High School Placement Test

for use with:

Closed HSPT • Pre-HSPT

Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. Bensenville, Illinois 60106–1617

Interpretive Manual

H

igh

S

chool

P

lacement

T

est

This Interpretive Manual serves as a guide for

interpreting results of STS’ High School Placement

Test (HSPT

®

) and Pre-HSPT. This manual will help

you understand and use various reports available

with the test. Detailed technical information about

the reliability and validity of the test and correlations

with various other standardized tests are available in

the annual HSPT Technical Report.

Table of Contents

1. Overview of the HSPT and Pre-HSPT .............................................................................................................................1

Description of the Subtests ................................................................................................................................................1

Test Forms .........................................................................................................................................................................2

Scoring of the Test .............................................................................................................................................................3

National Norms ..................................................................................................................................................................3

Testing Accommodations ...................................................................................................................................................3

Student Information ............................................................................................................................................................4

2. Types of Scores on the Reports .....................................................................................................................................6

Standard Scores ................................................................................................................................................................6

Percentile Ranks ................................................................................................................................................................6

Grade Equivalents .............................................................................................................................................................7

Cognitive Skills Quotient ....................................................................................................................................................7

Stanines .............................................................................................................................................................................8

Predicted Scores ................................................................................................................................................................9

3. Using the Test Results ...................................................................................................................................................10

General Considerations for Determining Which Normative Score to Use ........................................................................10

Questionable Scores ........................................................................................................................................................ 11

4. Understanding Your Reports .........................................................................................................................................13

Alphabetical List Report and Rank-Order List Report ...................................................................................................... 13

Group Summary Report ...................................................................................................................................................17

Performance Profiles — Individual and Group .................................................................................................................21

Student Score Report ......................................................................................................................................................24

Item Analysis — Individual and Group .............................................................................................................................27

electronic or mechanical including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the

publisher. Published by Scholastic Testing Service, Inc., Bensenville, Illinois 60106–1617. Printed in the United States of America.

1

Overview of the HSPT

and Pre-HSPT

The HSPT is a norm-referenced, standardized test designed for high schools to administer to 8th graders entering

high school. It is the most comprehensive placement test available to assess 8th graders and provides reliable data

needed for admissions, placement, remediation, and scholarship decisions. The rigorous content of the HSPT reflects

the demands of a high school curriculum.

The HSPT is available as the Closed version or the Open version. The information in this manual pertains to the

Closed version. With the Closed HSPT, a new form is developed annually to allow for the highest level of security

and is only available as a lease/score program. This allows schools to lease the testing materials at no charge; schools

simply pay for scoring services and shipping charges. With the lease/score program, schools do not own the testing

materials and return of all materials after testing is required.

While the majority of schools test individually, some test as part of a customized, coordinated HSPT program. A

program consists of a cooperative of schools that have contracted with STS and test collectively, often under the

direction of a diocesan education department. Special reporting services are usually elements of a customized program

as well. Whether schools test individually or as part of a program, general interpretation of results is the same.

The Pre-HSPT is the 7th grade edition of the HSPT and is administered in high schools. Test format, administration

options and requirements, and scoring services are identical to the Closed HSPT with the exception of availability of

an optional test, described in the next section.

Description of the Subtests

The HSPT / Pre-HSPT

consists of five multiple-choice subtests and was designed to be taken in its entirety: Verbal

Skills, Quantitative Skills, Reading, Mathematics, and Language. The Verbal Skills and Quantitative Skills subtests

require the use of reasoning skills, thus categorized as Cognitive Skills subtests. The Reading, Mathematics, and

Language subtests are designed to assess learned skills, thus categorized as Basic Skills subtests.

Cognitive Skills Subtests

Verbal Skills: The Verbal Skills subtest consists of 60 items that measure the ability to understand and reason using

words. The skills measured within the subtest are synonyms, antonyms, verbal analogies, verbal classifications, and

logical reasoning.

Quantitative Skills: The Quantitative Skills subtest consists of 52 items that measure the ability to understand

and reason using numbers. Number series, number manipulations, and both geometric and nongeometric quantitative

comparison items are included. Under standardized conditions, calculators are not to be used.

2

Basic Skills Subtests

Reading: The Reading subtest consists of 62 items. Among the major comprehension skills measured are the

ability to remember important ideas and significant details, recognizing central thought or purpose, making logical

inferences, interpreting literary elements and techniques, and understanding vocabulary in context.

Mathematics: The Mathematics subtest consists of 64 items that assess elements of a high school curriculum.

Computation and problem-solving skills are evaluated, along with the student’s knowledge of important concepts

in areas of numbers & numeration, measurements, geometry, algebra, and statistics. Under standardized conditions,

calculators are not to be used.

Language: The Language subtest measures a student’s understanding of standard English conventions. The subtest

consists of 60 items evaluating skills in punctuation, capitalization, spelling, grammar, usage, and composition.

Optional Test

At the school’s option, one 40-item test may be administered as the last test in the program.* Use of such a test is

optional, and the score is not reflected in the battery Composite score. The optional tests available through STS are

Science and Catholic Religion. Optional test booklets are separate from the standard HSPT test booklet and are

included in your shipment for use after the basic battery has been administered.

The Science score is an achievement measure based on 40 items sampling knowledge in the areas of astronomy,

biology, chemistry, earth sciences, and physics.

The Catholic Religion score is an achievement measure based on the needs of nonpublic schools for assessing

curriculum in the areas of theology, ethics, and doctrine.

If desired, an optional local test can be used to supplement the HSPT. STS will score a school’s local assessment and

generate raw scores and local percentiles, provided the assessment is in a multiple-choice format with a maximum

of four foils. An optional local test must not exceed 40 items, and a school must provide an answer key to the STS

Scoring Center prior to testing.

Test Forms

A new form of the Closed HSPT is published annually. While each test form is constructed to consist of the same

general content and follow certain statistical specifications, the overall difficulty of each form may slightly differ. To

account for differences in difficulty, test forms undergo an equating process so that standard scores represent the same

level of achievement regardless of form, thus allowing users to compare scores of test takers who take different forms.

(For those interested in specifics, the equating procedures are based upon the Rasch latent trait model. A more detailed

explanation is contained in STS’ HSPT Technical Report.)

*Optional tests are not available with the Pre-HSPT.

3

Scoring of the Test

Students receive a score for each subtest separately as well as composite scores for the various parts.

For each subtest, the number of questions that a student answers correctly is added together to determine a raw score.

Points are not subtracted for incorrect answers. (There is no penalty for guessing.) A student’s raw scores are then

converted into standard scores and other derived scores for each subtest.

The composite scores (Total Cognitive Skills score, Total Basic Skills score, and battery Composite score) are

computed in the same way, meaning that the raw scores are added together from the subtests that comprise each

composite score and are then converted to standard scores and national percentiles. Since the composite scores are

scaled independently from its parts, the score is not simply the average of its parts. (See below for the subtests that

comprise each composite score.)

• Total Cognitive Skills: This score indicates a student’s performance on the Verbal Skills & Quantitative

Skills subtests.

• Total Basic Skills: This score indicates a student’s performance on the Reading, Mathematics, & Language

subtests.

• Composite: This is the overall score and indicates a student’s total performance on all five subtests.

(Optional tests are not reflected in the battery Composite score.)

As previously mentioned, the battery Composite score is scaled independently from its parts meaning that a student

must take all of the subtests to achieve a true battery Composite score. In the special case that a student does not take

all of the subtests, an estimated Composite score will instead be reported based on the student’s partial battery. If an

estimated Composite score is reported for a student, it will be noted as such on the List Reports as it is important to

be aware if a student’s Composite score was not derived in the same manner as other students.

National Norms

The HSPT and Pre-HSPT are normed based on 8th grade and 7th grade students, respectively, under standardized

conditions. Other grade level norms are not available.

The norm base for the HSPT / Pre-HSPT is intended to be a more selective base than general population norms.

The current norm base is based upon those entering high school who would subsequently graduate with a diploma;

therefore, it could be called a high school graduate norm base.

STS conducts norming studies annually to assess the national percentile ranks for all test forms. As a result, these

normative measures are current and ensure that students can be compared with an up-to-date representative national

sample of their peers.

Testing Accommodations

The HSPT / Pre-HSPT is a school-administered test. Schools are responsible for all details pertaining to administration

including review and approval of any requests for testing accommodations. The same normative score scales are used

for students who take the test under standardized conditions or under accommodated conditions.

Additional formats of the test are available for special accommodations upon a school’s request. STS offers large-print

materials for all test forms. Braille, audio, and dual-language (English/Spanish) are also available for a single form

of the Closed HSPT.

4

Student Information

Student information is collected on the answer sheet for reporting purposes. The specifications of your testing

program or reporting needs will determine what information the student should complete. Students must bubble in

the gridded areas of the answer sheet accordingly.

Required Information

At a minimum, the following identification information is required to be filled out on the answer sheet by the student

for standard reporting service.

• Name: The student answer sheet contains spaces for 11 characters of the last name, 8 characters of the first

name, and a middle initial.

• Birth Date: This is required for the Cognitive Skills Quotient (CSQ).

Additional Information

The following fields are also available on the answer sheet and may be used to indicate additional information should

the school choose.* Please note, for any school using STS’ registration system, the additional information fields

described next are collected as part of the registration process, eliminating the need for the student to fill out those

sections of the answer sheet on test day.

• Gender

• Ethnicity/Race: Categories are based on guidance set forth by the U.S. Department of Education.

• Elementary School: This is a 3-digit numeric code to indicate the student’s current elementary/middle/

feeder school.

• High School Choices: This is a 2-digit numeric code to indicate the high schools where the student wishes

their results be sent. This section only applies to schools who have contracted with STS to test cooperatively

as part of a choice program. Up to three high school choices may be designated here.

• Other Codes A/B: This section allows schools the option to identify up to two more additional codes

identifying anything the school chooses. These must be a 2-digit number.

• Optional Codes or STS Registration Number: This section can be used to record up to a 10-digit numeric

code such as an STS registration number, a student ID number, or other school information as necessary.

• Home Address & Phone Number: A special four-page answer sheet or STS’ registration system is required

should the school wish to collect the student’s mailing address or phone number for reporting purposes or

special services provided by STS.

For those who wish to use the special code areas, it should be understood that certain preparations must be made

prior to the test date. When developing response possibilities within a given area, care must be exercised to ensure

that only one response can be selected from the list since the related column (or columns) can accept only a single

coded response. (For schools testing as part of a cooperative testing program, code lists will be provided by STS to

ensure consistency for reporting purposes.) Whether the special code grids are used for their designated purposes or in

connection with a questionnaire, the appearance of the coded responses on the HSPT reports often eliminates the need

to search for such information in other files or lists, which simplifies the use of the results.

