HIT:STAR TEST PART 3

[FerkinsS <FerkinsS@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us>]

Here are the final responses on the Star Test, hope this helps!

Susan Ferkin, Librarian
Crump Elem.
Memphis, TN





We were fortunate to be able to purchase both STAR and AR together when
we
started out program a year and a half ago.  The STAR test is not
necessarily
perfect - we have had to retest about five students who took the test
and
scored very low, but I'm not sure if it was the tests fault or the
student's
nervousness.  However I'm not sure how you would place your readers in
AR
without some form of testing.  Standardized testing scores may give you
a
starting point, but then you or your teachers would need to sit down and

figure out a range (ZPD) for each student.  That range becomes very
important for figuring out point goals, appropriate content levels,
purchasing of books, etc.  Our high school used to tell every student
they
needed 20 points every grading period, no matter what their range or
ability.  That lead to many, many problems.  Again, I don't think you
have
to have the program, but it does make the implementation of the program
much, much easier for the administrator and the teachers.
_________________________________________________________________

 I do not think it is worth the investment.  We have the program and
SOME teachers use it.    If we were not to use STAR, I wouldn't use a
reading level assessment.  Why? I think that there is already so much
"reading to accomplish goals, to read on level" in the classroom.  I
know
because I used it as a classroom teacher for three years.  I slavishly
adhered to the prescriptions given by the Reading Renaissance.  Many of
my
students tested lower than they were really capable of.  The STAR, if
you
don't know, is just a cloze vocabulary test. It's fast but how
accurate?  It
just gives teachers a convenient peg on which to hang a student's
reading
level.

I think AR is a worthwhile program but in its motivational aspects
only.  I
really question the test:  who constructed it; its validity; the need to

even test in the first place.  Why can't we just let the students read
for
fun?  If they want to rack up 50 points on "easy" books, hey, let them.
It
will boost their confidence, and I feel they will eventually move on if
they
have been given freedom to read.  Using reading levels inhibits this
freedom; their choice from thousands of books has been narrowed down the
the
couple of hundred (at the most) books "on their level." Also, put
yourself
in the place of a student who brings a "picture book" to check out and
to be
told - that's too easy for you.  How do we know?  Maybe that kid needs
the
practice with sight words and s/he's just been told implicitly - "you
don't
match up where you should be."  How demoralizing.

In a nutshell, I just feel AR should be used as a motivational tool, not
a
"learning" tool with reading levels of questionable accuracy prescribed
by
?????  My two cents - and probably worth that much, but I have used it
as a
teacher so I feel I have some room to expound.
________________________________________________________________

We are a k-8 school with 650 kids.  We use STAR twice a year and as new
students come in during the year.  I love it.  It really helps us to
guide
kids to the right reading range. As a side note it gives them practice
taking tests like the standardized tests that we give through the state.

It really helps when a 4th grade parent thinks their child is capable of

reading Moby Dick and the test comes back with a recommended practice
range
of 2.4 - 4.0. I keep a list of ZPD's which is their reading ranges by my

desk and it helps me guide a student to the right book.
___________________________________________________________________

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