Mrs. Carter wants to assess her first-grade class's ability to identify individual phonemes. Which type of assessment would allow her to compare her students' skills to grade level expectations?

• A. Norm-referenced
• B. Criterion-referenced
• C. Diagnostic
• D. Formative

Answer: (B)

This question is about evaluating whether students have met grade-level phonemic awareness standards by comparing their performance to defined criteria. A criterion-referenced assessment is designed to measure exactly that: whether a student has achieved the specific skills and benchmarks set for the grade level. It shows if each child meets the expected level for identifying individual phonemes, regardless of how other students perform. Norm-referenced tests compare a student to peers, which isn’t about meeting grade-level expectations. Diagnostic assessments identify strengths and weaknesses in detail, often after a concern is raised, and formative assessments are ongoing checks to guide instruction rather than determine if a standard is met. So, criterion-referenced is the best choice.