High-stakes Tests and Reliability - Assignment Example

The designers need to ensure that the items that students can answer easily and correctly do not dominate the test (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2007). Secondly, designers of norm-referenced tests should pick the content taught in the many schools, in the country. This is especially in the case of nationwide or district-wide examinations.
Essay questions, true or false tests, matching questions, definitions, and open-ended questions are examples of criterion-referenced tests. They measure a student’s level of competence based on a preset standard without comparing him or her with peers.

The objectives of the course and the curriculum inform the setting of criterion-referenced tests. These tests are most helpful when they measure students’ ability in given areas. There exists a need to ensure the high validity and reliability of these tests. Firstly, designers of these tests should ensure that they pick the content matching the objectives of the course and the standards of the curriculum (Popham, 2008). A big cluster around the high end of the grading system shows many students met the standards. Secondly, the designers of these tests should suspend their biases. Bias-free tests are fair to all students regardless of gender, ethnic background, race, and socio-economic status.

High-stakes tests are another group of tests besides norm-referenced tests. The outcomes of these tests serve to make important decisions in people’s lives. A licensure examination is an example of a high-stakes test. This is because the results of the examination help decide the possibility of an examinee getting a permit to practice as a professional nurse (Kubiszyn & Borich, 2007). Because the results of high-stakes tests determine whether individuals get permits to do something or not, they need high reliability and validity. Speed tests measure the rate at which individuals can perform a given task. The test measures the speed of performance only and not the knowledge of individuals.
There is a possibility of misusing norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests in the development of curriculum and instruction.

As discussed above, norm-referenced tests measure the performance of individuals as compared to that of their peers. On the other hand, criterion-referenced tests measure the competence of individual students in different areas. On the whole, the two tests can make students feel discriminated against. Appearing last in test results attacks the esteem of students, and it is worse when their peers tease or joke about it. Some instructors administer criterion-referenced tests and categorize some students as weak and others as strong. There is a temptation for strong students to despise weak ones. Such an education system would be unfair as it can breed prejudice among students (Popham, 2008). Read More