Interpreting Test Scores | Scoring Services | Reporting Results

Description of ITBS/ITED Scoring Services

Iowa Testing Programs provide a core of standard services and a variety of optional services to meet the varying needs of schools. A brief description of all services is given below, along with instructions for ordering. Examples of the reports used with Forms A and B are shown in the Interpretive Guide for Teachers and Counselors and in the Interpretive Guide for School Administrators.

Percentile Norms
Districts order Fall norms if testing is begun before December 1, Midyear if begun between December 1 and February 28, and Spring if begun on or after March 1.

Standard Service
The ITBS & ITED standard service consists of the provision of a test booklet and/or answer folder for each student, certain other interpretive materials, and the scoring and reporting services indicated immediately below.

• List of Student Scores: two copies of a printed alphabetical list report for each class, giving each student's name, age, gender, level of test taken, standard scores (SSs), grade-equivalent scores (GEs) (grades K-9 only), and percentile ranks (PRs). The Class Summary of Scores is printed on a separate page after the List for each class.
• Summary Reports: a set of building and system reports of the average SS and GE (grades K-9 only) and the corresponding percentile ranks made by each grade group for each test taken.
• Iowa and National Student Norms: both Iowa and national grade equivalents (grades K-9 only) and percentile ranks are furnished on Lists and Summary Reports.
• Press-on Labels: one label for use on cumulative record folders and another label for attaching to the Report to Students and Parents pamphlet for each student.
• Achievement Levels Report: This is a building and system report in math and reading for grades 3-8 and 11 only and in science for grades 8 and 11. There must be at least 10 students per grade group.
• Achievement Levels Summary Report: This is a building and system report for the grades and subjects shown immediately above, but disaggregated for gender, racial/ethnic group, free or reduced-price meal eligibility, migrant status, English Language Learner status, and IEP status.
• FAY (Full Academic Year) Achievement Levels Reports: These reports are designed to help Iowa schools meet NCLB reporting requirements. These building and system reports come as part of Standard Service and, like the regular Achievement Levels Reports, are provided for disaggregated subgroups of students as well. The reports are based only on students who were coded as having been enrolled in the building or system for the full academic year prior to the start of testing. For information on coding, go to Coding for Disaggregation 2004-2005.

• Student Data on CD-ROM: Each student record includes standard scores, grade equivalents, and percentile ranks for both Iowa and national norms. The CD can be used on either the MacIntosh or Windows (PC) platform.

Reports Designed to Support Instruction

• Individual Performance Profile: This full-page report is a graphic description of a student's performance, in terms of test and skill scores, with either Iowa or national norms. Skills scores are reported as bar graphs that show whether performance is relatively high, average, or low for each skill. The visual display makes this report particularly useful for interpreting scores at parent conferences.
• Group Performance Profile: This report displays student performance on each skill within each test area for a grade group. Both building and system reports are included. It shows the percent of local students who scored within Low, Average, and High percentile regions, either in terms of Iowa norms or national norms.
• Subgroup Performance Profile is new for 2004-05. The report can be ordered separately for reading, math, or science. Students in a grade are grouped according to their Reading Comprehension score, for example, into a proficienct (NPR>40) or non-proficient (NPR<40) subgroup. Then the Group Performance Profile report is printed separately for the two subgroups. For the math reports, subgroups are formed on the basis of their NPRs for Math Total. Similarly, the science reports are based on performance on the Science test. Click here to learn more about this report.
• Class Item Record: This is the most detailed diagnostic report available for the classroom teacher. It provides the average percent-correct score for the class, the system, and either Iowa or the nation for each skill and each test question within a skill category. Questions are grouped by skill and listed as row headings, and students' names appear across the top as column headings. The actual response of each student to each question is shown. The report consists of at least one page for each test administered.
• Group Item Analysis: This report contains the Class, Building, and System average percent-correct scores, along with either the Iowa or national average percent correct. Differences between local and either Iowa or national percents are also printed. A choice is given on the OSS to print only the largest differences. The choice of differences to print is from all to those which are more than 20%. Marking the All box means that no differences, no matter how small, will be suppressed; all differences will be printed. A mark in the more than 5% box, for example, means that only differences of more than five percentage points will be printed.

