Reference standard orientation

When assessing performance, teachers use different benchmarks (reference standards). For example, learning outcomes are compared with each other, considered in the individual learning process or assessed by an externally specified criterion (e.g. a curriculum). It was also shown that teachers prefer to orient themselves towards a reference norm. The term "reference norm orientation" was coined for this purpose. We deal with the possibilities of operationalizing the reference norm orientation of teachers and investigate which factors influence the choice of reference norm in assessment situations. The aim is, on the one hand, to demonstrate to (future) teachers the impact of the chosen reference norm and to initiate reflection processes and, on the other hand, to be able to better record reference norms in research projects.