Criterion-referenced assessment allows the teacher to judge the level of accomplishment of learning tasks and to situate the learner on a detailed scale based on pedagogical objectives.
This evaluation strategy involves the comparison of learners’ performance and their relative classification since each is evaluated as a function of previously established, explicit and well-known expectations.
Criterion-referenced assessment allows for more thorough consideration of the degree to which learners have acquired or are in the process of acquiring the knowledge to advance along their career path or to be certified.
Resources to innovate
In this document, the authors provide extensive support to the teacher in the process of developing a criterion-referenced assessment grid: in the choice of evaluation criteria and the specification of some elements to observe; in the choice of assessment scale; in guidance on how to make an overall judgement; in the construction of the evaluation grid; and in experimentation with the evaluation grid.
Each stage of the process includes definitions, role-playing and activities applying what has been learned, which can then be transposed to the teacher’s pedagogical context.
In this work, the author first lays out the theoretical foundations of what the competency-based approach requires in terms of learning assessment.
She reminds us of the dimensions of the common thread of any evaluation strategy, that is the product, the process and the proposal, and she presents the different types of descriptive evaluation grids (analytical, comprehensive, and hybrid).
She devotes an entire chapter to the 10-step construction of descriptive grids.
She concludes by furnishing examples of evaluation grids from varied pedagogical contexts (for example, research work, portfolios, etc.) as well as examples of their use in the context of internships.
In this document, criterion-referenced assessment is promoted over normative evaluation (the accumulation of points) due to its multiple benefits for the learners: being evaluated as a function of one’s own performance rather than in comparison to one’s peers, and obtaining feedback from the teacher which may enable them to identify, by the end of each evaluation, their own strengths and weaknesses, and to consider what they could do to stay the course or to improve, to take responsibility for their performance and to evaluate themselves.
Advice is also given, for pedagogical teams and teachers, as well as for educational administrators.
For the former, it is suggested that they combine their various forms of expertise and collaborate in order to establish the necessary conditions for applying criteria-referenced assessment.
For the latter, it is suggested that they free up time and allocate budgets to permit the adoption and establishment of criteria-referenced assessment. Also, it is recommended that they rethink the approach to the continuing education of teaching personnel, which also requires an organized period of support.