To go to the Preferences page, select your initials at the top of the Home page, then choose Edit Preferences from the menu that opens.
The preferences page lists the preferences that you can set for Star tests, Accelerated Reader quizzes and reading or math assignments. Select a preference to see its current settings and to make changes if necessary.
If you don't have permission to change a preference, you will be able to see the settings, but you won't be able to change them. If permissions have not been changed, district-level administrators can set district preferences, school preferences for any school, and classroom and student preferences for any class. School-level administrators can set school preferences, class preferences, and student preferences for their school. Teachers can set class preferences and student preferences for their classes. District staff and school staff can see preference settings, but they cannot change them. To find out how to change permissions, see Viewing and Editing User Permissions.
The preferences are listed in four sections on the page. By default, the sections of preferences that you can change are expanded, and the sections that you cannot change are closed. To expand or close a section on the page, select the heading:
Only preferences that apply to the products you own (or use for your classes) will be listed, so some of the preferences described below may not be available when you view the Preferences page.
When a new school year starts, the settings in your District, School, and Individual Student preferences will carry over to the new year. Class preferences do not carry over because classes are new every year; set class preferences after your new classes are created for each school year. Other preference settings should also be reviewed at the beginning of each new school year so that they can be updated as needed.
District Preferences
- Secure Browser: If a secure browser is required by your state or district, you must set this preference and install the secure browser in order for students to take a Star test.
- Star CBM - Audio Recordings: Sets whether students' Star CBM assessments may be recorded, and if so, how long recordings will be kept in the software.
- Star CBM Reading - Overall Risk Score: Sets whether the % at risk overall (Overall Risk Score) is included in Star CBM Data Insights for each school.
- Star Scale Transition: Sets which scales are available in certain Star reports: Star Unified or Star Enterprise (as of the 2022–2023 school year, only the Unified scale will be available).
- Teacher Email Alert - Probable Non-Reader: If a student's Star Reading test score suggests they might not be an independent reader, this preference determines whether the student's teacher receives an email alert.
- Third Grade Reading Proficiency Assessment (if available): Sets whether schools in the district can administer the Renaissance Third Grade Reading Proficiency Assessment (set only by District Administrators in states where the third grade proficiency assessment has been adopted).
School Preferences
- Article Quiz Availability Preference: Sets whether students at each school are allowed to find, read, and quiz on Accelerated Reader article quizzes.
- Dates and Times for Accelerated Reader: Sets restrictions for the times, days, and dates when students are allowed to take Accelerated Reader book and article quizzes. You can choose when students may take quizzes each day by setting start and end times, and you can restrict quizzing to a certain date range. You can also prevent students from quizzing on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Dates and Times for Star Assessments: Sets restrictions for the times, days, and dates when students are allowed to take Star assessments, including Star Early Literacy, Star Math, and Star Reading (English and Spanish). You can choose when students may take assessments each day by setting start and end times, and you can restrict assessments to a certain date range. You can also prevent students from taking assessments on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Dates and Times for Star Custom: Sets restrictions for the times, days, and dates when students are allowed to take Star Custom assessments. You can choose when students may take Star Custom assessments each day by setting start and end times, and you can restrict the assessments to a certain date range. You can also prevent students from taking Star Custom assessments on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Enterprise Tests: Determines which type of Star Math or Star Reading test can be administered in schools in the district (Enterprise tests only or Enterprise and non-Enterprise tests).
- Home Connect Email: Determines which programs parents may choose to receive email notifications about. Emails are sent to parents when their children complete activities at school. Parents choose which programs to receive emails for; the list of programs that parents can choose from is determined by this preference.
- Lexile®* Range: Sets whether Lexile® Ranges are displayed in Star reports that show Lexile® measures.
- Locale Content Sets: Sets whether to use quizzes and assignments from cultures other than your own (US, UK, and Australia). You can also choose whether US Spanish quizzes are available to your teachers and students.
- Manage Quiz Results: Sets whether teachers are allowed to edit quiz dates, review/rescore student quiz responses, transfer quiz records from one student to another, and deactivate or reactivate quiz records. (Administrators can always do these tasks.)
