STARI is designed for students in grades 6 and up who are reading two or more years below grade level.

STARI is designed for students in grades 6 and up who are reading two or more years below grade level, and it is not appropriate for younger elementary students. While the skills taught may be the right fit for fourth and fifth graders, the content may not be age appropriate for these students. If you are considering using STARI with fourth or fifth graders, carefully review the content to ensure it is appropriate for your students.

We recommend about 14 ideally, but teachers have had success with smaller and larger groups. We recommend at least four students. STARI students alternate back and forth between guided reading and partner reading, and create arguments for debates in teams. It is difficult to engage in these activities with fewer than four students. We recommend a maximum of 20-22 students. Ideally, STARI classes are a little smaller than regular classes. This gives each student more “air time” to share their ideas about text and allows each student to get a bit more individual attention from the teacher. STARI students also often lack confidence to speak up in front of the class, and a smaller group can help them feel more comfortable. However, in some schools where smaller class sizes are not possible, teachers with strong management have been successful with larger class sizes.

We do not recommend any particular diagnostic test for placing students in STARI. Instead, we have recommended score windows on most major assessments .

We strongly recommend that students remain in STARI for the full school year. A strong classroom culture is essential for STARI, and a number of culture building activities are included in the first few weeks of the curriculum. Therefore, we recommend that the student group should stay as stable as possible to preserve the culture. STARI is designed to be a one-year program, and our research shows that students who complete the full curriculum grow more than students who complete only some of the curriculum. Finally, STARI engages students with complex questions about cognitively complex texts, and addresses grade-level skills and standards. Students who read on grade level can still be expected to make progress in reading through participation in STARI. However, we understand that some schools may prefer to allow students to “place out” of STARI. We recommend that in order to exit STARI, students should score on or above grade level in whichever reading assessments are used. See STARI Exit Criteria handout for additional guidance.