CARS & STARS
The CARS & STARS Masterclass details: the Teacher and Student Portals; CARS & STARS program structure; Placement Centre; program navigation; contents; assigning activities; and types of reports. It includes demonstrations and information on accessing additional resources. The end of the session also includes Q&A.
CARS & STARS:
Masterclass Recording
CARS & STARS:
FAQS
If you have different levels in the same class, and you are going through a reading strategy together in class, how do you do this if they are using different books/texts? How would you do the modelled teaching when you might have three different groups e.g.: level C, D + E? /
I have used the program before. It is a great resource. However, I have found it a challenge to teach the STARS lessons to different groups/students at many different levels at the same time in class. Do you have any additional advice on that?
After you have assessed your students’ CARS data, but before you conduct your Lesson, you can group your students based on the reading levels within your classroom or across multiple classrooms. This means teachers are able to deliver instruction for these groups separately. When students are grouped based on their reading levels, you will be able to conduct the lesson by introducing the strategies as these occur across all levels. You will be able to use the INTRODUCTION statement in the getting started section in each lesson.
You can pick one student from each level to volunteer to read out the question and have the students complete the answers. After the students complete their answers, you can have your students discuss the answers within their group. Every student can therefore complete work at their point of need independently.
While the students are working at their levels you then can move around the room supporting any level or student as the need arises. At this point you will be acting as a facilitator. You will be able to find more information in the Teaching Guide on how to execute the program effectively in your classroom.
If you change a student's level, would they lose their previous data or need to start the strategies again? E.g., would their Benchmark chart suddenly look empty?
No, your student would not lose any data from the current level when you reassign. Your students would still be able to access their previous reading level and their progress chart from their dashboard. As a teacher, you would still be able to access your student’s previous reading levels from their individual profile pages. If time permits you are able to allow your students to work on their Pretests. Otherwise, they can continue where they have left off. e.g., Benchmarks or Post Tests.
Can you explain Benchmark tests a little more – do they cover all of the reading strategies?
Yes, Pretests, Benchmarks and Post Tests in the CARS assessments cover the reading strategies aligned to their reading level. These reading strategies are also emphasised in each question in the assessment. For more information, please click here.
Do we need to do a Placement Test each time we adjust a student's level if they have received a 'struggle'?
You do not need to reassign your student’s recommended level unless you feel like the student is allocated to the wrong level based on your teaching knowledge. The struggled, maintained or excelled labels are just an indicator for the teachers to compare the students’ assigned level to their starting placement level. These labels help the teacher to see whether the students moved up or down, or simply maintained, compared to their starting Placement Level. After viewing the Placement Test results, if the teacher thinks the student has ended up in a lower reading level compared to their ability, the teacher can reassign the student to an appropriate level. Otherwise, they should remain in their assigned level for the remainder of the year.
Should the students only complete the flashing lessons? Or all of them?
The flashing lessons are the lessons recommended for the students based on their Pretest results. These lessons are recommended for the students to complete in order to remediate areas that need reinforcement. Students should complete all the recommended lessons and complete the Benchmark tests to review their progress in their recommended strategies. Students will then complete the remaining lessons in order to complete a reading level.
Having said that, if you would like to follow the explicit teaching method, you can make use of the Lock Settings to overwrite the recommended lessons and help your students to focus on just the lessons being taught. For more information about the Lock Settings, please click here.
Do students normally only change levels at the end of a year?
Yes, your students change levels at the end or start of the year and your students should ideally remain in their assigned reading level for the year. However, after completing their five Pretests, if you feel like any of your students are really struggling in their strategies, you may reassign them to a lower level. If your students are excelling, we do not recommend moving them up manually as this program is not about stretching them but more about students being comfortable in what they are reading.
Are you able to roll over students each year with their results?
Yes, student’s results are rolled over automatically. After completing the student rollover, the school administrator can submit a bulk reassign request to automatically reassign your students to their next level.
Is it common to see a student do so many tests to get a placement?
Yes, it happens quite often.
There will be a couple of students taking more tests than others based on individual ability. The time consumed for each student varies based on each student's comprehension ability. A student not being placed in a level means their results are still inconclusive and therefore the student needs to take more Placement Tests to determine a suitable reading level. It could also be an indicator that they are struggling in their Placement Test.