It should also be noted that STS can produce any of the reports discussed in this manual based upon student responses

in the special code grids (or the registration form). For example, separate Alphabetical List reports could be developed

for each of the elementary school codes that are represented in a given code list. Similarly, lists could be produced

for students who are planning to attend college, junior college, trade school, and any other category that might be

included in an educational goals category. Of course, such reports are provided only upon request and increase the

cost of your program. Nevertheless, a growing number of schools have discovered that the nominal cost is more than

offset by such advantages as convenience, immediate availability of the data, and more effective use of personnel

time.

*Additional information fields may vary for testing programs that use custom answer sheets.

5

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SAMPLE SPECIAL CODING

Elementary School

101 Country Day

102 Elizabeth Seton

103 Holy Family

104 Sacred Heart

105 St. Rose

999 OTHER

High School Choices

10 Catholic Memorial

11 Fontbonne

12 Marian High School

13 Notre Dame Prep

14 St. Anthony’s

15 St. John’s

16 Ursuline Academy

Foreign Language

(Other Codes - A)

30 French

31 German

32 Spanish

99 Undecided

Previous Study

(Other Codes - B)

10 Yes previous study

20 No previous study

SAMPLE CODE LISTS

On Test Day

Students should receive copies of the code list at the beginning of the test period. At the appropriate time, they are directed

how to mark the codes on the answer sheet. This is a quick and simple procedure, which requires the student to write the

code numbers in the appropriate boxes and mark the corresponding numbers in each column beneath the boxes used.

Special Notes

• It is always desirable to enclose a copy of your code list when returning answer sheets for scoring. Please note, this

information is required if customized reports have been requested.

• STS assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of student codings on the answer sheet. Therefore, it is recommended

that the administrator be alert for any misunderstandings during the testing period and that the answer sheets be

checked for obvious errors prior to mailing.

• The space below is provided for you to record any special information pertaining to your test administration. This should

be done prior to the day of testing so that it may be referred to at the appropriate time during the test administration.

Additional comments or coding directions:

Examples: For example, if each student is to identify his or her elementary school, it is necessary to develop a list of

all elementary schools represented in the group (or in the area served by the high school), so that each school may be

assigned a unique 3-digit code. Experience has clearly established two basic rules for code lists. First, it is best that

assigned codes never include leading zeros (e.g., 001) since these tend to be ignored by students; second, a general

code (e.g., 999) should be included to be used, for example, when a student cannot find his or her elementary school

among those shown on the code list.

Some schools may wish to include other codes specific to their HSPT programs. For example, if an individual

school wishes to know what foreign language each incoming student hopes to study, these codes may be coded in

the “OTHER CODES” column. The school might offer four foreign language courses, and they will be arbitrarily

coded as sequential numbers in the 30’s. A code of “99” is assigned to an “Undecided or None” category. In column

A under “OTHER CODES,” the students will write the appropriate code to show their language preference. Students

will use column B under “OTHER CODES” to show previous study of the language. A “10” in column B means

“yes, previous study”; a “20” in column B means “no previous study.” Students who marked “99” in column A

(undecided or no interest) are directed to leave column B blank. Another common situation may request that more

specific information be provided by the schools and/or students. Under “OPTIONAL CODES,” a school system may

have school identification numbers or additional special coding included in this section.

6

Types of Scores on the Reports

Raw scores – the number of items a student answers correctly – by themselves, provide limited information about the

relative performance of students. Since raw scores are not appropriate to use for comparing performance over time or

between different forms of the test, they are not contained on the majority of STS’ report types.

Instead, raw scores on the test are converted to standard scores allowing schools to compare students’ test scores

or make other comparisons across time. Standard scores can then be converted to other derived scores for further

interpretation and evaluation of test results.

The derived normative scores available on the HSPT / Pre-HSPT are described below. (Specific reports may not

contain all score types; see the report section of this manual for more details.)

Standard Scores (SS)

Standard scores are raw scores that have been converted to a standardized scale so they can be statistically analyzed.

The conversion process accounts for differences in difficulty levels between multiple forms of the test so that scores

are consistent and comparable across forms.

Each subtest and composite score has its own standard score scale. Standard score scales range from 200 to 800, with

a mean of 500 and standard deviation of 100.

Standard scores represent equal units of measurement across a continuous scale and are invariant from year to year

and edition to edition. Consequently, the standard score scale is an absolute, unchanging frame of reference which

permits group comparisons to be made year after year with precision and confidence. If the standard score in a given

subject area is higher than the previous year, growth has occurred.

Percentile Ranks

To provide additional meaning to a student’s standard score, performance is also reported in terms of a percentile

rank. In simplest terms, a percentile rank compares a student’s performance on the test to some reference group of

students within the same grade level. The percentile rank scale ranges from a low of 1 to a high of 99, with 50 being

exactly average.

Percentile ranks do not represent actual amounts of achievement, rather, they compare the relative standing of a

student with other students. It is important to know that unlike standard scores, percentile ranks are not on an equal-

interval scale, meaning they do not represent equal units of measure. For example, the difference between percentile

ranks 10 and 20 is not the same difference in achievement as the difference between percentile ranks 60 and 70.

Two types of percentile ranks are provided on reports – national and local – and are further described next.

National Percentile (NP) Rank

A national percentile rank indicates the percentage of raw scores in the representative national norm sample that are

lower than the raw score attained by a given student. Simply stated, it tells the percentage of students in the national

norming group who received a lower score. For example, if an individual’s national percentile rank on the Math

subtest is a 64, this means the student’s raw score was higher than 64 percent of those in the national norm sample.

7

Local Percentile (LP) Rank

A local percentile rank provides the same basic comparison as national percentile ranks except that the comparison

group is composed of local students rather than a national sample. Typically speaking, for schools that administer the

test independently from other schools, the local group will consist of the students that the school sent in together for

scoring. For example, if a student earns a local percentile rank of 71 on the Language subtest, this means the student’s

raw score was higher than 71 percent of those in your group.

For schools that test as part of a coordinated, multi-school program, the local group will vary and is determined by

the testing program but commonly consists of all of the students who tested in your school system/district.*

Grade Equivalents (GE)

While percentile ranks compare the performance of an individual student with other students at the same grade level,

grade equivalents compare the performance of an individual with the average performance of students at other grade

levels.

The grade equivalent scale extends across grade levels and is reported as a decimal number. The number in front of

the decimal represents the grade year and the number after the decimal represents the grade month.

Unfortunately, grade equivalents lend themselves to misinterpretation. As a normative measure, grade equivalent

scores are subject to several limitations and certain precautions must be observed:

1) For example, if an eighth-grade student earns a GE of 10.4 on the Math subtest, this does not mean that the

student is capable of doing tenth-grade math. It simply means that the student can do eighth-grade math as

well as an average high school sophomore can do eighth-grade math.

2) Grade equivalents are meaningful only within the range of skills measured by the test administered. In the

case of the eighth-grade student who earns a GE of 10.4 on the Math subtest, it is clear that this individual

is doing considerably better than most eighth graders. It must be remembered, however, that such a test was

designed primarily to assess those math skills and concepts that should have been learned through the eighth

grade. If this student were given a math test designed for use at the tenth-grade level, it is very unlikely that

he or she would attain a GE of 10.4.

3) Grade equivalents should not be used as the basis for placing students at grade levels that correspond to

attained GE scores.

Cognitive Skills Quotient (CSQ)

This measure replaces the traditional IQ score, but its purpose within the school setting remains the same—to function

as a predictive index of a student’s future academic performance in order to assess learning potential. Like the IQ,

the CSQ is based upon the student’s scores on both the Verbal and Quantitative subtests as well as his or her age

at the time of testing. Unlike pure intelligence tests, however, these subtests do not restrict themselves to measure

only innate abilities. Instead, test items were carefully designed to provide various measures of the cognitive skills

(i.e., skills related to learning) whether such skills are innate or acquired. Consequently, the CSQ is a richer, broader

measure since the test items upon which it is based have a wider, more extensive scope than those ordinarily used in

intelligence tests.

*If you have questions regarding the population that your local percentile group comprises, contact STS.

8

For convenience, the CSQ was designed statistically to be interpreted in the same manner as the traditional IQ. The

scale has an operational range of 55–145 with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. The following guide

may be used in evaluating the CSQ.

Above 130

Represents academic potential that is found in approximately the upper 3%

of the school population.

110 & Above

Represents academic potential that is found in the upper 25% of the school

population.

100–109

Represents academic potential that is found in the second quarter of the

school population—50th to 75th percentiles.

90–99

Represents academic potential that is found in the third quarter of the school

population—25th to 49th percentiles.

89 & Below

Represents academic potential that is found in the lower 25% of the school

population.

Below 70

Represents academic potential that is found in approximately the lower 3%

of the school population.

Stanines

Like percentile ranks, stanines provide a comparison between the student’s performance and that of other students

in the same grade level. Unlike percentile ranks, though, stanines represent approximately equal units of measure

meaning the difference between stanines 3 and 5 represent about the same difference in achievement as the difference

between stanines 5 and 7.

Stanines are reported as whole numbers and range from a low of 1 to a high of 9, with a mean of 5 and standard

deviation of 2. One advantage of stanine scores is their basic simplicity; the primary disadvantage is that they are a

comparatively coarse measure and less precise since performance on a 298 item test is converted to a 9-point scale.

The relationship between stanines and percentile ranks is a fixed relationship and is reported in the table below along

with the corresponding performance rating. Like percentile ranks, stanines may be either local or national in character,

depending upon the normative group on which the scale is based (see Percentile Ranks for definition of local versus

national).

Stanine Percentile Rating

9 96–99 High

8 88–95 High

7 76–87 Above Average

6 60–75 Above Average

5 41–59 Average

4 24–40 Below Average

3 12–23 Below Average

2 04–11 Low

1 01–03 Low

9

Predicted Scores

Some reports include a student’s predicted, estimated ACT (pACT) and SAT (eSAT) score based on their overall

performance on the HSPT. The projected ACT / SAT scores are developed based on data from STS’ most recent

validity studies and will only be reported for grade 8 students who take all of the subtests.

See the respective test publishers for more information regarding the range and scope of these scores.

10

Using the Test Results

The national percentiles, local percentiles, grade equivalents, and standard scores offer each test user a variety of

perspectives within which the performance of a student may be viewed. The choice of which score(s) to use will vary

according to the experience of the test user, his or her professional preferences, and the particular task to accomplish.

We offer the following comments for consideration when determining which score types to use.

Battery Composite Score: The HSPT has been in continuous use since 1958. During its long history, the various

editions have been administered to several million students, and an extensive number of research projects have

been conducted. These have demonstrated repeatedly that the battery Composite score is the best single measure

for predicting subsequent academic performance. Consequently, we can recommend the use of this score in such

applications as admission, scholarship awards, general placement, and so forth.

