Other Types
Alternative to normative testing, tests can be ipsative, that is, the individual assessment is compared to him- or herself through time.
By contrast, a test is criterion-referenced when provision is made for translating the test score into a statement about the behavior to be expected of a person with that score. The same test can be used in both ways. Robert Glaser originally coined the terms norm-referenced test and criterion-referenced test.
Standards-based education reform is based on the belief that public education should establish what every student should know and be able to do. Students should be tested against a fixed yardstick, rather than against each other or sorted into a mathematical bell curve. By assessing that every student must pass these new, higher standards, education officials believe that all students will achieve a diploma that prepares them for success in the 21st century.
Read more about this topic: Norm-referenced Test
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