Which students are on track?

It’s critical to know as soon as possible which students are on track to graduate ready to meet the challenges of college or career and which ones may need additional help. The earlier in the school year—and, perhaps more importantly, the earlier in a student’s academic career—that educators get this information, the more opportunities they have to provide extra support, personalize instruction, and ultimately accelerate learning.

Renaissance makes it easy to determine progress towards ACT and SAT benchmarks as early as sixth grade

Both ACT and the College Board have set college and career readiness benchmarks for their college entrance exams to help identify students who are more likely to achieve success in college or career.1 However, many students don’t take these assessments until their junior year of high school, giving educators little time to improve student performance.

Researchers at Renaissance have linked Star Reading and Star Math to the ACT college admissions test for English, reading, and mathematics as well as the SAT college admissions test for evidence-based reading and writing (ERW) and mathematics. (For more information about the linking process, download the technical reports for the ACT and SAT.)

Starting in sixth grade, you can enter students’ Star scores into this free tool to see if they are on track to reach college and career readiness benchmarks on both the ACT and the SAT.

High school students entering their school

ACT and SAT benchmarking tool

Subject

Grade

Month

Benchmark

Graph type

Enter each student's Star Reading Enterprise scaled score. Click the Add student button or press the Tab key to create a new student.

Student	Star Reading Score	Star Math Score	{{ benchmark.name }}	Remove Buttons
Student	Star Reading Score	Star Math Score	{{ benchmark.name }} {{ benchmark.name }} {{ (compareScores(row, benchmark) ? (compareScores(row, benchmark) == 'above' ? 'On track' : 'Below') : '' ) }}

Estimated benchmark for grade and month

How to interpret the {{chartBenchmark.name}} report

In the above table, each student will have one of two indicators in the “{{chartBenchmark.name}}” column:

On Track

The green “on track” indicator signals a student is likely on target to meet or exceed the SAT benchmark. These students should strive to maintain or increase performance to keep on track for college and career success.

Below

The yellow “below” indicator signals a student may not be on track to meet the SAT benchmark. These students should focus on improving performance in order to get on track for college and career success.

This describes a student’s performance in comparison to the estimated pathway of achievement for . The bar chart below the table arranges student scores from highest to lowest (and is not in the same order as the table) to show the distribution of students in comparison to the estimated benchmark for your selected grade and month (represented by the gray line).

Improving student performance

Learn more about predicting performance on high-stakes tests

Read the blog

Don’t have Renaissance Star Assessments?

If you don’t have Renaissance Star Assessments, you’re not only missing the opportunity to see if students are on track for ACT and SAT success—you’re also missing the chance to predict student scores on your state assessments! In 20 minutes or less, Star Assessments can give you rich insights into student learning and accurate predictions of future achievement.

Get started by exploring Renaissance Star 360, the most comprehensive pre-K–12 interim and formative assessment suite available. Star 360 includes computer-adaptive assessments for reading, math, and early literacy—all in both English and Spanish—as well as fixed-form tests for formative assessment.

Let’s talk about giving your students a head start on college and career success.

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References and notes

ACT is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc. in the US and other countries. College Board and SAT are registered trademarks of the College Board in the US and other countries.

The ACT College Readiness Benchmarks are scores that indicate a student has a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher in corresponding credit-bearing courses. For more information about ACT benchmarks, please visit the ACT website. SAT College and Career Readiness Benchmarks are scores that indicate a student has a 75% chance of earning at a least a C in first-semester, credit-bearing college courses. For more information about SAT benchmarks, please visit the SAT website.
Estimates do not guarantee performance on the ACT or the SAT. Researchers linked Renaissance Star Assessments to the ACT and SAT scales at grade 11 to determine the Star scores that were equivalent to ACT and SAT benchmarks. They then estimated benchmarks back to grade 6 to show a pathway over time. Estimates were made using normative data and may not be accurate for all students. For more information, please view the ACT and SAT linking studies.

Are your students on track for college and career readiness?