Subtest Scores: Individual subtest scores should be carefully evaluated when placing students in specific courses.

Based upon a survey of HSPT users, it is evident that most schools utilize two or more subtest scores for this purpose.

Both the Quantitative and Mathematics scores are frequently considered for placement in math courses; while the

Verbal, Reading, and Language scores are considered for English courses; and so forth. In addition to subtest scores,

many reported the use of other criteria as well, such as elementary school grades and teacher recommendations.

Total Cognitive Skills and Total Basic Skills Scores: The Total Cognitive Skills score focuses on a student’s potential

or capability, where the Total Basic Skills score reports performance on achievement levels. As such, there is value in

viewing the overall achievement across subjects as well as the learning potential. A comparison of the two can also

provide some insights to the individual in terms of his achievement relative to his/her capability (not meeting their

potential versus meeting or exceeding it).

Cognitive Skills Quotient: The CSQ as previously defined is provided for those who wish to use an ability or ‘IQ’

type of scale in assessing student performance levels, since this age-based scale is set to a mean of 100 and a standard

deviation of 15 similar to many IQ scales.

General Considerations for Determining Which Normative Score to Use

Since each school is unique in its process of student evaluation, the importance of each normative score will vary from

school to school. The type of score best used depends on the situation of the evaluation: comparison of applications to

enrollment; differentiation of applications for scholarships; group or individual performance across time to name a few.

We have included a few reminders when considering student performance with several norm types.

National Percentiles

Since this score ranks individuals on a national scale and is probably the best understood score, it is used by many as

an initial performance level measure. Keep in mind that percentiles, national and local, are not equal-interval when

comparing the distance between two numbers. National percentiles can shift over time. For example, it is possible that

over the course of 10 years, the nation as a whole has improved in some skill, but the average national performance will

remain at 50 across all 10 years since the performance is relative to the current nation. Since percentiles are on a scale

of 1–99, they can be a good initial measure of performance, but they may not provide the discrimination needed say in

the case of a scholarship where there are multiple students with the same “99th” percentile. Standard Scores can help

in this type of situation.

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Standard Scores

Standard Scores provide a greater level of distinction than percentiles since they range from 200 to 800. Each possible

raw score will yield a different standard score. Since standard scores are invariant across years and forms and are equal

interval, they can be a good measure both across time for absolute performance change or growth as well as measuring

the amount of difference between the performance of two individuals or groups.

If your school has established a cut-off score for admission, placement into an advanced math course, and so on,

you may wish to consider using a standard score cut-off rather than one of the other normative scores. Since the

standard scores are an invariant measure, such a cut-off may be used year after year with the assurance that it is

identifying students who have met or surpassed a consistent level of performance in a particular area. Since other

national normative measures are subject to some variability, their use as a cut-off may be less precise over a period of

time. Regardless of which measure is used as a cut-off, it is always desirable to conduct appropriate research studies

within the school to determine its effectiveness as a selection device.

Local Percentiles

It is essential when using local percentiles that the user understand who the individual or group is being compared

to. If your school tested independently—rather than participating in a coordinated, multi-school program—your

local percentiles are based solely upon the performance of your group of students. Consequently, a student’s local

percentile on a given subtest directly indicates how well or poorly that performance compares with others in your

group, regardless of how well or poorly that performance compares with the national sample. Thus, you can easily

identify the higher, average, or lower performing students relative to the group itself.

The phrase “local norms” refers to the scale that is based solely upon the performance (raw score) of a given group

of students—most commonly, all those who were tested in a given school or district.* In this context, for schools

that independently administer the test, the phrase “school norms” could be interchanged with local norms. This scale

is established by ranking student raw scores on a given subtest from highest to lowest. Whether the group’s collective

performance is very high or very low with respect to the national scale, it should be apparent that some students must

be at or near the top of this ranking (these would comprise the upper 5% of the group) while others must be at or near

the bottom (the lower 5% of the group). Those in the upper 5% achieved the highest performance within this group

and, regardless of their performance in terms of the national scale, will earn local percentile ranks of 95 or above to

indicate their high position in their local group. As one might expect, those in the lower 5% will earn local percentile

ranks of 5 or below to signify their bottom position within the local group.

Questionable Scores

It can be very disconcerting for all concerned when the reported test scores sharply disagree with our expectations

and/or other available data. Fortunately, this is not a common problem, but it merits some attention.

Group Performance: If your Group Summary Report indicates that the students performed unexpectedly high or

low on a particular subtest, the most likely explanation is that some irregularity occurred during the administration

of the subtest. For example, reducing the specified time limits tends to lower performance; extending them serves

to raise performance. Since the unexpected results may have been caused by an error that went unnoticed, it is often

difficult for the test administrator to recognize that an irregularity occurred at all. Nevertheless, mistakes are made—

recognized or not—and the only indication may be an unexpected and unexplainable shift in the group’s performance

on a single subtest. Other factors which typically lower group performance include departing from the test directions

as given in the Directions for Administration, any disruptive or distracting activity during the testing session, poor

physical conditions in the room used for testing (temperature, lighting, etc.) and so forth.

*If you have questions regarding the population that comprises your local percentile group, contact STS.

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Individual Performance: Virtually all inquiries related to student performance are concerned with individuals whose

test results are lower than expected. A typical example: Lisa Smith is an excellent math student, but her math scores

are substantially below average. A typical reaction: the scores don’t make any sense.

When the unexpected test results are confined to a single individual, it is highly unlikely that administrative

irregularities are responsible. Instead, one must be alert for factors that would have an impact only upon the student

involved. For those who encounter a “Lisa Smith” among their students, we offer the following suggestions:

1) Discuss the matter with Lisa at the earliest opportunity. Such a discussion may be unproductive since the

testing probably occurred several weeks earlier, making recall difficult. Nevertheless, she may remember that

the math subtest seemed especially difficult, or she found the directions confusing, or she may have skipped

one or more items (which might have led her to mark her subsequent responses in the wrong locations).

You may discover that she did not feel well that day or was extremely anxious about taking the test. Lisa

may realize that you share her concern about the math scores, have reservations about their validity, and

are prepared to pursue the matter further if necessary. Most students (and parents) find such an attitude

supportive and reassuring.

2) Your school may contact the STS Scoring Center, request a verification of the math scores, and include any

information that may have a bearing on the matter. In this age of optical mark readers (electronic scoring

devices), high-speed computers, and sophisticated computer programming, it is extremely unlikely that

Lisa’s math responses were erroneously scored and reported. Nevertheless, it is a legitimate question which

needs and deserves a definitive answer.

3) Inspect Lisa’s answer sheet, particularly her math responses. (Answer sheets are generally returned with

verification replies.) Excessive erasures frequently indicate uncertainty or confusion on the part of the

student. Determine whether she responded to every item on the subtest or omitted a substantial number (25%

or more). Consequently, excessive omissions usually indicate that the student found the subtest quite difficult

or was overly cautious in responding, perhaps only marking those items about which he or she felt very

confident. Finally, examine Lisa’s responses to the math items, noting each item in the test booklet used for

the testing. (If one is not available, request a copy from STS.) If possible, examine the responses with Lisa

and discuss those that are incorrect. Such a session can be very enlightening for both you and the student.

(Keep in mind that test booklets must always remain under the school’s supervision; test booklets should not

be given to parents.)

Needless to say, these suggestions require additional time and effort, but they will yield the maximum amount of

information about the subtest in question. In the vast majority of instances it is possible to arrive at a definitive

conclusion regarding the validity of questionable test scores.

13

Understanding Your Reports

STS offers flexible reporting services in response to varying needs. The following reports are provided as standard

service for schools that test individually and are described in this section of the manual: the Alphabetical List Report,

Rank-Order List Report, and a Group Summary Report.* Additional types of reports are also available as extra service

and are described here as well.

Information on reports will appear exactly as the student bubbles in the corresponding gridded areas on the answer

sheet. Any marks entered in the columns on the answer sheet will automatically appear in appropriately designated

locations on reports. Therefore, information provided on your reports depends upon the accuracy of the information

completed by students on test day. Multiple responses within the same column generate a “multi-mark condition”

which electronic scanning devices are programmed to disregard as ambiguities.

Schools must complete a Group Identification Form (provided in the Return Kit) and include with answer sheets sent

for scoring. The grade along with the level/form marked on the Group Identification Form will determine which keys

and norms are used when scoring the answer sheets.

Alphabetical List Report and Rank-Order List Report

Appropriate for: school personnel

Purpose:

Student test scores are provided on two types of list reports: an Alphabetical List Report and a Rank-Order List Report.

These reports provide scores for all students in the specied group in an easy-to-read list view. The two reports are

identical except that the alphabetical list organizes students in alphabetical order and the rank-order list organizes

students from high to low based on their composite score. (As an additional service, rank-order reports can be provided

based on alternate scores as well.)

Report Elements:

The score types reported on the list reports include standard scores, national percentiles, and local percentiles for the

individual subtests and totals. Grade equivalents for the basic skills subtests and a cognitive skills quotient are also

provided.

1

The report is suitably labeled at the top of the page for convenient identification.

2

Student Identification: The left column contains student identification information. The student’s name

as it was gridded on the answer sheet appears on the top line. (The answer sheet contains spaces for 11

characters of the last name, 8 characters of the first name, and a middle initial). The student’s date of birth,

age in years and months, gender, ethnicity/race, and optional code are reported on the following lines.

3

Codes: The second column of the report accommodates three lines of coded information obtained from the

student’s answer sheet (or STS’ registration). The first line identifies the 5-character code of the test center

(where the student tested) and their elementary school if coded. The second line is for the test form and date

while the third line is for is for high school choices/other codes. The value of these codes and their uses are

discussed on page 4 of this manual.

* For schools that test as part of a cooperative program, standard service may vary and depends

on the specifications of the testing program. However, general interpretation of the reports still applies.

14

4

Scores: The remaining columns contain the student’s scores. The COGNITIVE SKILLS section presents

the scores the student earned on the Verbal and Quantitative subtests as well as their Total Cognitive Skills

score. The computed cognitive skills quotient (CSQ) will be reported here as well.

The BASIC SKILLS section provides the scores attained on the Reading, Mathematics, and Language

subtests as well as their total basic skills score.

The OPTION column contains the scores for the optional test administered, if any. The optional test used

is identified by a two-letter abbreviation beneath the scores: SC for Science or RL for Catholic Religion.

Note, if an Option test was administered, raw scores are provided in lieu of standard scores.

The COMPOSITE column contains scores which indicate a student’s total performance on the five

subtests that comprise the battery.

5

The legend at the bottom of the page will identify any abbreviations on the report as well as the identify

the values used in ethnicity/race column.

