What is a composite score?

• A. Total score that consists of the sum or mean score on two or more subtests.
• B. The sum of all raw scores from each item.
• C. The highest score on a single subtest.
• D. The difference between highest and lowest subtest scores.

Answer: (A)

A composite score is the total score formed by combining the results of two or more subtests, by summing their scores or taking their mean. This creates one overall index that reflects performance across multiple related areas rather than focusing on a single task.

This is why it’s the best choice: it captures a broader picture of ability by aggregating across subtests—for example, adding together scores from receptive and expressive language subtests to form a language composite. The other ideas describe different things: a raw total across all items isn’t a subtest-based composite; a single subtest’s highest score isn’t an aggregate; and a range between subtest scores reflects variability, not a combined index.