Introduction
A test is an item that is administered to determine how much of a content an individual has understood for comparison purposes. There are many other purposes for testing, including instructional purposes, guidance and counseling, administration and research. There are two ways of interpreting the scores obtained from testing, namely the norm-referenced tests and the criterion referenced tests. This essay discusses the abovementioned tests and seeks to distinguish between them.
Norm-referenced Tests and Criterion-referenced Tests
Norm-referenced tests are administered to learners in groups known as the norm groups, whereby the learners are of the same age and grade. The performance of an individual learner is interpreted in relation to the performance of other learners of the norm group. Norm-referenced tests tend to be general as they are constructed to measure the difference between the mastery of specific and general skills by individual learners in the norm groups. Unlike the criterion-referenced tests, it does not show the mastery of an individual skill. It provides the estimate understanding of general and individual skills in the norm groups (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2009).
Criterion-referenced tests are administered to individual students of various education levels. The tests’ results are used to determine what skills the individual learner has mastered. Unlike the norm-referenced tests, the performance of the learner in the criterion-referenced group is not compared to that of other learners at the same level (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2009). The examiner sets a standard to compare the performance of different learners in order to determine mastery or non mastery of the content.
One morning, when I was a student of the eighth grade, our teacher of mathematics, administered a norm-referenced test to us. She told us that the results of the test would be compared to those of learners of the eighth grade in the district. There was to be a reward for the best performing school and the best student in our school. She explained that the measurement and rubrics were standard for all participating schools to promote the reliability and fairness of the results.
One day during the English lesson, our teacher demanded to know if we had understood the previous topic, concluded in the previous lesson. She welcomed everybody to ask any questions that we had on the topic, and told us to give the main points of the topic. She then announced that she was going to administer a test on that last topic to measure how much of the content and skills we had mastered. As such, the test was criterion-referenced.
In both cases, I felt that the tests were helpful to my academic progress and understanding of the materials. The norm-referenced test helped me to realize that there was a room for better performance. Although I was the first student in our class, there was better performances from other schools. The criterion-referenced test helped me understand a concept that was not clear during the revision of the test.
The quality and impact of tests can be improved by making them more reliable and valid. The validity of a test refers to its relevance in terms of its structure/face, content, criterion relation and meaning. A test is considered to be reliable if it can provide dependable results when used severally. A test should be set in relation to the objectives of the subject, for it to serve its purpose, and should adequately cover the content of the subject being tested (Snowman, McCown, & Biehler, 2011).
Conclusion
The criterion-referenced and the norm referenced tests are both used for evaluation. They are used for different purposes and should be interchangeable, since they are both necessary. The test to be used should be determined by the purpose of the evaluation. In order to get the best outcome, tests should be of satisfactory quality. Tests should be valid, reliable and in accordance to the objectives.
References
- Kubiszyn, T., & Borich, G. (2009). Educational Testing And Measurement: Classroom Application And Practice. New Delhi, India: Wiley India Pvt. Ltd.
- Snowman, J., McCown, R., & Biehler, R. (2011). Psychology Applied to Teaching. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.