Case Study: Helena Public Schools boosts college and career readiness with Renaissance assessments

K–8 assessments help Montana district drive college/career readiness

Helena Public Schools in Helena, Montana, worked to improve graduation rates and college/career readiness by identifying learning weaknesses earlier, especially in math and literacy. To support this effort, the district turned to Renaissance and its K–8 assessment and learning tools, including Star Math, Star Reading, Star Early Literacy, Accelerated Math, Accelerated Reader, and Data Integrator.

Renaissance helped Helena Public Schools implement frequent benchmark and progress-monitoring assessments with fast, actionable data for teachers, students, and parents. The results included improved instruction and strong achievement gains: 85% of fifth graders reached benchmark in math, 55% scored at or above the 80th percentile in math, 30% scored at or above the 80th percentile in literacy, and 19% of fifth graders scored at or above the 95th percentile in math, alongside above-average ACT college-readiness performance.

Helena Public Schools

Jilyn Chandler

Data and Assessment Administrator