Factor analysis reveals how much of the variation in each of the original measures arises from, or is associated with, each of the hypothetical factors. The school grade level for a given population for which a given score is the median score in that population. For example, if a student obtains a grade equivalent score of 6.3 on a math test we would say that his raw score is equivalent to the average raw score obtained by students in the norm group who were in their third month of the sixth grade. A grade equivalent score does not equate to performance in the classroom. Grade equivalents are the first step in the further analysis of raw data.
All subsequent statistics are directly related to the grade equivalent.
A method of obtaining a score on a test, or a test item, based on a judgement of overall performance using specified criteria. The scoring process is holistic in that the score assigned to an examinee's performance reflects the overall effectiveness of the examinee response. Normal Curve Equivalents are normalized standard scores with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 21.06. The range of NCEs is from a score of 1 corresponding to a percentile rank of 1.0 to a score of 99 corresponding to a percentile rank of 99.0. NCEs have little direct normative meaning to the typical user.