Which evaluation compares student performance to the criteria stated in the learning objective?

• A. Norm-Referenced
• B. Formative
• C. Criterion-Referenced
• D. Summative

Answer: (C)

When student work is judged against the exact targets described in the learning objectives, that’s a criterion-referenced evaluation. The objectives define what learners should know or be able to do, and the scoring criteria or rubric spell out the levels of mastery for those specific targets. The emphasis is on meeting predefined standards rather than how peers perform.

This differs from norm-referenced assessment, which compares students to each other rather than to the objective standards. Formative and summative describe when and how the assessment is used (ongoing guidance versus final achievement), not the basis of the comparison. So the best fit is evaluation that measures performance against the criteria stated in the learning objective.