Star Math Scores by Grade Level: What Is a Good Scaled Score?
Star Math reports a scaled score from 600 to 1400 and a percentile rank. Renaissance's default benchmark is the 40th percentile: 908 in the fall of grade 3, 996 in grade 5, 1062 in grade 8. It is a maths achievement test, not an IQ test.
What you need to know
- Star Math is a computer-adaptive maths test for kindergarten to grade 12. It has 34 questions (24 when used for progress monitoring), takes about 20 minutes, and reports a scaled score of 600 to 1400 plus a percentile rank for the child's grade and test window.
- Renaissance's default benchmark is the 40th percentile. Its 2024-norm table gives that line as 709, 744 and 778 in kindergarten (fall, winter, spring), 908, 934 and 960 in grade 3, 996, 1013 and 1030 in grade 5, and 1062, 1070 and 1079 in grade 8.
- The same score means different things in different months: a grade 3 score of 929 is the spring 25th percentile, the intervention line, yet it sits above the fall 40th percentile (908), the benchmark. Check the test window before reading any chart.
- Renaissance describes Star Math as a measure of maths achievement and its manual contains no IQ wording; there is no conversion from a scaled score to an IQ. A percentile can be restated on the IQ scale (the 40th percentile is 96), but it still ranks maths achievement among same-grade peers.
A good Star Math score is one at or above the 40th percentile for the child's grade and the month of the test. That is Renaissance's default benchmark, and in its 2024-norm table it works out to 908 in the fall of grade 3, 934 in winter and 960 in spring; 996 in the fall of grade 5; and 1062 in the fall of grade 8. This guide gives the whole table for kindergarten to grade 12, explains why the same number reads differently in fall and spring, and answers the question parents ask next: whether Star Math tells you anything about IQ. It is the maths counterpart of our Star Reading scores by grade level guide.
What do the scores on a Star Math report mean?
Star Math is one of the Renaissance Star Assessments. According to Renaissance's Test Administration Manual (2026), it consists of 34 items, 24 when it is used for progress monitoring, and takes approximately 20 minutes; the script read to students says between 20 and 30 minutes. The test adapts, so each child sees different questions, and the result is a scaled score. Renaissance says Star Math scores run from 600 to 1400, within a wider Unified Scaled Score range of 0 to 1400.
- Scaled score: the base for everything else on the report, comparable across grades because it sits on one scale
- Percentile rank: where the score falls among students in the same grade at the same point in the school year, so it depends on the month of testing
- Benchmark category: Renaissance's default rule is At/Above Benchmark at or above the 40th percentile, On Watch below 40, Intervention below 25 and Urgent Intervention below 10; districts can change the lines
What is a good Star Math score by grade level?
Renaissance's Unified Benchmarks and Cut Scores sheet (R63831.241003, based on the 2024 norms) prints, for each grade from kindergarten to grade 12, the lowest scaled score that reaches each percentile in the fall, winter and spring. The lists below give the 10th, 25th, 40th (the default benchmark) and 50th percentile cut scores as fall / winter / spring. A score at or above the 40th percentile line is on benchmark for that window.
- Kindergarten: 10th 674 / 698 / 723; 25th 694 / 725 / 755; 40th 709 / 744 / 778; 50th 719 / 756 / 793
- Grade 1: 10th 728 / 760 / 791; 25th 762 / 794 / 826; 40th 784 / 816 / 848; 50th 797 / 829 / 861
- Grade 2: 10th 794 / 816 / 838; 25th 828 / 854 / 880; 40th 850 / 878 / 906; 50th 863 / 892 / 922
- Grade 3: 10th 836 / 857 / 878; 25th 882 / 906 / 929; 40th 908 / 934 / 960; 50th 922 / 949 / 976
- Grade 4: 10th 878 / 896 / 914; 25th 928 / 948 / 969; 40th 957 / 980 / 1002; 50th 973 / 996 / 1019
- Grade 5: 10th 913 / 925 / 938; 25th 964 / 980 / 996; 40th 996 / 1013 / 1030; 50th 1013 / 1032 / 1050
From grade 6 on, the lines climb more slowly:
- Grade 6: 10th 940 / 948 / 956; 25th 994 / 1004 / 1014; 40th 1026 / 1038 / 1049; 50th 1043 / 1056 / 1069
- Grade 7: 10th 956 / 961 / 967; 25th 1012 / 1019 / 1025; 40th 1045 / 1054 / 1063; 50th 1064 / 1074 / 1084
- Grade 8: 10th 974 / 979 / 985; 25th 1027 / 1034 / 1041; 40th 1062 / 1070 / 1079; 50th 1082 / 1090 / 1098
- Grade 9: 10th 977 / 981 / 986; 25th 1026 / 1031 / 1036; 40th 1061 / 1069 / 1077; 50th 1084 / 1091 / 1097
- Grade 10: 10th 987 / 991 / 994; 25th 1036 / 1041 / 1047; 40th 1076 / 1083 / 1090; 50th 1096 / 1102 / 1108
- Grade 11: 10th 995 / 997 / 999; 25th 1044 / 1048 / 1051; 40th 1085 / 1089 / 1094; 50th 1103 / 1108 / 1113
- Grade 12: 10th 991 / 991 / 991; 25th 1041 / 1041 / 1041; 40th 1083 / 1084 / 1086; 50th 1102 / 1104 / 1106
The sheet also prints the 20th, 75th and 90th percentiles, which show what high scores look like. In grade 3, for example, the 75th percentile is 959 / 986 / 1012 and the 90th percentile is 990 / 1016 / 1042, again as fall / winter / spring.
