. Students using myON experienced increases in independent reading levels, and there was a positive correlation between the intensity of myON use (number of books read and amount of time spent in the program) with reading achievement gains. Citation: Rodgers, D. M. (2016). A study of the use of technology to prevent summer reading loss (Doctoral dissertation, University of St. Francis). The full study is available online: <https://www.proquest.com/docview/1853474952?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true&sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses>

From the abstract: "This study evaluated the extent to which existing measures met standards for a continuous suite of general outcome measures (GOMs) assessing children's early literacy from preschool through early elementary school. The study assessed 316 children from age 3 years (2 years prekindergarten) through Grade 2, with 8 to 10 measures of language, alphabetic principle, phonological awareness, and beginning reading. We evaluated measures at each grade group against six standards for GOMs extracted from earlier work. We found that one measure of oral language met five or six standards at all grade levels, and several measures of phonological awareness and alphabetic principle showed promise across all five grade levels. Results are discussed in relation to ongoing research and development of a flexible and seamless system to assess children's academic progress across time for effective prevention and remediation, as well as theoretical and empirical analyses in early literacy, early reading, and GOMs."Citation: McConnell, S., & Wackerle-Hollman, A. (2016). Can we measure the transition to reading? General outcome measures and early literacy development from preschool to early elementary grades. AERA Open, 2(3), 233285841665375. The research study is available online: <https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858416653756>.

From the abstract: "Do pupils who use Accelerated Reader (AR) think differently about reading, do they enjoy reading more and do they do it more often than pupils who do not use AR? We explore this question using two sources of data.The first utilises data from our 2014 annual literacy survey in which more than 32,000 children and young people aged 8 to 18 participated. 3 in 10 (29.9%; N = 9,551) of participating pupils said that they use AR. The 2014 findings are contextualised by recourse to findings we made in 2012 and 2013.The second source uses data from a longitudinal study we set up in 2011. We followed 1,500 pupils who were aged seven to eight (Year 3) in 2011 until they were aged 10 to 11 (Year 6) in 2014. 37% of these pupils said that they used AR in 2011. All pupils completed our attitudinal survey each year, and each year schools also sent us their attainment data. These data uniquely allow us to compare AR pupils with non-AR children over time on their reading enjoyment, reading behaviour and reading attitudes.Both cross-sectional and longitudinal data sets unanimously show that more pupils who use AR enjoy reading, read frequently and think more positively about reading than their peers who do not use AR. Our analyses also show that reading enjoyment is the only variable in a complex interplay of variables that has a strong bi-directional influence, regardless of gender and whether children use AR or not, not only highlights the importance of reading enjoyment as a variable that matters, but also underlines the need to develop effective methods to encourage children and young people to read for enjoyment. We are hopeful that an increased understanding of the relationships between reading enjoyment, attitudes, behaviour and skills will not only help us to strengthen the work carried out across the National Literacy Trust and the sector, but it will also help us to influence education policy and practice to promote the importance of reading for pleasure."Citation: Clark, C., & Cunningham, A. (2016). Reading enjoyment, behaviour and attitudes in pupils who use Accelerated Reader. London: National Literacy Trust. The full report is available online: <https://nlt.cdn.ngo/media/documents/2016_05_19_free_research_-_reading_enjoyment_behaviour_and_attitudes_in_AR_pup_418Os0V.pdf>.

From the abstract: "The first administration of the Smarter Balanced summative assessments in the spring of 2015 provided new data and renewed interest about how district formative assessments and academic achievement indicators are related to the new summative assessments. Nine school districts in Washington combined data, analytic expertise, and their impressions to explore this topic at a special session of the December 2015 WERA conference. Assessments explored included Measurements of Student Progress (MSP), Star Assessments, Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI), Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System, in addition to the secondary grade point average (GPA). This paper summarizes the analyses, thoughts, and ideas for further exploration that were presented at the conference. An appendix examines the relationship between the Smarter Balanced and NWEA MAP assessments." Citation: Lagerquist, B. (2016). Making sense of Smarter Balanced Assessment results for district staff: Summary of the December 2015 WERA Pre-Conference. The WERA Educational Journal, 8(2), 3-13.

