`  :::The purpose of the normal curve equivalent is to solve the problems associated with using percentile ranks and stanines in statistics. It is inappropriate to use percentile ranks and stanines in statistics because these types of numbers do not have equal intervals between each scores. That would be like the inch changing in size from 2 to 3 and 7 to 8. The distance between percentile rank 1 and 2 is a different size than the distance between 49 and 50. The normal curve equivalent solves this problem. Therefore, it is incredibly useful when conducting statistics and is not a ``silly measurement.`` No measurement ``take[s] into account the... psychometric properties and content of the test.`` That's not possible. If you are correct in saying that the sample size impacts the NCE distribution, then it actually does take into account the performance of the students; however, my feeling is that it does not since it relies on the z-score. Either way, NCEs are indispensable when statistics on student achievement are necessary.`