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Table of Contents

What is AK STAR?

Understanding Student-level Results: Scores, Achievement Levels and Reporting Categories

Table 1: Achievement Levels

Table 2: Scale Score and Standard Measure of Error (SEM)

Table 3: Reporting Categories

Where do I access my child’s AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment results in Parent Connect?

Sample Parent Connect AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment Report

Special Circumstances Codes

What is AK STAR?

The Alaska System of Academic Readiness, AK STAR and the Alaska Science Assessment, are statewide summative assessments required by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and administered each spring.

• AK STAR
  • math and English language arts (ELA)
  • grades 3-9
• Alaska Science Assessment
  • science
  • grades 5, 8 and 10

The purpose of a large-scale summative assessment is to provide an opportunity to evaluate grade-level student learning at the end of a school year to inform parents, educators, policy makers, the community and businesses on how schools and districts are performing.  In addition, the assessments provide information to support school improvement and ensure equity in education.  For more information, please see the following DEED resources:

Understanding Student-level Results: Scores, Achievement Levels and Reporting Categories

For English language arts, mathematics and science, each student will receive an overall score that is aligned to one of four achievement levels: Proficient (P), Advanced (A), Approaching Proficient (AP) and Needs Support (NS) (see Table 1).  In addition, information on groups of standards, called reporting categories, will also be provided as part of the score reporting process.

Additional AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment score reporting information and support resources, including Family Guides, are provided by the State of Alaska Department of Education:

• AK STAR, ELA and math - 
• Alaska Science Assessment, science - 

Table 1: Achievement Levels

Table 2: Scale Score and Standard Measure of Error (SEM)

Table 3: Reporting Categories

Student performance in Reporting Categories support teachers, students and families in identifying instructional areas of strength and weakness.  Student performance in each reporting category is displayed as one, two or three stars to show a comparison to students who performed at the proficient level. This provides relative information about the student’s performance in each reporting category.  Please reference the .

Due to test length and timing constraints, there is not a sufficient number of items in each reporting category to enable a separate scale score or achievement level to be reported.  Additional support with applying Reporting Category data is located in the and .

Where do I access my child’s AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment results in Parent Connect?

AK STAR and the Alaska Science Assessment results are located in the Assessment Results section of Parent Connect. Select the “+“ sign to expand the section.

Sample Parent Connect AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment Report

The following sample report shows what AK STAR and the Alaska Science Assessment results look like in Parent Connect. The example is labeled with the letters, A through E and numbers 1 through 3. The letters and numbers correspond to specific information about AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment results, which is provided on the following pages. Please contact your child’s principal, teacher or counselor for more support with AK STAR and Alaska Science Assessment results.

1. Test

This is the assessment name, either AK STAR (ELA and mathematics) or AK Science

2. Date Taken

This is the date the spring window opens.  Students take tests during the five-week window.

3. Grade

This is the student’s grade level on test day.

4. Sub Test - This is the list of results provided for each content area
5. 1. Content (ELA, Math or Science) Area Score with color code (see Tables 1 and 2, above)
   2. Content (ELA, Math or Science) Area Achievement Level with color code (see Tables 1 and 2, above)
   3. Reporting Category 1 (see Table 3, above)
   4. Reporting Category 2 (see Table 3, above)
   5. Reporting Category 3, science only (see Table 3, above)

5. Score - This is displayed based on the Sub Test result

1. 1. Content (ELA, Math or Science) Area Score with color code (see Tables 1 and 2, above)
   2. Content (ELA, Math or Science) Area Achievement Level with color code (see Tables 1 and 2, above)
   3. Reporting Category 1 (see Table 3, above)
   4. Reporting Category 2 (see Table 3, above)
   5. Reporting Category 3, science only (see Table 3, above)

Special Circumstance Codes

The following Special Circumstances codes designate reasons why a student did not receive a score and will be displayed on the Student Testing History in place of a score or an achievement level:

AK STAR (ELA and math)

UTT = absent

INV = invalid

PAR = parent refusal

STR = student refusal

NOA = not attempted

Alaska Science Assessment (science)

ABS = absent

INV = invalid

PRF = parent refusal

SRF = student refusal

NOA = not attempted

For a printable PDF version click .