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[quote=Anonymous]FWIW, according to the [url=https://itp.education.uiowa.edu/iara/documents/IARAInterpretationGuide.pdf]IARA Interpretation Guide (2006)[/url] the raw to percentile rank conversions (tables A1 + A2) are this:

99% - 57 to 60
98% - 55
97% - 54
96% - 53 
95% - 52
93% - 51
91% - 50

I am curious though whether the test has been revised or updated since. The calibration appears to date back to as far as 1991.

At our RoVA district, I have 2 data points: our 5th grader scored 60/60 and 600 on (5th grade!) SOL; was accepted into Algebra in 6th grade; so was another student with a 58/60 raw and a 552 on the 5th grade SOL. Not sure where they set the cutoff (and due to our child's score, was fortunate enough to not having discuss it with public school personnel...).  Overall, they offered to 11 out of an incoming class of maybe 300+ kids, or about 3-4%. The test booklets they used for the IAAT were completely worn out. Not following instructions, somebody had written the answers into the book our child used - they were erased so the book could be reused - child told us that most answers so marked and erased were wrong.  Nerves like steel (and what a ridiculous thing to have to contend with. Maybe we'll donate to the PTA next year so that they can buy new test booklets...)

Overall, using a single test to test Algebra readiness and combining it with a useless test like the 5th grade SOL is of course questionable, although they also used teacher recommendations and 4th grade NWEA MAP scores.  At our district, it's basically a proxy for IQ - and it's not unreasonable that the top 2-3% of rising 6th graders are smart enough to do well in Algebra, even if they haven't completed a full Prealgebra curriculum.  I should also point out that our school system doesn't have AAP and that the GT program is a joke - for instance, in 5th grade, they taught "algebra" in GT pullout using Borenson Math - not realizing that this a remedial math program (our child asked why she couldn't use a normal minus sign and had to use Borenson's weird non-standard notation for equations). Fortunately, the GT teachers are kept out of making math placement decisions...

That said, if I were a parent who couldn't assess their child's ability as well as I can because I'm in the area, I'd find it hard to make any sense of the numbers provided, too.

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