Definition and Features

A criterion-referenced test (CRT) provides a measure of an individual's absolute performance or behavior on a well-defined domain. The domain may include [Page 201]a set of learning/behavioral objectives to be mastered or a set of standards to be achieved. The history of CRTs dates back to a 1963 essay by Robert Glaser in which he introduced criterion referencing as a new type of approach to test development and interpretation. Glaser indicated that the absolute comparisons that formed the basis of CRTs were preferable to the relative comparisons made by the norm-referenced tests (NRTs) widely used at that time.

One way to gain a better understanding of exactly what a CRT entails is to compare it to an NRT. Within this section, CRTs are further ...