science

Stanine

Stanine is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Stanine rather than just read about it. In short: Stanine (STAndard NINE) is a method of scaling test scores on a nine-point standard scale with a mean of five and a standard deviation of two. Some web sources attribute stanines to the U.S.

Key takeaways

Stanine belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Stanine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Stanine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Stanine (STAndard NINE) is a method of scaling test scores on a nine-point standard scale with a mean of five and a standard deviation of two. Some web sources attribute stanines to the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Psychometric legend has it that a 1–9 scale was used because of the compactness of recording the score as a single digit but Thorndike claims that by reducing scores to just nine values, stanines "reduce the tendency to try to interpret small score differences (p. 131)". The earliest known use of stanines was by the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942.

Calculation Test scores are scaled to stanine scores using the following algorithm:

Rank results from lowest to highest Give the lowest 4% a stanine of 1, the next 7% a stanine of 2, etc., according to the following table:

The underlying basis for obtaining stanines is that a normal distribution is divided into nine intervals, each of which has a width of 0.5 standard deviations excluding the first and last, which are just the remainder (the tails of the distribution). The median lies at the centre of the fifth interval.

Use today Today stanines are mostly used in educational assessment.

The University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada used the stanine system until 2003, when it switched to a 4-point scale. In the United States, the Educational Records Bureau (they administer the "ERBs") reports test scores as stanines and percentiles. In Europe, EUROCONTROL scores its FEAST Test - a test used for selecting candidates for ATC - using stanines. The New Zealand Council for Educational Research uses stanines. GL Assessment use stanines alongside SAS (Standardised Age Scores) to express the results of its CAT4 assessments, used in many UK and British international schools The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test uses a stanine system along with percentiles. High schools in Korea use a stanine system to evaluate their students. The IDF (Israeli Defense Force) uses the stanine grading system ranging from 10 to 90 (10, 20, 30 and so on) to rank intelligence ability relevant to the army's use, determined by a 100 question test divided to 4 categories having to do with different uses and implications of cognitive abilities The Polish Matura secondary-school exam results and university admissions utilise the stanine system

See also Sten scores – a similar system, but with 10 possible values Normal score

Notes

References Ballew, Pat (c. 2002). "Origins of some arithmetic terms". Math words. pballew.net. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 26 December 2004. Boydsten, Robert E. (27 February 2000). "Winning My Wings". boydstonfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Craven, Wesley Frank; Cate, James Lea, eds. (1983) [1955]. Men and Planes (PDF). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. 6 (new imprint ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press (1955) / Office of Air Force History (1983). ISBN 0-912799-03-X. LCCN 48-3657. AFD-101105-019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-23 – via afhso.af.mil.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Stanine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Stanine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Stanine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Stanine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Stanine

In research: Stanine appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Stanine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Stanine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Comparison of assessments, Educational assessment and evaluation, Psychometrics, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Stanine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Stanine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Stanine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Stanine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stanine in simple terms?

Stanine (STAndard NINE) is a method of scaling test scores on a nine-point standard scale with a mean of five and a standard deviation of two. Some web sources attribute stanines to the U.S.

Why does Stanine matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Stanine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Stanine.