The National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) found that Star Early Literacy was a high quality general outcome measures for progress monitoring tools. The Full Reviews are available online: <https://web.archive.org/web/20171101224616/http://www.intensiveintervention.org:80/chart/progress-monitoring>.

From the abstract: "KnowProgress conducted a study to determine Freckle's effect on student test outcomes. In particular, KnowProgress analyzed if students using the adaptive math program in Freckle would show increased math test scores compared with students who did not use the software. Test scores from the Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) in mathematics for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade were used for students at Isanti Intermediate School in Minnesota. The study is consistent with the hypothesis that Freckle's math program results in higher MAP mathematics test scores."Citation: KnowProgress. (2016). Freckle increases math scores in elementary students. San Francisco, CA: Freckle Education.The research study is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R63354>.

In this experimental study, Siddiqui, Gorard, & See (2016) examined 349 Year 7 students at four secondary schools who had not achieved secure National Curriculum Level 4 in their Key Stage 2 (KS2) results for English. For 20 weeks, students were randomly assigned to either use Accelerated Reader (166 students) or serve in the control group (183 students). The students using Accelerated Reader achieved higher literacy scores on the GL Assessment New Group Reading Test than students not using the program (overall effect size of +0.24). Study results also indicated Accelerated Reader had a positive impact on students eligible for free student meals.Citation: Gorard, S., Siddiqui, N., & See, B. H. (2015). Accelerated Reader: Evaluation report and executive summary. London, UK: Education Endowment Foundation.The full report is available online: <https://web.archive.org/web/20150315013550/http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects/accelerated-reader/>.The peer-reviewed journal article: Siddiqui, N., Gorard, S., & See, B. H. (2016). Accelerated Reader as a literacy catch-up intervention during primary to secondary school transition phase. Educational Review, 68(2), 139-154. Is available online: <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131911.2015.1067883#preview>.

From the abstract: "The authors examined the extent to which classroom teachers in naturalistic settings used a Goal-Setting Tool to set instructional goals for struggling students, the kinds of goals they set, their progress monitoring practices with and without goals, and the extent to which students gain more when a goal-setting tool is used. The goal-setting tool was used for 364,750 students and their growth in math, reading, and early literacy was contrasted with growth for 364,750 students whose teachers did not use a goal-setting tool. Use of the goal-setting tool led to improved outcomes for students, especially students in early grades."Citation: Haas, L. B., Stickney, E. M., & Ysseldyke, J. (2016). Using growth norms to set instructional goals for struggling students. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 32(1), 82-99.

From the abstract: "This Action Research examines the effects of using an interactive, adaptive software program, Freckle Math (formerly Front Row), in helping a sixth grade teacher to differentiate mathematics. Ten students who go to a parochial school in a rural, midwestern community were included in the study. The data collection tools included a pre-research reflection, a journal of teacher observations, a daily student questionnaire, computer generated reports, a midresearch reflection, and a post-research reflection. Overall, this research showed an average growth of 1.74 years, or 44.9 percent with regard to grade level equivalency. This growth indicates the students' ability to perform mathematics skills independently. Due to the integration of Front Row, the students were more engaged in activities and showed growth on their achievement. This helped narrow existing gaps on the Common Core State Standards foundational domains. However, future research would consider other adaptive, technology integration tools to aid in mathematics differentiation."Citation: Morales, A. (2016). Using technology to aid in the differentiation of mathematics in a sixth grade classroom (Action research report). Saint Catherine University, St. Paul, Minnesota.The research study is available online: <https://sophia.stkate.edu/maed/147/>.

This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Mississippi K-3 Assessment Support System (MKAS2) 3rd Grade Reading Summative Assessment and Star Reading scaled scores. Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of the report from the Renaissance Research Department.