It would also be worthwhile to review the placement test settings with your school administrator if you have observed your students are getting discouraged with the required number of tests that need to be taken, please click here.
In such cases, if you know your student has a short attention span and has already spent a lot of time in the Placement Test, you may reassign the student to a reading level directly based on your teacher's knowledge. For more information about reassigning a reading level, please click here.
Evidently, we've seen students quickly achieve a reading level if the initial placement level is set right for the students at the start. Instead of setting a higher level, starting at a lower level would be recommended since the student would go up a placement level if they could grasp the initial placement level.
So as a teacher I can decide placement settings? Or does the school do this?
The School Curriculum Leader or the Head of Literacy can make the decision.
Is it possible to jump into a kid's view from a teacher account to use their lessons for explicit instruction?
You may use a different browser to login to your student portal. Due to security reasons, the program would not allow you to access the teacher and student portal from the same browser at the same time.
If a student completes the lessons and struggles with a particular strategy, do you reset the lesson or set the lesson above or below?
If your school has one, you may activate the FOCUS Reading subscription for your student to enable concentrated practice to reinforce essential reading strategies. For more information about FOCUS Reading, please click here. Otherwise, you may reset the particular lessons to provide additional practice.
If a student sits the Placement Test and is on Level C, and then throughout the year they complete the lessons and want to re-sit the Placement Test, would you then re-set the Placement Test for them?
Generally, the student should be moving up to D as they have completed Level C. After they have completed their STARS lessons in C you would be able to assess their mastery with the Post Tests. Based on these results, you would be able to move them to the higher level without having your student sit the Placement Test again.
We are using it in high school (junior years), and it is hard to fit the program in the timetable. What should the minimum number of lessons be per week to be effective in the long run?
We do have a pacing chart provided in your teaching guides to help you to plan your lessons. Generally, you would complete one five-part lesson in a week. This would help you complete the entire reading level within a year. If you have time limitations, you may allocate one part of the lesson for a week, however, students would not be finished within the year that way. If you have really limited resources, and do not have enough time to complete the reading level, you may only want to find out their weakest strategies so you can allow the student to work on them as a priority.
Does that mean that when you give the modelled lesson you read from the lowest level? Or the highest? Or would you need to do it in 3 different groups? Which level do you think is best to model from if you have those three different levelled groups?
Ideally, it would be three different groups if you have sufficient resources at the school. You can model your lessons from the lowest to the highest level. However, if there are time constraints, you may get the best results by focusing work on the middle level.
It takes good classroom management to guide them all through different texts and levels at the same time even if the instructions and strategies are the same.
Would you reset their level for STARS to group them in 2–3 groups manually through every individual student?
You do not need to reassign or reset levels. You may simply group the students doing the same levels together within your classroom or across the classrooms from the same year level.
Is there a way to see an overall, individual student success rating for the entire program, rather than just the different strategies?
Student success ratings can be measured with student participation and reading strategy results. To review student performance as a whole, you may refer to the school performance report.
Do you know how effective the program is on slow internet connections?
CARS & STARS Online runs in a web browser connected to the Internet, so we would suggest an adequate internet connection to get the optimal experience. However, the program does not require a lot of data to be loaded. Some settings can be adjusted for older devices, which could also help on slower connections.
How many classes per week is usually recommended?
Generally, your students would complete one five-part lesson in a week. We do have a pacing chart provided in your teaching guides to help you to plan your lessons.
Is there any evidence of effectiveness in remote Indigenous education settings?
We do have a few Remote Community Schools using the program. We can definitely connect you to these schools to share their teaching and learning experiences as part of our cohesive CARS & STARS Online community. Send us an email via the contact form. Also, you may wish to join our Facebook Group.
I did the placement test, and my kids were all placed on level G when they are starting Year 6 this year. Is level G meant to be Year 7 level?
