Which type of measurement is used to assess a student's level of mastery?

• A. Curriculum-based
• B. Norm-referenced
• C. Criterion-referenced
• D. Ipsative

Answer: (A)

When we talk about whether a student has achieved a specific level of mastery, the key idea is comparing performance to predefined standards or criteria. That is the essence of criterion-referenced measurement: it asks, “Has the student met the objective or standard set for this skill or content?” It reports mastery status based on fixed criteria, not on how the student compares to other students or on how their previous scores looked.

Norm-referenced measurement, by contrast, compares a student to a norm group to determine relative standing, which doesn’t directly answer whether a particular objective has been mastered. Ipsative assessment compares current performance to the student’s own past performance, focusing on growth rather than meeting fixed criteria. Curriculum-based measurement describes frequent, classroom-aligned tasks used to monitor progress toward the curriculum; it’s a tool for tracking growth toward mastery, but mastery itself is defined by criterion-referenced standards.