Iowa Assessments score descriptions

Ability Profile (AP)

Summarizes information about the level and pattern of the student’s reasoning abilities and is linked to suggestions for teaching strategies located at www.cogat.com

Age Percentile Rank (APR)

A percentile rank indicating the status or relative rank of a student’s score compared with a nationally representative sample of CogAT examinees of a similar age

Age Stanine (AS)

A stanine indicating the status or relative rank of a student’s score compared with a nationally representative sample of CogAT examinees of a similar age

Average Percent Correct

The result of dividing the average raw score for the group by the total number of test questions, multiplying by 100, and then rounding to a whole number; class averages like these need to be interpreted as if they were the scores for the average student in the class

College Readiness

Indicators of a student’s readiness for college determined by mapping the student’s scores on the Iowa Assessments to readiness targets defined by the ACT® Benchmarks; can be reported for students taking Levels 12–17/18 of the Iowa Assessments

Estimated Iowa Assessments Standard Score (eSS)

A score range (upper and lower) derived from aligning the scale score (iSS-T) from the Interim Assessments ELA and Math test to the Standard Score (SS) of a student for an Iowa Assessments ELA Total or an Iowa Assessments Math score, respectively

Grade Equivalent (GE)

A decimal number that describes a student’s location on an achievement continuum in terms of grade and months at which the typical student received this score (for example, 2.2 is second grade and two months into that grade)

Grade Equivalent, 2011 Norms (11GE)

Alternative grade-equivalent score based on  2011 norms. Score is offered in conjunction with 2017 norms-based score.

Grade Equivalent/Predicted Grade Equivalent Difference (GEDIFF)

The difference between the actual observed Iowa Assessments grade equivalent and the predicted grade equivalent (GE – PGE)

Grade Percentile Rank (GPR)

A percentile rank indicating the status or relative rank of a student’s score compared with a nationally representative sample of CogAT examinees of a similar grade

Grade Stanine (GS)

A stanine indicating the status or relative rank of a student’s score compared with a nationally representative sample of CogAT examinees of a similar grade

HSES PR

High Socioeconomic Status Percentile Rank

Lexile ®

A score obtained from a reading assessment test that can help match a student with reading material of an appropriate difficulty level; it also gives an idea of how well a reader will comprehend a text.

Local Percentile Rank (LPR)

Percentile rank based on the district’s or school’s own data as opposed to the national-based normative information

Local Stanine (LS)

A stanine based on the district's or school’s own data as opposed to the normative information based on a national sample

LSES PR

Low Socioeconomic Status Percentile Rank

National Percent Correct for Skills (Percent Correct for the Nation)

The percentage of test questions students in the national norming sample answered correctly for a particular skill (Avg % Correct Nation)

National Percentile Rank (NPR)

A percentile rank indicating the status or relative rank of a student's score compared with a nationally representative sample of examinees

National Percentile Rank, 2011 Norms (11NPR)

Alternative national percentile rank score based on 2011 norms (Score is offered in conjunction with 2017 norms-based scores.)

National Percentile Rank/Predicted National Percentile Rank Difference (NPRDIFF)

The difference between the actual observed Iowa Assessments national percentile rank and the predicted national percentile rank (NPR – PNPR)

National Stanine (NS)

A stanine indicating the status or relative rank of a student’s score compared with a nationally representative sample of examinees

National Stanine, 2011 Norms (11NS)

Alternative national stanine score based on  2011 norms (Score is offered in conjunction with 2017 norms-based scores.)

Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE)

Normalized standard scores that range from 1 to 99 with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 21.06 in the large norm group from which they were derived

Number Attempted (No. Att)

The number of items an individual attempts to answer on a test

Percent Correct for Skills (Percent Correct for System or Student, Avg. % Correct)

The percentage of test questions the student answered correctly for a particular skill (% Correct)

Percent Correct (%C)

The result of dividing the number of questions a student answered correctly on a test by the total number of test questions and then multiplying by 100

Percentile Rank of Average SS, School Norms (SCHPR)

Norms based on weighted frequency distributions of school averages

Percentile Rank (PR)

A score from 1 to 99 that indicates the percentage of students in a particular group that scored at or below the score of the student

Predicted ACT®/SAT®

A score range within which a student’s ACT Composite, SAT Critical Reading, and SAT Math scores can be expected to fall based on the student’s performance on the Iowa Assessments

Predicted Grade Equivalent (PGE)

The grade equivalent score that the student can be expected to receive on the Iowa Assessments based on his or her performance on CogAT

Predicted National Percentile Rank (PNPR)

The national percentile rank that the student can be expected to receive on the Iowa Assessments based on his or her performance on CogAT

Predicted Standard Score (PSS)

The standard score that the student can be expected to receive on the Iowa Assessments based on his or her performance on CogAT

Private/Catholic Percentile Rank (PRIVPR)

National percentile rank score based on students in Catholic and other private schools in the national norm sample

Quantile ®

A score obtained from the Iowa Assessments Mathematics test that enables a teacher to determine the mathematics skills a student is ready for and which ones require further instruction.

Quartile

One of three points (defined as low, middle, or upper) which divide the scores in a distribution into four equal groups, each containing 25% of the data

Raw Score (RS)

The number of questions a student answered correctly on a test

Standard Age Score (SAS)

A normalized standard score, having a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16, provided for each battery and composite on CogAT

Standard Score (SS)

A number that describes a student’s location on an achievement continuum with the scale based on the  Iowa Assessments test subjects' growth model

Standard Score, 2011 Norms (11SS)

Alternative developmental standard score based on 2011 norms (Score is offered in conjunction with 2017 norms-based scores.)

Standard Score/ Predicted Standard Score Difference (SSDIFF)

The difference between the actual observed Iowa Assessments standard score and the predicted SS (that is, SS – PSS)

Stanine (S)

Normalized standard scores that range from 1 to 9 and have an average value of 5