May 25, 2016

Dear Parents,

In April, students in grades 2-6 took the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and students in grades 3-6 took the cognitive test, CogAt.
The results to these assessments are enclosed for your review.

The ITBS help determine how students are performing on nationwide standards. These assessments measure achievement in
several important content areas including vocabulary, word analysis, reading, listening, language, mathematics, computation,
social studies, and science. The exact tests that your student takes will depend on his or her grade level.

The ITBS help teachers identify a students strengths and areas that may need additional emphasis. The ITBS also measure
student growth and progress in the content areas assessed from year to year. The assessments produce information that enables
sound decision making in curriculum development and provides a focus for teachers to evaluate instruction.

What do the results mean?

GE = Grade Equivalent: A decimal number that indicates the grade level and months and indicates what the average student in
that level would achieve if given the same test. This is not the students instructional level.

NPR = National Percentile Rank: This is an indication ranging from 1 to 99 showing what your percentile your childs score
corresponds to in relation to others taking the same test. This is not the percent correct. Ranking is as follows: very high 96-
99; above average 76-95; average 25-75; below average 5-24; very low 1-4. Example: My 5th grade child scored in the 89th
percentile in Reading Comprehension. This means that he scored higher than approximately 88 percent of 5th grade students on
whom the test was normed.

NS = National Stanine: Stanine scores show a students relative position in a group of students who took the same test at the
same time of year nationally. The stanine method ranges from a low of 1 to a high of 9 and has an average value of 5; 1,2 or 3
is below average; 4,5 or 6 is average; 7,8 or 9 is above average. Stanines are a convenient way to identify areas of strength and
weakness in a set of test scores. They are less precise indicators than the detailed NPRs. Stanine Cognitive Level rates as
follows: very high 9; above average 7 and 8; average 4, 5, and 6; below average 2 and 3; and very low is a 1.

SS = Developmental Standard Score: compares individual scores to the normed sample and describes a students location on an
achievement continuum.

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) measures general reasoning abilities in three domains: verbal, quantitative, and
nonverbal. Please visit www.cogat so you can input your childs score profile and then read a brief description of his or her
learned reasoning abilities.

Please contact me if you have specific questions regarding your childs test data at 359-2928 or shelly.bauer@nuacs.com.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Shelly A. Bauer, Principal

St. Anthony Elementary School