5 Ways to Use Criterion Referenced Test in the Classroom
The Need for Testing:
Knowing the factors that affect the learning level of every student is important
in providing the right type of lessons. To identify the things that stand along
the way to successful learning, testing is necessary. Perhaps, the most widely
known test among parents of early education pupils is the intelligence test.
Most commonly used, they are intended to identify specific learning disabilities
that may hinder learning. Additionally, tests for students are administered to
help eliminate and lower problems that come along with the students’ cognitive
difficulties. Another important factor is that classrooms with the most common
testing area help in the identification of class members who are underachieving
and may help them better develop with the aid of remediation or tutorials.
Developmental tests most commonly administered to first graders are used to
give hints on the child’s strengths and weaknesses. Speech tests are also used
to assess the type of intervention needed for those that suffer from speech
difficulty. Inventories on the behavior of school children as given by the
school counselors help teachers design their classroom management strategies. In
addition, tests that measure abilities are intended to identify students who are
gifted so they can be properly provided with enrichment activities.
Tests have long been utilized to uncover reasons students perform well or
poorly in class. Despite the kind of reputation it has, a test helps the teacher
in assisting the child to develop their full potentials.
Understanding Criterion Referenced Test
 Otherwise known as CRT, criterion referenced tests are designed to measure how
well students have learned a certain body of knowledge or subject and the skills
associated with such. In everyday situations, the most common examples of this
test can be the multiple choice exams people take when they apply for a driver’s
license. This means that in order to pass, they must know, to a certain degree,
things that deal with the specific subject which is driving. Academically, it is
a type of test that measures how well a student has learned a material taught in
a certain school year or semester.
CRT in mathematics includes questions that are supposed to have been taught
during one’s arithmetic class. The test does not include items that aren’t a
part of the course syllabus for a certain term. When learned well, most students
could pass the exams and be given a certain point considered a “pass” mark.
A standardized CRT sets a cut-off point as agreed upon by a set of experts on
the subject area. In contrast, those that are used in the classroom have the
passing point set by the teacher. It should be made understood, then decided by
a committee or the subject teacher alone. The passing limits are often decided
subjectively. Commonly, when the subject matter takes part in licensure exams
students must take after graduation, passing marks are set at 50 to 75 percent
of the total number of items. This is done to ensure that class members have
retained as much information as their professions or endeavors demand.
Experts have defined CRT as a relative value signifying one’s performance
placed against a standard. They also agreed on the fact that most of the quizzes
students take in school are criterion referenced in nature. It is considered as
the easiest way to know if students have learned the materials or subjects
taught.
Advantages of CRT
 Criterion referenced tests in the classroom (when well prepared and aligned with
the subject’s goals), help teachers identify points where students need extra
assistance or review. CRT sees how students performed against the standard,
comparing them to themselves alone, not with peers. This brings many advantages
such as:
- A classroom-based CRT enables the teacher to exactly point students’
weaknesses. Making test result as a jump off point, teachers can now see easily
which part of the lecture or lesson needs more elaboration. When giving a test
on verbs for example, the teacher whose students scored lower in irregular verbs
indicates that a remedial session on the topic is needed. CRT in short gives
teachers the exact point the students are having a hard time with.
- Also, since students’ learning is measured against the standard or their
previous academic performance, CRT makes it easier for the teacher to track
individual progress. For example, a diagnostic test given at the beginning of
the term can serve as a guide as to where the class should start and how broad
are the students’ knowledge on the subject. Towards the end of the term, the
goal of having students to master the areas of knowledge taking part in the
subject studied has to be determined. When a CRT achievement test was
administered at the end of the semester and a certain student gets the score of
89 percent, a big leap from that of the diagnostic test of 30 percent, it is
clear that the student has prospered in the level of knowledge he or she has on
the subject matter.
