A collection is presented containing four papers dealing with the subject of criterion-referenced testing. This first paper deals with criterion-referenced tests utilizing norm-referenced test items. Aspects covered include a defense of norm-referenced and criterion referenced tests and a justification for the adaptation of norm-referenced test…

Reports progress in the Australian Item Bank Program to publish 2,500 multiple choice questions in science suitable for grades 8 to 12. (SL)

An overview of the articles and definition of terms for the journal topic of domain reference testing. (HB)

Presents approaches to test development analysis, reliability, and validity based on criterion-referenced measurement principles and compares them with norm-referenced approaches in terms of the types of decisions that result from either approach. This is done by using data from an English-as-a-second-language achievement testing project at the…

Ways to use classroom tests as an aid to students of foreign languages are discussed, with particular reference to retesting. (RM)

Testing in the nation's schools is on the rise. From the classroom quiz to the large-scale standardized test, the pressure for education to be "accountable" has intensified. As children experience this new tide of testing, it is helpful to become more aware of the different types of tests and their purposes. Students in the United States…

This paper introduces criterion-referenced tests (CRTs), compares them with norm-referenced tests (NRTs), discusses how they can be evaluated and revised, and presents a study of an actual class and textbook test evaluation using CRTs. NRTs have dominated testing methodology since the mid-1970s; an example is the Test of English as a Foreign…

This book is designed to help K-12 teachers and administrators understand the nature of standardized tests and, in particular, the scores that result from them. This useful manual helps teachers develop the skills necessary to incorporate these test scores into various types of instructional decision making--a process known as "data-driven…

While much has been written on the topic of criterion-referenced testing and consequently its comparison with norm-referenced testing, measurement specialists have not as readily approached the subject of the implications involved in reporting such test information. The purposes of this paper are to (1) draw distinctions between criterion and…

Thematic summaries of those papers from the 1971 annual meeting of the AERA dealing specifically with criterion-referenced measurement are presented. An evaluative commentary by the writer is also included. (AG)

Criterion-referenced testing is defined and some of its background is discussed. A distinction is made between criterion-referenced scores, norm-referenced scores, cut-off scores, criterion scores, criterion variables, and content-standard scores. The relationship between norm-referenced information and criterion-referenced information is…

Instructional improvement within the context of criterion-referenced and norm-referenced tests is described. Such categories overemphasize test interpretation rather than design characteristics of achievement tests. Data from most measurement situations may be reported or interpreted either according to criterion- or norm-referenced standards. How…

Designed to serve as an introductory manual to mastery testing in science, this guide provides basic information about a variety of related topics such as mastery learning, criterion-referenced and norm-referenced testing, how to develop a mastery test, when and how to use a mastery test, limitations of mastery tests, and a list of mastery tests…

A diagnostic test in English as a second language should be a series of miniature tests on specific problems. Subscores in each area should be considered rather than a total score. The results should be used to probe mastery in an area rather than provide the means for comparing one student against another. The statistical reliability of the…

Those anonymous individuals who develop high-stakes tests by which educational quality is measured exercise great influence in defining educational quality. In this article, the author examines the impact of high-stakes testing on the welfare of the children and the quality of social studies instruction. He presents the benefits and drawbacks of…