Sample Explanation:

These reports are illustrated on page 15. When looking at the alphabetical list, you can see that the students’ results

are presented alphabetically by last name. Note that Jacob Allen is second on the alphabetical list. From the column

labeled Test Center, you can see that Jacob tested at school “YY001” which is the code for Scholastic Testing

Academy. Additionally, Jacob coded “020” as his current elementary school. A code list is required to identify what

school the codes represent.

As reported on the alphabetical list, Jacob’s battery Composite score was the 72nd national percentile. By looking

at the rank-order report, you can see that Jacob’s Composite score was ranked 11th out of the group as 10 other

students had a higher composite national percentile and are reported before him.

Considerations:

The focus of this report is based upon individual student performance. Use of one report over the other will depend

on the school’s objective. For instance, if you simply wish to view a particular student’s results, the alphabetical

list will enable you to quickly find a student’s scores. Alternatively, if you wish to view the students in order of

how they performed on the test, the rank-order list would be suggested.

15

Sample: Alphabetical List Report and Rank-Order List Report

NP

GE

CSQ

SS

NP

GE

SS

NP

SS

NP

SS

NP

Reading

Math

Verbal

Quantitative

TOTAL

Language

TOTAL

COMPOSITE

COGNITIVE SKILLS

BASIC SKILLS

OPTION

RS

NP

STS HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST

LP

National %ile chart

List Report: Alphabetical List by Total Group

pACT

eSAT

50

25

75

10

90

Group ID:

SCHOLASTIC ACADEMY (YY001)

Last Name

First Name

Age

Test Form

Birth Date

Elem Code

Gender

Test Center

Optional Code

Test Date

Choices:

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

E Code

R Code

Grade:

08

Section:

01

Date:

12/03/20

M.I.

32

48

83

25

10.6

6.7

102

446

488

573

420

532

63

9.2

469

38

506

55

492

47

12/03/20

48

35

40

69

30

89

64

56

10

13

09

020

_

21

192699

1080

J

02

1305

F

07/19/07

YY001

Abrams

Bo

2

5

S

69

79

94

29

11.8

7.1

117

564

574

624

435

565

76

10.1

570

76

536

67

549

72

12/03/20

81

74

80

37

96

77

78

03

12

23

020

_

25

193281

1190

J

02

1305

M

07/10/07

YY001

Allen

Jacob

1

A

38

45

16

21

6.2

6.4

97

464

481

399

406

397

15

5.9

473

39

400

15

429

23

12/03/20

45

42

16

25

19

17

25

09

10

13

00

020

_

17

192812

920

J

02

1403

F

09/10/06

YY001

Andrews

Alesha

1

2

O

28

30

25

12

7

5.4

93

437

443

431

368

463

34

7.5

440

27

419

20

427

22

12/03/20

28

32

28

40

13

31

24

14

12

01

00

020

_

17

193217

910

J

02

1401

M

11/11/06

YY001

Brennan

Eric

1

25

C

53

95

64

55

9.3

8.9

113

508

663

523

509

565

76

10.1

575

77

533

66

549

72

12/03/20

97

58

81

80

65

73

76

78

03

07

00

020

_

25

192909

1190

J

02

1402

M

10/04/06

YY001

Bressner

Owen

2

5

G

47

20

50

27

8.5

6.9

94

490

413

492

427

431

24

6.7

448

30

450

29

449

30

12/03/20

18

52

31

28

33

59

37

35

10

05

020

_

18

194982

990

J

02

1403

F

09/29/06

YY001

Brothers

Casey

5

C

64

48

60

61

9.1

9.4

106

544

488

515

526

517

56

8.9

515

57

520

61

518

59

12/03/20

48

69

61

63

71

70

67

10

09

16

020

_

22

193943

1140

J

02

1311

F

01/03/07

YY001

Brown

Mary

3

N

61

67

54

55

8.7

8.9

112

535

537

499

509

557

73

9.9

537

65

522

61

528

64

12/03/20

69

66

70

77

65

63

71

72

03

020

_

22

197910

1160

J

02

1305

M

07/10/07

YY001

Bull

Michael

2

5

L

61

41

64

25

9.3

6.7

102

535

473

523

420

470

37

7.7

502

51

470

38

482

43

12/03/20

41

66

56

43

30

73

47

50

10

09

00

020

_

20

192948

1050

J

02

1402

F

10/09/06

YY001

Clark

Megan

5

E

77

92

80

72

10.3

10.2

120

596

632

564

561

583

82

10.5

615

87

571

81

587

85

12/03/20

93

81

89

85

81

86

87

88

10

09

05

020

_

27

197113

1260

J

02

1401

F

11/28/06

YY001

Cruise

Amanda

2

5

R

12

51

25

12

7

5.4

95

380

496

431

368

423

21

6.5

444

29

405

15

421

20

12/03/20

52

14

30

24

13

31

19

22

01

03

08

020

_

17

193029

900

J

02

1311

M

12/11/06

YY001

Dickerson

Brady

35

C

SCHOLASTIC TESTING SERVICE

Page:1

Run Date: Friday, July 9, 2021 (SMP)

CSQ - Cognitive Skills Quotient

GE - Grade Equivalent

LP - Local Percentile

NP - National Percentile

RS - Raw Score

SS - Standard Score

E Code - Ethnicity: 1=Hispanic-Latino, 2=Non Hispanic or Latino

R Code - Race: 1=Amer.Indian-Alaska Native, 2=Asian, 3=African Amer, 4=Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander, 5=White

pACT - Predicted ACT

eSAT - Estimated SAT

NP

GE

CSQ

SS

NP

GE

SS

NP

SS

NP

SS

NP

Reading

Math

Verbal

Quantitative

TOTAL

Language

TOTAL

COMPOSITE

COGNITIVE SKILLS

BASIC SKILLS

OPTION

RS

NP

STS HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST

LP

National %ile chart

List Report: Rank List on Composite by Total Group

pACT

eSAT

50

25

75

10

90

Group ID:

SCHOLASTIC ACADEMY (YY001)

Last Name

First Name

Age

Test Form

Birth Date

Elem Code

Gender

Test Center

Optional Code

Test Date

Choices:

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

E Code

R Code

Grade:

08

Section:

01

Date:

12/03/20

M.I.

99

97

11.9

136

760

740

733

697

725

99

11.9

755

99

725

99

735

99

12/03/20

99

98

99

97

99

03

01

08

020

_

35

192982

1520

J

02

1309

M

03/07/07

YY001

Kelly

Peter

5

R

87

93

98

97

11.9

125

647

692

697

677

98

11.9

648

94

690

99

674

98

12/03/20

95

89

95

98

97

99

10

09

13

020

_

33

196610

1430

J

02

1401

F

11/20/06

YY001

Lambert

Lily

3

M

89

90

11.3

11.9

124

662

619

602

643

574

80

10.3

641

93

603

90

617

92

12/03/20

91

94

82

94

93

94

10

13

09

020

_

30

193860

1320

J

02

1311

F

12/25/06

YY001

Emond

Briann

2

5

E

72

93

98

55

11.9

8.9

120

574

647

676

509

653

95

11.9

608

86

607

91

608

90

12/03/20

95

76

88

96

65

99

94

92

09

13

10

020

_

30

192928

1290

J

02

1311

F

01/04/07

YY001

Pansini

Emma

5

I

77

92

80

72

10.3

10.2

120

596

632

564

561

583

82

10.5

615

87

571

81

587

85

12/03/20

93

81

89

85

81

86

87

88

10

09

05

020

_

27

197113

1260

J

02

1401

F

11/28/06

YY001

Cruise

Amanda

2

5

R

56

93

83

75

10.6

10.5

113

517

647

573

571

610

89

11.2

575

77

587

86

583

83

12/03/20

95

61

81

90

83

89

91

87

03

01

020

_

27

194162

1250

J

02

1403

M

09/27/06

YY001

Guenthner

Lucas

2

5

T

61

85

92

64

11.6

9.6

112

535

595

613

534

601

87

11

565

74

583

85

577

82

12/03/20

86

66

78

88

74

95

89

85

12

020

_

27

193180

1250

J

02

1401

M

11/16/06

YY001

Pride

Charlie

2

5

E

84

87

92

61

11.6

9.4

121

633

607

613

526

501

49

8.5

621

88

544

71

571

80

12/03/20

89

87

91

56

71

95

79

84

01

03

08

020

_

26

192839

1230

J

02

1310

M

02/08/07

YY001

Kang

Kevin

2

5

89

48

86

88

10.8

11.9

116

662

488

583

628

532

63

9.2

560

73

577

83

571

80

12/03/20

48

91

77

69

93

90

88

84

03

08

020

_

26

197994

1230

J

02

1304

M

08/03/07

YY001

Pulsner

Bob

1

5

D

56

93

83

72

10.6

10.2

113

517

647

573

561

540

66

9.4

575

77

559

77

565

78

12/03/20

95

61

81

72

81

89

83

82

07

14

05

020

_

26

192891

1200

J

02

1402

F

10/04/06

YY001

Mcmullen

Emily

5

E

69

79

94

29

11.8

7.1

117

564

574

624

435

565

76

10.1

570

76

536

67

549

72

12/03/20

81

74

80

37

96

77

78

03

12

23

020

_

25

193281

1190

J

02

1305

M

07/10/07

YY001

Allen

Jacob

1

A

SCHOLASTIC TESTING SERVICE

Page:1

Run Date: Friday, July 9, 2021 (SMP)

CSQ - Cognitive Skills Quotient

GE - Grade Equivalent

LP - Local Percentile

NP - National Percentile

RS - Raw Score

SS - Standard Score

E Code - Ethnicity: 1=Hispanic-Latino, 2=Non Hispanic or Latino

R Code - Race: 1=Amer.Indian-Alaska Native, 2=Asian, 3=African Amer, 4=Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander, 5=White

pACT - Predicted ACT

eSAT - Estimated SAT

Alphabetical List Report

Rank-Order List Report

1

2 3

4

5

16

Sample: Group Summary Report

Group Summary:

By Total Group

STS HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST

Group ID: SCHOLASTIC ACADEMY (YY001)

Grade:

08

Date: 12/3/2020

42

Group Size

47

My Group's

Median National Percentile

(Composite Score)

105

Average CSQ

22

Average pACT

1085

Average eSAT

National Percentile

Q3

Median (MD)

Q1

FREQUENCY

DISTRIBUTION

Composite

Total Basic Skills

Verbal Skills

Quantitative Skills

Total Cognitive Skills

Reading

Mathematics

Language

Option

Number:

