Criterion‐referenced interpretation of examination grades

Summary

The study reported here examines the extent to which grades derived from a conventional norm‐referenced examination (an A‐level chemistry examination) can be interpreted in terms of criterion‐referenced performance assessments of different abilities and skills. The results suggest that performance on different examination tasks is more affected by the format and subject matter content of questions than by the intellectual abilities tested by them. In the overall sense, it is doubtful whether grades obtained on a criterion‐referenced basis can meaningfully be compared with those obtained from norm‐referenced examinations.