Anonymous wrote:My fourth grader is new to private school this year so it is our first ERB. His "national norm" percentiles for both math and reading were both well above 95%, but his "independent norm" percentile was 40% math and 70% reading. Does "independent norm" just mean the comparison to other students in his school? The report does not elaborate.

No. It’s all independent school kids in your defined geographic area. This is the real number you want to pay attention to. The national norm score is meaningless.

Anonymous wrote:I thought that the ERB was only administered in private schools? If so, how is there such a difference with the national numbers?

Some suburban schools take it too. One year we got SN (suburban norms).

I thought that the ERB was only administered in private schools? If so, how is there such a difference with the national numbers?

Also, OP, if this is your kids first year taking it, try not to draw too many conclusions. I was surprised how much my kids scores changed from year to year.

Did your school provide the "parent guide" page? It says:
The Independent Norm (IN) is comprised of students from independent schools who took the CTP at the same time of year as your student over the past three years.

Correct. Private school kids, as a cohort, will score higher on the ERBs than public school kids. This is why the percentile ranks for OP's child are lower when compared to kids in private schools.
"Independent Norm" refers to all the kids in private schools who took the test, not just in his school, at least that how our school explained it to us.

Anonymous wrote:I believe it refers to all independent schools. It just seems strange that there is such a big difference between “national” and “independent”

Looking at my DD’s ERB scores for 3rd grade she got a 93% in reading (Student score) which is equivalent to 76% Independent Norm. My scores do not have National Norm so maybe that is why…

My 4th graders scores are similar to OPs. The math was closer 96% NN translated to 78% IN with a student score of 73%. My guess is the public school kids taking this are just falling way behind private school kids.

I believe it refers to all independent schools. It just seems strange that there is such a big difference between “national” and “independent”

Looking at my DD’s ERB scores for 3rd grade she got a 93% in reading (Student score) which is equivalent to 76% Independent Norm. My scores do not have National Norm so maybe that is why…

My fourth grader is new to private school this year so it is our first ERB. His "national norm" percentiles for both math and reading were both well above 95%, but his "independent norm" percentile was 40% math and 70% reading. Does "independent norm" just mean the comparison to other students in his school? The report does not elaborate.