Understanding Your Child’s 2014 EOG Scores

As a parent, you eagerly anticipate receiving your child’s EOG scores. These scores provide you will valuable information about how well your student is doing and what academic challenges he or she may face in the future. However, sometimes the scores may be hard to interpret. Hopefully, this primer on understanding the terms from the EOG score report will help make the results clear.

1. THE SCALE SCORE: Unlike tests your student usually take in school, the EOG test does not show the number of questions that your student answered correctly. Instead, this information is formatted into a SCALE SCORE which indicates your child’s proficiency in the subject matter. Generally speaking, the higher the scale score, the more proficient your child. The scale score is represented by a specific number (such as 474) and it is also indicated on a bar graph. This bar graph will have a darker line that extends to either side of the specific scale score number. This indicates the range of scores the tester would expect your child to receive if he or she took the test multiple times. Basically, this range acknowledges that students may perform differently based on the circumstances of the day of the test (i.e., how well they are rested, concentration levels, etc).
2. SCALE SCORE COMPARISONS: The bar graph will likely also show a 2013 state score for the test. This bar indicates how well the average NC student who took this test in 2013 performed.  If your child’s SCALE SCORE bar is longer than the average, this means that your child has performed better than the average NC student who took this same test last year. In some cases, your bar graph may also indicate average scores for your school district.
3. PERCENTILE: This score indicates specifically how well your child did on the test in comparison with other students who took the same test in the norming year (In this case, the 2013 test). For instance, if you child’s percentile ranking is 73, this means that your child performed better than 73 percent of other students who took this same test in 2013. A percentile score of 99 is usually the highest percentile achievable.
4. EOG ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS: The Achievement Level roughly corresponds to the levels on the bar graph and is based on the scale scores. This year, there are five different achievement levels indicating your student’s proficiency in understanding the material they have been taught. If you look at the box beside this with the STUDENT’S ACHEIVEMENT LEVEL DESCRIPTOR, you can read a specific description of what this achievement level means for your student in this subject. For more general information about the meaning of the achievement levels, see below:
   • Level 1 means the student has LIMITED understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary for grade level work and for college and career readiness expected for that grade level.
   • Level 2 means the student has PARTIAL understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary for grade level work and for college and career readiness expected for that grade level.
   • Level 3 means the student has SUFFICIENT understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary for grade level work but is NOT on track for the standard of college and career readiness expected for that grade level.
   • Level 4 means the student has SOLID understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary for grade level work and for college and career readiness expected for that grade level.
   • Level 5 means the student has SUPERIOR understanding of the knowledge and skills necessary for grade level work and for college and career readiness expected for that grade level.
5. PROFICIENCY: If your student obtained an achievement level of 3 or greater, he or she is considered proficient in the subject matter. This information may be used in determining future course work or need for remedial help if proficiency is not obtained. Students scoring a 4 or 5 are not only considered proficient, but they also have achieved the standard of college and career readiness expected for that grade level.
6. LEXILE FRAMEWORK FOR READING: The Lexile Frame work is tied in with the NC Read program and is designed to determine your child’s current reading level and to encourage expansion of that level. Students are assigned a Lexile Framework number on the EOG tests. Many books are also assigned a Lexile number related to their level of reading difficulty. In this way, parents and students can choose books that are appropriate for the reading level or designed to expand it. To give you some idea of how this works, most of the Arthur books have a Lexile rating of about 370 (370L), Harry Potter books run from 880L to 1060L, and Little Women has a score of 1300L. Because reading levels vary widely, these scores have little to do with grade level. However, the higher your child’s score, the more books he or she will be able to read. Because this score is the one that parents can have the most influence on, we will discuss strategies for improving this score as this score in a later blog. In the meantime, the links below may help aid in your understanding of how the Lexile Framework operates.

   http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/accountability/lexiles/ncparentfaq12.pdf

   https://www.lexile.com/fab/read-nc/

   http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/lexiles

7. QUANTILE FRAMEWORK FOR MATH: The Quantile Framework assesses the level of math difficulty your student is able to perform in much the same way that the Lexile Framework does for reading. Generally speaking, the higher the Quantile Score, the more proficient your child is a mastering difficult math concepts. This score should increase from year to year. The scores are not grade specific, but you can determine the normal Quantile Framework scores for your child’s grade level by going to

   https://s3.amazonaws.com/quantile-resources/resources/downloads/static/TypicalGradeRanges.pdf

   This site can help you gain a greater understanding of your child’s score.  If you would like to find ways to improve this score, go to

   http://mah.quantiles.com/

   More information about the Quantiles Framework can be found at the links below.

   https://www.quantiles.com/content/faq/

   https://www.quantiles.com/