Private School Assessment Information - 2023-2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools Program - Exemplary High Performing Schools - Updated September 7, 2023

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel

Private School Assessment Information outlines how private schools can provide evidence to support nomination for the National Blue Ribbon Schools Award under the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. It defines the criterion as ranking in the top 15 percent nationally in reading and mathematics and lists nationally normed achievement tests with publisher cutoff-score rules. The guide explains how to use mean scale scores or student percentile equivalents for each tested grade, including guidance for tests with different testing windows.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

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Private School Assessment Information

2023-2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools Program

Exemplary High Performing Schools

Nomination Criteria and Top 15 Percent Method

Test Cutoff Scores and How to Use Them

Reading

Mathematics

Private School Assessment Information 2023-2024 National Blue Ribbon Schools Program Exemplary High Performing Schools Updated September 7, 2023 This information is provided for private schools interested in being nominated for the National Blue Ribbon Schools Award by the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) based on the criterion that the school is in the top 15 percent of the schools in the nation in reading and mathematics. The following publishers of nationally normed achievement tests have provided“cutoff scores” that define the top 15 percent of schools in each of these two subject areas: Test Name Iowa Assessments (Form E,F,G) SAT – 10th Ed (Forms A and D) 1 AIMSWebPlus 1 Terra Nova 3/NEXT SAT 2017 2 ACT PreACT CTP 5 MAP STAR CLT, CLT10, CLT8 i-Ready Diagnostic Exact Path Diagnostic Test Publisher Riverside Publishing Pearson Education Pearson Education DRC/CTB College Board ACT ACT Educational Records Bureau NWEA Renaissance Learning Classic Learning Initiatives Curriculum Associates Edmentum 1 Cutoff scores based on 2018 norms for the SAT 10 and cutoff scores for the AIMSWebPlus have not been provided yet by the publisher. If a school has received results for the SAT 10 based on 2018 norms or results for the AIMSWebPlus, it must look at the student national percentile equivalent of the mean scale score in each grade (using the norms from the appropriate time of year) . If the student percentile equivalent is 85 or greater in each grade, this will be a sufficient indicator that the school isin the top 15 percent for all grades tested. 2 The SAT 2017 replaces the previous version of the SAT. The cutoff scores provided are based on Concordance Tables provided by the College Board for converting scale scores on the previous version to scores on the 2017 version. If your school has student achievement assessment results on one of these nationally normed tests that appear to provide evidence that the school is in the top 15 percent of all schools nationally, review the tables provided below and find the two tables, one for reading and one for mathematics, for that test. Each table contains cutoff scores for each grade (3 and above) in which school norms are available. The cutoff score is the minimum score a school needs to be nominated as being in the top 15 percent of the schools in the nation for that test. Further details about these cutoff scores are provided on the next page. Mean Scale Scores Corresponding to the 85th Percentile of National School Norms The top 15 percent of schools are those schools that score at or above the 85th percentile of schools administering a particular test. For the test identified under “Test Name,” the tables below provide • the mean (average) scale score that corresponds to the 85th percentile in national school norms (Column 1), and • the percentile equivalent of that mean scale score in national student norms (Column 2) for each grade (3 and above) in which school norms are available. The cutoff scores provided in Column 1 are provided for only one specific subtest score in reading and one specific subtest score in mathematics (look under “Score Name”) . These subtest scores were identified by the publisher as providing the most comprehensive coverage of reading that includes reading comprehension and the most comprehensive coverage of mathematics. The school should examine its testing results and find the mean (average) scale score in reading and mathematics in each grade tested. If these results equal or exceed the mean scale score that corresponds to the 85th percentile in national school norms in Column 1 for both reading and mathematics in every grade tested in the most recently completed school year, this will be considered sufficient evidence that the school is in the top 15 percent of all schools nationally. If the school’s testing results do not include mean scale scores, but they do include the national perce

FAQs

What criteria must a private school meet for a National Blue Ribbon Schools nomination?

The school must provide evidence that it ranks in the top 15 percent nationally in both reading and mathematics based on the nationally normed achievement-test cutoff guidance.

How can a school determine whether it meets the top 15 percent threshold?

The school compares its testing results in each grade to the mean scale score at the 85th percentile (Column 1) for both reading and mathematics, or uses the student percentile equivalent when mean scale scores are not available (Column 2).

What should a school do if cutoff scores are available for only one testing time (e.g., spring) while the school tested at another time?

If the school tested during a period not covered by the only available cutoff set (e.g., fall or winter), it may use the spring norms comparison or contact the test publisher for comparable norms for the appropriate time of year.

Sep 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mabel