How stanines work

Stanines are used to compare an individual student’s achievement with the results obtained by a national reference sample chosen to represent a certain year level. Stanines divide the distribution of results from the trials for a year group, into nine categories (see below). The only way a student can gain a stanine is to compare their scale score with their year level - in that way they can be compared to their year level peers (see video below).


Most students, when compared with their own year level, achieve around stanines four, five, and six. Stanines seven, eight, and nine represent comparatively high achievement for a year group, while stanines one, two, and three indicate comparatively low achievement. The image below can be viewed for one class or for a whole year group. Filters can drill down into gender and ethnic cohorts, providing comparative overviews that can then drive inquiry and discussion.


Schools can HOVER over the symbols to see student names when inquiring into student position.


Schools can CLICK on student names to go through to their Individual reports for focused inquiry.



Reference years

The PAT/STAR norms were calculated from trials administered nationwide in Term 1. This means all stanines are Term 1 stanines only. They are useful to compare your students’ Term 1 position in relation to a nationwide sample. If the student is in Year 7, the Year 7 reference year is correct. 


Stanines are problematic to use in Term 2 & 3, and an adjustment must be made    in Term 4 to the following Reference Year, as those Term 1 stanines are much closer to the Term 4 position. They represent a more accurate stanine against student scale score position.



Term 1

  • Use the reference year the student is in to convert the scale score to a stanine.


Term 2 & 3

  • Use the stanines for the reference year the student is in, but be aware they are Term 1 stanines, therefore students are 1 or 2 terms behind average progress benchmarks. The stanines will show as being inflated.


Term 4

  • Use the stanine from the following reference year – i.e. if a student is in Yr 7 Term 4, use Yr 8 stanines. The Term 1 stanine of the following year is much closer to Term 4 achievement. Be aware their stanines may look as if they’ve dropped as this is not a direct comparison.


Use of Stanine Reports

Advantages:

  • An overview of position, against national reference positions,  across a class, a cohort (gender/ethnicity), or a year level
  • A fast and efficient way to highlight target students for either remedial or extension work and go straight to their Individual report
  • Make a record of percentages for the groups of stanines as a measure of position and prgress between testing times

Disadvantages:

  • The stanine is a broad brush, covering up to 8 scale scores. Closer inspection is required to see if the student is at the bottom or the top of the stanine.
  • ACCELERATED PROGRESS CANNOT BE GUARANTEED by moving from one stanine to the next. The student may be at the top scale score of Stanine 3 but at the bottom scale score of Stanine 4 - the shift would be less than even an average shift benchmark. 
  • Stanines require further interpretation and calculation in Terms 2, 3, & 4 (see video). Scale score benchmarks are more finer grained to identify position and shift (see below).

NB: Student scale scores can be compared to average scale score positions at any time of the year. The attached video provides an illustrated comparison of scale scores, reference years, and stanines.