3

1

6

3

6

1

4

3

2

3

2

1

2

4

3

5

6

2

1

7

1

2

3

2

3

2

5

2

3

4

7

4

1

3

1

5

1

3

4

3

4

1

4

6

4

1

2

1

3

2

1

6

5

3

2

1

7

2

4

2

1

2

1

3

4

2

1

4

7

2

3

2

1

4

3

11

1

2

4

6

3

1

2

3

7

3

1

3

7

2

4

2

1

7

2

14

7

14

2

10

7

5

7

5

2

5

10

7

12

14

5

2

17

2

5

7

5

7

5

12

5

7

10

17

10

2

7

2

12

2

7 10 7 7 10 10 2 10 14 10 2 5 5 2

7

5

2

14

12

7

5

2

17

5

10

5

2

5

2

7

10

5

2

10

17

5

7

5

2

10

7

26

2

5

10

14

7

2

5

7

17

7

2

7

17

5

10

5

2

Average

Above Average

High

Performance Rating

Low

Below Average

Percentile Interval

41-47 48-52 53-59 76-81 82-87 88-89 90-94 95 96-97 98 9969-7560-681-3 4-11 12-18 19-23 24-32 33-40

Composite

Total Basic Skills

Verbal Skills

Quantitative Skills

Total Cognitive Skills

Reading

Mathematics

Language

Option

Percent:

1 2 3 4

Stanine

6 7 8 9

5

42

520

85

36

54

85

Reading (RD)

Mathematics (MT)

Language (LN)

Total Basic Skills (TBS)

Total Cog. Skills (TCS)

Quantitative (QT)

Verbal (VB)

Composite (CMP)

Subtests/Totals

Standard

Scores

Dev

Mean

42

498

94

26

50

67

42

509

81

30

51

74

National

Percentiles

42

509

81

24

53

73

42

470

92

21

29

61

42

513

82

31

54

83

42

497

78

25

47

67

42

501

78

25

47

72

Stan

Option:

(OPT)

Cognitive Skills

Basic Skills

Q1

MD

Q3

Tested

No.

Median National Percentiles by Subgroup:

Lower Half of My Group (Q1), My Group as a Whole (MD), and Upper Half of My Group (Q3)

38% 26%

36%

* cluster percentages are based

on the Composite Score

*

Page:1

Run Date: 9/8/2021 (SMP)

SCHOLASTIC TESTING SERVICE

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

17

Group Summary Report

Appropriate for: school personnel

Purpose:

As its name suggests, this one-page report summarizes your group’s performance on individual subtests and composite

scores. It is designed to give an overall perspective of the group’s performance.

Report Elements:

The top portion of the report contains score data for the whole group as well as for three different subpopulations of

the group. The bottom of the report contains the frequency distribution (the number and percentage) of students that

obtained national percentiles within certain intervals.

1

The report is suitably labeled at the top of the page for convenient identification.

2

The left section highlights group size and various score data.

3

The table in the upper middle section contains the number tested in each area as well as group performance

on each subtest and composite scores. Average performance for the group as a whole is reported in terms

of standard scores in the columns labeled “Mean” and “Stan Dev” (standard deviation). The columns to the

right report the median national percentiles for three subpopulations of the group: the upper half of the group

(labeled “Q3”), the group as a whole (labeled “MD”), and the lower half of the group (labeled “Q1”).

Note: Median national percentile data is not reported if the group size is less than 4 students.

4

The median national percentiles for the three subpopulations just described are also illustrated by a stacked

line graph. The bottom line (Q1) displays how the students in the bottom 25% of the group compares to those

in the bottom 25% of the nation (the 25th national percentile). The middle line (MD) shows how the group

median compares to the national average (the 50th national percentile). The upper line (Q3) displays how the

students in the top 25% of your group compares to the top 25% of the nation (the 75th national percentile).

5

The header columns for the Frequency Distribution section identify various percentile intervals as well as

the corresponding stanine and performance rating for each interval (Low, Below Average, Average, Above

Average, and High).

6

The percentage of students within the group who earned a given national percentile score is reported here for

each subtest and composite scores.

7

The number of students within the group who earned a given national percentile score is reported here for

each subtest and composite scores.

8

The total percentage of students who obtained a composite national percentile considered to be low/below

average (national percentile between 1–40), average (national percentile between 41–59), and above average/

high (national percentile between 60–99) is highlighted here.

Sample Explanation:

A sample is given on page 16. In the upper left, you can see that the median Composite score for this group of 42

students is the 47th national percentile. In the table to the right, you see that the group’s average (mean) standard

scores for Reading, Math, and Language were 509, 470, and 513 respectively. The standard deviation of the group’s

Math scores is 92. This means that the group’s range of scores is slightly less than the standard score scale standard

deviation of 100.

The next section of the table also shows that the group’s median national percentile (column “MD”) for Reading

is 53. As illustrated in the line graph at the right, that is near the national average: the 50th national percentile

which is depicted by a horizontal dashed line. The group’s median national percentile for Math is 29 which is well

18

below the national average 50th percentile. When comparing performance across all subtests, it is noticeable that

the group performed lowest in Math.

A look at the frequency distribution (the bottom portion of the report) shows that on the Reading subtest, 2 students

(5%) earned a national percentile of 82–87, which in turn is equivalent to a national stanine of 7. By combining

selected data points, it can be determined that the Reading performance of 5 students (10%) fell within the upper 12%

of the national normative sample (88th–99th percentiles), which corresponds to the 8th and 9th national stanine band,

the high range of the national scales. From the data points shown for the Composite score, it may be determined that

the performance of 16 students (38%) fell within the Low/Below Average categories, 11 students (26%) fell within

the Average category, and 15 students (36%) fell within the Above Average/High categories.

Considerations:

Needless to say, the focus of this report is based upon the group rather than individuals. Hence, if one wishes to

identify the students who attained a national percentile of 99 for the composite score, it would be necessary to search

the list of individual student results to discover their names.

Caution must be used when interpreting group summary information when the group is based on small numbers.

Summary results are less precise for small groups and can be affected by extreme individual scores. For example, a

score that is extremely high or low may have a greater impact on the average scores of 10 students but will have less

effect on the average of say 100 student scores.

Number Tested, Standard Score Means, and Standard Deviations: The greatest value of the standard score scale

lies in its ability to function as a common denominator between various editions of the HSPT. Thus, it forms a bridge

between your current group and previous groups, and allows you to make direct comparisons of their respective

performance levels. The group summary standard score means also provide a comparison baseline for comparing

individual performance to the group average.

When comparing two groups, each consisting of 100 or more individuals, differences as small as 4 or 5 points

between standard score means are statistically significant; that is, one can conclude with reasonable confidence

that the observed difference stems from a true difference in test performance rather than the occurrence of chance

variations. As either the size of the groups or the magnitude of the difference increases, the same conclusion may

be drawn with even greater confidence. One must also recognize, however, that a difference which is statistically

significant does not always possess practical significance. While differences in the range of 5 to 40 standard score

points are statistically significant for groups of 100 or more, such differences are not large enough to warrant any

special concern other than noting their occurrence and the direction of the shift. In other words, the skill level of the

two groups—while measurably different—is sufficiently similar to be considered equivalent for all practical purposes.

Consequently, differences in this range lack practical significance.

As one might expect, observed differences in excess of 40 standard score points require more than a passing comment

on your part. Values in this range are indicative of substantial differences in test performance between groups, and

thus, signify major differences in their respective skill levels. When confronted by differences of this magnitude,

attention should be focused upon the curriculum related to the area in which the excessive difference was observed.

For example, if the standard score mean for Math of the current group were 45 to 50 points lower than that earned

by an earlier group, one would be well-advised to re-evaluate the math curriculum with respect to its suitability for

a group whose math skills are substantially weaker than those of previous students. A separate remedial program

might also be considered for those whose individual standard scores in Math are well below the mean of the current

group. Conversely, if the math performance of the current group were 45 or 50 points higher than earlier students, it

might be appropriate to increase the scope, pace, or depth of the curriculum to accommodate or even challenge their

higher level of math skills.

It should be noted that differences in excess of 40 points usually are not observed between groups whose testings are

separated only by a year or two. Typically, year-by-year comparisons yield differences well within the 5–40 range noted

earlier. However, if a given trend continues over an extended period, the accumulated differences (or the difference

between the initial and current groups) can reach proportions that merit serious attention. In other words, substantial

changes in performance are more likely to creep into view than burst dramatically upon the scene. Consequently, for

those who wish to monitor this aspect of the HSPT, it is vital to retain the data obtained from each testing for use in

subsequent analyses.

19

Finally, one should not lose sight of the fact that a standard score mean reflects the general performance level of the group

in a given area, but it offers no insights regarding the specific skills which underlie that performance. It may be clear,

for example, that the language performance of your applicants is declining, but this fact sheds no light upon which

specific skills have deteriorated and thus contributed to the decline. In settings where curricular modifications

or remediation programs are under consideration, information concerning the relative strengths and weaknesses of

specific skills can be especially useful. Such information can be provided in the form of two different reports—the

Performance Profile and the Item Analysis—which are discussed later in this manual.

The standard score standard deviation provides some indication of the range of scores attained by the particular group

of students. The original standard scores were developed with a standard deviation of 100, therefore results below 100

indicate a group of students who are not quite as spread out. Comparisons across subjects can also provide insight to

how the spread of scores can vary by subject area.

National Percentiles by Subgroup: The purpose of this section of the Group Summary Report is to provide an

abbreviated description of your group’s performance, and in doing so, to refocus attention upon their performance

as compared with their peers in the current national normative sample. In the table under the heading National

Percentiles and in the stacked line graph, are the selected rank positions within the group. Q3 represents the typical

performance of those in the upper half of your group, MD indicates the typical performance of the group as a whole,

and Q1 reflects the typical performance of those in the lower half of the group. The national percentile ranks attained

by your group as a whole as well as those in the upper and lower segments are listed in the table and additionally

plotted in the stacked line graph.

If you wish to evaluate the typical or average performance of your group (i.e., the 50th local percentile or the median

of your group), your attention would be directed to the national percentiles that appear in the column labeled “MD.”

Any national percentile of 50 indicates that the average performance of your group is the same as the average

performance within the national sample; that is, the 50th percentile of your group corresponds to the 50th percentile

for the national sample. Any national percentile greater than 50 indicates that the typical performance of your students

was higher than that of the national sample; any below 50 indicates lower performance. As may be seen in the sample

Group Summary Report on page 16, the average performance of that group was near the national average on every

component of the HSPT except Math, in which the group’s average performance was the 29th national percentile.

The other test areas ranged from 47 for the Composite and Total Basic Skills to 54 for Verbal Skills and Language.

