Hello Brant and all,

Thank you for your reply below.  I was actually responding to a reply you gave to one of Nora's questions, a part of which was, 

 can dyslexics learn to read at or above their grade/age level and be able to function easily in these areas or do you think they will always be struggling readers?

to which you in part responded,

average reading performance ranges from the 25% to the 75%.

If such ranges generally correspond to 33% below to 33% above GLE, my point was and remains twofold: 
	1. An average range is being referenced that is so broad that, if articulated and operationally defined in criterial terms, its meaning becomes fuzzy or blurred at best;
	2. If we're dealing with a normative range, both for instructional and assessment purposes, we will continue to norm against an ever-changing norming group, and target fluid baseline and benchmark measures (with requisite standards and scores, I would add, that continue to decline even if we smokescreen them).
My inclination is to set goals and standards towards which we help lead our learners and teachers alike that target desired personal and societal life outcomes.
 
Am I making sense here or am I missing something?
 
Thank you,
 
Michael
 
Michael A. Gyori 
Maui International Language School 
www.mauilanguage.com




________________________________
From: Brant Hayenga <bhayenga at rrps.net>
To: The Learning Disabilities Discussion List <learningdisabilities at nifl.gov>
Sent: Fri, October 30, 2009 10:43:19 AM
Subject: [LearningDisabilities 4184] Re: Averages, means, and norm- vs. criterion-referenced assessments


Michael:
We're getting into very murky (even troubled) waters here. To begin, defining "average" as falling into a 25% to 75% range (I'd add, of what?)
 
For intelligence testing this refers to the distribution of scores form the normative sample that was used when developing the different tests. The 25% means you scored the same or better than 25% of the norm sample, compared usually, to other students your age in the normative sample. Grade level comparison (being compared to other students in your grade) from the norm sample is common in academic testing. 
 
It does not equate to academic grade equivalence. As a rough rule of thumb, that middle 50% of students (25-75%), otherwise known as the average range, includes students about 1/3 below their grade level, up to students 1/3 above their grade level. As an example the average range for 6th grade academic skills roughly includes students who are anywhere from 1/3 below (4th grade) up to students who are 1/3 above (8th grade). You can see how this is an ever widening group as you go into higher grades (1/3 of 12 = 4 years).
 
 
Brant Hayenga
Educational Diagnostician 
Stapleton Elementary/Rio Rancho Middle School
(505) 896-0667 ext. 226 (District Office)
(505) 891-8473 ext. 519 (Stapleton Elementary)
bhayenga at rrps.net
 
 
 Please note that RRPS email addresses have changed. Please update your
address books or distribution lists.



      
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