Knowledge of statistics is especially useful to teachers trying to makesense of student's standardized test scores. In order to translate the resultsof standardized tests into useful classroom learning tools, teachers and others in theeducational field need to know the significance of the numbers and terms, whichcan be overwhelming.

The statistics discussed in this section relate to norm-referencedstandardized tests. These are tests that report scores or statistics based on acomparison to a norm group, a representative sample from thepopulation of all potential examinees. Selection is usually done by stratifiedrandom sampling. Stratification accounts for differences in populationcharacteristics, such as race, gender, socioeconomic status and geographicregion.

Most of the statistical values that will be useful to you appear on atest report.

In addition, the normal curve is avery useful concept for visualizing and interpreting several of the scoresrelated to norm-referenced standardized tests.