A big part of my confusion comes from the use of norm-referenced tests. For my middle school student, the NRTs used were the Terra Nova test in mathematics and the Stanford 10 reading test.

They are designed to be taken by everyone and aimed at measuring acceptable skill levels. In contrast, the SAT and ACT are “norm-referenced” tests, forcing students’ scores into a bell curve-shaped ...

In addition, norm-referenced tests are designed so that a certain share of students always fail, because success is gauged by one’s position on the “bell curve” in relation to other students.

A deep dive into the test’s framework suggests it was designed to fail about the same share of students every year, even if they’d made actual progress from previous years.