The CSO program is based on reading comprehension ability, not year level. The table below maps CARS & STARS Online (CSO) Reading level roughly to approximate year level based on text complexity alone. Note that they are spans with the implication being that students at the lower end of the span would be able to engage with the text in that level, but with students at the higher end of the span being able to do so with greater ease. This is only meant to serve as a rough guide, with the results of the Placement Centre and the teacher’s own judgement taking precedence.
| CARS & STARS Online Level | Approximate Year Level |
|---|---|
| AA | Towards Foundation / Foundation |
| A | Foundation-1 |
| B | 1-2 |
| C | 2-3 |
| D | 3-4 |
| E | 4-5 |
| F | 5-6 |
| G | 6-7 |
| H | 7-8+ |
The Placement Centre evaluations test individual students’ comprehension levels and place them in the appropriate CARS & STARS level based on their ability to engage with the sample text given. More than one level may be represented within your class. The program was designed with this in mind, making it possible to teach multiple levels within the one classroom.
For more information about the Placement Centre, please click here.
Do the review lessons have 5 parts too?
The review lessons in reading levels B–H have two parts, while those in AA and A are made up of one part only.
Can you do a lesson for the whole class when they are on different reading levels? Which teacher guide should I choose?
You can group your students based on the reading level(s) within your classroom or across multiple classrooms. This means teachers are able to deliver instruction for these groups separately. When students are grouped based on their reading levels, you will be able to conduct the lesson by introducing the strategies as these occur across all levels. You can model your lessons using the teaching guides from the lowest to the highest level.
Can you do a bulk print of class pretest results for each individual student?
Absolutely, the CARS Student Summary Report provides the option to generate the Summary Report for the entire class with a single click. For more information, please click here.
How does FOCUS Reading fit with/support CARS/STARS?
FOCUS Reading is a series designed to provide both reinforcement in the key reading strategies for on-level readers, and targeted intervention for struggling readers and English-language learners (ELL). This reading-strategy series provides practice for students based on the same strategies appearing in CARS & STARS but focusing on only one strategy at a time.
How long should students take to complete a CARS and STARS lesson, and how long should each session take?
Generally, your students would complete one five-part lesson in a week. Each lesson part takes 30–45 minutes to complete.
Can students bookmark a lesson?
Students can bookmark a page from a STARS lesson by clicking the Bookmark button. On the My STARS Lesson Bookmark page, it displays the students' favourite pages and gives them quick access to often-used bookmarks.
How can we fit this into our curriculum with everything else?
You may use the pacing chart provided in your teaching guides to help you to plan your lessons to fit them into your curriculum. Generally, you would complete one five-part lesson in a week. This would help you complete the entire reading level within a year.
Do students need supervising for the placement test?
Students do not need to be supervised for the Placement Test. However, teachers should make sure students are taking time to read the passage and answer the questions properly.
How often would you recommend the students complete the Benchmark tests?
Benchmark tests can be issued after teaching strategies that require improvement across your class. Benchmark tests need not be completed consecutively.
If you get a subscription from second semester, does it go across into next year?
CARS & STARS Online provides short-term 3-month, mid-term 6-month and full-term 12-month subscription plans tailored to your needs, so you can select the option you think will be best for you.
What is the best way to train other staff?
If you could please contact us via the contact form, we can arrange for PD for your school. Our help centre also has user guides with helpful articles based on your individual roles to assist you with using CSO. Please click here to access the CSO Help Centre.
What would you describe as "struggling" with a pretest?
A student can be said to be struggling if they scored less than 50% in most of the strategies in their 5 pretests.
FOCUS Reading
The FOCUS Reading Masterclass explores: the Teacher and Student Portals; FOCUS Reading program structure; reading levels; program navigation; contents; assigning activities; and types of reports. It includes demonstrations and information on accessing additional resources. The end of the session also includes Q&A.
FOCUS Reading:
Masterclass Recording
FOCUS Reading:
FAQS
How does FOCUS Reading work with CARS & STARS?
FOCUS Reading is a series designed to provide both reinforcement in the key reading strategies for on-level readers, and targeted intervention for struggling readers and English-language learners (ELL). This reading-strategy series provides practice for students based on the same strategies appearing in CARS & STARS, but focusing on only one strategy at a time.
Does FOCUS Reading recommend specific lessons based on the needs of individual students?
If subscribed to the bundle plan (CARS & STARS + FOCUS Reading), your students will be assigned up to three reading strategies that require reinforcement based on their CARS Pretest results from the same reading level. Teachers are able to assign the same CARS & STARS level for FOCUS Reading to provide concentrated practice and reinforce essential reading strategies. Learn more
Can I use FOCUS Reading without CARS & STARS?
