Stars and Goals

One aspect of the program about which we often get questions is the star system.  Every game has certain criteria a student must meet to advance through the skill options, (from Bronze/Beginner to Silver/Intermediate, Silver/Intermediate to Gold/Advanced, and Gold/Advanced to graduate).

Every time a student meets all criteria for advancement within a particular game, one of their previously empty star slots lights up.  If they meet all criteria 5 times in a row within a particular game, (all 5 star slots are lit), the software moves them up to the next skill option. 

I emphasized the "in a row" part because that's very important to remember.  All criteria have to be met in 5 consecutive attempts.  If a student does not meet all criteria in a particular attempt, they effectively start over and their stars disappear.

Now, how is that different from goals?  Goals are single improvement benchmarks the software sets (usually one per game) that are geared towards fostering gradual, incremental progress.  The successful accomplishment of goals is what earns a student points with which they can purchase rewards.  

But goals and stars are not interchangeable.  For example, one of the main criterion for advancement is 75% attention or higher.  If that is done consistently by a student in a particular game, they are meeting one of the main benchmarks they need to move up, (from Bronze to Silver, for example).

A goal, however, might not be set to meet that same criterion for advancement. For example, a goal might be something like, "Today you scored a 64% attention, our goal for next time is 66% or higher."

Notice the goal is simply to improve a little bit in a single area.  So, while earning stars will almost always correlate to successfully accomplishing goals, the reverse is not true.  It is possible to successfully accomplish goals without meeting criteria for advancement, (and thus, without earning stars).

Perhaps the best way to think about it is this: Goals are used to earn points for rewards, while Stars let a student know how close they are to moving up in a particular game.

This is very important information to know and understand, so that you can accurately convey to your child how stars and goals actually work.