Which type of student assessment is used particularly in cases where clear differentiations are made between top performers and others?

Norm-referenced assessment is designed to evaluate a student's performance in relation to a group of peers. This type of assessment is particularly useful when the goal is to identify top performers as it establishes a performance standard based on the distribution of scores among a larger population.

In a norm-referenced context, students are compared to one another, allowing educators to determine who in the cohort is performing above or below the average. This can be beneficial in situations where understanding the ranking of students is important, such as in competitive academic environments or for selecting candidates for advanced training.

Unlike criterion-referenced assessments, which measure student performance against a predefined set of competencies or standards, norm-referenced assessments focus solely on how an individual performs in comparison to their peers, emphasizing relative achievement. Such a methodology is suitable for assessments aiming to distinguish high achievers from the rest in a structured and quantifiable manner.