Norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests are the types of assessments of students’ knowledge. However, they are not equally applicable to everyone, and specific factors should, therefore, be considered. For example, in the case of bilingual students, they provide for varying results due to the difference in their cultural and linguistic background (Petersen et al., 2018, p. 144). Hence, the generalization of standards in one class leads to biased results.
Norm-referenced tests are a less preferable form of assessment of bilingual students’ knowledge. Their measurements are based on pre-defined norms, as referencing is made to a class rather than solely to an individual’s performance (Lok et al., 2016, p. 11). This situation implies the exclusion of external factors such as one’s culture and native language. The example of norm-referenced tests is SAT, and it consists of several parts, including reading and writing, the results of which are subsequently assessed and compared to the norms (“Writing and language test,” n.d., para. 2). However, similar norms cannot apply to all students due to the differences mentioned above, and because the outcome can be biased.
Criterion-referenced tests, in turn, represent an individual approach to everyone. They allow conducting a competency-based assessment and receiving results that are more precise than those of norm-referenced tools (Pereira et al., 2018, p. 564). One of the tests based on referencing specific criteria is IELTS, and it consists of several parts such as listening, reading, and writing (“Test format,” n.d., para. 1). It seems to be a more suitable format for bilingual students since this test assesses not one’s correspondence to pre-defined norms derived from general rates but compares results with solid criteria. In this case, the assessment outcome can be considered unbiased.
References
Lok, B., McNaught, C., & Young, K. (2016). Criterion-referenced and norm-referenced assessments: Compatibility and complementarity. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(3), 450-465.
Pereira, A. G., Woods, M., Olson, A. P., Van Den Hoogenhof, S., Duffy, B. L., & Englander, R. (2018). Criterion-based assessment in a norm-based world: How can we move past grades? Academic Medicine, 93(4), 560-564.
Petersen, D. B., Tonn, P., Spencer, T. D., & Foster, M. E. (2020). The classification accuracy of a dynamic assessment of inferential word learning for bilingual English/Spanish-speaking school-age children. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 51(1), 144-164.
Test format. (n.d.). IELTS. 2020, Web.
Writing and language test (n.d.). College Board. 2020, Web.