Achievement Testing
The Stanford Achievement Test is tentatively scheduled for March 22-24, 2010. A notice will be mailed in February to confirm the actual testing dates.
Achievement testing is administered each spring to students in grades 3 and up. All parent/teachers are encouraged to have their students test, but parental authority in the decision is respected. On the other hand, all high schoolers are expected to take the test (unless they are taking the ACT or SAT). There is no fee for testing.
The office needs to be made aware of any special needs children at least two weeks prior to testing. Should any student who is required to test miss the Heritage Covenant administered testing, a make-up must be administered at the expense of the parents.
INTERPRETING RESULTS
Test results are mailed out as end-of-the-year reports are received and processed. The following information should be used in interpreting your student’s scores.
RAW SCORE / NUMBER RIGHT: A raw score is the number of questions a student has answered correctly. Because subtests differ in length, content, and difficulty, raw scores across subtests or test levels cannot be compared directly.
PERCENTILE RANK (PR): Percentile ranks range from a low of 1 to a high of 99, with 50 denoting average performance. The percentile rank corresponding to a given score indicates the percentage of a reference group obtaining scores equal to or less than that score.
STANINE (S): Stanines are scores that range from a low of 1 to a high of 9. Stanines, like percentile ranks, indicate a student’s relative standing in a reference group. However, since stanines do represent approximately equal units of ability, they are particularly useful for comparing a student’s scores across subtests in a stanine profile. Stanine scores of 1, 2, and 3 are usually considered to reflect below-average performance (needs improvement); 4, 5, and 6 are generally thought of as average (the level at which the student should be working); and 7, 8, and 9 are above-average.
GRADE EQUIVALENCE scoring is difficult to interpret. Please ignore that column.
Help in interpreting your student's test score is available simply by a phone call to the HCS Headmaster, Rev. Jones.