A big part of my confusion comes from the use of norm-referenced tests. For my middle school student, the NRTs used were the Terra Nova test in mathematics and the Stanford 10 reading test.

In addition, norm-referenced tests are designed so that a certain share of students always fail, because success is gauged by one’s position on the “bell curve” in relation to other students.

These tests compared Florida students to their peers around the nation. A rank of 63, for example, means a school’s median score was better than 63 percent of the median scores around the nat… ...

House Bill 4 would have replaced the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test with three nationally norm-referenced tests, which lawmakers hoped would give teachers real-time ...