US Academic Scores is intended to reflect accurate, current and properly sourced education assessment data. Errors, revised official statistics and material source changes are handled according to the principles described on this page.
What May Require a Correction
A correction may be appropriate when a published page contains a factual error, incorrect score, inaccurate percentage, wrong assessment cycle, mistaken grade or population, broken source attribution or interpretation that is inconsistent with the underlying official data.
Formatting differences that do not change the meaning of a statistic are generally not treated as substantive data corrections.
Official Revisions
Assessment organizations can revise datasets, technical documentation, tables or previously released statistics. When an authoritative source publishes a revised value, the current official figure takes precedence over an earlier version.
A revision by the original source is distinct from an error in the earlier US Academic Scores page. In either case, the affected page may be updated so that the displayed information reflects the current authoritative record.
Types of Corrections
Data Correction
A score, percentage, benchmark, proficiency share, rank, sample value or other reported statistic does not match the applicable official source.
Classification Correction
A result is associated with the wrong assessment cycle, subject, grade, age group, jurisdiction or student population.
Source Correction
A citation, external link or attribution points to the wrong document or no longer identifies the relevant official evidence.
Interpretation Correction
A statement describes a numerical difference as statistically meaningful when the official evidence does not support that conclusion, or otherwise overstates what the data establish.
Statistical Corrections
Large-scale assessment results are estimates and often include statistical significance testing, standard errors, plausible values, linking error or other measures of uncertainty.
A correction may therefore involve more than changing a displayed number. Language such as higher, lower, increased or declined may also require revision when the official statistical comparison does not support that description.
Rounded and Unrounded Values
Official assessment publications may display rounded scores while calculating changes or significance tests from more precise underlying estimates.
A small difference between simple subtraction of displayed values and an officially published change estimate is not necessarily an error. Where an official change estimate exists, that measure takes precedence over arithmetic based only on rounded display values.
Charts and Tables
When a corrected statistic appears in both a table and a chart, the affected representations should reflect the same underlying value.
HTML data tables serve as the primary visible record for many data pages. Interactive charts are intended to visualize those values rather than maintain an independent version of the dataset.
Downloadable data associated with an affected table may also require revision when a published value changes.
New Data Is Not Necessarily a Correction
The release of a new PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS, NAEP or ICILS cycle does not make an earlier result incorrect. Historical results remain associated with the assessment cycle in which they were reported.
A page may be updated to incorporate a newer cycle while retaining earlier values for trend analysis. This type of update is different from correcting an inaccurate historical statistic.
Changes in Methodology
Assessment organizations may change frameworks, scaling procedures, sampling methods, questionnaire coverage or reporting conventions over time.
When new technical guidance changes how a comparison should be interpreted, explanatory text or historical comparisons may require revision even when the originally published numeric values remain unchanged.
Comparability guidance from the organization responsible for the assessment takes priority over an assumption that similarly labeled results are automatically comparable across cycles.
Reporting a Possible Error
Possible data errors, outdated source links or interpretation problems can be reported by email.
A useful correction report should include:
- the URL of the affected US Academic Scores page;
- the specific statistic, statement, table row or chart value involved;
- a description of the suspected problem;
- a link to the relevant official source when available.
support@usacademicscores.com
Source Disagreements
Two official pages can occasionally display different versions of a statistic because of revisions, rounding, different reporting populations or differences in publication timing.
When official sources appear to conflict, the most directly applicable and current source should be considered together with its technical documentation before treating either value as incorrect.
Correction Scope
A correction should address every material place where the affected information appears, including related tables, charts, explanatory text and derived calculations when necessary.
Corrections do not require unrelated historical content or valid statistics to be removed solely because another value on the same page changed.