Find the norm given for the age closest to your child's age. This is not the same as the grade. The ages in any grade in school can differ by many months between the youngest child in the grade and the oldest. Compare your child's score with the norm given for that age. A score that is higher or lower than the norm indicates higher or lower aptitude in that area. Check the age norm for verbal, quantitative and nonverbal areas.
Find the grade norm that matches your child's grade in school. Compare your child's score against the norm. A higher or lower score than the norm means your child has a higher or lower aptitude than the norm in each area tested. Check the grade norm for verbal, quantitative and nonverbal areas.
Note the amount of difference between your child's scores and the norm. The more your child's scores differ from the norm, the more significant it is. Standardized tests have an error rate of plus or minus a certain number of points. If the difference in scores falls within the error rate either way, the difference is not significant. If the difference between the norms and your child's scores are more than the error rate, the differences are significant, and become more so the farther your child's scores vary from the norms.
Find the stanine for your child's scores in each section -- verbal, quantitative and nonverbal -- if stanines are given on your report. The stanine can range from 1 to 9, with 5 being the average. Scores in stanine 9 are considered very high, stanines 7 and 8 above average, stanines 4, 5 and 6 average, stanines 2 and 3 below average and stanine 1 very low.
Find the percentile for your child's scores in the verbal, quantitative and nonverbal sections. A score in the 50th percentile means that of the students who took the same level of test, 50 percent scored above your child, and 50 percent scored below your child. Scores in the 96th through 99th percentiles are considered to be very high, scores in the 89th through 95th percentiles are considered high and scores in the 77th through 88th percentiles are considered above average, scores in the 24th through 76th percentiles are in the average range, scores in the 5th through 23rd percentiles are below average and scores in the 4th percentile and below are considered very low.
Compare your child's scores in the verbal, quantitative and nonverbal areas. If a score in one area is significantly higher than the others, that indicates an area of strength for your child. If a score is significantly lower than the others, it may be an area that's difficult for your child.