Thank you for your question. Based on your comment, it seems that you are referencing the grade equivalent scores, also known as GE scores. A GE Score tells you how a student’s scale score compares to the average performance of other students in the nation. As an example, if the student is in sixth grade and they receive a GE score of 7.2, this means that the student’s score is as high as the average score of a seventh grader in the second month of the school year. While that may be indicative of superior performance by the sixth grader, a GE scores does not tell you what the student knows or can do; GE scores simply compare students to other students in a norm group and they shouldn’t be used to show what the student has learned to do.

There are other types of scores that would be relevant for showing the student’s instructional reading level. An example is the Star Reading Instructional Reading Level (IRL) score that gives an estimate of the grade level of written material that the student can most effectively be taught. A Star Reading IRL of 5.0 indicates that the student will most likely learn using materials written at the fifth-grade level.

The following link provides a summary of scores reported in Star Reading and how to interpret them: http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R001316312GB442F.pdf.

I have also written a blog on different types of scores and how to interpret them that you might find useful: https://www.renaissance.com/2016/05/12/giving-meaning-to-test-scores/.

If you still have questions, don’t hesitate to ask us!

I will feel comfortable directing instructors and administrators to the article, which will allow them to gain a depth of knowledge required to use the data effectively.