Understanding Your Evaluation Report: A Parent's Glossary

You've completed the evaluation, sat through the feedback session, and now you're holding a report that's dozens of pages long, full of terms like "percentile rank," "standard score," and "composite index." Even when a feedback session covers everything in plain language, it's easy to forget the details once you're re-reading the report on your own weeks later. Here's a plain-language glossary to keep handy.

Standard Score A number that shows how a person performed compared to others their same age, typically on a scale where 100 is considered "average." Most standard scores range from about 70 to 130, with 85-115 generally falling in the average range.

Percentile Rank Shows what percentage of same-age peers a person scored equal to or better than. A percentile rank of 60 means the person scored better than 60% of their peers — it's a different way of expressing the same standard score, often more intuitive to picture.

Composite Score A combined score that reflects performance across several related subtests, giving a broader summary rather than one narrow measure. For example, a "Verbal Comprehension" composite combines several individual verbal subtests into one overall score.

Subtest An individual task or measure within a larger assessment — for example, within a full cognitive assessment, there might be separate subtests measuring vocabulary, working memory, and processing speed.

Norm-Referenced Means a score is calculated by comparing someone's performance to a large sample of same-age peers (the "norm group"), rather than to a fixed passing standard. Nearly all scores in a psychoeducational evaluation are norm-referenced.

Cognitive Ability / IQ A measure of overall reasoning and problem-solving ability across several domains (verbal reasoning, visual-spatial reasoning, working memory, processing speed, etc.), typically summarized as a Full Scale IQ along with several sub-scores.

Achievement Testing Measures actual academic skills — reading, writing, and math — rather than general reasoning ability. Comparing achievement scores to cognitive ability scores is often how a specific learning disability gets identified.

Discrepancy Model / Pattern of Strengths and Weaknesses (PSW) Two different methods evaluators may use to identify a learning disability — either by looking at a significant gap between ability and achievement, or by identifying a specific pattern of cognitive strengths alongside a specific, related weakness. Your evaluator's report should explain which method was used and why.

Working Memory The ability to hold and actively use information in mind over a short period — for example, following multi-step directions or doing mental math without writing it down.

Processing Speed How quickly someone can take in, think through, and respond to information, especially under time pressure. (We covered this in depth in a previous post — worth a read if this is a term that's come up for your child.)

Executive Functioning An umbrella term for the mental skills involved in planning, organizing, initiating tasks, regulating emotions, and self-monitoring — often an area of difficulty in ADHD.

Recommendations Section The most actionable part of the report — specific, individualized suggestions for accommodations, interventions, or next steps, often the section you'll reference most when working with your child's school or other providers.

If any term in your report doesn't make sense, it's always worth reaching back out for clarification — a good evaluator wants you to fully understand your child's results, not just receive a document full of numbers.