The Individual Report maps how well a student has performed on the different questions within a test. Although the Individual Reports for all  PATs/STAR/S:TwE look quite different, they are all built on a set of common concepts. 


The Individual Report  displays the questions against the PAT:Reading Vocabulary scale (patc) determined by the level of skill and knowledge required to answer them.  The vocabulary is always placed in a sentence to provide context for student understanding - words mean nothing in isolation. 

The Report Key explains student responses:

  • Black circle - answered correctly
  • White circle - answered incorrectly
  • Grey circle - omitted


The student's scale position is shown by the dotted line which intersects the scale and the stanine score distributions for three different year levels.The green highlighting around the dotted line is used to indicate the margin of error associated with the student’s score. If the test could be repeated, we would expect the student to score in the range indicated by the highlighting, about two thirds of the time. Students who achieve very highly or very poorly on a test will have a larger error associated with their score and is less reliable. Highly capable or struggling students should sit the test that matches their  ability level.

The questions are deliberately organised in repeating ascending order to build student confidence that they do know many words, and keep them engaged until the last sentence

Typically, a student is more likely to answer correctly the questions listed below the line than above it. When a question is located well below the line there is a strong expectation that the question will be answered correctly. In contrast, it is very unlikely that a question located well above the line will be answered correctly. 

CLICK on a question number to go through to the question, the students' responses, and question info.

 Filters  allow the teacher to focus on one cohort at a time.

A teacher can gain insight into student knowledge  when reviewing the student's choice - is it a guess? a close choice? What does it reveal?




 CLICK on the SHOW QUESTION button in the righthand menu, users can see the vocabulary which is always presentedin sentences to provide context for students.

  • Use the Scale Score button to order questions from easiest to hardest
  • Use the Question  button to re-order the questions



Gaps and strengths

It is important to remember that the aim of PAT:Reading Vocabulary is not to test mastery of particular words. Answering a vocabulary item correctly does not necessarily mean that the student has a full and flexible knowledge of the key word used in the question. The difficulty of a vocabulary question is dependent on the context in which the key word is embedded, the sense in which the key word is used, and the difficulty and precision of the words presented as possible alternatives. At times, a correct answer may indicate only a moderate knowledge about a key word’s meaning; for instance, that the word can be associated with a particular context.