Criterion-referenced assessments work with the social assumption that the students are together at the same level and they are expected to move on to another level with a higher difficulty. For doing so, they must achieve the criterion selected to be able to understand or perform well at the next level. The consequences are that not all students will continue to the next level and this may come with a lot of frustration. Also, the ones that are failing should receive extra help to be able to move on with their peers. The good thing is that they’re making sure the students know basic concepts before moving on to more difficult themes.

When it comes to norm-referenced assessments, the students are compared against each other, which means the social assumption is they have received the same level of education at the same time with the same characteristics. It also means that students can be compared with each other because they’ve had the same opportunities to study, rest, and eat, and they have a similar background. This is quite difficult to achieve because even in schools where most children live in the same district, they do not have the same background or help at home. Some may have to take care of younger siblings, which gives them less time to study and some may live in abusive households, which would cause psychological strain, making it more difficult for them to achieve good grades at school.

Lastly, for the self-referenced assessments, the social assumption is that they have gone through very personalized education. This is done commonly not in order to receive a grade or go to the next level, but to assess what has been going on during an established period, for example, if someone is learning an instrument and these assessments happen every 3 or 4 months. This is great for students but does require a lot of effort from teachers, as it does not provide a single grade, so it’s not fit for schools with standardised education.

An alternative form of assessment that I’ve seen works great, especially with higher education is open-book tests. Students are not allowed to speak to each other, but they might use their notes and textbook if the class has used any. Questions are shown in slides or on the board, and the teacher must also inform the students how much time they have to complete the test. Students must not only write their answers but also be sure to make time to complete every question. The questions provided mustn’t be something that can be easily found in the book or notes, but case studies where students must use the theories or knowledge from class to analyze it ot explain it.