Identify the student's raw score. If a test is designed to measure a student's performance or understanding of specific skills or concepts, then it will report his raw score. This score is based on the number of questions the student answered correctly; it may be reported as a number, such as 35 out of 50 correct; or as a percentage, such as 75 percent of the questions answered correctly. The student's raw score is similar to his "grade" for that test; it tells you how well he performed.
Compare the student's score to other students taking that test using her percentile scores. The percentile score tells you how well that student did on the test in comparison to other students in her school or across the nation who also took that same test. So a student who scores in the 80th percentile, for instance, had a score that was as good as or better than 80 percent of the other students who took that same test.
Examine any available age- or grade-equivalent scores. These scores will tell you how the student's score compared to standard scores for a particular age group or school grade. For instance, on a reading test, a student who scores a 3.4 in the grade-equivalent score range means that he can read on the level of a 3rd grader who is in his 4th month of school.
Determine the passing status. For some standardized tests, there is no "passing" score. A student takes the test simply to obtain a snapshot of her ability levels or understanding in a subject, and the teacher uses those test scores to plan future instruction for that child. However, in other cases, a student may need to earn a specific score on a test to pass the test, graduate from school, move up to the next grade level, or earn admission into a college or university. Ask your child's teacher, or the college or university in question, to tell you the score that is required for this achievement goal, and compare the required score to the one this student earned to determine whether she passed the test or will need to take it again.