Absolutely. You will be able to use the FOCUS Reading module alone by purchasing a FOCUS Reading subscription for your teacher and student accounts. The FOCUS Reading module provides both reinforcement in the key reading strategies for on-level readers, and targeted intervention for struggling readers and English-language learners. It can be used as a stand-alone program.
How does FOCUS Reading complement CARS & STARS?
After your students have completed their 5 CARS Pretests, and worked on the specific STARS lessons suggested for them, you may find that they require extra practice in one or more of the six essential reading strategies. This is where a FOCUS Reading subscription for those specific students comes in.
A FOCUS Reading subscription is also useful for students who have completed instruction in the highest currently available level of CARS and STARS Online, Level H, but who may require further practice or useful reinforcement.
Is it possible to use FOCUS Reading if I am currently a CARS & STARS user and like FOCUS Reading as an intervention program?
Absolutely. In this scenario you would be able to use both FOCUS Reading and CARS & STARS modules at the same time. If you have an active CARS & STARS subscription on your teacher account, you would just need to purchase a FOCUS Reading subscription separately to be activated on your teacher account.
Moving forward, you might choose a bundle subscription with both (CARS & STARS + FOCUS Reading) for your teacher and student accounts as this option would save you or your school up to 30%.
When should I begin using FOCUS Reading in the classroom?
If you are using FOCUS Reading as a stand-alone program, you can start using it immediately by assigning the appropriate FOCUS Reading level for your students.
If you are using the CARS & STARS modules, classroom teachers would be able to assign the same CARS & STARS level for FOCUS Reading, after students have completed their Pretests, to provide concentrated practice and reinforce essential reading strategies.
How should I teach FOCUS Reading in the classroom?
Whether you’re using FOCUS Reading with individual students or larger groups, the introductory process is the same.
Every module contains a Preview that includes a Learn About and Lesson Preview section to introduce the strategy to student(s).
After your students have completed their 5 Pretests in CARS, classroom teachers are able to assign the same CARS & STARS level for FOCUS Reading to provide concentrated practice and reinforce essential reading strategies.
When your students have finished five CARS Pretests up to three specific reading strategies will be automatically recommended for them in FOCUS Reading to remediate areas that need reinforcement.
What is the suggested schedule for FOCUS Reading in the classroom?
The FOCUS Reading program is designed for flexibility in the classroom and can be used effectively in several ways depending on your needs. How you choose to allocate time for the strategy lessons depends on how you interpret the needs of your students.
You can adjust the times as needed in the included Suggested Pacing Chart to accommodate your daily schedule of instruction.
If you have time constraints, you can use the lock settings and instruct your students to work on just the specific reading strategies that need reinforcement.
How can ELL students benefit from the FOCUS Reading series?
FOCUS Reading Comprehension is a series designed to provide both reinforcement in the key reading strategies for on-level readers and targeted intervention for struggling readers and English-language learners (ELL)
The FOCUS Reading module includes all lessons for each of the six essential reading strategies. Each lesson contains one reading passage, four strategy-based selected-response questions and one strategy-based constructed-response writing question. Passage Genres are both fiction and nonfiction and include genres such as personal narrative; realistic fiction; folktale; fable; legend; article; letter; book report; journal entry; biography; textbook lesson; and instructions.
How should I organise CARS & STARS + FOCUS Reading with the limited time the students have at school?
If your school has time constraints it is advisable to do CARS & STARS during school hours so students can practise FOCUS Reading as homework, to enhance their growth in the essential reading strategies.
My school has already invested a lot of money on CARS & STARS but there is no budget to purchase the FOCUS Reading subscriptions, what should I do?
If budgetary concerns are an issue, please email our accounts department at engage@hb-digital.com.au and they will try and work out something for you.
You could also purchase FOCUS Reading subscriptions only for certain students and teachers.
Can I purchase FOCUS Reading subscriptions for certain students, or should I purchase for the whole class/school?
Absolutely, you could purchase for certain students only. That being said, bundle plans are available that are a cheaper go-to option to save roughly about 25% for students and 30% for teachers.
