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Grade Equivalent (GE)

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Grade Equivalent (GE) is a norm-referenced score that represents how a student’s test performance compares with other students nationally. For example, a fifth-grade student with a GE score of 7.6 performed as well as a typical seventh-grader who is 60% through the school year. This score doesn’t necessarily mean that the student is capable of reading seventh-grade material or doing seventh-grade math—it only indicates that the student’s reading or math skills are well above average for the fifth grade.

notes on ge scores

For different programs, GE scores can go below zero. How these values are shown on reports varies between programs:

  • Star Early Literacy: Grade Equivalents range from –1.0–3.9+; 0 is shown as 0; values below 0 are given a PK prefix with a number indicating what percentage of the school year a student is through, which is the inverse of positive GE values:
    GE Shown on Reports As Meaning
    –1.0 < PK or PK.0 Student at the beginning of of pre-Kindergarten
    –0.9 PK.1 Student who is 10% through pre-Kindergarten
    –0.8 PK.2 Student who is 20% through pre-Kindergarten
    . . . . . . . . .
    –0.1 PK.9 Student who is 90% through pre-Kindergarten
  • Star Early Literacy Spanish: Grade Equivalents range from 0.0–3.9. The minimum GE score is 0, shown as either 0 or < K; values below 0 are shown as < K.
  • Star Math: Grade Equivalents range from 0–12.9+, where 0 represents the beginning of grade K. The minimum GE score is 0, shown as either 0 or < K; values below 0 are shown as < K.
  • Star Math Spanish: Grade Equivalents range from 1.0–8.9. The minimum GE score is 1, shown as 1; any values below that are shown as < 1.
  • Star Reading: Grade Equivalents range from 0.0–12.9+. The minimum GE score is 0, shown as either 0 or < K; values below 0 are shown as < K.
  • Star Reading Spanish: Grade Equivalents range from 1.0–8.9. The minimum GE score is 1, shown as 1; any values below that are shown as < 1. 

For example, if a 5th-grade student has a GE of 7.6, their score is equal to that of a typical 7th grader who has completed 60% of the school year. This score does not necessarily mean that they are capable of doing class work at the 7th-grade level. It only indicates that their skills are well above average for their grade level.

A graph showing a bell curve with students placed above the curve at various points; the student at the top of the curve is highlighted, and has the label: Scaled Score of an average 7th-grade student who has completed 60% of the school year. Another highlighted student is shown to the left, and has the label: Assessed Scaled Score of a 5th-grade student; a GE of 7.6 is shown below. An arrow with the score 783 is drawn between the highlighted students.

For Star Math and Star Math Spanish, a GE score preceded by “>” is a capped score. GE scores in excess of three grade levels above the student’s actual grade are capped, meaning that such GE scores are shown as “> [student’s actual grade level + 3].” This prevents the misinterpretation that students with excessively high GE scores are capable of work at those higher grades.

GE can be found on the following reports:

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