Score Reports Explained: A Parent’s Guide

Test score reports are full of numbers, percentiles, levels, and labels that rarely come with instructions. This section explains each type of score you are likely to encounter in your child’s school career, what the numbers mean, and what to do with the information.

Score Report Guides

The Most Important Thing to Understand First

Before diving into any specific number, it helps to know whether the score represents a child’s performance compared to a fixed standard (criterion-referenced) or compared to other students (norm-referenced). Most state tests are criterion-referenced: they tell you whether your child met a specific academic standard. Tests like MAP and STAR are norm-referenced: they tell you how your child compares to a national group. Both types of information are useful, but they answer different questions.