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Norm and criterion-referenced tests 1Norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests as indicators of success in the classroomNorm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests serve a variety of purposes due to thearray of educational situations that exist in
today’s
schools. Testing can rank students with eachother or some other sociocultural norm, or testing can be based on some performance criteria thatfocus on assessing certain understandings or skill set. Ideally, a combination of both testingtypes exists in a way that is valid, reliable, and fair. Thus, given that many classrooms containstudents with different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, testing becomes quite achallenge. Therefore, in order to assure that all students receive the most appropriate feedback, avariety of testing techniques is needed so that proper decisions and actions can be made that bestsuit the learner.Virtually all students have taken some kind of standardized test by the time they enterhigh school or college. Moreover, many standardized tests (i.e., high stakes tests) are used as acondition of graduation, acceptance, or financial aid. Because these tests are used as a way torank or compare students, they are often referred to as norm-referenced tests (NRT) (Kubiszynand Borich, 2007). NRTs are commonly used when stakeholders are interested in the centraltendency of the results of a group of students, as when descriptive statistics are used to find theaverage, mean, median, and mode of a particular data set. When using tests to diagnose or tofigure the aptitude of a student, inferences are made based on how students compare with each
other or some other sample based on a social norm. Since results are “objective” – 
test items areusually in terms of right and wrong answers
 – 
and since many tests can be applied at once, NRTsare typically more appropriate for making decisions that are non-instructional based.In addition to NRTs being used externally to rank students (e.g., SAT, ACT, etc.),teachers oftentimes use NRTs to test students in the classroom. Multiple-choice, true-false,
 
Norm and criterion-referenced tests 2matching, and essay questions are common testing types that fall under this same category. Testresults are gathered, averaged, and ranked in order for teachers to make their best inference as towhat level a student has understood, obtained the necessary skill set, or developed the intendeddisposition based on the goals and objectives of the classroom. Subsequently, instructionaldecisions are often made based on these results either by reviewing past information that studentscontinue to struggle with or continuing on with new information that makes up part of thecurriculum. Having framed NRT first as an external instrument, such as an ACT, then as aninternal instrument used by teachers in their classrooms, one can see a noticeable difference in
why
they are being used in each circumstance. The former is to make decisions regardingachievement while the latter is to make decisions regarding instruction. This distinction isimportant when talking about a second type of test that is based on criteria.Instead of ranking students to some certain norm, another testing method aids in basingstudents performance in terms of meeting certain criteria. Kubiszyn and Borich (2007) definecriterion-
referenced test (CRT) as tests that “tells us about a student’s l
evel of proficiency in or
mastery of some skill or set of skills” (p. 66). Wiggins and McTighe (2005) also
put forth thenotion of promoting the six facets of understanding (e.g., explain, interpret, apply, perspective,empathy, and self-knowledge) when testing students regarding what they know and theirdisposition they possess. In other words, CRTs can provide teachers with greater insight oninstructional decision-making adjustments when student performances are assessed in terms of performance criteria. Rubrics are often used in order to qualitatively assess performances andproducts. Arter and McTighe (2001) distinguish between a holistic and analytical trait rubricwhen they state
“A holistic rubric gives a single score or rating for an entire product
orperformance based on an overall
impression of a student’s work”
and
“
an analytical trait rubric
 
Norm and criterion-referenced tests 3divides a product or performance into essential traits or dimensions so that they can be judgedseparately-one
analyzes
a product or performance for essential
traits
” (p. 18).
 
Communicating these “essential traits” with students provides the basis for what constitutes a“good” and “bad” performance or product, and is essential in setting the expectations between
teacher and student. Indeed, CRTs are specifically suited for assessing understandings,knowledge, skills, and dispositions in terms of subsequent inferences towards instructionaldecision-making adjustments and adjustments to student learning tactics.Regardless of the test being administered, reliability,
validity, and “absence
-of-
 bias”
(Popham, 2008, p. 73) drive the level of predictability an instrument has in making proper
inferences on a student’s achievement. Reliability in NRTs is of high concern since many
versions of the ACT, for example, are expected to contain test items that measure the samecontent. Similarly, the same ACT should yield similar results (i.e., a high correlation coefficient)if students retake the exam without being exposed to a learning intervention in the interim. Thevalidit
y of a test pertains to the three Cs: “content, criterion, and construct” (Popham, 2008, p.
53). Content validity addresses how test items represent concepts that are covered in thecurriculum. Criterion validity in NRTs deals with how accurate the testing items are inpredicting future behavior (e.g., ACT and SAT scores and subsequent academic success orfailure). Criterion validity in CRTs deals with rubric traits and how valid they are in terms of a
student’s future performance. The final C, construct validity, has to do with how a student’s
performance over time is gauged in terms of meeting criteria that is aligned to the curriculum.And finally, absence-of-bias centers on how test items present information that is fair; that is,does not lean towards a certain group of people based on socioeconomic status, race, ethnicbackground, gender, or sexual orientation.
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Alleghenylane

I am unable to print and am interested in reading

reply03 / 15 / 2012
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