Technical Manual - Renaissance Learning

ValidityPost-Publication Study DataFisher r-z transformation. The results are displayed in Table 24. The table listsresults for the correlations within each grade, as well as results with all fourgrades’ data combined.For each set of results, the table lists an estimate of the true validity, a standarderror, and the lower and upper limits of a 95 percent confidence interval for thevalidity coefficient.Table 24:Results of the Meta-Analysis of STAR Early Literacy Correlations with OtherTests from the Validation StudyEffect Size95% Confidence LevelGradeValidity Estimate Standard Error Lower Limit Upper LimitKindergarten 0.56 0.06 0.50 0.66Grade 1 0.64 0.05 0.58 0.69Grade 2 0.57 0.04 0.52 0.62Grade 3 0.60 0.03 0.55 0.64All Grades 0.60 0.02 0.57 0.62Using the validation study data, the overall estimate of the validity of STAR EarlyLiteracy is 0.60, with a standard error of 0.02. The true validity is estimated to liewithin the range of 0.57 to 0.62, with a 95 percent confidence level. The probabilityof observing the 63 correlations reported in Tables 21 and 22, if the true validitywere zero, is virtually zero. Because the 63 correlations were obtained with widelydifferent tests, and among students from four different grades, these resultsprovide support for the validity of STAR Early Literacy as a measure of earlyreading skills.Post-Publication Study DataSubsequent to publication of STAR Early Literacy in 2001, additional externalvalidity data have become available, both from users of the assessment, and fromspecial studies conducted by Renaissance Learning. This section providessummaries of those new data, along with tables of results. Data from three sourcesare presented here: These were studies of the relationship between STAR EarlyLiteracy and 1) Running Record scores, 2) Michigan Literacy Progress Profile(MLPP) scores, and 3) DIBELS, GRADE, and TPRI scores.Running RecordRunning Records are a systematic notation system for teacher observations ofchildren’s reading of new text. Use of the Running Record is one component ofSTAR Early LiteracyTechnical Manual66