Educational Alternatives, Volume 21, 2023

Abstract: Criterion referencing evaluates a student’s performance in an assessment against a predetermined set of goals and standards, while norm referencing measures a student’s performance by comparing it with the performance of other students. Although many universities in Asia-Pacific have already transited from the historically adopted norm referencing to criterion referencing, some technical issues have yet to be fully addressed. In this paper, we shall argue that the adoption of criterion referencing does not imply a dismissal of normal distribution and hence not norm referencing; and demonstrate an application of mathematical justifications to legitimating a grade-score conversion so as to avoid a rampant grade inflation or deflation during the transition from norm referencing to criterion referencing. This, in addition, leads to a reflection on the legitimacy of the linearity of Grade Point Average.