Reports for Informing Students, Parents, and Counselors

• Individual Performance Profile: This full-page report is a graphic description of a student's performance, in terms of test and skill scores, with either Iowa or national norms. Skills scores are reported as bar graphs that show whether performance is high, average, or low for each skill. The visual display makes this report particularly useful for interpreting scores at parent conferences.
• Profile Narrative Report: There is one full-page report for each student. (There is no longer a separate teacher copy and parent copy.) The scores for all tests and a bar-graph profile of PRs are shown at the left. At the right is a narrative that presents a verbal description of the student's performance in non-technical language. The focus is on overall level of development, relative status, and strengths and weaknesses across test areas.
• Counselor's Report: This report is intended to be used by a school counselor in working with individual students on career exploration and planning. It is available in grades 8-12 with either ITBS or ITED and results from the Interest Explorer inventory. In addition, predictive ACT/SAT score ranges are printed based on the student's performance on the ITBS or ITED. The report can be used with the leaflet, "Career Exploration with the ITBS/ITED Counseling Report."

Reports for Curriculum Review, Evaluation, and External Reporting

• Matched Longitudinal Report: This is a system report that is generated by matching students across two consecutive grades and then calculating separate average scores for the group of students who match and for the groups that do not match. It allows for the comparison in performance of three groups of students: those new to the district, those who left after testing the previous year, and the matched students. To look at a sample report and obtain additional details about this new service, click here.
• Group Narrative Summary: The purpose of this report is to communicate building and system results in non-technical language. In addition, the graphic display of scores facilitates interpretation by those who are unaccustomed to using test scores. A four-page report is printed for each grade (if N is at least 10) in each building and in the system. Stanines are used as a basis for comparing the distribution of local scores with the Iowa or national distribution.
• Frequency Distributions: This service consists of a three-part report for each grade in each building and in the system. Part 1 is a frequency distribution of SSs for all tests, with the local frequency and percentile rank shown. Part 2 contains the following summary information: number of students; mean; standard deviation; the 90th, 75th, 50th, 25th, and 10th percentiles in the local distribution; the highest and lowest score obtained by local students; and the percentile ranks corresponding to the average score. Part 3 provides the number and percent of students who scored in each 10-unit percentile rank interval and in each stanine. This display enables the user to compare the local distribution of scores for any test with either the Iowa or national distribution.
• Coded Subgroup Report: This report can be used to receive data disaggregated for certain subgroups of students who can be identified through coding on the answer documents. (See the OSS for the kinds of subgroups that can be selected.) For each subgroup for the coding area chosen, the mean and standard deviation are reported for each test using wither Iowa or national standard scores. The same information is shown for the entire group. You may select as many areas as you wish as long as answer documents have been coded for the areas you choose. Building and system reports will be generated separately for each coded variable marked on your OSS. It is not possible to order a report that crosses two variables so that you would get information for, for example, Hispanic males.
• Subgroup Item Analysis: This service is the same as the Group Item Analysis described above except that these reports are based on subgroups of students your school has identified through coding on students' answer documents.
• Group Performance Profile: This report displays student performance on each skill within each test area for a grade group. Both building and system reports are included. It shows the percent of local students who scored within the Low, Average, and High percentile regions, either in terms of Iowa norms or national norms.
• Ranked Lists by Test: For each test and total score, a listing of students is created, ranking them from highest score to lowest. If you mark "Classroom," the ranking will list all students in each separate classroom. If you mark "Building," the ranking will be done for the entire grade group in each building without regard for classrooms. Marking "System" will result in a ranking of all students in a grade system-wide. You should mark only one group for the report.

Interpreting Test Scores | Scoring Services | Reporting Results

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