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Three Reminders Regarding Homeschool Test Results

#1

Keep your perspective.

Test results are a data point, not the whole story.

#2

Choose a high-quality test.

Schedule it for a time when your kids can give it their best effort.

#3

If your test results support it, accelerate.

But don’t make large skips in curricula.

Helpful Definitions

RIT Score

A grade-independent measurement of student performance.

RIT stands for Rasch Unit, which is a measurement scale developed to simplify the interpretation of test scores.

The RIT score relates directly to the curriculum scale in each subject area. It is an equal-interval scale, like feet and inches, so scores can be added together to calculate accurate class or school averages.

RIT scores range from about 100 to 300.

Students typically start at the 180 to 200 level in the third grade and progress to the 220 to 260 level by high school.

RIT scores make it possible to follow a student’s educational growth from year to year.

Percentile Ranking

Compares your child’s score with the scores of students in the same grade and season from the normative (norm) group used in scoring.

Your child scores as well or higher than the percentage of students indicated by the percentile ranking.

Example: 

If a student in the 65th percentile, they scored as well or higher than 65% of the students in their grade and season.

Normative Group

A randomized group of people that represent the population that is being tested, including matching the demographics.

The accuracy of the percentile ranking is determined by the quality of the norm study.

A high-quality norm study has large norm groups with carefully balanced demographics.

Because student populations and schools change over time, experts recommend that norms should be no older than 10-12 years old.

The norm groups used in the 2020 NWEA RIT Scale Norms Study include 72,000 to 153,000 student test records from approximately 1,000 schools.

These samples were drawn randomly from test record pools of up to 10.2 million students.

“Typical of”

The grade level and season for which the RIT score would be average.

Please note that this is not a measure of proficiency.

Alignment Studies

An alignment study correlates results on one test with results from another.

This makes it possible to use results from one test to predict how a student might perform on another test.

There are many alignment studies available for MAP Growth results, including the SAT, ACT, Smarter Balanced assessments, and most state-specific summative tests.

Resources for Understanding Homeschool Testing

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