Canter vs. Gardner Tests Within

Canter vs. Gardner Tests within the educational industry can often subject teachers as well as students to such high levels of stress that it is easy to lose a macro perspective of how tests should be interpreted in an educational context. In her article "Understanding Test Scores," Andrea Canter, attempts to explain the types of tests students may find themselves faced with and the rationale (good and bad) behind such tests.

She stresses that tests that have a significant influence on student placement must be both reliable (produce consistent results when administered to similar populations) and valid (measure the skills they claim to measure). Norm-referenced tests compare an individual's performance to other individuals within a given demographic population. For example, scores on norm-referenced tests may be reported as existing within a certain percentile or as students having a score above or below a mean. Norm-referenced tests emphasize relative rather than absolute performance.

Criterion-referenced tests are used to measure student mastery of instructional objectives or to what degree their performance or knowledge meets set curriculum standards. While Canter stresses the need to use tests along with other instruments, Eric Gardner takes a darker view of how test results can be used, noting in his article "Five common misuses of tests" published ERIC Digest No. 108, that it is all too common for educators to uncritically accept the assertions of test creators.

For example, ESL students may have difficulty with language comprehension on a science achievement test, but that does not mean that the students have difficulties with comprehending the scientific method or other grade-level scientific concepts. Despite Cantor's caveat about using individual tests as one of many forms of assessing student ability, Gardner suggests is very easy to give too much priority to specific scores. While it may seem obvious that scores should be understood in terms of range, rather than individual status, consider that to many people, 580 'sounds' less.