the cognitive complexity of the students’ responses. On the basis of further pilot testing and expert review, the task was revised to its present form. For homework Miguel’s teacher asked him to look at the pattern below and draw the figure that should come next. Miguel does not know how to find the next figure. A. Draw the next figure for Miguel. B. Write a description for Miguel telling him how you knew which figure comes next. SOURCE: Magone, Cai, Silver, and Wang (1994, p. 324). Reprinted with permission from Elsevier Science.

the selection of an appropriate model of learning, the observations, and the interpretation model.

The familiar distinction between norm-referenced and criterion-referenced testing is salient in understanding the central role of a model of learning in the reporting of assessment results. Traditionally, achievement tests have been designed to provide results that compare students’ performance with that of other students. The results are usually norm-referenced since they compare student performance with that of a norm group (that is, a representative sample of students who took the same test). Such information is useful, just as height and weight data are informative when placed in the context of such data on other individuals. Comparative test information can help parents, teachers, and others determine whether students are progressing at the same rate as their peers or whether they are above or below the average. Norm-referenced data are limited, however, because they do not