KING’S COLLEGE OF THE PHILIPPINES, INC.

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Subject: ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING 2

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Topic: Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Test

Grades may reflect relative performance, such as score compared to other students where they are ranked. This is
more commonly called as norm-referenced grading system. In such system:
a. grade, like a class rank, depends on what group you are in, not just your own performance;
b. students are awarded their grades on the basis of their ranking within a particular cohort;
c. involves fitting a ranked list of students’ ‘raw scores’ to a pre-determined distribution for awarding grades;
d. is based on the assumption that a roughly similar range of human performance can be expected for any
student group;
e. typical grades may be shifted up or down, depending on group’s ability;
f. widely used because much classroom testing is norm-referenced.

Grades may also reflect absolute performance such as score compared to specified performance standards, such as
what the students can do. This is more commonly called a criterion-referenced grading system. In such a system:
a. involves determining a student’s grade by comparing his or her achievements with clearly stated criteria for
learning outcomes and clearly stated standards for particular levels of performance;
b. unlike norm-referencing, there is no pre-determined grade distribution to be generated and a student’s grade
is in no way influenced by the performance of others;
c. all students within a particular cohort could receive very high (or very low) grades depending solely on the
levels of individuals’ performances against the established criteria and standards;
d. grade does NOT depend on what group the student is in, but only on his own performance compared to a
set of performance standards;
e. Grading is a complex task, because grades must:
 clearly define the domain
 clearly define and justify the performance standards
 be based on criterion-referenced assessment;
f. Conditions are hard to meet except in complete mastery learning settings.

Analysis on Criterion-Referenced vs. Norm-Referenced Tests

Criterion-Referenced Norm-Referenced
Dimension
Tests Tests

To rank each student with respect to the

To determine whether each student has
achievement of others in broad areas of
achieved specific skills or concepts.
Purpose knowledge.
To find out how much students know before
instruction begins and after it has finished. To discriminate between high and low
achievers.

Measures specific skills which make up a

designated curriculum. These skills are
Content identified by teachers and curriculum experts.
Each skill is expressed as an instructional
objective.
Each skill is tested by at least four items in
order to obtain an adequate sample of student
Item performance and to minimize the effect of
Characteristics guessing.
The items which test any given skill are
parallel in difficulty.
Each individual is compared with a preset
standard for acceptable achievement. The
performance of other examinees is irrelevant.
Score
Interpretation A student's score is usually expressed as a
percentage.
Student achievement is reported for individual
skills.
Measures broad skill areas sampled from a
variety of textbooks, syllabi, and the
judgments of curriculum experts.
Each skill is usually tested by less than four
items. Items vary in difficulty.
Items are selected and discriminate between
high and low achievers.
Each individual is compared with other
examinees and assigned a score--usually
expressed as a percentile, a grade
equivalent score, or a stanine.
Student achievement is reported for broad
skill areas, although some norm-referenced
tests do report student achievement for
individual skills.
APPLICATION

Name: __________________________________________________ Course: ________ Score: ________

Instructions: Study the situations below then decide which grading system is applied, whether norm-referenced
or criterion-referenced.

A. In Mr. Ramiento’s class, in order for a student to successfully demonstrate his knowledge of the math
concepts discussed, he must answer at least 80% of the test questions correctly. The child earned an 85%
on his last fractions test; therefore, he demonstrated knowledge of the subject area and passed.

Criterion-referenced

B. Madame Murtira looked at her child's raw score on a recent math standardized assessment. Looking at the
chart, she saw that her child's raw score of 56 places him at an 8th grade level.

Norm-referenced

C. Assignment of letter grades is accomplished by comparing the students’ performance to the learning
objectives. The teacher decides what scores will constitute each letter grade. The decision is based on the
coverage of the test and the difficulty of the questions.

Criterion-referenced

D. The class sets the standard to which the individual will be compared. The students who get the highest total
points at the end of the course will get A’s, even if they only successfully complete half of the learning
objectives.

Norm-referenced

E. Test takers receive a score that compares them to others that have taken the test, usually given by a
percentile. There is a wide range of acceptable scores, and the goal is to find out who performs better.

Norm-referenced

F. An IQ test has been administered to see which test taker is more intelligent than the other test takers. The
median IQ is set to 100, and all test takers are ranked up or down in comparison to that level.

Norm-referenced

G. An English teacher has administered a 100-item test in order to determine whether or not the students
perform well or poorly in the subject. Students must answer at least 75 items to get a passing grade.

Criterion-referenced

References:

 Navarro, Rosita L. (2013). Authentic Assessment of Learning Outcomes. Quezon City: Lorimar
Publishing Inc.
 http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/06/normvcrit6.html
APPLICATION

Name: __________________________________________________ Course: ________ Score: ________

Instructions: Study the situations below then decide which grading system is applied, whether norm-referenced
or criterion-referenced.

A. In Mr. Ramiento’s class, in order for a student to successfully demonstrate his knowledge of the math
concepts discussed, he must answer at least 80% of the test questions correctly. The child earned an 85%
on his last fractions test; therefore, he demonstrated knowledge of the subject area and passed.

_________________________________________

B. Madame Murtira looked at her child's raw score on a recent math standardized assessment. Looking at the
chart, she saw that her child's raw score of 56 places him at an 8th grade level.

_________________________________________

C. Assignment of letter grades is accomplished by comparing the students’ performance to the learning
objectives. The teacher decides what scores will constitute each letter grade. The decision is based on the
coverage of the test and the difficulty of the questions.

_________________________________________

D. The class sets the standard to which the individual will be compared. The students who get the highest total
points at the end of the course will get A’s, even if they only successfully complete half of the learning
objectives.

_________________________________________

E. Test takers receive a score that compares them to others that have taken the test, usually given by a
percentile. There is a wide range of acceptable scores, and the goal is to find out who performs better.

_________________________________________

F. An IQ tests has been administered to see which test taker is more intelligent than the other test takers. The
median IQ is set to 100, and all test takers are ranked up or down in comparison to that level.

_________________________________________

G. An English teacher has administered a 100-item test in order to determine whether or not the students
perform well or poorly in the subject. Students must answer at least 75 items to get a passing grade.

_________________________________________

______________
rsbj’15
A. In Ms. Sulayman’s PE class, in order for a student to successfully demonstrate his skill in playing
basketball, he must shoot an average of 95% of the total throws in a game. At the end of the game,
he surpassed the requirement and thus, he was evaluated to have demonstrated the target skill.

_________________________________________

B. After administering an entrance exam to 1,000 freshmen at King’s College of the Philippines, the
Guidance Counselor of the school recommended 500 of them to enroll Bachelor in Secondary
Education, 300 for Bachelor of Science in Accountancy, and 200 Bachelor of Science in
Criminology.

_________________________________________

C. Assignment of letter grades is accomplished by comparing the students’ performance to the

learning objectives. The teacher decides what scores will constitute each letter grade. The
decision is based on the coverage of the test and the difficulty of the questions.

_________________________________________

D. At the beginning of the instruction, the teacher has identified the requirements in order for the
students to get a grade of 95. After the covered period of instruction, the teacher found all of his
students to have met the requirement. All of them got a grade of 95.

_________________________________________

E. During the deliberation of awardees, the deans of the different colleges have gathered the General
Weighted Average of the hopefuls. This is to determine who among them could become cum
laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude.

_________________________________________