HeadStart Primary End of Term English Reading Comprehension Tests

Scaled Scores Year 6

Standardising the reading compehension assessments

HeadStart Primary has conducted an extensive analysis, using a national sample of pupils for
each assessment test, in order to produce a set of scaled (standardised) scores.

Standardising test scores fulfils two primary purposes:

(1) It enables a child's performance to be compared to the performance of other children

taking the same test.

(2) It enables comparisons of performance across a range of tests, irrespective of

individual test difficulty or number of questions etc.

The standardisation process

The test raw scores have been standardised so that the mean average of the sample is 100,
with a standard deviation of 15. The standard deviation is the measure of the spread of scores
away from the mean; usually in educational assessments, this is set as 15 for one standard
deviation. Normal distribution suggests that around 68% of scores are within one standard
deviation (i.e. 85-115).

Linking the scaled scores to HeadStart tracking stages

Scaled Score Stage

0 - 75 Emerging Below average
76 - 95 Developing range

96 - 100 Progressing Average

101 - 112 Secure range

113 - 122 Mastering Above average

123 + Exceeding range

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Using the assessments and scaled scores to track progress

The HeadStart assessment and tracking system is intended to be used to support teacher
assessment strategies and professional judgement.

It is important to note that the HeadStart assessments and scaled scores cannot be directly
correlated to national curriculum test scaled scores, for the following reasons:

• HeadStart assessments test the objectives of the national curriculum and are intended for
diagnostic purposes as well as summative purposes.

• HeadStart assessments also test the reading skills (content domains) as listed in the
English KS1 & KS2 Reading Test Framework documents. (These documents are used by
SATs reading test designers to design the SATs tests.)

• HeadStart assessments follow the standard deviation of 15, giving a range of scores from
<70 to 120+. SATs scaled scores range from 80 - 120.

• HeadStart assessments identify a range of scaled scores within an expected band either
side of a mean score of 100. SATs scores identify the expected score of 100.

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 Year 6 - HeadStart English Reading Comprehension Test A

Raw Score Scaled Score Raw Score Scaled Score

0 41 26 90
1 43 27 92
2 45 28 94
3 47 29 96
4 48 30 98
5 50 31 100
6 52 32 101
7 54 33 103
8 56 34 105
9 58 35 107
10 60 36 109
11 62 37 111
12 64 38 113
13 65 39 115
14 67 40 116
15 69 41 118
16 71 42 120
17 73 43 122
18 75 44 124
19 77 45 126
20 79 46 128
21 81 47 130
22 82 48 132
23 84 49 133
24 86 50 135
25 88

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 Year 6 - HeadStart English Reading Comprehension Test B

Raw Score Scaled Score Raw Score Scaled Score

0 44 26 94
1 46 27 96
2 48 28 98
3 49 29 100
4 51 30 102
5 53 31 104
6 55 32 106
7 57 33 108
8 59 34 110
9 61 35 112
10 63 36 114
11 65 37 115
12 67 38 117
13 69 39 119
14 71 40 121
15 73 41 123
16 75 42 125
17 77 43 127
18 79 44 129
19 81 45 131
20 82 46 133
21 84 47 135
22 86 48 137
23 88 49 139
24 90 50 141
25 92

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 Year 6 - HeadStart English Reading Comprehension Test C

Raw Score Scaled Score Raw Score Scaled Score

0 52 26 96
1 54 27 97
2 56 28 99
3 57 29 100
4 59 30 102
5 61 31 104
6 62 32 106
7 64 33 107
8 66 34 109
9 67 35 111
10 69 36 112
11 71 37 114
12 72 38 116
13 74 39 117
14 76 40 119
15 77 41 121
16 79 42 122
17 81 43 124
18 82 44 126
19 84 45 127
20 86 46 129
21 87 47 131
22 89 48 132
23 91 49 134
24 92 50 136
25 94

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