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What is Renaissance Learning?
What is Renaissance Learning?
Renaissance Learning is an educational tool (which can be accessed through Clever for both teachers and students) used for assessment, learning, and teaching. There are two main components used at BCPS for student learning, which are:
STAR Reading/Early Literacy Assessments: A customized reading assessment designed for students in grades 1 through 12 (also for students in kindergarten who have basic reading skills). It is used to provide guiding data around literacy growth for readers who are beginning, struggling, and high-achieving. Star Reading transforms assessment data into action steps, giving teachers helpful insights and tools to strengthen instruction.
Accelerated Reader: A research-proven reading practice used to encourage student reading. Teachers guide students through personalized goals, a focused approach to reading growth, and quizzes that engage student learning towards mastery.
Star Reading and Star Early Literacy
Star Reading and Star Early Literacy
To begin, teachers will need to test students first using the appropriate assessment (Reading/Early Lit). To print a list of student usernames and passwords, access the Test Administration Manual, review instructions for testing students, or to learn how to pause, stop, or resume a test, check out these helpful tips and tricks.
To begin, teachers will need to test students first using the appropriate assessment (Reading/Early Lit). To print a list of student usernames and passwords, access the Test Administration Manual, review instructions for testing students, or to learn how to pause, stop, or resume a test, check out these helpful tips and tricks.
Once testing is complete, the next step is to review the results in a report. The STAR Record Book is a great place to quickly asses how your kiddos did on the test. You can also use nearpod to plan instruction. This tool will group students based on skill recommendation, provide individual student recommended skills, and provide an opportunity to browse available skills.
Once testing is complete, the next step is to review the results in a report. The STAR Record Book is a great place to quickly asses how your kiddos did on the test. You can also use nearpod to plan instruction. This tool will group students based on skill recommendation, provide individual student recommended skills, and provide an opportunity to browse available skills.
In the reports area, under State Performance and Master, teachers will want to become familiar with the Student Mastery Dashboard report. This report provides an interactive summary of students' mastery of standards, skills, domains, and sub-skills based on data from tests including the Star Reading/Early Lit tests. From here, you can see a list of students who can be celebrated as well as those who might need additional support. You are also able to click on any of the words in blue to see more around that particular metric. For more information, check out this five-minute video!
A few other reports to check out are:
STAR Summary Report - this report shows a summary of test results for a defined date range
STAR Screening Report - this report shows a graphical representation of benchmark achievements as well as the ZPD
STAR Growth Report - this report shows growth over time and the student's growth proficiency category
STAR Student Report - this report shows student performance, based on a selected date range, in both a data table and graphically
Other resources to review:
Accelerated Reader (AR)
Accelerated Reader (AR)
To build a love of reading, teachers can begin by encouraging reading practice in your school and classroom.
Go to AR Bookfinder to find books in your student's ZPDs, which also have aligned practice quizzes (there are more than 200,000 books).
Consider labeling books for your students to read, which can help them meet their goals and grow in their reading skills.
Help students understand why reading is important, schedule time for reading practice, and set goals with your students based on one of the Reading Goal Models.
Ensure your students are taking the monthly STAR assessment to watch for opportunities and to celebrate growth.
Other helpful resources include:
A checklist to guide a successful start with AR implementation
Tips to get you, your classroom, and your students ready!
The Goals Met Report allows teachers to see which students have (or have not) met their goals for a marking period or for the school year as well as the Reader Certification Certificates to recognize student achievement.
Teachers can see the status of their assignments and assessments (complete, in progress, etc.) and what action is needed (i.e., scoring or review) by using the Track Student Work Dashboard.
To review information about the selected quizzes, including the quiz number, language, title, author, interest level, book level, points, word count, and whether it is fiction or nonfiction, teachers can run the Quiz List Report.
To find patterns and to identify issues with a student's reading practice, teachers can run the Student Performance Record Report.
Star Math
Star Math
Renaissance Learning - Accessing the website:
Renaissance Learning - Accessing the website:
The quickest way to get to Renaissance is to go through the BCPS Clever Portal
If you prefer to login directly, be sure to use this link, which is specific to BCPS (https://global-zone52.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/135252 - if you don't see 135252 at the end, your are not logging into the BCPS site). Once you're there, click on the "I'm a Teacher/Administrator" button (where you will find another link to use Clever to login, or) you can login directly by using everything before the @ sign in your email as your username. For example, Jane Doe works for BCPS and has an email address of: [jdoe@battle-creek.k12.mi.us]; her username will be jdoe. If John Doe came to work for us, his email address might be [jdoe1@battle-creek.k12.mi.us], which would make his username jdoe1. Click the Forgot Password link if you need help.
Renaissance-U
Renaissance-U
Professional Development on your schedule! Sign up for free educational resources, accessible 24/7, by entering your email address here.
Attend the Welcome Orientation where you can watch a two-minute video covering what Renaissance-U has to offer. You can also watch a one (ish) minute video from the Chief Product Officer describing the motivation for Renaissance-U
Dive into the How-to Webinars to attend synchronous sessions, or view recordings of recorded webinars (see the Calendar of Events)
Check out the Smart Start Area to find videos and other resources to help you understand best practices for using STAR and Accelerated Reading, and to help you understand basic navigation.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: What is the Monitor Password?
A: admin
Q: How do I log into Renaissance Learning?
A: You can either login through Clever, or you can login directly (be sure you are using this link, which is specific to BCPS (https://global-zone52.renaissance-go.com/welcomeportal/135252 - if you don't see 135252 at the end, your are not logging into the BCPS site))
Q: How do I access STAR Assessments, plan instruction, etc.?
A: Check out this resource to learn about Navigating the Home Page
Q: What is nearpod?
A: Nearpod is a tool used with STAR Assessments and designed to group students based on skill recommendation, provide individual student recommended skills, and provide an opportunity to browse available skills. You can find more information at the bottom of the Star Record Book helpdoc
Q: Where can I find more help understanding STAR Goals and Benchmarks?
A: The STAR Goals & Benchmarks helps teacher understand more about how to set goals with their students
Q: What resources are available to plan instruction?
A: The Renaissance Planner provides guidance on selecting skills, choosing and scheduling assignments, editing and deleting a lesson plan, and more
Q: How do I find books for my students, which also include the corresponding quiz?
A: Go to the AR Bookfinder website to find more than 200,000 choices of books for your students to read!
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