Standard scores, also known as z-scores, are a way to measure how far a particular data point is from the average of a group. They indicate how many standard deviations a value is above or below the mean. A standard score of 0 means the value is exactly at the average, while a score of +1 indicates it is one standard deviation above the mean, and -1 means it is one standard deviation below. These scores are useful in various fields, including psychology and education, to compare individual performance against a larger population. For example, in standardized testing, students can be evaluated based on their standard scores to see how they rank relative to their peers.