Taking a Star Reading Test

Before students can take the test, you should check the following:

1. Start the web browser and go to the address provided by your school network or school. The Renaissance Place Welcome page opens.
2. Select I am a Student.
3. The student enters his or her user name and password, and then selects Log In.
   
   If the student does not know his or her user name or password, search for the students you need user names and passwords for (select Users on the Home page, then select View Students); select the Passwords tab once the correct students have been found.
   
   
   • If students know their passwords but not their user names, you can search for the user name by selecting Forgot Your User Name? The software will ask the student to choose the school and search for his or her name; then the program will fill in the user name. You cannot search for student passwords this way.

   The ability to find user names is an option in Renaissance Place that can be turned on or off; if the Forgot Your User Name? link is not visible, contact your administrator.

4. On the Home page the student selects Star Reading .
   
   
5. If Star Reading asks the student to choose a class, the student should select the class name , then select Next . (This happens when the student is enrolled in more than one Star Reading class.)
   
   
6. If Star Reading asks for an authorisation password (determined by the Testing Password Preference), the teacher or teaching assistant enters it and selects Start .
   
   
   
   If no password is required, go ahead to the next step.
   
   
   • You cannot substitute your Renaissance Place password for the authorisation password.
   • If you forget to enter a password before selecting Start, you will be reminded to enter it, and you can try again.
     
     
     
     However, if you enter the wrong password three times in a row, you will not be able to start the student's test.
     
     
     
     Check the Testing Password preference to make sure you are using the correct authorisation password.
7. If the student has not taken a Star Reading test in the past 180 days, the student must answer a few simple practice questions to make sure the student knows how to answer them.
   
   
   • Three or four possible answers are shown below each question. The student can choose an answer by pressing 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the keyboard, clicking an answer with the mouse, or tapping an answer (if the student is using a tablet). Star Reading highlights the chosen answer and fills in the student's answer so the student can re-read the sentence with that choice.
     
     
     
     The student can choose a different answer, but only before entering it—once the choice has been entered, it cannot be changed.
   • Once the student is satisfied that he or she has chosen the correct answer, the student enters the answer, either with the keyboard (by pressing Enter or return) or by clicking or tapping Next .

   Note: Although scores are not based on how quickly students answer questions, practice questions and test questions do have time limits (these time limits can be extended).

   A clock appears on the screen when the student has 15 or fewer seconds left to answer the question.

   • During the practice, if the student does not choose an answer to a question before time runs out, or if the student has chosen an answer but does not enter it before time runs out, Star Reading considers it an incorrect answer.

   The student will be notified if time runs out on a question; the test will move on to the next question.

   • After the student answers three practice questions correctly, a message tells the student that the test is about to start.
     
     
     
     If the student answers seven practice questions without getting three correct, Star Reading ends the practice and will not start the test for that student. The student is instructed to ask for help.
     
     
8. The test starts; the test questions are similar to the practice questions. The methods used for choosing and entering answers are the same as those in the practice questions, except:
   
   
   • If the student has chosen an answer, but does not enter it before time runs out, Star Reading will count the chosen answer as the student's answer to the question.
   • If the student has not chosen an answer before time runs out, Star Reading considers it an incorrect answer.
9. Along with fill-in-the-blank questions, students will be presented with short-answer questions. These questions have a text passage at the top, followed by a question about the passage. There will be a list of three or four possible answers; students should choose and enter answers the same way they do for fill-in-the-blank questions.
   
   
10. When the test is over, have the student select OK . The program will log the student out so the next student can log in.