Overheard at a parent-teacher night:
“My Suzi, a second-grader, scored a grade equivalent of 4.7 in reading; she could be advanced to reading material at a fourth grade, seventh month level!"
“Jack’s composite percentile rank dropped from 67 to 61 points from one year to the next, and I am really concerned.”
“A fifth grader who scores an 8.2 GE in reading and a 7.3 in math is definitely better in reading than in math.”
“Well, I think the value of a curriculum or the effectiveness of a teacher can be judged solely by standardized test results.”
“Achievement tests measure almost all of the important skills and objectives that you are trying to teach.”
The quotations represent misunderstandings that people often have about what standardized tests can tell them about their children, the curriculum, and even teaching methods.
Misinterpretations
The first question reveals one of the most common misinterpretations: a grade equivalent of 4.7 in reading means the second-grade student performed as well as a fourth grader in reading. But the GE really means Suzi can read her second-grade material as well as a student in fourth grade can read the same second-grade material.
The second question shows how percentiles are often considered definitive and specific, when in fact they are approximate. For most students, a five- to seven-point variance from year to year is probably immaterial. This point spread (or band) will vary from sub-test to sub-test.
A related misconception results from the confusion between percentiles reported on achievement test results and percentages reported for teacher-made tests. A student ranking in the 65th percentile did considerably above average on an achievement test, but a 65 percent on a classroom test is usually a D.
The third question addresses a superficial understanding: assuming that GE scores in subtests can be compared across the board. In comparison the two test scores may represent equally superior performances because the range of GEs for fifth graders in this case is generally greater in reading than in mathematics. And too, patterns of growth may vary from subject to subject and from year to year.
The fourth question rests on one of the most dangerous misconceptions about standardized tests. Many factors must be considered when determining a student’s achievements, a teacher’s impact, a curriculum’s effectiveness, or a method’s worth. To base educational decisions solely on test scores is the educational equivalent of deciding to buy a house sight unseen because the address indicates a good neighborhood.
The fifth question is an extension of the fourth. It shows how some people expect a test to tell them everything they want to find out—either about a student’s progress and potential or about the teacher’s work and the curriculum. Parents and teachers need to use their own observation and discernment to evaluate a student’s progress, taking into account factors such as test-taking skills, maturity, and so on, and to recognize achievements in untested fields like art, music, philosophical values, and sophisticated thinking skills.