Types of Standardized Tests

Scores on standardized tests do not have much meaning in and of themselves. If a learner correctly answers 60 percent of items on some standardized test, it is not clear what that means in the absence of other information that helps us interpret the score. We do not know if 60 percent indicates high ability or low ability in the domain being assessed (for example, reading). For instance, if every other adult similar to the learner scores 90 percent correct, then we would probably conclude that 60 percent was an indicator of low ability. To interpret the score, we need other information to which the observed score can be referenced or based, that is, compared and related.

The federal definition given above notes that standardized tests may be norm-referenced, criterion-based, or competency-based. But it is not always clear just what different scholars or practitioners mean by these terms. The following discussion is meant to provide a common frame of reference for program operators for understanding the various types of standardized tests that are available.

Norm-Referenced Tests. All human cognitive ability is socially derived. That is, the language one uses, the concepts used for thinking and communicating, the logic of reasoning, the types of symbols and symbolic tools (e.g., tables, graphs, figures, bus schedules, tax forms, etc.), and the bodies of knowledge stored in people's brains or in books are developed by individuals being reared in social groups.

Because of the social basis of cognition, many standardized tests have been developed to permit a learner's score to be interpreted in relation to, or, stated otherwise, in reference to the scores of other people who have taken the test. In this case, then, an individual's standardized test score is interpreted by comparing it to how well the referenced group normally performs on the test. If the individual learner scores above the average or norm of the referencing or norming group, the person is said to be above average in the ability of interest. If the learner scores below the average of the referencing group, he or she is said to be below average in the ability.

Grade level norms. In adult literacy education programs, standardized tests are frequently used that have been normed on children in the elementary, middle, and secondary school grades. In this case then, the adult learner's score on the test may be interpreted in reference to the average performance of children at each grade level. If an adult's score on a reading test normed on grade school children is the same as that of a child in the eighth month of the fourth grade, the adult would be assigned an ability level of 4.8. If the adult's score was the same as the average for school children in the sixth month of the ninth grade, the adult would be said to be reading at the 9.6 grade level.

Interpreting these grade level scores for adult learners is not straightforward. For instance, the score of 4.8 does not mean literally that the adult reads like the average child in the eighth month of the fourth grade. In fact, in one research study adults reading at the fifth grade level were not as competent at other reading tasks as typical fifth grade children (Sticht, 1982). This is not too surprising when it is considered that the child is reading at a level that defines what is typical for the fourth grader, while the adult in our relatively well-educated and literate society who reads at the fourth grade level is well below the average for adults.