1.4 Content & Process Clusters, Thinking Skills, Performance Standards & the OLSAT 8 AAC

What the Cluster Section of a Report Shows

Pearson states that each Stanford 10 item is designed to measure up to four achievement parameters: a content cluster, a process cluster, a cognitive level and an instructional standard. Score reports use the first two. On a Student Report with Clusters, every subtest is broken into rows marked C (content cluster) or P (process cluster), each with three counts:

• NP, Number Possible: how many items the cluster contained;
• NA, Number Attempted: how many the student answered;
• NC, Number Correct.

A check mark then places the student's cluster performance in one of three categories: Below Average, Average or Above Average.

How Cluster Ratings Are Set

The Arkansas guide explains that, for each level, form, grade and time of year, Pearson converts raw cluster scores to stanine ranges. Below Average = stanines 1-3, Average = stanines 4-6, Above Average = stanines 7-9. In other words, a Below Average check means the student's cluster score fell in roughly the bottom 23% of the national comparison group, Average means the middle 54% and Above Average the top 23%.

Three cautions apply:

1. Clusters are small. A cluster with 5 or 6 items can move between categories on a single question, so treat one weak cluster as a lead to investigate, not a diagnosis.
2. Ratings are norm-referenced. They compare students with other students, not with a fixed mastery standard.
3. Report keys flag edge cases. "H" marks an Average rating that is the highest possible for the grade and "L" the lowest possible, and cluster ratings are available for national norms only.

The Official Cluster Lists

The table lists the clusters on real student reports at Intermediate 2 (Seton Testing Services sample, 2018 National Spring norms) and, for Social Science, Intermediate 3 (BJU Press sample, 2018 National Midyear norms). The numbers are items per cluster at that level.

Lower levels add clusters for Word Study Skills (Structural Analysis, Phonetic Analysis-Consonants, Phonetic Analysis-Vowels) and Listening (Vocabulary and Comprehension, with Literary, Informational and Functional content and Initial Understanding, Interpretation, Analysis and Strategies processes). The chapters that follow teach every one of these clusters.

Thinking Skills

The Arkansas guide states that every Stanford 10 item assesses either Basic Understanding or Thinking Skills. The Thinking Skills rows total the items that go beyond basic understanding. At Intermediate 2, the 42 Reading Comprehension Thinking Skills items equal the Interpretation, Critical Analysis and Strategies items combined (20 + 12 + 10), while the 12 Initial Understanding items are basic understanding. Reports also print a battery-wide Thinking Skills total. A student whose basic-understanding items are strong but Thinking Skills are weak needs more practice explaining why and how, not more fact drills.

Performance Standards Reports

Scoring services also offer reports based on performance standards rather than national norms. For example, the University of Missouri Assessment Resource Center includes a District Academic Performance Standards Report in its standard package and sells a Student Academic Performance Standards Report as an option. These reports compare scores with cut points for levels of performance, which is a different question from where the student ranks nationally. The labels and cut points appear on the report itself, so read the report key rather than assuming a particular scale.

The OLSAT 8 Achievement/Ability Comparison (AAC)

Stanford 10 is co-normed with the OLSAT 8, a school ability test reported as Total, Verbal and Nonverbal scores. Its main score, the School Ability Index (SAI), is an age-based standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 16.

When both tests are scored together, reports can include the Achievement/Ability Comparison (AAC). The Stanford 10 score key defines it as evaluating a student's performance on a Stanford subtest or total in relation to the performance of others with the same level of ability:

A Low AAC is a signal to look more closely at that subject. Possible reasons include a missed instructional unit, test anxiety or a learning difficulty. It is not a diagnosis by itself and should be weighed with classwork, teacher observation and other assessments. A High AAC means the student is achieving more than most students of similar measured ability, often a sign of strong instruction or effort in that subject.