Understanding Our Test Scores

There are three common types of standardized test scores you may see on your child’s report. Our goal is to make these terms simple and parent-friendly. Here at TCS, we do not remove any students from testing groups. Therefore, our grade level scores represent every student enrolled.

NPR - National Percentile Rank

• Shows how your child’s score compares to other students nationwide.
• Reported on a scale from 1–99.
• The average rank in the U.S. is 50th percentile.
• Example: A score of 70 means your child scored as well as or better than 70% of students in the same grade.
• Does not mean they answered 70% of questions correctly.

SS - Standard Score

• The standard scores is a number that describes a student's location on an achievement continuum or scale.
• Indicates how far above, below, or at the national average your child performed.
• Helpful for tracking growth over multiple years because the score scale stays the same.

GE - Grade Equivalent

• Shows the grade level and month where the average student earned a similar score
• Reported as grade.month (ex. 4.7 = fourth grade, seventh month)
• Does not mean your child should move to that grade
• Reflects performance on this specific test, not overall ability
• Example: If Nicki, a sixth grade student, gets a GE of 7.8 on the Vocabulary test, her score is like the one a typical student at the end of the eighth month of seventh grade is likely to get on that same sixth-grade Vocabulary test. A GE of 7.8 does not indicate that Nicki is capable of doing work at the late seventh-grade level.