Grade Equivalent Scores : To GE or Not to GE / Nancy S. Cole.

The advantages and disadvantages of grade equivalent (GE) scores are explored, including appropriate uses for GE type scores and how to bring current GE scales closer to the type of information educators appear to desire. Although GE scores are not an equal interval scale, not comparable across school subjects, and do not indicate the grade level at which a student can perform, the GE scores are suitable to identify student grade level skills and to chart growth over time in the "what skills" sense, not the "how much growth" sense. Given these potentially valuable uses, a variant of a GE scale that could more nearly describe the grade level at which students are performing is introduced as the Grade Development Scale (GDS). A GDS score produced less discrepant estimates of grade level from current grade for extreme scores than any of the common GE scales. The scale is not an equal interval scale, nor should it be used in comparing subject areas. Problems of interpreting the amount of growth in GDS units remain. Studies are underway to determine if the GDS scores will be found useful to educators in estimating the grade level at which a student is performing. (Author/PN)

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