A test score is a piece of information, usually a number, that conveys the performance of an examinee on a test. One formal definition is that it is "a summary of the evidence contained in an examinee's responses to the items of a test that are related to the construct or constructs being measured."[1]
Test scores are interpreted with a norm-referenced or criterion-referenced interpretation, or occasionally both. A norm-referenced interpretation means that the score conveys meaning about the examinee with regards to their standing among other examinees. A criterion-referenced interpretation means that the score conveys information about the examinee with regard to a specific subject matter, regardless of other examinees' scores.[2]
- ^ Thissen, D., & Wainer, H. (2001). Test Scoring. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Page 1, sentence 1.
- ^ Iowa Testing Programs guide for interpreting test scores Archived 2008-02-12 at the Wayback Machine