Scores from the IPT Oral Tests
The results of the IPT Oral tests are reported as an Oral Score level, as one of three designations: Non-, Limited, or Fluent, and as one of five proficiency levels (Beginning, Early Intermediate, Intermediate, Early Advanced, and Advanced). These scores are based on the test level (A–F) that the student achieved on the basis of the stopping rules during test administration. The student’s test data also include the number of questions that the student answered correctly during test administration, which is known as the student’s raw score. This score is converted into a range of standardized scores: scaled scores, percentiles, and normal curve equivalents (NCEs). Each of these scores is explained briefly below.
IPT Oral Score Levels
The IPT Oral Score Level is a criterion-referenced score. The test items on the IPT Oral tests are organized into sets, from simple to complex, that represent skills typical for language learners at different proficiency levels. The levels are labeled with letter names A-F. Each student’s Oral Score Level indicates the highest difficulty level on the test that the student performed on successfully. The contents of the test levels are described in Level Summaries, which are test-specific. Find the level summaries here.
Designation
The Oral Designation categories are called Non-English-Speaking (NES), Limited English Speaking (LES), and Fluent English Speaking (FES) for the English gests, and Non-Spanish-Speaking (NSS), Limited Spanish Speaking (LSS), and Fluent Spanish Speaking (FSS) for the Spanish tests. The designation categories are referenced to the test levels, and they are grade specific in the sense that as students advance in grade, more language skills are expected of them to achieve a Limited or a Fluent designation than from students in lower grades.
As part of each renorming study, a special group of monolingual or fluent bilingual students is recruited to take the test. These students do not normally take the IPT Oral test as it is meant for assessing English or Spanish learners. In this case, however, they constitute a “criterion group” because it is their language skills that the fluent designation category is intended to model and predict. The distribution of the monolingual/proficient group’s scores is analyzed against the score distribution of the learner population and used for determining the placement of the Fluent cut. However, an element of norm-referencing also influences the designation scores. When the IPT Oral tests are renormed, one of the analyses involves checking the proportion of the norming sample that scores in each designation category. This is taken into consideration when setting the Limited and Fluent cuts. This is a less important consideration than the criterion-referenced definition of fluency, but it is monitored in order to ensure continuity in score interpretation. Find the current designation charts for the Oral tests here.
Proficiency Level
The Oral Proficiency Levels are Beginning, Early Intermediate, Intermediate, Early Advanced, and Advanced, and they correspond to the proficiency levels used in Ballard & Tighe’s instructional product lines. These score categories were developed to provide greater detail on students’ oral proficiency within the “Limited” designation: The Beginning level corresponds to the Non- designation category, the Early Intermediate, Intermediate, and Early Advanced levels correspond to the Limited designation, and the Advanced level corresponds to the Fluent designation. The cuts are grade-specific just like the designation categories. As described above, the cut score for the Fluent designation is derived in a criterion-referenced way from the skills assessed on the test and from the performance of monolingual, proficient students on the test. The Advanced cut is therefore strongly criterion-referenced. The division of the Limited category into the proficiency levels is based on the Limited learners’ frequency distribution across the scores in the Limited designation range, however, so the derivation of the middle proficiency levels is based on a mixture of norm- and criterion-referencing. The Beginning proficiency level corresponds to the Non- designation, and is again strongly criterion-referenced. The conversion rules from test levels to proficiency levels are on the designation charts linked above.
Raw Score
The Raw Score is the number of questions the student answered correctly during the test administration. If any test levels are not administered because the rules for test starting level were applied, all items in the early test levels are assumed to be answered correctly. The relationship between raw scores and test levels is indirect. A range of different raw scores can lead to the same test level score, and the ranges overlap. Since the IPT Oral proficiency levels and designations are based on the test level score, the relationship between raw scores and the designations and proficiency levels is also indirect.
Scaled Score
Scaled scores are a translation of student raw scores onto a common scale that has the same meaning for all the IPT Oral English tests. A common scale is useful for making comparisons across different forms and levels. Once a raw score has been converted to a scaled score, it may be compared to scaled scores from a different form (for example, a scaled score from IPT I Oral, Form G may be compared to a scaled score on Form H). Additionally, a scaled score may be compared to scaled scores from other test levels, such that changes in performance can be studied across time. The forms were equated using equipercentile equating, where percentiles were compared for participants taking the same test levels. The scale was linked using the median Rasch scores of same-age students taking two different tests. Scaled scores are useful for tracking student progress via score gains.
Percentile Rank
Percentile ranks range from 0 to 100, with 50 indicating median (average) performance. The percentile indicates the percentage of the reference group who obtained a raw score less than that raw score. The reference group refers to the group of students in the norming population who took the test at the indicated grade level, such as Grade 1. Raw scores below the lowest observed score in the sample have a percentile of 0, while raw scores above the highest observed score in the sample have a percentile of 100. Percentiles are best for obtaining a straightforward indicator of the relative performance of a student. Percentiles must be interpreted relative to the group from which they were derived. For the IPT, the percentiles represent the rankings of the students in their grade or narrow grade band in the latest norming study.
Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE)
The Normal Curve Equivalent score is derived from percentile ranks and is typically used for research. The NCE scale, like percentiles, ranges from 0 to 100, and it has a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 21.06. Unlike percentiles, NCEs represent an equal interval scale and should be used instead of percentiles when averaging scores or computing gains over time within a single IPT Oral test level, e.g., the IPT I–Oral.
