On the Scantron Performance tests, we have seen Language Arts scores as high as 99th percentile, but he varies from fall to winter to spring. In math we have seen him score as low as 35 and as high as 98th percentile.
The district employees think that 98th percentile is "just one score" and as such is a fluke. We contend that is what he is capable of and the district is failing to provide adequate rigor to allow him to maintain the knowledge.
This is from a FAQ for the MAP test but it may help explain the differences in scores and why the lower score is more likely to be a fluke than the higher score.
http://www.nwea.org/support/details.aspx?content=1024Is it possible for students to get a falsely inflated score by guessing?
By nature, it's impossible to know when a score is "inflated." However, the number of means by which one can get an inflated score are generally limited to either guessing or cheating. Cheating can be difficult if the room is monitored properly and few students will ever be "lucky" with their guessing.
On the other hand, any number of things can deflate a score.
Fatigue, hunger, anger, boredom, or distraction can all have negative impacts on a student's performance. It is more likely that a score that doesn�t reflect a student�s true ability will be deflated than inflated.