If the average performance of the upper half of your group is under consideration (i.e., the 75th local percentile, or

the upper 25% of your group), you would note the national percentiles that appear in the column labeled “Q3.” If, for

example, the performance on the Language subtest from this segment of your group were equal to their counterparts

in the national sample, you would find a national percentile of 75 in the Language column. Any value higher than 75

would indicate that the performance of this segment (the upper 25%) was higher than that of the upper 25% of the

national sample; any below 75 would signify lower performance. As may be noted, this segment of the sample group

performed lower than those in the national sample by earning national percentiles below 75 on every component

except Verbal Skills and Language. To be more specific, the average performance of those in the upper half of that

group was equivalent to a national percentile of 85 for Verbal Skills; hence, their performance exceeded 75% of those

in the local group and 85% of those in the national sample. In other words, those in the upper 25% of the illustrated

group are in the upper 15% of the national sample in this subject area.

The data given for the average performance of those in the lower half of your group (the 25th local percentile) may

be analyzed in a similar manner. One must remember, of course, to adjust the level of comparison to correspond

to the level of the segment being evaluated. As may be noted in the sample Group Summary Report, this segment

outperformed their counterparts in the national sample in every area except Reading and Math, ranging from 21 for

Math to 36 for Verbal Skills.

20

Frequency Distributions: While the standard score standard deviation can provide some insight to the range of scores

attained by the group, the frequency distribution provides a much more detailed picture of how the group performance

is spread across the scale for each score type. Of particular interest might be the number and/or percentage of students

in your group who did either extremely well, or the number who did poorly. Exploring the frequency distribution can

help paint a better picture of the group of students who took the assessment. It is possible, for example, that two group

summaries both report a median national percentile of 47, but one group may have 10% of the students in the 96–99th

percentile range, where the other group may have no one in the top ranges.

The distributions may also be used to determine the number and/or percentage of students represented in

the high, above average, average, below average, and low categories or in some other categorical scheme of your

own devising. Such information can be useful in establishing the number or percentage of students who are likely

candidates for admission or placement in your setting and the relative range of skills represented in the defined

categories.

In some settings the skills of the group will range from the lowest end of the scale to the highest with the majority of

scores tending toward the middle Average category. In other instances, however, the majority of scores may occur in a

different category. Such is case, for example, of a high performing school whose applicants are also high performing.

Their frequency distribution may show all of their students in the Above Average and High categories. While these

cases may be atypical, they certainly do occur, and having a historical perspective on a school’s typical applicants

may prove beneficial in the group summary analysis.

Whether your group is typical or atypical, the frequency distributions can assist you in recognizing both the

specific and general performance characteristics of your applicants, and in forming preliminary judgments related to

admission or placement factors.

21

Performance Profiles – Individual and Group

Individual Performance Profiles

Appropriate for: school personnel and parents/guardians

Purpose:

Upon request, individual diagnostic proles may be provided for each student within a group. Generally speaking,

it offers a unique blend of information about student performance in that it not only provides the general scores

attained by an individual, but also indications of his or her performance on the specific skills assessed by the test.

School personnel will find the convenient size and wealth of data quite useful for a wide range of purposes. The

individualized character of the report, its graphic displays, and self-contained explanations make it an ideal report

for distribution to the students and parents.

Report Elements:

The scores reported for each student include standard scores, national percentiles and stanines, and local percentiles

and stanines for the individual subtests and totals. Grade equivalents for the basic skills subtests and a cognitive skills

quotient are also provided.

1

The report is suitably labeled at the top of the page for convenient identification. The student’s name and

coded information appears as it was gridded on the answer sheet (or from STS’ registration system). The

value of these codes and their uses are discussed on page 4 of this manual.

2

Scores: This section contains the student’s scores for each subtest and composite scores.

3

Performance Ratings: The student’s national percentile rankings are plotted on a graph indicating

their performance rating (low, below average, average, above average, and high). The national percentile

ranking earned by the individual lies near the center of a given band and its width reects any variation in

measurement that might be likely to occur. The shaded and unshaded areas of the graph depict the various

levels of performance, and the national percentile rank scale is shown at the bottom for reference.

4

Performance by Skill: This section contains the number of items related to a specic skill along with

the number of items the student both attempted (# Att) and answered correctly (# Right). The student’s

performance is also reported as a performance rating and allows identication of strengths and weaknesses

relative to the national sample. (The performance ratings are norm-referenced, not criterion-referenced,

meaning the rating the student achieves is dependent upon how well he or she performed compared to other

students in the norm group.)

Sample Explanation:

A sample of an Individual Performance Profile for student Bo Abrams is shown on page 23. Bo’s performance on each

subtest and composite scores is reported in the top section. As you can see, Bo earned a national percentile of 83 on the

Language subtest which corresponds to the 7th stanine and falls within the above average performance category.

To further analyze Bo’s score on the Language subtest, one can look to the Specific Skills section below. As shown in the

middle column, the Language subtest is divided into six major categories: Punctuation (10 items), Capitalization (2

items), Incorrect Usage (15 items), Correct Usage (3 items), Spelling (10 items), and Composition (20 items). Out of

10 possible Punctuation items, Bo attempted all 10 and correctly answered 9 items. The colored bar indicates that

her performance was in the “HIGH” range for this skill when compared with the national sample.

Some categories are further divided into even more specific skills. For example, the 15 items pertaining to Incorrect

Usage deal with Nouns/Pronouns (3 items), Verbs/Adverbs/Adjectives (6 items), and Other Parts of Speech (6 items).

The number attempted, number correct, and performance ratings for these subskills are provided as well.

22

Considerations:

The primary advantage of the Performance Profile lies in its ability to communicate both the general performance

levels of the student as well as a more detailed picture of his or her specific skills. This approach can provide useful

insights for both school personnel and the student. Depending upon the specific factors involved in an individual case,

low or below-average ratings on a specific skill may be acceptable or even expected. If this is not the case, however,

attention is focused upon achievement weaknesses that might otherwise escape unnoticed.

Performance Profile (Group Summary)

Appropriate for: school personnel

Purpose:

A Performance Profile Group Summary is developed for each group of students for whom this report is requested.

Its purpose is identical to that of the Group Summary Report—to present an overall picture of the collective

performance of a group of individuals by indicating the group’s relative strengths and weaknesses.

Report Elements:

In appearance, the Performance Profile Group Summary is identical to the profiles provided for the individual

students. It differs, of course, in that the data reported reflects the group’s performance rather than individual

performance.

The scores reported on the Performance Prole Group Summary are obtained by computing averages for the group

with respect to both the general test scores in the upper portion and the number of items attempted and correctly

answered for the specic skills in the lower portion. (Standard scores are mean scores; national percentiles are median

scores.)

Considerations:

Local percentile and local stanine averages are not shown on the group summary since such values would invariably

be 50 and 5 respectively for any of the general scores. Median national percentile data is not reported if the group

size is less than 4 students.

If multiple forms of the test were administered, the group summary will be developed separately by form due to

varying content outlines. If Individual Performance Profiles are ordered, the Group Summary (or summaries) are

automatically provided and will be reported first, followed by all of the individual student reports.

23

Sample: Performance Profile

STS HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST

Specific Skills

# of

#

LOW

-AVG

AVG

+AVG

HIGH

Items

Right

Att

Specific Skills

# of

#

LOW

-AVG

AVG

+AVG

HIGH

Specific Skills

# of

Items

#

Right

The

student's performance is shown at the left

by

various

normative scores. National

percentile

ranks

compare this student's performance to

students

in the same grade of the

national

normative

group. For example, an NP of 65

would

mean

that the student's test score exceeded

65

percent

of students' scores in a national

normative

population.

The

student's national percentile scores are

also

illustrated

in the graph by a band of marks

which

show

the range in which the student's

actual

score

likely falls. For most uses, performance

may

be

judged by noting the rating column in which

a

band

occurs. The High, Average, and Low

ratings

represent

the highest 10%, middle one-third,

and

lowest

10% respectively. Above

Average

represents

the upper one-third (excluding the

highest

10%) while Below Average represents the

lower one-third (excluding the lowest 10%).

Performance

in specific skills areas of

each

subtest

is reported below by the number of items

correctly

answered and a performance rating.

The

ratings

are norm-referenced and have the

same

meaning

as the performance ratings in the

graph

above.

********READING********

Comprehension

Informational Text

-Ideas & Details

Details/Events

Main Idea/Title

Cause/Effect

Conclusions/Infer

-Craft & Structure

Vocab in Context

Purpose/Qualify

-Integration of Ideas

Reason/Prediction

Compare/Contrast

Literary Text

-Literary Elements

Details & Meaning

Character Traits

Plot/Theme/Setting

Pt. of View/Style

-Literary Techniques

Irony/Pers./Meta.

Imagery/Symbol

Vocabulary

40

30

14

5

3

8

6

2

10

6

2

4

3

1

22

28

23

12

5

2

3

5

6

4

2

5

3

0

1

2

1

9

Items

Right

*******LANGUAGE*******

Punctuation

Capitalization

Incorrect Usage

-Noun/Pronoun

-Verb/Adverb/Adjective

-Other Parts of Speech

Correct Usage

Spelling

Composition

****VERBAL SKILLS****

Analogy

Logic

Verbal Classification

Synonyms

Antonyms

*QUANTITATIVE SKILLS*

Sequence

Reasoning

Geometric Comparison

Non-Geo. Comparison

10

2

15

3

6

3

10

20

10

11

17

13

9

15

10

12

9

1

13

3

4

6

3

5

12

6

7

13

7

3

8

3

4

****MATHEMATICS****

Numbers & Numeration

-Procedural Operations

-Root/Exponent/Place Value

-Ratio/Proportion

-Property/Factor/Mult.

-Word Problems

Measurements

-Wt./Length/Dry/Liquid

-Time/Temperature

-Metric/Monetary Conv.

Geometry

-Points/Lines/Angles

-Plane/Cubic Figures

-Perimeter/Area/Volume

-Diameter/Rad./Circum.

-Congruent/Sym/Pythag.

