Consider
norm referenced assessment and criterion referenced assessment. Are there
advantages to both? Are there disadvantages?
Assessment is an important part of the educational process. Assessments can help students and teachers alike when evaluating where a student is or the progress that is being made. Norm referenced testing compares a students performance to their peers, while criterion referenced assessments indicate mastery or non-mastery of specific topics. I think that there are advantages and disadvantages to both forms of the assessments.
Norm referenced assessment would be useful in determining how students differ from one another and it could be used to see how they stack up to other students their same age or grade level. Norm referenced assessment would allow a teacher to easily pick out where a student is struggling and then more attention and focus could be yielded for that area of study. Some disadvantages to this test is that some students will be guaranteed a failing grade and the students who perform above average aren't necessarily "A" performing students, there are many factors that go into assessment, personally I am not a fan of norm-referenced testing--I don't think it is necessary or reliable to compare students to others as often as we do in today's educational environments. Other disadvantages to norm referenced testing is that they do not supply quality measures of a students overall skills or knowledge and they are timely and costly in nature--teachers and students give up weeks of the year to study, prepare, and take norm referenced assessments.
Criterion referenced assessments are based on a predetermined scale or criteria. Some advantages would be that this kind of evaluation sets minimum performance expectations and demonstrates what students can or cannot do in relation to important standards. Criterion referenced assessments allow for recognition of improvements among a students overall achievement. One disadvantage I can think of is that there is no way to compare the data gained from this type of assessment to compare to other students or schools--so it may seem unreliable to some. A criterion referenced assessment could be very difficult to create--and could not be used to determine the set of skills beyond a particular subject area.
Overall, choosing how and in what ways to assess your students can be a very difficult task to complete. I think the best way to choose assessment methods would be to mix it up throughout the school year--after all, assessing the same way every time does not seem to leave much room for students to demonstrate all that they know or have learned.
Norm referenced assessment would be useful in determining how students differ from one another and it could be used to see how they stack up to other students their same age or grade level. Norm referenced assessment would allow a teacher to easily pick out where a student is struggling and then more attention and focus could be yielded for that area of study. Some disadvantages to this test is that some students will be guaranteed a failing grade and the students who perform above average aren't necessarily "A" performing students, there are many factors that go into assessment, personally I am not a fan of norm-referenced testing--I don't think it is necessary or reliable to compare students to others as often as we do in today's educational environments. Other disadvantages to norm referenced testing is that they do not supply quality measures of a students overall skills or knowledge and they are timely and costly in nature--teachers and students give up weeks of the year to study, prepare, and take norm referenced assessments.
Criterion referenced assessments are based on a predetermined scale or criteria. Some advantages would be that this kind of evaluation sets minimum performance expectations and demonstrates what students can or cannot do in relation to important standards. Criterion referenced assessments allow for recognition of improvements among a students overall achievement. One disadvantage I can think of is that there is no way to compare the data gained from this type of assessment to compare to other students or schools--so it may seem unreliable to some. A criterion referenced assessment could be very difficult to create--and could not be used to determine the set of skills beyond a particular subject area.
Overall, choosing how and in what ways to assess your students can be a very difficult task to complete. I think the best way to choose assessment methods would be to mix it up throughout the school year--after all, assessing the same way every time does not seem to leave much room for students to demonstrate all that they know or have learned.
I agree with you in regards to your opinions about the disadvantages of norm referenced testing. I also think that for the most part, they are not extremely useful in the classroom. Knowing how each student compares to one another in a particular subject area really does not reveal much about the quality of instruction these students are receiving or about their overall performance. Norm referenced assessment really only allows us to determine if some students are behind others in their knowledge of a subject area, but doesn't tell us why. It would take even more time to examine why certain students are not performing as well as others, and it could be a wide range of reasons, some that may be out of our control as educators.
ReplyDeleteI think you made great points about these types of assessments. I am wondering though...you mention sets of skills beyond subject areas. What skills exactly are you talking about and how could those skills be assessed in a way that does not involve norm or criterion referenced tests.
ReplyDeleteWhat I meant when I was talking about criterion referenced testing and how they wouldn't allow a teacher to measure skills beyond a particular subject area is that criterion referenced assessment measure a students skills in one particular area--such as math. So if a teacher was curious about how a student was doing in math, a criterion referenced assessment would be good. If a teacher was curious, however, about how a student is doing in math, science, and reading I am not so sure a criterion referenced test would be the best type of assessment because it is too detailed and particular in nature--hope this clears up any confusion.
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