NORM-REFERENCED VS. CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS

Who are the best and worst runners? Times for the 100 meter dash: Runner 1 – Runner 2 – Runner 3 – Runner 4 – Runner 5 – Runner 6 – Runner 7 – 11.4 Runner 8 – Runner 9 – 12.7 Runner 10 – 11.5

Times for the 100 meter dash: Runner 1 – (Lauryn Williams - silver) Runner 2 – (Marion Jones) Runner 3 – (Gail Devers) Runner 4 – (Florence Joyner) Runner 5 – (Evelyn Ashford-Washington) Runner 6 – (Alice Brown – silver) Runner 7 – 11.4 (Wyomia Tyus) Runner 8 – (Wilma Rudolph) Runner 9 – 12.7 (Betty Robinson) Runner 10 – 11.5 (Helen Stephens) These are all Olympic gold and silver medal winners! So, did the ranking help us really determine strong and weak runners?

The Three-Ring Circus is coming back to Clown Town and needs a couple of new jugglers because Joe and Moe have the flu. The circus director meets with the mayor to ask for potential candidates. You have come to the Clown Town auditions, after which the mayor will report back to the director the following information: TASK: In your group, take turns juggling (balls of paper or something safe – no pencils!). Record the amount of time each person is able to keep the items in the air and juggle and make a chart of your results. Who is the best juggler in Clown Town? Will that information be useful based on what occurred at the “auditions”? Do we need some other type of assessment to determine who is really capable, other than a ranking?

The Normal Curve On many measures of human behavior or traits (i.e. IQ, height, weight), graphing individual results will result in a “bell-shaped,” or normal curve. This is what norm-referenced scores are based on. Most individual scores will fall toward the middle (mean) Fewer scores will fall toward the upper and lower ends Lowest Scores Average Scores Highest Scores

"Norm referenced scores tell you who is farther up the mountain; they do not tell you how far anyone has climbed." (Criterion referenced tests do.) Rothman, R. (1999). Testing, Teaching and Learning: A guide for states and school districts. National Research Council, Committee on Title I Testing and Assessment. Image: activities/6-deadly-mistakes-people-make-when-mountain-climbing/&docid=bD48Gg92r6vx-M&imgurl= content/uploads/2010/04/mountain-climbing.jpg&w=506&h=350&ei=VIdoT6HKA- SJsgKx8oGtCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=775&vpy=121&dur=453&hovh=184&hovw=266&tx=129&ty=94&sig= &page=1&tbnh=114&tbnw=178 &start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:0

Norm-Referenced Tests Used for comparison (often local to national). Measures student performance against other students – norm sample (usually a national representative group). Student scores better or worse than other students. Competition is between student and peers. Score is based on location on “the curve”. Best students get “A,” poorest students fail (classroom assessment)

There are certainly instances when you wouldn’t want to just know where a professional ranks but truly how much skill they really have: You’re going into brain surgery Someone is repairing your car You’re getting a new haircut Someone is teaching your child…

Criterion-Referenced Tests Used for progress monitoring. Measures student performance against predetermined standards. Did they achieve the standards? Student meets or does not meet the standard – categorical decisions (pass/fail, mastered/not mastered) Competition is between the student and the skill, knowledge, or ability. Score is based on accomplishment. Everyone can earn a passing grade if they meet the standard.