The Criterion Referenced Competency Test

1360 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of assessment

Criterion Referenced Tests have been around as late as the 1970's. The creation of the Criterion Referenced Test helped establish specific standards. It was created in order to establish certain information and learning that is necessary to continue the next steps in a child's education. With Criterion Referenced Tests, students learning is copared to the criteria or standards, not to other students. These types of assessments consist of multiple choice items that match the curriculum, or at least suppose to match the curriculum. The issue at hand is whether or not the CRCT assessment is an effective assessment program to use at all. According to FairTest, The National Center for Fair and Open Testing, “some CRT's, such as many state tests, are not based on a specific curriculum, but on a more general idea of what students might be taught (FairTest, 2007). The Georgia Department of Education has claimed that the CRCT assessment measures how well a student has acquired the knowledge and skills covered by the curriculum at his or her grade level. This End-of-the-Year assessment tool is not relevant to me due to the fact that I teach in Alabama, but the criteria that goes along with effective assessments such as validity, reliability, norming information, Standard Error of Measurement (SEM), etc. are all components that are used throughout American Schools in preparing and analyzing assessments properly. This research paper will discuss the components of the CRCT assessment and whether or not this program is effective. Is the CRCT an effective assessment? The Criterion Referenced Competency Test, also known as the CRCT, was created in 2000 in which all students, grades one through eighth, are required to take. ... ... middle of paper ... ...sessment/Assessment/Documents/2702772_sig_s12GA%20%282%29.pdf Hambleton, Ronald (2009, December 23) Criterion-Referenced Tests. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/criterion-referenced-tests1/ Improved Achievement on the CRCT (2006-2008). Photo retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS9bZy2gQbQ Johnson, Shaun (2011, August 25) Standardized Tests: Time for a national opt-out. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved from http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-08-25/news/bs-ed-school-testing- 20110825_1_standardized-tests-educators-teachers Linn, R. L., & Gronlund, N. E. (2000). Measurement and assessment in teaching (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Retrieved from http://www.unm.edu/~devalenz/handouts/criterion.html (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2013). Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/criterion-referenced- test/

Show More
Related

  • (Introduction Paper) The Impact of Formative Assessment and Feedback on Student Learning Using the Student Response System

    2141 Words  | 5 Pages

    Stiggins, R.J., Arter, J., Chappuis, J., & Chappuis, S. (2004). Classroom assessment for student learning: doing it right-using it well. Portland, OR: Assessment Training Institute.

    Read More

  • Competency Based Assessment and Interviewing

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gray, S. W., & Zide, M. R. (2007). An introduction to the competency-based assessment model.

    Read More

  • How Standardized Testing Effects the Education

    2676 Words  | 6 Pages

    tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same, predetermined conditions and with consistent scoring and interpretation so that students have equal opportunities to give correct answers and receive an accurate assessment. The idea is that these similarities allow the highest degree of certainty in comparing result...

    Read More

  • Standardized Testing a Failure in Education

    1339 Words  | 3 Pages

    Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.

    Read More

  • The SAT and Its Role in Public Policy

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today, in the United States, standardized tests are administered every year by states to their Kindergarten-12th grade public school students. Different states place different weight on their standardized testing results where some states differ their funding based on results and annual improvement, whereas other states allow schools to simply gauge where their students are scoring relative to other schools in the state. These tests, however, are only standardized within one state. One of the few tests standardized throughout the entire country is the SAT, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, administered by College Board and required by, “More than 800 of the nation’s colleges and universities,” (Comras, 1984). This test will be the standardized test focused on in this paper. While standardized testing is that, standardized, and enables the comparison of one student to another, the meaning of the score does not equate to a test of intelligence. Therefore, while standardized testing should be applied in the education system, it needs to be more indicative of the material learned in school and should hold less weight than it currently does in the college admissions process.

    Read More

  • Competency Self Assessment

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    These are the skills and competencies I have learned through my studies at Walden University. Kaslow, Grus, Campbell, & Fouad, et al. (2009) stated professionalism comes from my respect for those who need help. Integrity can be built with confidence in the therapist. Attitudes are charitable, polite, caring emotions toward others that fuel my motivation toward helping. This concern welfare of others comes from my religious and personal experiences as a child and young adult.

