Primary school what does a standardised score of 81 mean

[Sickoffamilydrama]

Can anyone help me?

DD has just switched from primary to secondary and we have been given her school passport which says that the primary feedback she is Emerging/Expected.

She has SEN (we are just appealing a refusal to access for an EHCP)

Her most recent assessment at primary she got 81 standardised score which I understand to be V low on about the 9th percentile?
She was at 83 a few years ago which is about the 16th percentile?

Am I correct in thinking this is not emerging or expected?

It's probably irrelevant now as she is at secondary but I also think she needs to start this school with the correct information for them to have the full picture and help her.

Assess not access 🤦‍♀️

It probably is irrelevant now but then I wasn't pushy enough with primary they often said she was fine and also discouraged me from applying for an EHCP which I know realise DD is exactly the type of child that should have one!

9th percentile isn’t very low, it’s borderline between ‘below average’ and ‘low’.
Significant learning difficulties are generally considered (where I work) to be where standard scores are 69 and below. Which is around 1st centile really.

I’m not that surprised she hasn’t had an ehcp if the scores alone are the only reason you’re requesting it, although of course she should be getting interventions and differentiated teaching to help give her a boost.

A standardised score of 81 on a SATs assessment (which I’m guessing is what this is), would be at the low end of scoring on the paper- roughly yr3 standard. So working within ks2 standard.
As a PP stated, thus score alone would not he sufficient evidence for an EHCP, although I often find that my secondary colleagues find that incredible!

www.nfer.ac.uk/media/4098/interprettingtestsguide.pdf according to this it's within the normal range, just towards the bottom end of normal.

How much specialist support does she need? I don't work in England but I'd be surprised if a student within the average range would qualify for an ehcp.

The scores aren't the only reason she SEN (several actually) and has had maximum support and hasn't made progress.

I can't work out the new system of below expected standard, emerging and expected when it comes to this what is the cut off ( I get the idea of it generally)? Although as I said probably irrelevant now she's at secondary.

I just checked, standardised score of 81 is 10th centile. This means that in a perfectly average class of 30, there’d be around two who scored lower than she did.
It’s estimated that something like 20% of children have some sort of SEN, so she should probably be on the SEN register, but (depending on the criteria set locally to you) she’s unlikely to meet EHCP threshold on grounds of intellect (although there may of course be lots more factors than you’ve shared here).
I hope this is reassuring x

sorry - cross posted!

Thanks all the information is useful.

She has several SENs one quite significant and we really noticed during lockdown how much support she actually requires and despite lots of help makes very little progress.

Having researched the law around what the local authority should do look for when deciding whether to asses the two criteria are an SEN and the fact she might need special education provision.

Unfortunately I understand from other SEN parents that most of the time they refuse to assess and it has to go to appeal.

It's good to know that people wouldn't be that worried although having looked at her chronological age against reading, maths and spelling she has gone from being about 1 year below her chronological age to being 2.7 years below.

I know that the age measurement against chronological age is a crude measure but it's on her reports so 🤷‍♀️

I’m not familiar with the emerging /expected system I’m sorry. But, if she is having support but not progressing, then maybe she needs to be supported in a different way?

One thing I’ll say (and sorry if you do already know this) is that standardised scores are standardised by the age of the child at the time they take the test. So if a child’s standardised score stayed the same every single year, it wouldn’t show a lack of progress, it would show that they had made the progress in line with what would be expected for their age. A precisely average achiever making progress as expected would get a score of 100 every single year. A lower or higher than average achiever making consistent progress will also get similar scores year on year.

If you see the scores getting lower, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is no learning or progress in real terms, but it does suggest that the progress is slower than is (statistically) expected.
A little bit of variation in standard scores is normal as children hit plateaus in their learning some years, then later on something clicks and they make a leap. If you see a consistent or significant drop in standard scores it’s worth flagging up though because it could show that her rate of progress is slowing and she might need different support.

Oops cross posted again!! 🙈

Op it's such a special area ask on the sen boards here.

Often very sadly not only do the school spout out utter nonsense when it comes to sen but also they don't know the law and often even the council doesn't.

Ask on sen boards for better targeted help.

Thank you healthyheart I did flag it with primary but they just said she's getting all the support we can give.

Which then points back to that she needs an assessment by the local authority to see what further support she requires.

Just for information I've screen shot the parameters under which they should assess.

Now she is in secondary and her education will become more complex and from what I understand she'll naturally get less support (bigger classrooms less chance for small group work). My concern is she'll make even worse progress.

Thanks Autumn you are probably right Right ask for my post to be moved.

Because there are no KS2 SAT results for the last two years this is likely to be a standardised score from Cognitive Attainment Tests the school has done. They then enter these scores into something called FFT. You should be able to go back to the school and ask what these results are predicting she will attain at GCSE. It will give you a better understanding of where you daughter is.

Sorry - just reread the 81 was from primary. Has the secondary done their own testing?

In a standardized test 100 is average. Standard scores of 81 and 83 are both "low average". So on the cusp between emerging/ expected. As explained above, it's common for standard scores to fluctuate a little as they're an approximation of where she stands in relation to other children roughly her age...but these scores are within the same range, showing she's progressing at the same steady pace.

Thanks Misknit I'll ask we having a meeting with the secondary next week they already seen more on it than primary who didn't even tell them about the SENs.

She's a very "nice, good, polite" pupil so I do worry she flies under the radar.

The most important thing for me is at push for her to be supported to achieve her full potential & be a functional adult.
As well as struggling with understanding the curriculum at the moment she really struggles to apply learning so could do 20 + 20 say but might not be able to then add 20 pence to 20 pence.

No secondary haven't done any testing yet.

I've just gone back over her report and it actually says below expected for year 6. But then the document they sent secondary says emerging/expected. Which is now even more confusing!!

A standardised score of 85 would be way below average at the school i work at. All our kids are achieving 110 or higher

I don't understand how they can say it's expected, as expected is a score of 100. A child scoring 80 will really struggle at secondary without support - you need a Y6 reading age to access material in all subjects. I think you're right to be questioning this OP.

What assessments have you had done? Our primary were uninterested so we paid for private EP and occupational therapy reports and we are getting a dyslexia assessment done soon.

Thanks what & potato I do think that because she's so compliant and is a real hardworker they didn't focus on her. During lock down other kids at her school with similar SEN diagnoses ( actually they are doing better than her academically) were allowed in school, as they considered that they needed the ongoing support ( I know the parents and they told me) but when we asked about her going back we got nothing.

I think with her if I'm to ensure she gets ongoing support I'm just going to have to be "that parent"

It's very unfair that she works so hard and probably just needs additional help and some different ways of teaching and yet almost gets less.

Sorry all I should have just said I want being secretive just tired sure has diagnosed Autism, sensory processing disorder, dyslexia and dyscalculia.

I do wonder if because she masks that she doesn't fit their picture of a child struggling.

Jessicabrassca DC don't have to be struggling academically to get an EHCP. DC can have one and be academically able.