Criterion Referenced Tests and the Norm Referenced Tests - Research Paper Example

Criterion Referenced Tests and the Norm Referenced Tests Affiliation Testing is an important aspect of collecting informationthat is used in the decision making process by the examiner or the teacher or the practitioner. Depending on the use and the decision making process that the results are needed for, there are different tests that can be used to measure different capabilities of the examinee. There are therefore two main types of tests that are measured are the norm-referenced tests and the criterion-referenced tests. The criterion-referenced tests are intended to measure a person understands of a specific concept or skills that were required and are usually used in job evaluations and also in acquiring licenses. Under the CRT the tests are either a pass or a fail for a particular test since it tests if one has conceptualized a given concept or skill or not. The norm-referenced tests on the other hand are used to compare a given examinee with the other examinees. Under the norm-standard tests the examinees are given a similar test and they are compared against the results of each other that are put on a graph where the normal distribution is analyzed and the other extremes on either side of the curve are also characterized. The norm-referenced tests are usually used in schools and in grading students to understand the students that can make it to the next level as they are used to test their capability in the specific subjects and how they relate to their development educationally (Schell, 2011). As opposed to the CRT where there are no ranks but only a pass or a fail the ranking system is the most important aspect of the NRT system since the students that will pass and those that have failed need to be known to the teacher or practitioner. This paper examines the differences between the two types of tests and how they can be applied by the teacher or practitioner in a classroom setting. One of the main differences as aforementioned is the comparison targets which assesses what the examinees performance are compared to. The NRTs use criteria where the student is compared with other students in the classroom to gauge their capability in comparison to their peers. On the other hand the CTRs criteria are based on a predetermined set of principles to understand if the examinee has understood the concepts and the objectives of the study. The examinee in the case of the CRTs is known to have mastered the topic through passing the examination while for the NRTs the person is said to be a master after checking their results against the results of other students in the same classroom (Miklos, 2010). It is important for a teacher to understand the difference in order to know the most appropriate test for a specific measure that they may want to analyze about their students. If a teacher for instance wants to know a student’s ability and understanding of geometry that they have learnt in the past class the use of CRTs is the most convenient method to use since the student will be analyzed according to their understanding of the learning objectives in the study and not the general ability in the classroom (Miller, 2009). However, if the teacher wants to learn the ability of the student in mathematics for the past year where different aspects and topics have been learnt the use of NRTs is the most effective method since the teacher can be able to examine the students that is at par with others and those that are not. The teacher can also know the gifted and highly capable students and the ones that need extra help if they are to make it in future. The students, especially those at early childhood level can be nurtured and improved by their teachers if they conduct the tests and use the results to make conclusive and helpful assessments that may help the students in future. The other difference that can be derived from the two tests is the reported scores that are either classification or the percentile and scale scores that can be used for ranking. The CRTs use the classification method since it is a matter of a pass or a fail for the students (Brown and Hudson, 2012). On the other hand the NRTs use the percentile ranks and scale scores that are used to rank the students and also analyze the results to get the normal distribution for the different students. The teacher needs to understand this difference in order to be able to compute the different scores and also rank the students accordingly without necessarily using the classification method for ranking or the percentile method for classification. It is important that the teacher understands the difference in reporting so as to gain from conducting these tests since they are structured differently and for one to accrue their benefits there is need for a better understanding of reporting techniques. The average item difficulty is also an important difference between the two sets of tests since they vary in their purpose and use. The CRTs need to have a fairly high level of difficulty since they assess mastery in a given item or subject and not the whole information in a given class (Schell, 2011). For instance if its chemistry the teacher may decide to evaluate a student’s mastery of organic chemistry that is only one part of the chemistry subject. In testing for the student’s mastery in the topic the level of difficulty may be fairly high. In NRTs however the tests need to be fairly lower in the level of difficulty since the student is examined on a larger or whole subject in a given case (Brown and Hudson, 2012). For instance if its chemistry the topics learnt in the chemistry class will be aggregated and tested therefore the level of difficulty needs not to be equal. It is important for the teacher to understand this concept and deliver a good test to the examinee depending on the main attribute that the teacher wishes to test. The teacher needs to give the students a fair examination and test their capabilities instead of making the paper too difficult for the students to understand and to deter their advancements since they it may lower their morale (Miller, 2009). The teacher also needs not to make the paper too easy such that the students may believe to have captured the concepts and yet they have not entirely understood all the information making it extremely difficult to develop the necessary skills and advance their development. It is therefore important for a teacher to strike a balance and understand the difference in terms of difficulty between the two tests in order to bring out the best in the students and to develop the students educationally. The score distribution is also another main difference that differs between the two types of tests due to the shape of the examinees’ score distributions. The score distributions for the different tests are determined by the level of difficulty that the examiner had placed on a test. With the difference between the two tests being significant the score distributions for the two tests are significantly different. For the CRTs the score distribution will show a significant number of examinees ranging on the higher quartile (Brown and Hudson, 2012). This is because the tests that were taken for the CRTs are after the students have taken a specific unit while for the NRTs the distribution is evenly distributed (Dappen and Isernhagen, 2006). There are many people in the medium level with a few in the upper and the lower quartile. It is important for a teacher to correctly study and analyze the distribution of the results to understand the students better and also help the students. If the teacher was to assume that the students were sharp by taking the CRT test results and distributions this would be inaccurate since the distribution shows concentration on the upper side. The teacher therefore needs to take the results of both tests and use them in making decisions on the students and looking for ways in which to improve the students. In conclusion, both tests are important to a teacher since they measure different aspects of the examinees capability and skills. The teacher therefore needs to integrate the two in the teaching system and ensure that he analyzes the information properly in order to make the proper decisions for the students. References Brown, J., & Hudson, T. (2012). Criterion-referenced Language Testing. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. Dappen, L., & Isernhagen, J. (2006). An Examination of 2002 to 2004 Nebraska Criterion Referenced Tests, Norm Referenced Tests, and District Portfolio Ratings for Math at Grades 4, 8, and 11. Lincoln: Nebraska Dept. of Education. Miklos, M. (2010). Preparation for Criterion-Referenced Tests: A Brief Review of Mathematical Competencies for Teachers of Early Childhood. Washington: UP of America. Miller, L. (2009). Developing Norm-Referenced Standardized Tests. New York: Haworth Press. Schell, L. (2011). Diagnostic and Criterion Referenced Reading Tests: Review and Evaluation. Newark: International Reading Association. Read More