Understanding Your Child's Math Test Scores (What They Actually Mean)
Test Scores Can Be Confusing
You get a report that says your child scored 72, or is in the 45th percentile, or is "approaching grade level." What does that actually mean? Should you be worried?
Let's decode common math test scores.
Percentile Ranks
What it means: The percentage of students who scored at or below your child.
- 75th percentile: Your child scored higher than 75% of students
- 50th percentile: Right in the middle (average)
- 25th percentile: Your child scored higher than only 25%
Important: Percentile is not the same as percent correct. A child could get 70% of questions right but be at the 50th percentile if that's what average kids score.
What's "good"?
- 75th+ percentile: Above average
- 50th percentile: Average (which is fine!)
- 25th-50th: Below average but not alarming
- Below 25th: Worth investigating
Grade-Level Designations
Many tests use categories like:
- Advanced / Exceeds Standards
- Proficient / Meets Standards
- Basic / Approaching Standards
- Below Basic / Does Not Meet Standards
What they mean:
"Proficient" = On track for grade level. This is the goal.
"Advanced" = Above grade level. Great, but don't expect this of everyone.
"Basic/Approaching" = Below grade level but not severely. Usually needs some intervention.
"Below Basic" = Significantly behind. Needs focused support.
Scaled Scores
Some tests report a number like 215 or 1050.
What it is: A standardized score that allows comparison across grades and years.
How to use it: The number itself is meaningless without context. Look for:
- Is it above or below the "proficient" cutoff?
- Has it gone up or down from last year?
- How does it compare to growth targets?
Grade Equivalents (Use Cautiously)
A "grade equivalent" of 5.2 means your child scored like an average 5th grader in the second month of school.
The problem: This doesn't mean they can do 5th-grade work. It just means their score on the test was similar. A 2nd grader with a 5.2 grade equivalent probably just knows 2nd-grade material really well.
Don't use grade equivalents to accelerate or retain kids.
Year-Over-Year Growth
This is often more important than absolute scores.
Questions to ask:
- Did my child grow at least a year's worth in a year?
- Are they maintaining their percentile?
- Is the trend up, down, or flat?
A child at the 30th percentile who grows more than expected each year is doing better than a child at the 60th percentile who's flat.
What Scores DON'T Tell You
- Day-to-day ability: A bad test day doesn't mean they don't know math
- Effort and attitude: Tests don't measure persistence or curiosity
- Specific gaps: Tests show overall performance, not which skills need work
- Future potential: Scores can change significantly with intervention
- Your child's worth: Obviously, but worth remembering
When to Be Concerned
One low score: Probably not a crisis. Kids have off days.
Consistently below grade level: Worth a conversation with the teacher about what's being done and what you can do at home.
Dropping percentiles: A child who was at the 60th and is now at the 40th deserves attention. Something changed.
"Does not meet" for multiple years: This needs intervention, not just "wait and see."
Questions to Ask the Teacher
- What do these scores tell you about my child's math abilities?
- What specific skills are we seeing gaps in?
- Is my child growing at an appropriate rate?
- What interventions are in place at school?
- What should we focus on at home?
What You Can Do
Don't panic based on one test. Look at patterns.
Focus on growth over absolute scores.
Work on foundational skills — our free practice tools can help:
Stay positive. Your reaction to test scores shapes your child's attitude toward learning. Focus on effort and improvement, not numbers.
Get help if needed. If scores are consistently low, consider tutoring or asking about school intervention services.
The Bottom Line
Test scores are one data point, not the whole picture. They're useful for identifying trends and gaps, but they don't define your child's potential.
Use the information to help, not to worry.