Beyond Words

Norm-Referenced vs. Criterion-Referenced Testing

May 22nd, 2008 by Danielle, Director of Sales and Marketing, Language Testing

Pencils for Standardized Testing

You may have had an experience where you took a test for a class, and the instructor showed you the class’s results afterwards. The results probably mapped out into the infamous “bell-shaped curve”, with a few people scoring on the low end of the curve, the majority clustering in the middle, and a few people scoring on the high end. What you may not have known is that this is a normal distribution found in norm-referenced testing.

Norm-referenced tests (or NRTs) compare an examinee’s performance to that of other examinees. Standardized examinations such as the SAT are norm-referenced tests. The goal is to rank the set of examinees so that decisions about their opportunity for success (e.g. college entrance) can be made.

Criterion-referenced tests (or CRTs) differ in that each examinee’s performance is compared to a pre-defined set of criteria or a standard. The goal with these tests is to determine whether or not the candidate has the demonstrated mastery of a certain skill or set of skills. These results are usually “pass” or “fail” and are used in making decisions about job entry, certification, or licensure. A national board medical exam is an example of a CRT. Either the examinee has the skills to practice the profession, in which case he or she is licensed, or does not.

ALTA’s exams, which measure the candidate’s performance against pre-defined criteria (the performance levels), are also an example of criterion-referenced tests. Based on the passing level set by ALTA or the client, the results can then be used to determine whether or not the candidate meets the performance requirements of the job from a language standpoint.

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Posted in Language Testing, Most Popular | 19 Comments

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Comments

  1. thank you, thank you! it was very easy explained and it cleared my doubt.

    Lorena Pena on March 27th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

  2. too shallow men expand on it

    collins on April 13th, 2011 at 8:33 am

  3. it has been a great help in understanding both the ideas especially examples have made it easier. thanks really…

    somia on April 23rd, 2011 at 3:32 pm

  4. thanks greatly ,really I have agreat idea about both kinds of tests but Iwant to know about using them in mock exams

    ibrahim on June 17th, 2011 at 8:11 am

  5. Thank you for clarifying my long-lasted doubt with lucid illustration

    Santanu on June 24th, 2011 at 2:09 am

  6. thank you for the info, it was well elaborated.

    anne on June 25th, 2011 at 5:31 am

  7. I need more explanation on norm reference and criterion reference test

    Mudansir lawan on July 20th, 2011 at 5:06 am

  8. good information

    radha on August 4th, 2011 at 10:09 am

  9. thanks.

    marvin senobio on September 7th, 2011 at 10:39 pm

  10. thanks it will help me but i some more information about their comparison anyways thanks

    neha malhotra on September 8th, 2011 at 10:01 am

  11. thanks. this helped me a lot on my test

    heather kelly on November 2nd, 2011 at 9:20 am

  12. Thanks. I’ve been cleared

    Imo Inyang on November 17th, 2011 at 2:43 am

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