Cut Scores, Benchmarks and Benchmark Structures
Several of the Star Reading reports use cut scores, benchmarks and benchmark structures to identify students who are having difficulty.
- A cut score is a converted Percentile Rank (PR) score.
- Cut scores that are chosen as targets for students to meet or surpass are benchmarks.
- School benchmarks are targets that apply to every student in a school (each year has its own benchmarks).
- School network benchmarks are targets that apply to every student in a school network.
Each type of benchmark can have different values; for example, school benchmarks may be set higher than school network benchmarks. One of these benchmarks can be chosen as a default benchmark (to be used in situations where a benchmark is required but one has not been chosen).
- The number of categories, the category names and the minimum proficiency level chosen create a benchmark structure. There are four default categories, but the number of categories in the structure can be changed from two to five.
|
Category |
Description |
Default Cut Score |
|
At/Above Benchmark (green) |
Students meeting or exceeding the benchmark score |
At/Above 40 PR |
|
On Watch (blue) |
Students slightly below the benchmark score |
Automatically calculated as the range between "At/Above Benchmark" and "Intervention" |
|
Intervention (yellow) |
Students below the benchmark score |
Below 15 PR |
|
Urgent Intervention (red) |
Students far below the benchmark score |
Below 6 PR |
Click one of the following links for instructions on how to change the number of categories in the structure and the cut scores and benchmarks that define them.