We love the FOCUS Reading module, but we find it text heavy for the students. What should we do?
If your students find the FOCUS Reading module too text-heavy, it is recommended that you assign these students to a lower reading level.
After my students have completed the CARS Pretests, there are no FOCUS Reading recommended lessons.
There could be a number of reasons why this could be happening. You may not have assigned the same FOCUS Reading level for your students as you did for CARS & STARS.
Or this may mean that the students have simply done well in all the six essential strategies. Therefore, the system will let the students work on any strategies in any order.
Can I restrict my students to work on the recommended lessons only?
Absolutely, if you would like to restrict your students to work on the FOCUS Reading recommended lessons only you may enable restrictions by switching on the RESTRICT TO RECOMMENDED LESSONS: FOCUS READING button in the student edit page.
If you are teaching areas at your own pace you can use the lock settings to lock or unlock strategies as they become appropriate.
Are there any plans to increase the number of strategies in the FOCUS Reading series?
FOCUS Reading is designed to specifically cover the six essential, core reading strategies for extra practice and reinforcement.
However, if there are any changes to the scope of the reading strategies covered in FOCUS Reading we will keep you informed. Please sign up to our mailing list for any news on FOCUS Reading.
Do you think it would be appropriate to assign FOCUS Reading level H for the students who have completed CARS & STARS H? What should the students do after completing CARS & STARS Level H?
There will be times when your students have completed CARS & STARS Level H and are looking for extra practice or reinforcement. This is the perfect time to activate a FOCUS Reading subscription for those specific students.
How does FOCUS Reading fit into a normal 'English' program in a high-school class?
The FOCUS Reading module is designed to provide reinforcement in the key reading strategies for on-level readers, and targeted intervention for struggling readers and English-language learners.
It can be used in high-school classes as a complementary program to provide additional practice or reinforcement in the key reading strategies, whether your students are already using the CARS & STARS module or not.
If your students are already using the CARS & STARS module then classroom teachers are able to assign the same CARS & STARS level for FOCUS Reading, after students have completed their Pretests, to provide concentrated practice and reinforce essential reading strategies.
A FOCUS Reading subscription is also useful for students who have completed instruction in the highest currently available level of CARS & STARS Online, Level H, but who may require further practice or useful reinforcement.
FOCUS Reading can also be used as a stand-alone program, where you can start using it immediately by manually assigning the appropriate FOCUS Reading level for your students according to their year or class. You may also refer to the suggested pacing chart found in the FOCUS Reading teaching guides to help your plan your timetable.
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WHAT PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS AND PARENTS ARE SAYING
This differentiated program allows students to read texts which are at a level suitable for their current ability and leads to students being more engaged in reading lessons. As a result, they can experience success and improve their reading and comprehension abilities. CARS & STARS Online is an important part of the English program and we are seeing fantastic improvement across all years in students' reading and comprehension abilities.
Linda Samardali
Head of Department from Kinross College
I've found CARS & STARS Online has really helped in improving my children's reading skills. The skills were all clearly presented with a lot of samples and practice opportunities. The student report also gives the parents a clear guide as to which areas need reinforcement and which areas each child is strong in.
Shannon Zhao
Parent from Sydney
I have found CARS & STARS Online very beneficial, especially during our time teaching and learning remotely. The ability to track live what the students are doing was helpful to ensure that they were remaining on task and to provide feedback.
Brent Ritchie
Teacher from Haileybury
Now that I understand how to use the online program and utilise the tools correctly, I am enjoying using CARS & STARS Online. The ability to locate and download the different reports is phenomenal!
Amber Rains
Teacher from Kambala
I am a bit of a technophobe but using CARS & STARS Online has certainly made life easier and the kids have found it easy to navigate.
Jo Oram
Teacher from Prescott College Southern
CARS & STARS Online has become a very useful tool for my staff to implement effective teaching and learning programs. Having a tool that gives timely assessment results, meets students at their level of need and allows them to see exactly what students are working on in real-time is time effective and impacts on future goals.
The detailed assessment data generated by CARS & STARS Online informs the specific direction of their reading and comprehension teaching. Students report they enjoy the tasks and feel a real sense of accomplishment as they work through the lessons and assessments at their own pace.
Craig Brown
Principal from Toongabbie Public School
