S-TESTS

Standardized Test Scoring Company, Inc.

Assessment Terms Glossary

This glossary contains "plain English" definitions of terms commonly encountered in the Educational Assessment field. Although our work often involves complex statistical analysis, these are not intended to be technically detailed descriptions. Rather, this information is provided by S-TESTS as a short, general reference for educators, testing coordinators, and parents.

Raw Score
The Raw Score reflects the number of items answered correctly by the test subject. If 40 questions of 50 are answered correctly, the Raw Score will be 40.

P-Value
The P-Value of an item reflects the percentage of test subjects who answer the item correctly. A difficult question answered correctly by only 10 percent of all subjects would have a P-Value of 10; an easier question answered correctly by 80 percent of all subjects would have a P-Value of 80. The P-Value of a test item is often used as an indicator of the item's difficulty.

Standard Score
A Standard Score is one of several types of scores which are calculated statistically from a subject's Raw Score. Standard Scores include the Scale Score, Stanine and Normal Curve Equivalent scores.

Scale Score
A Scale Score shows the results of a particular test on a single common scale. The Scale Score is usually used as a basis for calculating various other scores that can be used to describe a subject's test performance.

National Percentile
The National Percentile score indicates the performance of a test subject in relationship to the performance of other test subjects nationwide, generally those at the same educational level. For example, if a third-grade student receives a National Percentile of 72, the score indicates that the student answered more test items correctly than 72 percent of third-grade students nationwide.

Local Percentile
A Local Percentile indicates the performance ofa test subject in relationship to that of other similarly prepared test subjects in the same testing group. For example, a student would receive a Local Percentile score of 72 for third-grade answering more test items correctly than 72 percent of third-grade students in the district.

Stanine
The Stanine score is usually derived from the National Percentile, and compares test performance using nine equal units. Scores of 1-3 are considered below average, 4-6 are considered average, and 7-9 are above average.

Grade Equivalents
A Grade Equivalent score reflects performance in terms of theoretical level of education. For example, a student who receives a Grade Equivalent score of 5.3 has tested at a level matching that of a "typical" student in the third month of fifth grade. Grade Equivalent scores are typically only used in primary and secondary education.

Normal Curve Equivalent
Normal Curve Equivalents are characteristically similar to National Percentile and Local Percentile scores, but have the advantage of being based on an equal-interval "bell curve" scale. The difference between two adjacent scores has the same meaning across the scale. This property makes Normal Curve Equivalents useful for comparisons between different tests.

Cognitive Skills Index
Cognitive Skills Index scores, also known as IQ scores, provide information about a test subject's thinking abilities. These scores are based on age, and in some cases timed tests are used, requiring test subjects to solve problems rapidly. Several tests for Cognitive Skills are used in elementary and secondary education; others are used for testing adults.

Standard Error of Measurement
The potential for a certain degree of variation or error must be associated with any test. Therefore, the results from taking a single test one time may not reflect an individual's true abilities. The Standard Error is an estimate of the amount of variation to be expected in a particular score on a particular test. This statistic provides a range of scores within which a test subject's true score is likely to fall.
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