    Read More

  • Incentives for Standards-Based Instruction

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shepard, L. & Hannaway, J. & Baker, E. (2009). Standards, Assessments, and Accountability: Education Policy White Paper. National Academy of Education. Retrieved on March 18, 2012 from: http://www.naeducation.org/Standards_Assessments_Accountability_White_Paper.pdf

    Read More

  • The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT)

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    Growing up in Florida, the sunshine state, all my years of schooling was practically determined in the months of February and March, by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, most commonly known as the F.C.A.T. The Florida department of education (2005) presents (to parents and guardians of the students), the F.C.A.T. as a test given to Florida students to measure what they know and are able to accomplish in reading, writing, mathematics, and science. This test is a part of Florida’s plan to improve student’s achievement. It measures challenging content standard, called the Sunshine State Standards. The F.C.A.T. is said to be made up of two types of test. One of the tests is a criterion-referenced test or CRT, the other type of test is a norm-referenced test or NRT. The CRT measures to the standards of the Sunshine State Standards, implying only Florida in reading writing, mathematics, and science. On the other hand the second kind of test NRT is a comparison of the student’s of Florida performance in these areas nationwide. The F.C.A.T. test was made by the Florida Department of Education, in cooperation with teachers, curriculum specialist, administrators, and citizens of Florida. The Department of Educators in Florida claims that the F.C.A.T. test is to conclude the student’s knowledge they should be learning to be prepared for the “complex challenges of today’s work place”. It also mentions that the test helps the teachers, principals, and superintendents verify the level of success students have with the Sunshine State Standards.

    Read More

  • Goldfish Reflection

    1592 Words  | 4 Pages

    Teacher observation, anecdotal notes, completed posters, journal entries, students responses, and behaviors were some of the ways that they were assess during this lesson. Based on the assessment results and the data

    Read More

  • Criterion-Referenced Test

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    The criterion-referenced test has all sorts of questions such as true and false questions, multiple choice questions, and short response or essay questions. The test could be designed by a teacher or a team of people in the department of education. This test can decide important decisions about specific people or it can test to see whether a student has any type of learning disability. An example of the criterion referenced test is the advanced placement tests which allows the students to take and if they pass the test, they then get to be placed into more advanced classes. In order to determine the passing score of the test or the amount of questions a student needs to answer in order to pass the test is decided by a group of experts.

    Read More

  • Reflection Of The Syllabus

    1736 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a

    Read More

  • Classroom Assessments

    2426 Words  | 5 Pages

    Stiggins, R., Arter, J., Chappuis, J., Chappuis, S., (2007). Classroom assessment for student learning: Doing it right -- using it well. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson.

    Read More

  • Principles of Language Assessment

    1884 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thornbury (2001:18) defines assessment as “different ways of collecting information about learner’s progress and achievement”. In other words it is the process of gathering, describing or quantifying information about performance (Coombe & Hubley: 2007). Assessment is not only gauging learner’s ability but also about measuring the quality or success of a teaching course, etc. (Richards & Platt: 1992). However, assessment is mistakenly restricted to testing which is, in fact, a component as are interviews, and observations. Assessment can be informal such as based on teachers’ observation of learners in pair/group work or it can be ongoing that can be done anytime during the course. Brown (2004) considers assessment a process rather than a product with the prime objective of ensuring if the course objectives have been met.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Assessment for Learning

    2280 Words  | 5 Pages

    Assessment involves gathering information and making judgments about learning. As a teacher I will need to be able to do this both formally and informally. By doing this I will sometimes have to participate in assessing children to make formal judgments about their progress and achievement; for example National Tests. In every lesson, I will continually be assessing the p...

    Read More

  • Teaching Foreign Languages to Young Learners

    2086 Words  | 5 Pages

    Assessment is included in evaluation which is the umbrella term referring to all the types of activities that require the exercise of judgement. Even though the terms have frequently been used interchangeably in the relative literature, Bachman (1990) argues that their distinctive characteristics render their separate definitions necessary. More particularly, evaluation is a broad concept “primarily about decision making” (Genesee & Upshur, 1996: 4). Although it “is a natural and recurring activity of our daily existence” (Karavas, 2004: 151), when we engage in evaluation in an educational setting, its consequences are serious, powerful and far reaching. Evaluation involves making a wide variety of choices concerning instructional plans, methodological approaches,...

    Read More

More about The Criterion Referenced Competency Test

Open Document