The hard copy texts cost per student is 27 dollars access to only one reading level. The student subscription is $21.95. Each student subscription can access 9 reading levels (AA-H) which is equivalent to the content of nine (9) CARS books and nine (9) STARS books. Going online would save you 5 dollars per student with other teacher benefits such as auto marking. View Pricing and Plans

To use CARS & STARS Online (CSO), you need at least one (1) teacher subscription and one (1) student subscription. It is recommended that you have at least one (1) teacher assigned to a classroom. The teacher subscription also included all the teaching guides as well. Going online would save you 5 dollars per student with other teacher benefits such as auto marking. View Pricing and Plans

Yes, you would need a parent subscription to administer all your children in which every child might be at an instructionally different level. Your parent subscription also includes all the teaching guides along with the answer sheets. Going online would save you 7 dollars per child with other parent benefits such as auto marking and read aloud. View Pricing and Plans

Students should remain at the same reading level for the year. However, after reviewing their Pretests, if it is clear that the students are struggling, it is recommended to move them down a level.

CARS & STARS Online covers both Diagnostics (CARS) and the Instructional (STARS). Both Diagnostics (CARS) and the Instructional (STARS) modules are integrated and available together online.

CARS & STARS Online works well with the following devices: laptop, iPad, tablet, desktop PC or smartphone. Before getting started, you need to check that your computer or tablet meets CARS & STARS Online's system requirements. Accessing CARS & STARS Online may not work without meeting these system requirements. For more information, click here.

Yes, the Placement Centre is integrated onto CARS & STARS Online. The Placement Centre will evaluate the individual students’ comprehension levels and then will place them in the appropriate CARS & STARS level. After the placement, more than one level may be represented within your classroom. The online learning program was designed with this in mind, making it possible to teach multiple levels within the one classroom.

Yes, the answer key is included in the teacher subscription. Each teacher subscription also includes all the content in the printed informative easy-to-use Teacher Guides - makes every teacher a reading expert!

If you are using CSO (CARS & STARS Online) at home, you would need to sign up as a parent. If you are using CSO at school, you would need to sign up as a teacher.

Both Teacher and Parent accounts can access the same content for all reading levels. All reading material comes in an interactive format. The Parent account has all the same functionalities as the Teacher account, except for features specifically concerned with schools and classrooms.

The Teacher account allows the teacher to focus on administering students and their performance in the classroom. The main features of a Teacher account include student management; access to student, class & school reports; a complete student activity overview; and student assessment completion notifications.

There are no limits on how many Teacher and Student accounts your school can create during the trial period. You also have full access to the program, including all reading levels. Each account can access nine (9) reading levels, which is equivalent in printed edition terms to the content of nine (9) CARS books and nine (9) STARS books.

CARS & STARS Online does not offer automatic renewal. You may continue to use CARS & STARS Online by upgrading your trial subscription to a paid subscription.

All your data and progress will be kept safe if you choose to continue with the program, allowing a smooth transition into one of our paid subscription options without the need to re-enter data.

Additional features in the paid subscription include instant complete reporting and information on next steps in instruction outlined in the student summary report. This provides explicit instruction for teachers to improve individual student's reading strategy performance.

Any trial account that is not renewed will be scheduled to be permanently erased.

For more information about the research behind CARS & STARS and studies on its effectiveness we’d first direct you to the Resources page on our website (https://www.hb-digital.com.au/resources), where the following specific documents may be of interest:

"A Study of the Instructional Effectiveness of CARS & STARS" details a study conducted on the use of the printed version of CARS & STARS that forms the basis of the CARS & STARS Online program. The study evaluated the efficacy of two levels of the original program – year 3 and year 7. Twenty teachers from eight different schools across three different US states – New York, California and Florida – participated in the study.

For an example somewhat closer to home, the document “Early, Explicit and Evidence Based: An Interview with Sarah Asome” details the work of one particular Melbourne teacher who used the CARS & STARS program with her class and extensively documented their progress. The document “High performing primary schools: What do they have in common?” may also be of interest.

For further information on the supporting research behind the initial CARS & STARS program, we’d also direct you to the specific Teaching Guides for each module, available in the program, which go into some detail about the research base behind the approach used in CARS & STARS Online. The STARS Teaching Guides are particularly expansive on this.