Algebra

-Equality/Inequality

-Functions/Coordinates

Statistics & Probability

-Mean/Med/Mode/Range

-Probability Concepts

-Data/Graphs/Tables

29

7

3

2

15

7

3

1

3

12

3

2

4

1

2

7

5

2

9

1

3

5

17

5

2

6

3

0

1

2

7

2

0

1

0

4

0

1

3

Grade:

Section:

Test Form:

Optional Code:

Test Date:

Elem:

Choices/Other:

Birth Date:

Age:

Gender:

#

Att

40

30

14

5

3

8

6

2

10

6

2

4

3

1

17

10

2

15

3

6

3

10

20

10

11

17

13

9

14

9

11

29

7

3

2

15

7

3

1

3

12

3

2

4

1

2

7

5

2

9

1

3

5

J

02

12/03/20

08

01

192699

10

13

09

1st:

2nd:

3rd:

4th:

5th:

F

020

_

LOW

-AVG

AVG

+AVG

HIGH

_

Performance Profile

Report by -Total Grp Sort: Alpha

1305

07/19/07

SCHOLASTIC ACADEMY

(YY001)

Bo Abrams

5

4

6

4

7

4

5

4

6

4

8

4

6

5

8.8

Reading

Mathematics

Language

Total Basic Skills

Total Cognitive Skills

Quantitative Skills

Verbal Skills

Composite

Subtests/Totals

Scores

Cognitive Skills

Basic Skills

LP

Performance Ratings

SS

(GE)

NP

488

446

469

532

420

573

506

492

9.2

6.7

10.6

48

35

40

69

30

89

64

56

48

32

38

63

25

83

55

47

102

10

20

30

50

70

80

90

99

1

5

95

Low

Below Average

Average

High

40

60

--------------------

nnnn

---------------

nnnn

-----------------

nnnn

-----------------------

nnnn

-------------

nnnn

-----------------------------

nnnn

---------------------

nnnn

-------------------

nnnn

(CSQ)

National Percentile Scale

Above Average

(GE)

Option:

LS NS

(GE)

2

SCHOLASTIC TESTING SERVICE

Run Date: Friday, July 9, 2021 (SMP)

CSQ - Cognitive Skills Quotient

GE - Grade Equivalent

LP - Local Percentile

LS - Local Stanine

NP - National Percentile

NS - National Stanine

RS - Raw Score

SS - Standard Score

Att - Attempted

1

2 3

4

24

Student Score Report

Appropriate for: parents/guardians

Purpose:

Upon request, Student Score Reports may be provided for each student within a group. This is a one-page report

designed to be given to a student’s parent or guardian as it is easy to understand and prevents confusion by limiting the

types of scores presented to parents and guardians.

Report Elements:

The scores reported for each student include standard scores and national percentiles.

1

The report is suitably labeled at the top of the page for convenient identification.

2

Student Identification: The student’s name, coded information, and address appears as it was gridded on

the answer sheet (or from STS’ registration ). The value of these codes and their uses are discussed on page

4 of this manual.

3

Scores: The section labeled “Your Student’s Scores” contains the student’s scores for each subtest as well as

composite scores. The student’s standard scores and national percentiles are reported in numeric form above

the graph. The graph itself illustrates the student’s national percentiles in terms of a performance rating: high,

above average, average, below average, and low.

4

This section provides an explanation of what each subtest measures. The Total Cognitive Skills, Total Basic

Skills, and Battery Composite scores are also defined.

Sample Explanation:

A sample for student Bo Abrams is shown on page 25. As indicated in the scores section, one can see that Bo achieved

a standard score of 573 on the Language subtest which corresponds to the 83rd national percentile. The graph shows

that this score is considered above average in comparison to the national sample. In looking at the student’s Composite

score, it can be seen that they received a 492 (the 47th national percentile) which is average.

Considerations:

The format of this report was designed so that it could be mailed to parents; the address section is placed so that it

shows through a window envelope when folded properly. Your school must use either a long form answer sheet or

STS’ registration system in order for addresses to show on this report. If your school does not, the mailing address

section on this report will just contain the student’s name.

25

Sample: Student Score Report

Scholastic Testing Service, Inc.

Grade:

08

Test Date:

12/03/20

SCHOLASTIC ACADEMY (YY001)

Student

Score Report

Section:

01

HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST

YOUR STUDENT'S SCORES

Your

student's performance on each area

of

the

test is reported at the left in terms

of

standard

scores and percentile

ranks.

(Standard

scores range from

200-800.

Percentiles range from 1-99.)

National

percentiles tell you the

percentage

of

students in the national sample who

had

scores

lower than yours. For example,

if

your

student's Verbal Skills percentile is

55,

this

means that 55% of students

received

scores lower than yours.

Your

student's national percentiles are

also

illustrated

in the graph in terms of

a

performance

rating. The scale on the

left

side

of the graph shows the

percentile

ranges

that represent high, above

average,

below average, and

low

performance.

The height of each bar

shows

within

which range your performance

falls

for each area of the test.

*Subtest abbreviations are identified in What the Test Measures below.

7 - 10

High

Above

Average

Below

Average

Low

1 - 2

3 - 4

5 - 6

11 - 15

16 - 23

24 - 30

31 - 39

40 - 49

50 - 59

60 - 69

70 - 76

77 - 84

85 - 89

90 - 93

94 - 95

96 - 97

98

99

TBS

Read.

Composite

Math

Lang.

Verbal

Quant.

TCS

National Percentiles

5563

47

25 8348 32 38

Standard Scores

506532

492

420 573488 446 469

National Percentiles

TBS

Read.

Composite

Math

Lang.

Verbal

Quant.

TCS

To the parents or guardian of:

Bo Abrams

9410 Main Road

Perry MO 63234

Form:

Elem:

Choices/Other:

020

Optional Codes:

192699

10

Bo Abrams

13

09

1st:

2nd:

3rd:

4th:

5th:

Test Center:

YY001

The STS High School Placement Test is a measure of basic skills and educational achievement. The test was given so that you, the student, and teachers could

be

better informed about your student's preparation for high school. This report provides information about the test and how the student performed. Now is

a

good time, as your student enters high school, to make the most of his or her special talents and to begin serious planning for their future education and career.

Mathematics This test not only measures your ability to perform

arithmetic

operations and apply math concepts to solve problems,

but

also

your knowledge of important concepts and ability to reason.

Your

score

on this test tells you how well you are prepared for high

school

mathematics.

Language

This test measures your knowledge of

capitalization,

punctuation, grammar, spelling, usage and composition.

Total

Basic Skills (TBS) This score is a total of the

Reading,

Mathematics and Language subtests.

Optional

Test The option test is a 40 item test in either Science

or

Religion.

Battery

Composite This score is a total of the Verbal,

Quantitative,

Reading, Language and Mathematics sections of the battery.

Verbal Skills This test measures how well you perform reasoning tasks

involving

the use of words. Your ability in this area is related to

your

performance in language, reading and various areas within social studies.

Quantitative

Skills This test measures your ability to do

reasoning

problems

involving numbers and quantities. This ability is related

to

performance

in mathematics, sciences and other areas that deal

with

numbers and things.

Total

Cognitive Skills (TCS) This score is a total of the Verbal Skills

and

Quantitative Skills subtests.

Reading

This test measures your ability to remember important ideas

and

significant

details, recognize central thought or purpose, make

logical

inferences

and understand vocabulary in context. Since good

reading

habits

and skills are essential to learning, thinking and problem

solving,

this score is usually related to your overall success in school.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

02J

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qqqqqqqqqqq

qqqqqqqqq

qqqqqqq

qqqqqqqqqqqqq

qqqqqqqqq

qqqqqqqq

(pg 1) BL1

Report by Total Group

Looking for more information about interpreting your test scores? Go to www.ststesting.com/hspt.

1

3

4

2

26

Sample: Individual Item Analysis

STS HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST

TOTAL GROUP INDIVIDUAL ITEM REPORT Run Date:07/20/21

SCHOLASTIC ACADEMY YY001 08 12/03/20 READING 02J 1

------------ C O M P R E H E N S I O N ------------------V O C A B U L A R Y---

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12131415161718

ITEM 111 11 111 111 111 11111111 111 111 11 11 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1111111111111111111111

NUMBERS 133 14 134 223 233 11222233 223 123 14 45 45 4 5 4 4 4 4 5555555666666666677777 OBJECTIVE/SKILLS

NAME 526 90 712 340 178 34256734 085 899 61 30 81 7 2 6 4 5 9 3456789012345678901234 OUTLINE

Abrams Bo +++ ++ +A+ D++ +++ +C+A+++A D++ ++D ++ AC A+ + + + D A + ++++DB+++++CACBDA COMPREHENSION-

INFORMATIONAL TEXT

Allen Jacob +++ ++ A+A +++ C+B ++++++++ +++ +++ BD A+ C+ C B D D + A B++++D+D++D+A+C+D++++B IDEAS AND DETAILS

1 Details

2 Sequence of Events

Andrews Alesha +++ DA ++B D++ C+B +CDCC+++ +D+ AAD CD A+ D+ C D B A C + C+ABCBACCDCDAA+CADB+BA 3 Best Title

4 Cause and Effect

5 Drawing Conclusions/Infer

Brennan Eric ADB DA BAB +++ +DA +++B+++C +++ ADD CD A+ D+ + D A + C + B+++DB++++DCAA++D+DBCB

CRAFT AND STRUCTURE

6 Vocabulary in Context

Bressner Owen A++ DD +++ +++ CAB ++++++++ D++ A+D CD A+ CC C + + + + + +++++++D++D+B++++++BBA

INTEGRATION KNOWLEDGE/IDEA

Brothers Casey ++B AB +++ ++B +D+ +D++C+AC CD+ ABC CC CB CD C B A C C + +DC+BA+CDB+A+C++A+B+DB 7 Reasoning

8 Fact vs. Fiction

9 Compare/Contrast

Brown Mary C+B ++ B++ D++ ++B +D+B++++ +++ ++B C+ AD +D + + A + A A ++++BA+ADDDABAC++++A+A

COMPREHENSION-

LITERARY TEXT

Bull Michael+++ ++ +++ +++ ++C +DB++++B D++ A+D C+ C+ DB + B + + + + C+D+B++DD+DA+D++D++++A

LITERARY ELEMENTS

10 Details and Meaning

Clark Megan C+B A+ ACB D++ CAB ADC+++DC +B+ C+B ++ A+ ++ + D + + C A +D++B+DC++D+AA+BA+AA++ 11 Setting

12 Mood

13 Point of View

Cruise Amanda C+B ++ A++ D++ ++B +B+++++C +++ +++ CD A+ ++ + + A + C + B+++D+++++++BDC+D++++A

LITERARY TECHNIQUES

14 Personification

Dickerson Brady ++B ++ AA+ +C+ ++ +D+B+++C +++ +++ CD B A + + D + B 15 Alliteration

16 Metaphor

17 Imagery

Dykes Mary +++ D+ ++B D++ ++B +++B+++C A++ +++ ++ A+ +B + D A D + + ++D+BBBD+BCCB+BBD++CB+

18 VOCABULARY

Eldridge Nick +++ ++ B+C +A C++ +++++++C DA+ + D CD CD AC A + A + + + ++D++++D++D+++++D++++C

Emond Briann +++ ++ B++ D++ ++B ++++++BA +++ AA+ +D AD AD + D + + + + +D+++ABDCB++++C+++++++

Faulkner James +++ D+ +++ D++ BDB ++++++DC D+C CBD +A ++ DD + D A D A + +++++++A++++AD++D+A++A

Francisco Brett +++ D+ ++C D++ BAB +DBB++DC CD+ CAC CA AC CC + D + C + + B++CDB+D+BD+BDBBA+B++C

Garrison Curtis B+B DA +++ DC+ CAB ++CB+++A DB+ A+D +D AD AD + B + D C B ++DB++AD+BDCB++BD+BCB+

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Item Analysis – Individual and Group

The test results provided on such reports as the Alphabetical List Report and the Group Summary Report allow a test

user to determine achievement levels for any individual or the group as a whole. In some settings it may be sufficient

simply to know, for example, that the math skills of a student are average in terms of the national normative sample

or that those of the group are at essentially the same level as earlier groups. In other settings, however, where the

focus of attention is upon the specific skills or objectives which underlie general performance, there is a legitimate

need for test data reflecting such skills.