- Lastly, CRTs are helpful in building self-esteem. This is because students’
performance is measured against their own and not with others, paving way to
wider opportunities of scoring higher that they previously did. Since no two
students are alike, the use of CRTs in classrooms can help meet individual needs
for instruction and remediation, helping students discover what they have
achieved, and develop higher learning skills.
The following are the ways to use CRT in the classroom:
1. Set goals clearly
at the beginning of a topic.
Experts agree that setting goals and making students understand them before
starting a new lesson help them understand the purpose of the activities. Goals
and lesson objectives provide students with the idea map as to where topics are
headed. This, in turn, helps them condition their thoughts and work their way to
achieving the standard set. If the goal of the lesson about adjectives using
three or more descriptive words when constructing a single sentence, the
assessment or test at the end of the lesson must measure this condition. If
majority of the students scored lower than what was expected, the lesson has to
be re-taught.
2. Make tests less threatening.
Tests are often associated with causes of student anxiety and possible negative
reinforcements. This, however; can be designed in a way every class member will
deem it as a method to assess their learning. Before giving tests, inform
students that it is intended to measure how well they have retained information
from previous lessons, not a basis for punishments. When students are positive
about test taking, they tend to do better and concentrate more. This makes them
function better than when stressed with what penalties await them. Additionally,
tests can be integrated into everyday lessons to make it part of the routine.
Equally essential, frequent yet shorter tests are less demanding for students,
so they can study the important points longer than chapter tests. It should be
remembered that tests are to be given for the purpose of identifying weaknesses
or lessons that are less understood, and not as a method for identifying those
that deserve punishments. When teachers are able to identify the points by which
students fall short, it is easier to design review lessons and bridge topics.
3. Set limits on test
coverage.
Perhaps the most common mistake teachers can commit is going beyond what the
students have mastered so far. When this happens, setting a valid standard can
be difficult if not impossible. Educators have to make sure they construct tests
that are focused on a certain area of knowledge. When giving tests, it is
essential to define first the coverage of the assessment and what information on
learning is intended to be extracted. For broader topics like nouns, it is wise
to categorize the test into parts to master on its usage. Forms and inflection
can be clearly seen as teachers mark and record scores of the papers. Remember
not to go beyond what the topic has encompassed.
4. Develop
discrimination through multiple choice tests.
 Considered by many students as the easiest, this type of exams cause lesser
anxiety and give students hint on the correct choices. This, however; should be
made patiently, making sure every item requires the students to think and
discriminate choices to arrive at the correct answers. Obviously correct
answers, as a result of poor item analysis, defeat the purpose of measuring how
much the students have learned from the lessons. Additionally, this enables
teachers to design tests that compel students to make intelligent choices, going
beyond answering literal questions. Equally important, CRTs of multiple choice
design help students develop the ability to use context in understanding test
items. In language classes, for example, this can be done by providing choices
from which they can choose the one that best completes the sentence patterns.
5. Scaffold knowledge
between topics.
It should be understood that tests are not intended to purely grade students,
but instead to assess how much they have progressed from the first lesson to the
present. To be able to come up with reliable achievement tests at the end of the
term, it is essential that students can link one topic to another. This can be
done easily by scaffolding knowledge of the topics one after the other. Simply
stated, it is essential to give a review of the previous lessons, especially
those items the students have difficulty answering based on the previous
assessment. Again, it should be noted that items missed are not intended to be
ignored, but rather a point of a future review. As topics of the entire term
properly connect with one another, it is easier to design a criterion reference
achievement test that covers all topics from the beginning to the last lesson of
the term.
Concluding Thoughts
CRTs are useful for teachers in many ways. Flexible yet focused, CTRs are used
for teachers to monitor students’ individual progress based on everyday
activities in the classroom. A quick way to measure how much students have
learned and mastered the concepts and skills, it is a reliable way to compare
class members learning against course objectives. With most of the objectives
prescribed by the school system, CRTs in the classroom level help determine how
effective the curriculum design is in producing the desired academic results.
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