How to Interpret Standardized Test Scores

Not all the students in your child's school can be above average. Here's how to understand those standardized test reports, and more importantly, use the information to help your child do well in school.

Things You'll Need

• Academic Counselings
• Desk Chairs
• Desk Lamps
• Desks
• Pads Of Paper

Instructions

1. Know which tests are being given. Some common standardized tests given nationwide in third, fifth and eighth grade are the California Comprehensives and the Detroit Reading Test.

2. Understand the norms. Standardized tests are called standardized because they measure performance against a normed group (see glossary). The scores will have different meanings depending on what norm your child's results are ranked against. If you are in an academically strong school district, for example, your child's scores against national norms may be quite high.

3. Identify how the measurements are being reported. Typical measurements are percentiles, stanines and grade equivalents (see glossary and warning section).

4. Find out how the test results will be used. Many school districts use aggregate data as a broad measurement of curriculum effectiveness and/or academic policy. Individual student scores should not be used as the basis for such decisions as course tracking or assignment to remedial programs.

5. Understand that standardized test scores measure academic performance, not potential. In other words, they may tell you what your child knows today, but they say nothing about what he or she can learn tomorrow.

6. Direct any questions you have about your child's test scores, or standardized tests in general, to the school guidance office. The guidance counselor should be able to explain the tests and how the school uses them.

Tips & Warnings

• Use data about your child's standardized test scores, along with his or her grades and overall academic performance, to identify areas in which additional help might be needed.

• An important note about grade equivalents: Many parents misunderstand this measurement. If your third-grader scored a grade equivalent of 5.2 in reading, this does not mean he or she should be in the fifth grade. Remember, the tests measure performance against the normed group for the same test, so a grade equivalent of 5.2 indicates that your child scored the same as a fifth-grade second-month student who took the third-grade-level test.