The Bell Curve
Norm-referenced Tests (NRTs) are designed to compare student
performance to other students
all students taking test
Average
TIP 2: Chart your child’s academic
scores to determine growth or regression. You can use grade equivalents, percentile ranks, and standard scores. Make
sure you are comparing the same tests
and/or test equivalencies, or that the tests
you are comparing measure the same
information.
Below
average
Below
average
0
50
Scores in Percentiles
100
Bell-Shaped Curve
to measure and describe relationships
between variables using numbers. For
example, you can look at your monthly
gasoline cost and determine how much
you spent, on an average day, each day
during that month. Then, you can use
that information to determine whether
it would be worthwhile to carpool, ride
your bike more often, or continue your
current driving pattern. If you decide to
ride your bike two days per week, you
can measure change by comparing your
car’s gas usage and cost for the previous
months versus future months. In a similar way, knowledge about test scores will
help you assess your child’s progress or
lack of progress.
Let’s start with the term Grade Equivalent (GE). The raw score is the number of
correct answers on a test and is converted
Where do I go to
determine if my child
has a learning disability?
into a grade-equivalent score. The grade-equivalent score is the grade level of students who, on the average, obtain that
same raw score. For example, if a third-grade child receives a raw score of 10
points, and children near the end of first
grade on average earn a raw score of 10
points, the third-grade child is assigned
a GE score of 1. 9 or the ninth month of
first grade.
However, this doesn’t mean you can
conclude that the third-grade child has
math skills that are identical to those of
a student at the 1. 9 grade level. This child
may have completed addition with re-
grouping problems and single-digit mul-
tiplication problems but did not answer
any subtraction problems. It is more ac-
curate to say that the child demonstra-
ted some second- and third-grade math
skills, beyond those expected for a first-
grade child, but overall performed on
the average as children at the end of first
grade performed. So, grade equivalents
provide an assessment of overall, approx-
imate, grade-level achievement, but one
must analyze the errors and patterns to
fully understand the child’s strengths and
skill deficiencies.
Q. What is a late bloomer, and
what does the research say about
“catching up”?
The term late bloomer was created about
thirty years ago and was an affectionate
term for a child who mastered reading
skills at a slower pace than did his or her
peers. The idea was that children would
bloom when they were ready, or their
brains would mature, which may be later
than their peers matured. As a teacher in
the early 1980s, this common view was
a reasonable basis for teachers to have
patience with slow readers and justified
the common practice of delaying a learning disability diagnosis until it was severe
(Lyon et al., 2001).
1
Over the years, parents and teachers have asked, Do struggling readers
ever really catch up? The research has
The Social Times
The Social Times, Vol. 4 is a great resource
for educators and professionals looking to
help students develop social skills. Each
issue contains activities and discussions
designed to help children
cope with social
situations.
Topics include:
•;Cyber Bullying
•;Asking For Help
• Introducing
Yourself
• Sarcasm
•;And more!
Code 9303b, Price $15.00
(For Parents: 9 issues, 1 copy of each issue)
Code 9303, Price $51.00
(For Teachers: 9 issues, 10 copies of each issue)
For excerpts, information and to order,
please visit http://aapcpublishing.net
and search for The Social Times.