Criterion-referenced test
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A criterion-referenced test measures whether a student has learned specific skills against a fixed standard, rather than comparing the student with others.
Topic: Evaluation and assessment
In plain terms
Criterion-referenced tests answer the question "can the student do this skill?" Results are reported as percent correct or as mastered and not yet mastered. A spelling test on this week's patterns, a state reading test with cut scores, and a checklist of counting skills are all criterion-referenced. Everyone could pass, or no one could, because the score does not depend on peers.
How it shows up in an IEP
Many IEP goals are measured with criterion-referenced probes, because they show directly whether the target skill has been learned. The probe should sample the skill fairly and stay at the same difficulty each time so changes in scores reflect learning.
Example
To measure a phonics goal, the teacher builds a 20-word list of closed and silent-e words and checks how many the student reads correctly each week.
Related terms
- Norm-referenced testA norm-referenced test compares a student's score with the scores of a large group of same-age or same-grade students who took the test earlier.
- ProbeA probe is a brief check of a skill, given without teaching or help, to see what the student can do independently at that moment.
- Percent accuracyPercent accuracy is the number of correct responses divided by the total number of responses or items, multiplied by 100.
- Curriculum-based measurement (CBM)Curriculum-based measurement is a set of brief, standardized, timed probes that measure a general skill, such as reading or math, to track growth over time.
- Mastery criteriaMastery criteria state how consistently a student must reach a goal's criterion, such as on three consecutive probes, before the goal counts as met.
On IEP Atlas
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