The author discusses the dangers of using grade equivalency scores to identify learning disabled students. Deficiencies include that grade equivalents invite misleading interpretations, assume that the learning rate is constant throughout the school year, and exaggerate the significance of small differences in performance. Standard scores are…

THE ASSUMPTION THAT ONE-TENTH OF THE YEARLY GROWTH IN ALL ACHIEVEMENT AREAS TAKES PLACE EACH MONTH OF THE SCHOOL YEAR AND THAT ONE-TENTH OF THE YEARLY GROWTH OCCURS DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS WAS INVESTIGATED. THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE ANNUAL IOWA BASIC SKILLS TESTING PROGRAM IN THE STATE OF IOWA. MEDIANS FOR THE 11 SUBTESTS…

The first of a series of quizzes on types of derived scores concerns interpreting grade-equivalent (GE) scores. The true-false items require a response about whether the stated interpretation of the GE score is sound. An answer key explains specific scoring methods. (CM)

Contends that there is a lack of understanding of the meaning of grade norms by the public, the critics in the press, and even many public school personnel. Points out that grade norms are not standards, but measures of the performance of the average student. (LLL)

Addresses problems in the interpretation of standardized reading test scores. Focuses on reading age (or reading grade) and demonstrates that converting test scores to a scale of reading ages is essentially meaningless and potentially dangerous. (AEA)

Two principles and one verbal technique provide a sound basis for communicating to students and their parents the information obtained from testing: (1) parents have the right to know whatever the school knows about the abilities, performance and problems of their children; (2) the school has the obligation to see that it communicated…

When 74 sixth-grade special education students were tested on the fifth-and fourth-grade levels of the 1977 California Achievement Test, their scores dropped significantly, although converted to in-level norms. Test validity, measured by the number of students scoring at floor level, on the in-level versus below-level norms, was subtest dependent.…

Guidelines for explaining standardized test results to parents of students are provided. More specifically, the guidelines cover rationales for testing, the various types of scores and their meanings, and means of interpreting scores. Scores covered include stanine scores, percentile scores, and grade-level equivalent scores. The importance to…

Uses of the variety of scores generated by standardized achievement tests are discussed. Desirable characteristics of scales, raw score scales, percent of correct items, percentile ranks, grade equivalents, normal curve equivalents, and scale scores are considered. The various meanings and purposes of each type of score are discussed. It is…

Responds to Fry's article in the January 1971 Reading Teacher, The Orangoutang Score." Suggests that chance level scores should not be assumed to have arisen only from random processes and that there are methods for identifying a thoughtful, nonrandom performance. References. (VJ)

Reappraises the validity and reliability of Vocabulary and Block Design (V-VD) as a short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPI). Presents a table for converting the sum of scaled scores into an estimate of Full…

Questions that parents, students, and teachers have frequently asked about the meaning of grade equivalent scores are answered, and implications for gifted students are considered. Facts concerning achievement test scores, content, and the norm group are indicated. (SEW)

The cautions needed for correctly interpreting grade equivalent scores are presented simply, for persons who are not statisticians. Four potential limitations of grade equivalent scores are summarized. (1) Comparisons across grades are of little value when the subject content is not the same; for example, sixth grade American history is not…