The Performance Profile, discussed earlier, allows a test user to gain some insight into these specific skills. However,

Item Analysis reports extend this insight to its fullest by providing performance information on an item-by-item basis

and relating it to a comprehensive outline of specific skills or objectives. In short, item analyses equip the test user to

make a penetrating evaluation of specific performance as his or her purpose may require.

Individual Item Analysis

Appropriate for: school personnel

Purpose:

The Individual Item Analysis provides performance information for each student on an item-by-item basis.

Report Elements:

Item Analysis reports are available for the basic skills subtests only: Reading, Mathematics, and Language Arts.

Results consist of a student’s responses to each item and are presented in alphabetical order for a single subtest.

1

The report is suitably labeled at the top of the page for convenient identification.

2

This section outlines the specic skills or objectives measured in the subtest and an identifying objective

number.

3

The header section identifies the item numbers that correspond to each skill/objective. It should be noted

that the items are not listed in sequential order, but are arranged in content clusters. The top two lines of

the header contain the outline numbers for each skill/objective measured by the subtest. The lines below

that contain the specific item numbers pertaining to each skill/objective and should be read vertically.

4

The body of the report identifies each student’s response to every item. A student’s response is either

reported as a “+” sign, indicating a correct response, or a letter, indicating an incorrect response that was

made. A blank signifies that the student made no response to the test item.

Sample Explanation:

A sample Individual Item Analysis is shown on page 26. As may be noted, the test results are presented in alphabetical

order for a single subtest–Reading in this instance. At the far right is the “OBJECTIVE/SKILLS OUTLINE” which

identifies the specific skills measured by the items in this subtest. The various skills and objectives are organized

by category; the categories appear in all caps as the header line of each section (e.g., “COMPREHENSION”).

Each skill or objective within a category carries an identifying number. The item numbers related to a given objective

appear beneath the major category (e.g., 1–Details from Comprehension of Informational Text) and constitute the

third, fourth, and fifth lines of information (item numbers must be read vertically). Thus, as may be seen in the sample,

items 115, 132, and 136, deal with skill 1–Details within the major category of “IDEAS AND DETAILS.”

Student results are reported in terms of the individual’s response to each test item: a “+” indicates a correct response,

a letter indicates the incorrect response that was made, and a blank signified that the student made no response to the

test item. As may be seen in the sample, Owen Bressner correctly answered two of the three items related to objective

1–Details from Comprehension of Informational Text. He elected answer choice A (an incorrect answer) for item 115.

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Considerations:

When using the Individual Item Analysis, one must not lose sight of its purpose, which is essentially diagnostic.

Accordingly, it directs attention to student performance on individual items related to specific skills, rather than

focusing on a set of normative scores. In this context, evaluation of a student’s performance must be based upon your

knowledge of the subject area and the available information concerning the student, his or her educational background,

and so forth. If a given objective/skill was included in a school’s curriculum, perhaps even emphasized, your

expectations would be vastly different than if the objective/skill is commonly excluded or treated lightly. Incorrect

responses should be examined by referring to a test booklet. (If one is not available, request a copy from STS.) It

is often possible to discover a pattern to the errors on an objective/skill that could provide the basis for remedial

instruction.

It should be apparent that this evaluative procedure is virtually identical to that applied to criterion-referenced test

results. Needless to say, it is an intensely individualized process, but for this very reason can produce the most useful

and meaningful assessments of the specific strengths and weaknesses of the students.

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Group Item Analysis

Appropriate for: school personnel

Purpose:

A Group Item Analysis report is provided routinely when an Individual Item Analysis report is requested, but it may

be ordered without the individual student data if so desired. In either case its purpose is the same—to provide an overall

perspective of the collective performance of the group on a single subtest.

Report Elements:

Item Analysis reports are available for the basic skills subtests only: Reading, Mathematics, and Language Arts.

1

The report is suitably labeled at the top of the page for convenient identification.

2

This section outlines the specic skills or objectives measured in the subtest and an identifying objective

number.

3

In the left column, the skills and objectives are identified by their corresponding outline number. The

average percentage of students in the group who correctly answered the cluster of items pertaining to that

objective is listed to the right in the “AVG-P” column.

4

The individual item numbers pertaining to each objective is listed horizontally to the right. Each item number

is shown with the percentage of students in the national sample—“NT-P”—and in your group—“GP-P”—

who correctly answered it. Such percentages conventionally are termed p-values.

Sample Explanation:

A sample Group Item Analysis is shown on page 30. As may be noted, group results are presented in order of

objective/skill for a single subtest–Reading in this instance. By looking at the left side of the report, it can be seen that

the group generally did well on items related to objective number 1 (Details from Comprehension of Informational

Text) with 71% of the group responding correctly to all of the items in this objective. As indicated to the right of that

line, three items make up this objective, items 115, 132, and 136. As reported in the column labeled “NT-P,” 76% of

the national sample and 76% of the group —“GP-P”— answered item 115 correctly. For item 132, 83% of the national

sample and 86% of the group answered correctly.

Considerations:

The average p-values —“AVG-P”— shown for your group, present a concise summary of the group’s performance

with respect to the assessed objectives/skills. Generally speaking, those in the lower range of the reported values

represent weaker group performance while those in the upper range reflect stronger group performance. As you might

expect, in this context terms such as “weaker” and “stronger” necessarily are relative terms whose significance will

vary from one group to another.

In most settings the test user will find it necessary to turn to the individual item numbers and determine how the group’s

p-values compare with the national p-values. Needless to say, such a procedure gives rise to a more comprehensive

view of the group’s performance, which in turn allows one to develop a fuller appreciation of the average p-values.

For example, in the sample it may be seen that objective 1 has an average p-value of 71. This value falls in the middle

range of those reported for this group. Upon examining the individual data, however, it is clear that the group excelled

on one of the items in the cluster, but trailed the national normative sample on the remaining three. It would be very

worthwhile to inspect the latter test items in the test booklet and determine the specific content which posed such

difficulty for most of the students in this group.

As should be apparent, one approaches the Group Item Analysis Report in much the same fashion as the Individual

Item Analysis Report—that is, the various data must be analyzed using your knowledge of the pertinent factors as the

primary frame of reference.

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Sample: Group Item Analysis

STS HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENT TEST

TOTAL GROUP INDIVIDUAL ITEM REPORT Run Date:07/20/21

SCHOLASTIC ACADEMY YY001 08 12/03/20 READING 02J 4

-------------------INDIVIDUAL ITEMS--NATIONAL AND GROUP P-VALUES-------------------

ITM NT GP ' ITM NT GP ' ITM NT GP ' ITM NT GP ' ITM NT GP ' ITM NT GP ' ITM NT GP ' CONTENT OUTLINE

# P P ' # P P ' # P P ' # P P ' # P P ' # P P ' # P P '

-OBJECTIVE-

# AVG-P

' ' ' ' ' ' ' COMPREHENSION-

' ' ' ' ' ' ' INFORMATIONAL TEXT

' ' ' ' ' ' '

' ' ' ' ' ' ' IDEAS AND DETAILS

1 71 115 76 76 ' 132 83 86 ' 136 42 52 ' ' ' ' ' 1 Details

2 56 119 48 40 ' 140 65 71 ' ' ' ' ' ' 2 Sequence of Events

3 64 117 60 67 ' 131 80 76 ' 142 59 50 ' ' ' ' ' 3 Best Title

4 67 123 49 40 ' 124 60 74 ' 130 81 86 ' ' ' ' ' 4 Cause and Effect

5 49 121 64 60 ' 137 79 69 ' 138 26 19 ' ' ' ' ' 5 Drawing Conclusions/Infer

' ' ' ' ' ' '

' ' ' ' ' ' ' CRAFT AND STRUCTURE

6 113 82 90 ' 114 61 50 ' 122 69 76 ' 125 41 45 ' 126 81 90 ' 127 89 98 ' 133 76 76 ' 6 Vocabulary in Context

68 134 18 14 ' ' ' ' ' ' '

' ' ' ' ' ' '

' ' ' ' ' ' ' INTEGRATION KNOWLEDGE/IDEA

7 66 120 47 50 ' 128 64 67 ' 135 86 81 ' ' ' ' ' 7 Reasoning

8 50 118 47 45 ' 129 67 64 ' 139 59 40 ' ' ' ' ' 8 Fact vs. Fiction

9 37 116 61 38 ' 141 48 36 ' ' ' ' ' ' 9 Compare/Contrast

' ' ' ' ' ' '

' ' ' ' ' ' ' COMPREHENSION-

' ' ' ' ' ' ' LITERARY TEXT

' ' ' ' ' ' '

' ' ' ' ' ' ' LITERARY ELEMENTS

10 30 143 20 10 ' 150 45 50 ' ' ' ' ' ' 10 Details and Meaning

11 46 148 38 40 ' 151 55 52 ' ' ' ' ' ' 11 Setting

12 74 147 68 74 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 12 Mood

13 48 152 47 48 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 13 Point of View

' ' ' ' ' ' '

' ' ' ' ' ' ' LITERARY TECHNIQUES

14 64 146 48 64 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 14 Personification

15 40 144 40 40 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 15 Alliteration

16 48 145 35 48 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 16 Metaphor

17 71 149 55 71 ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 17 Imagery

' ' ' ' ' ' '

18 153 65 57 ' 154 59 69 ' 155 63 69 ' 156 69 76 ' 157 18 26 ' 158 45 50 ' 159 64 67 ' 18 VOCABULARY

160 30 24 ' 161 41 60 ' 162 45 45 ' 163 23 19 ' 164 45 43 ' 165 27 31 ' 166 31 36 '

167 30 36 ' 168 60 55 ' 169 35 29 ' 170 56 74 ' 171 47 52 ' 172 25 43 ' 173 41 55 '

48 174 26 31 ' ' ' ' ' ' '

GROUP SIZE: 42 (NT-P = National P-Value, GP-P = Group P-Value)

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Scholastic Testing Service, Inc. welcomes any

suggestions for improving this testing program. Many

times we find that our best suggestions come from

school personnel who have administered the tests

and used them in parent conferences and student

counseling. If you have feedback, suggestions, or

questions, please send them to:

SCHOLASTIC TESTING SERVICE, INC.

480 Meyer Road

Bensenville, Illinois 60106-1617

sts@ststesting.com

CAT# HP140012-211