Advancement · School Operations

A fourth grader scored 6.5.
That is not sixth-grade reading.

Grade equivalents are the most misread numbers on a score report. A 6.5 on a fourth-grade reading test means the student scored about as well as a typical sixth grader would on that test, not that the student can do sixth-grade work. Enter a score with its grade placement and percentile; the guide writes the plain reading, sets the percentile beside it and flags the uses to avoid.

Read a scoreWhat you get

Scores

The worked example is made up: one fourth grader’s reading comprehension at 6.5 and math computation at 3.1, and a seventh grader whose report has no percentile. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Advancement · School OperationsFree

What you finish with
A record per score: the student’s initials, test, subtest, date, grade placement, grade equivalent, percentile rank and standard score, and four questions to settle. Works out the gap from grade placement and the percentile band; writes what the score does and does not mean; flags missing percentiles, large gaps inside the average range and uses to avoid.
Who it is for
Teachers, school leaders, counselors and families reading norm-referenced achievement test reports.
Format
Browser guide with a saved record per score. Prints one score with its reading, every score in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The School Operations space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Copy the scores from the report.
  2. Enter grade placement as grade.month.
  3. Read the plain explanation.
  4. Ask for anything still unknown.
  5. Report the percentile with the grade equivalent.

Read a score

Grade equivalents and other scores

Three scores, three questionsGrade equivalentWhose typical score doesthis match?Not equal steps; do notaverage.Percentile rankWhat share of the normgroup scored at orbelow?50 is the middle.Standard scoreHow far from the mean,in equal steps?Often mean 100, SD 15.Use it for growth.Three kinds of scoreGrade equivalentWhose typical score does this match?Not equal steps; do not average.Percentile rankWhat share of the norm group scored at orbelow?50 is the middle.Standard scoreHow far from the mean, in equal steps?Often mean 100, SD 15. Use it for growth.
Testing standards and most test publishers advise reporting percentiles or standard scores alongside, or instead of, grade equivalents.

What a grade equivalent is

The test publisher finds the median score of students at each grade and month in the norm group, then reports a raw score as the grade.month where that score is typical. Scores far above or below the grade the test was written for are usually extrapolated: no sixth graders took the fourth-grade form.

Why not to average them

A year of grade-equivalent growth is a large step in the early grades and a small one in high school, so the units are not equal. Averaging grade equivalents, or reading a gap of two years as two years behind, misleads. Percentile ranks and standard scores avoid both problems.

Sources

  1. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association and National Council on Measurement in Education (2014). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, chapter on scores, scales and norms.
  2. Salvia, J., Ysseldyke, J. E. and Witmer, S. (2016). Assessment in Special and Inclusive Education, 13th ed. Cengage: developmental scores and their limits.
  3. Hoover, H. D. (1984). The most appropriate scores for measuring educational development in the elementary schools: GEs. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 3(4).
  4. Reynolds, C. R. (1981). The fallacy of “two years below grade level for age” as a diagnostic criterion for reading disorders. Journal of School Psychology, 19(4).

The worked example is made up. Use the score report and the publisher’s manual for the test you have; their norms and score definitions are the ones that apply. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.