<p>@Daykidmom thanks for posting the official explanation. With this information, it seems very likely that younger kids should have percentile scores higher on the actual tests than those seen in practice tests that offer percentile information because that percentile information appears to be an aggregate statistic, not broken out by grade level. Put more specifically, I believe the SSAT Official Guide has two practice tests, both of which include percentile conversion information. However, if your child is on the younger end of the spectrum, and assuming in general a rising 9th or 10th grader will do better than the same rising 8th grader, actual percentile scores should be lower on the practice tests.</p>
<p>I totally agree. Also, of course, starting a little over a year ago, they started using separate calculations for domestic vs. international kids (the thought was, according to an AO we know, Asian students were making quantitative averages too high for American kids, and vocab/reading scores too low). That’s why, as you can see above in the official language, just American and Canadian scores are used for the percentiles for American and Canadian kids.</p>
<p>Fascinating. Makes me wonder if there is any documented data around how much the percentiles tend to differ across grades and geographies. I might start a new thread on this to see if anyone has ever seen any info out of curiosity.</p>