Compare Renaissance Star Assessments with us
Renaissance Star gives schools short adaptive tests for screening and tracking progress in reading and math. For your child, the level we find in each subject is where the daily lessons begin.
Screening tests or a full course
Renaissance Star Assessments are computer-adaptive tests, plus curriculum-based measures, for Pre-K through Grade 12. The family includes Star Early Literacy, Star Reading, Star Math, Star Phonics, Star CBM, and Star Preschool, with Spanish versions, and each assessment typically takes about 20 minutes.
Star reports a level; our placement finds one too, and then the teaching starts there.
Where your child starts
Schools use Star's adaptive tests to screen students, usually three times a year. Each test typically takes about 20 minutes and contributes evidence about the student's current achievement.
To start your child where they actually are, we write a placement test for each subject. It has 25 questions, or 12 for younger learners, and it adapts as your child answers.
From every answer, we estimate where your child is solid but not yet finished, and that's where they start. Each subject is placed on its own, so your child might begin in the middle of fourth-grade math and the beginning of fifth-grade reading. In grades 3 to 12, a child who prefers paper can print the free placement test, then upload a photo of the answer sheet for grading.
What a school day looks like
Star supplies assessments used for screening and progress monitoring. The student's regular lessons come from the school's instructional program, which uses the results to decide where extra work is needed.
Our Parent Dashboard lays out today's lessons by subject. You can build the week around your family's hours and print it for the fridge.
Interactive articles weave in your child's interests, with images and videos made for them. Reading checks confirm understanding, then your child applies the idea in a project, such as optimizing lap times for F1 or working out a rocket’s fuel load.
When your child gets stuck
Star measures what the student can do in the assessment. The classroom or program reading those results provides the teaching help, rather than the test itself becoming the next lesson.
Our Always-On Mentor sits beside every reading and project, so help is there the moment your child needs it.
The mentor also steps in on its own when your child seems stuck, explains the idea another way, and can make it visual by drawing on its board. In a reading check or a project, it guides your child's thinking without giving the answer away.
Learning to keep a notebook
From Grade 3, our readings offer an optional Notebook guide to help your child organize their learning. It encourages lesson headings and unit labels, and the printable guide offers tips for taking notes in their own words rather than copying the article.
The guide encourages your child to note where they struggled and how they got past it. One tip is to star a useful takeaway, then gather those takeaways into a review page. When your child scans and uploads their notebook pages, we help them remember those ideas and shape practice problems around the places they struggled.
Who grades the work
Star scores assessments and reports a Student Growth Percentile. Schools can monitor progress as often as weekly, using those measures alongside the work and grades from their teaching program.
We grade everything your child submits as soon as they submit it, so grading never lands on you. When your child gets something wrong, we help them work through it, and projects come back with feedback so they can revise them.
Records, state paperwork, and the transcript
Star provides reports for the schools and districts using its assessments. It also has family reports in English and Spanish, so families can see the findings from those tests.
At TheHomeschoolingCompany, your child's school record builds as they work: daily check-ins log attendance, and everything they finish is saved automatically. Attendance logs and learning summaries are ready to export, and we draft the documents your state asks for from that same record, including portfolios with real work samples.
Our high school transcript builds from completed work, with courses, letter grades, credits, and GPA calculated for you.
Moving from Renaissance Star Assessments to us
School in a Box includes up to 12 subjects, from the core to custom electives on anything your child is curious about. Single Subject covers one course, if you would rather start there.
Start the 14-day trial and choose School in a Box or Single Subject.
Pick your child's subjects, including any topics they have been asking to learn more about.
Your child takes a placement in each subject, and their whole curriculum is built around them.
Other questions
- Can my child be placed again if they grow quickly?
- Yes. Your child can retake placement in one subject while their other courses carry on, and completed work stays saved.
- Can a child who is not reading yet use it?
- Yes. Kindergarten through Grade 2 is spoken, so your child hears each short lesson and answers out loud with an adult nearby.
- Can my child read lessons on paper?
- Yes. Lessons, reading checks, and projects can be done on paper. Your child scans and uploads the finished pages for the same detailed feedback as online work.
- Can we use ESA funds?
- We are approved in Arizona, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Utah. Program rules apply.
Your child's curriculum. Your family's time.
Turn a reading or math need into daily instruction your child can work through.
$149/month per child after the trial.