- Monitor Password Override for Book/Interest Level: Sets whether the monitor password can override individual student restrictions by book level or interest level set in the Individual Student Preferences.
- Passing Percent: Sets the minimum passing percent correct score for Accelerated Reader's Reading Practice Quizzes, Other Reading Quizzes, and Article Quizzes.
- Provider Content Availability: Sets which providers' content will be available to teachers in your school when they assign work to students in Planner or when they plan instruction and view skill recommendations in the Star Record Book.
- Quantile® Measure: Sets whether Quantile® Measures and Quantile® Ranges are shown in Star Math Reports.
Class Preferences
- Demo Video: Determines whether students will see a demonstration video before taking a Star Early Literacy test.
- Enterprise Tests: Determines which type of Star Math or Star Reading tests can be administered to students in a class or group (Enterprise, or both Enterprise and non-Enterprise). For more about the differences between the types of tests, see Enterprise Tests Preference - Class Level.
- Hands-On Practice: Determines whether students need to complete hands-on practice questions before taking a Star Early Literacy test.
- Lexile® Goals: Sets whether Lexile® measures are used instead of ATOS book levels for Accelerated Reader goals, book level restrictions, and reports.
- Math Test Type: Sets the types of questions the students in a class or group will see on Star Math tests:
- the default combination of math/algebra/geometry questions
- algebra questions only
- geometry questions only
- Monitor Password - Reading Quizzes: Sets the monitor password that is used when you stop an Accelerated Reader quiz. You can also use the Password Requirement preference to require the monitor password before or after Accelerated Reader quizzes.
- Monitor Password - Star Tests: Sets the monitor password that is used when you stop a Star test. You can also use the Password Requirement preference to require the monitor password before Star tests.
- Password Requirement: Sets whether the monitor password is required before and/or after Accelerated Reader reading quizzes or before Star tests.
- Quiz Retake Restrictions: Determines when (and whether) students are allowed to retake Accelerated Reader quizzes.
- Reading Goals Model: Sets the goal model to use for each class: K-2 (using tokens and badges), 3-5 (using average percent correct, reading range, and points goals with a rocket for progress), or 6+ (using average percent correct, reading range, and points with a bar graph for progress).
- Show Quiz Answers: When students pass Accelerated Reader quizzes, this preference sets whether they are allowed to review their answers and see the answers to questions that they answered incorrectly. This preference applies only to quizzes taken in the current school year; students cannot review quiz answers from previous school years.
Individual Student Preferences
- Accommodations: Provides extra tools and accommodations for students to use while taking Star Reading, Star Math, and Star CBM tests in English.
- Book Level Restrictions: Determines which books students are allowed to take Accelerated Reader quizzes on based on book level. Students cannot take quizzes on books whose book levels are outside the range you set (unless you allow an override in the Monitor Password Override preference).
- Estimated Instructional Levels: Sets a student's instructional levels for reading and math. This sets the difficulty level of the first question a student sees on his or her first Star Math or Star Reading test.
- Extended Question Time Limit: Sets whether some students should have more time to answer a question on Star tests.
- mySAEBRS Survey: Sets which students can access mySAEBRS (Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Survey) on their Home page.
- Interest Level Restrictions: Determines which books students are allowed to take Accelerated Reader quizzes on based on interest level. Students can only take quizzes on books with the interest levels that you select (unless you allow an override in the Monitor Password Override preference). Interest levels indicate which grade levels the content of a book is most appropriate for.
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Quiz Settings: Includes two settings for individual students:
- whether students will be asked if books were read to them, with them, or independently before they take an Accelerated Reader Reading Practice Quiz
- whether students are allowed to hear Recorded Voice while taking Reading Practice Quizzes, and if they will be asked whether they want to hear Recorded Voice
- Star CBM - Record Audio: Sets whether each individual student's Star CBM assessments may be recorded. If the district Star CBM - Audio Recordings preference does not allow recording, the individual student preferences have no effect.
- Star Math Audio: Sets whether students will hear audio during Star Math and Star Math Spanish assessments.
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