Norm Referenced Test

A norm-referenced test is a type of evaluation, assessment, or test that compares test-takers in relation to each other. A norm-referenced test tells the test-taker whether they performed better or worse than the average score. The group with which the test-taker is compared is called the norming group.

Norm-referenced tests refer to standardized and uniform assessments developed to draw comparisons and assign ranks to test-takers relative to one another. The scores of a norm-referenced test are generally reported in percentile or percentages, calculated by comparing scores against the results of a group of statistically selected test-takers, who are of the same grade level or age and have already sat the exam.