Educational Psychology / Unit 13 EDP 1227 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Choosing a Score Interpretation
The idea
A score report can be read in several ways, and each answers a different question. A criterion-referenced reading says what a student can do against a standard. A norm-referenced reading ranks the student in a norm group, usually as a percentile rank. A standard score, z, T or stanine, gives the distance from the mean in standard deviations. A grade-equivalent score estimates the grade level whose typical student would earn that raw score.
In practice
Worked example: a report says a fourth grader is at the 84th percentile, has a T score of 60 and a grade equivalent of 6.0, and has met the standard for reading fluency. The percentile and T score say the same thing: one standard deviation above the mean. The grade equivalent means the student did very well on fourth-grade work, not that the student is ready for sixth-grade work. Only the standard tells what the student can do.
Where people slip
A percentile rank is not a percentage correct, and a grade equivalent is not a placement recommendation. Choose the reading that answers the question being asked.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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