Which of the following is a correctly matched pair ?

Question

Accepted Answer

Option 2 is the correct answer: "Norm-referenced assessment: compares performance to that of peers."

1. **Explanation for Option 2:**
   - Norm-referenced assessments are designed to compare a student's performance to that of a group of peers. This type of assessment ranks students and determines where they stand in relation to others. It is often used to identify the relative standing of students, such as in standardized tests like the SAT or ACT. The primary goal is to see how well a student performs compared to a norm group, which is a representative sample of students.

2. **Explanation for why other options are incorrect:**

- **Option 1: Criterion-referenced assessment: includes mastery of specific topics**
     - Criterion-referenced assessments are designed to measure a student's performance against a fixed set of criteria or learning standards. The focus is on whether the student has mastered specific skills or knowledge, not on how they compare to other students. Therefore, the description in Option 1 is not entirely accurate as it does not emphasize the comparison aspect, which is central to norm-referenced assessments.

- **Option 3: Formative assessment: determining what the students can do before and after the class**
     - Formative assessments are used to monitor student learning and provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. They are typically informal and are not used for grading purposes. The description in Option 3 is misleading because formative assessments are not primarily about determining what students can do before and after class; rather, they are about providing feedback during the learning process.

- **Option 4: Summative assessment: involves paper-pencil tests as well as detailed accounts of non-written behaviors**
     - Summative assessments are used to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional period, such as a unit or course. They are typically high stakes, such as final exams or standardized tests. While they can include various formats, the description in Option 4 is misleading because it suggests that summative assessments inherently involve detailed accounts of non-written behaviors, which is not a defining characteristic of summative assessments. They are more focused on evaluating the overall learning outcomes rather than the process.

In summary, Option 2 is the correct answer because it accurately describes the purpose and nature of norm-referenced assessments, which is to compare a student's performance to that of their peers.