Alia National School in Bahrain is a leading exponent of innovative, inclusive, national education designed to support and nurture students of all abilities from pre-school to Grade 12 – encouraging them to reach their full potential.
Originally taken on to provide students with continuous learning online during the pandemic, the school is now in its third year of using Renaissance Star Assessments (Star). We asked Ronneil U. Vergara, Academic Coordinator, to tell us how the staff and students are getting on with the program.
“As an inclusive school with around 15-20% of SEN students and all speaking English as a second language, we needed a robust, reliable assessment that we could benchmark – while also providing all students with the necessary support to progress. Star Assessments does all of this and more.
Star Assessments: Tracking Progress
Of the many benefits of Star Assessments, possibly the most important to us are the Standardised Scores and Norm Referenced Standardised Scores that allow us to make local, national, and international comparisons. Data from STAR will be a great use especially for our re-accreditation in 2027 by the Western Accreditation of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
Star also makes it easy to track student progress over time. We administer a Star test three times a year – firstly for diagnosis and twice more at the end of terms two and three so that we can monitor students’ improvement and their mastery of skills. This in turn has helped us implement immediate interventions and make necessary adjustments to long-term teaching planning for the next school year.
Sharing and Utilizing Star Assessment Data
The wealth of data provided by Star is easily shared with key stakeholders and during inspections. For example, last year, our innovative school principal, Dr. Ashraf Labana, wanted to include the reports generated by STAR assessments in our Annual Reports to the Ministry of Education. Meanwhile the special education coordinator wanted to know the least mastered skills for the competencies
Fortunately, Star identifies all of these, so it was easy to compile the necessary information – especially as being able to benchmark these skills also helps inform our admission assessment. This also helps me to coordinate the professional development training for teachers in the school, helping them focus on the most important skills that students need to master.”
To learn more about Alia National School in Bahrain, please visit their website
To learn how Star Assessments can identify attainment levels, target instruction and improve performance, book a free demo here.