The prescribed learning outcomes are benchmarks that will permit the use of criterion-referenced performance standards.
The current BC Ministry of Education IRPs utilize the concept of criterion-referenced evaluation throughout the assessment of student achievement.
Criterion-referenced evaluation is based on prescribed learning outcomes; norm-referenced evaluation is based on comparing student achievement to that of others.
With norm-referenced evaluation within a classroom, you might bell-curve the students and rank them against each other, always producing a similar proportion of As, Bs, and Cs no matter what; with criterion-referenced evaluation, all the students could get an "A" if they were well-taught and all met the learning outcomes.
Norm-referenced evaluation is used for large-scale system assessments . . . A classroom does not provide a large enough reference group for a norm-referenced evaluation system. Norm-referenced evaluation compares student achievement to that of others rather than comparing how well a student meets the criteria of a specified set of learning outcomes.
It is obvious that your own classroom is too small and too local to reliably reflect a provincial cross-section of students. Since you cannot control the cross-section of student ability that enters your classroom, it is obvious that classroom evaluation cannot centre on norm-referencing. While incorporating a norm-referenced base-line is both desirable and unavoidable, it is also true that norm-referencing cannot qualify as the most valid and informing type of assessment at the classroom level.
Assessment for learning is criterion-referenced, in which a student's achievement is compared to established criteria rather than to the performance of other students. Criteria are based on Prescribed Learning Outcomes and suggested Achievement Indicators or other learning expectations.
Criteria are the basis for evaluating student progress. They identify, in specific terms, the critical aspects of a performance or product that indicate how well the student is meeting the Prescribed Learning Outcomes. For example, weighted criteria, rating scales, or scoring guides (reference sets) are ways that student performance can be evaluated using criteria.
Wherever possible, students should be involved in setting the assessment criteria. This helps students develop an understanding of what high-quality work or performance looks like.
Criterion-Referenced Assessment may be used in all three types of evaluation:
| Assessment for Learning | Assessment as Learning | Assessment of Learning |
| Formative assessment ongoing in the classroom | Formative assessment ongoing in the classroom | Summative assessment occurs at end of year or at key stages |
| Criterion-referenced criteria based on Prescribed Learning Outcomes identified in the provincial curriculum, reflecting performance in relation to a specific learning task | Student-determined criteria based on previous learning and personal learning goals. Self or peer-assessment based on criteria, with a subsequent opportunty to bring work up to standard. |
May be either criterion-referenced (based on Prescribed Learning Outcomes) or norm-referenced (comparing student achievement to that of others) |
Based on Prescribed Learning Outcomes, suggested Achievement Indicators, BC Performance Standards, and other learning expectations, the teacher (and sometimes the student) creates the criteria that define the learning activity from the outset, and which doubles as the criteria by which the work will be evaluated.
Criteria can be discussed in advance with the class and re-shaped if appropriate; criteria can be embedded in the assignment's lesson plan and instruction sheet; students can do a self-evaluation or peer-evaluation on the basis of the same criteria and then bring their work up to standards; the teacher can use the criteria to mark the assignment. It is efficient (and fair) to build the assignment hand-out so that the same criteria sheet serves both instructional and evaluative purposes.
Note: While criterion-referenced assessment may be viewed in contrast to normative assessment, a closer look at criterion-referenced assessment will always expose a blending with normative considerations.
Excerpts from Current IRPs (2007, 2008, 2009).