Why does the same score mean different things in fall and spring?
A percentile compares a child with others of the same grade at the same point in the year, and scores rise as the year goes on, so a fixed score slides down the percentile scale from fall to spring. Take a grade 3 child who scores 929. In the fall, that is above the 40th percentile line (908), so the child is on benchmark. In the spring it is exactly the 25th percentile line (929), which Renaissance's defaults treat as the intervention line. Nothing about the child changed; the comparison group did.
The table also shows how much growth to expect. The median (50th percentile) scaled score rises from fall to spring by 74 points in kindergarten, 64 in grade 1, 54 in grade 3, 37 in grade 5, 16 in grade 8 and 4 in grade 12. Those are our subtractions from Renaissance's table, not a Renaissance growth target, but they show why a flat score across a grade 3 school year means a falling percentile, while in grade 12 it is close to normal.
Why do Star Math scores stop rising in high school?
The cut lines nearly level off after grade 8. The fall 40th percentile is 1062 in grade 8 and 1061 in grade 9, which is slightly lower, and it reaches only 1083 in grade 12. The 10th percentile in grade 12 is 991 in all three windows. For a teenager, a fall-to-spring gain of a few points is normal: the median is 12 points in grade 10 and 4 in grade 12. A family comparing a grade 10 score with last year's should read the percentile and the window, not the raw gain.
A Star Math score is a place among children of the same grade in the same month, taking a maths test.
What changed with the 2024 norms?
Renaissance says the new norms were based on 2022-23 data and applied from the first day of the 2024-25 school year, that scores had declined overall in Star Early Literacy, Star Reading and Star Math, and that the previous update was in 2017. It also says state benchmarks are not affected, because they come from linking studies with state tests. We found no new English Star Math norms for 2026. The page does not give the Star Math sample size, so we do not print one; the figure we gave for Star Reading belongs to Star Reading only.
Which schools use Star Math?
Star Math is a district and state choice, so the cut lines your school uses may not be Renaissance's defaults. In Florida, for example, the state's FAST progress-monitoring system uses Renaissance tests in the early grades: parent letters from St. Johns County and Pasco County describe students taking Star Early Literacy, Star Reading and Star Math, with kindergarten, first and second graders taking Star Math on set dates, and describe the Star Math test as typically taking less than 30 minutes. If your child's school reports a different benchmark, ask which percentile line it uses.
Is Star Math an IQ test?
No. Renaissance describes Star Math as measuring a student's level of achievement in maths, and its administration manual contains no wording about IQ or intelligence. We found no conversion from a scaled score to an IQ, and no independent study linking the two in the documents we could read. Our guide to achievement tests versus IQ tests explains why: an achievement test measures what has been taught, and the score moves with schooling in a way an IQ score is not designed to.
If you want to see where a percentile sits on the IQ scale, the arithmetic is simple, using a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The 10th percentile is an IQ of 81, the 25th is 90, the 40th is 96, the 50th is 100, the 75th is 110 and the 90th is 119. That restates a position among same-grade peers in maths; it does not mean the child "has" that IQ. Our percentile calculator and IQ bell curve convert any value.
What to ask when you read a Star Math report
- Which test window: the same scaled score is a higher percentile in fall than in spring
- Which cut lines your district uses: the 40th, 25th and 10th percentiles are defaults and can be changed
- How the score compares across several windows: one result is a snapshot, and a trend across fall, winter and spring says more
- Whether a chart you found online matches Renaissance's own table: a chart that gives one score band per grade cannot be right, because the real cut score is different for each month of the year
Where would your own score land?
Curious how your own reasoning compares with the population? Take the <a href="/">IQ Metrics test</a> and get a score on the standard IQ scale, with a percentile and a full report.
Find your IQ score now! →For other school tests that report percentiles, see our guides to i-Ready scores by grade level, MAP Growth scores and the SSAT percentile chart. For tests that do report on an IQ-style scale for children, see CAT4 scores explained and our kids IQ test page.
Common questions
What is a good Star Math score for 3rd grade?
At or above the 40th percentile, Renaissance's default benchmark: 908 in the fall of grade 3, 934 in winter and 960 in spring, on its 2024 norms. The 25th percentile line is 882, 906 and 929.
What is a good Star Math score for 5th grade?
At or above 996 in the fall, 1013 in winter and 1030 in spring, which is the 40th percentile in grade 5. The 50th percentile is 1013, 1032 and 1050.
What is the Star Math score range?
Star Math scaled scores run from 600 to 1400, according to Renaissance's Test Administration Manual, within a wider Unified Scaled Score range of 0 to 1400. The test has 34 questions and takes about 20 minutes.
Is Star Math an IQ test?
No. Renaissance describes it as a maths achievement test, and there is no conversion from a Star Math score to an IQ. A percentile can be restated on the IQ scale, such as the 40th percentile being 96, but it ranks maths achievement among same-grade peers.
Sources for this story
- Star Math Unified Benchmarks and Cut Scores (R63831.241003, based on 2024 norms) — Renaissance Learning
- Star Math Test Administration Manual (R63824, 2026 edition) — Renaissance Learning
- Star Assessments provide new norms and benchmarks, back to school 2024 — Renaissance Learning
- FAST parent notification letters, Star Early Literacy, Star Reading and Star Math (2025-26) — St. Johns County School District and Pasco County Schools, Florida
Corrections: spotted an error? Email corrections@iqmetrics.org and we will update this story and note the change here.
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