What type of assessment provides a comparison of student performance to a specific standard?

The type of assessment that provides a comparison of student performance to a specific standard is criterion-referenced assessment. This assessment method evaluates a student's performance against a predetermined set of criteria or learning objectives, rather than comparing their performance to the performance of other students.

Criterion-referenced assessments focus on whether students can demonstrate mastery of the material or skills outlined in the standards. For example, if a standard states that students should be able to solve specific types of math problems, a criterion-referenced test would assess whether a student can do this, independent of how their peers performed. This approach helps educators identify individual strengths and weaknesses in relation to specific learning goals.

In contrast, norm-referenced assessments rank students based on their performance relative to their peers, which does not provide information about whether a student meets a specific standard. Summative assessments evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing the outcomes against intended goals but may not always anchor these evaluations to specific standards. Formative assessments are used to monitor student learning and inform instruction rather than provide a final comparison to a standard.

Thus, criterion-referenced assessment is the ideal choice for comparing student performance to a specific standard.