Norm-referenced assessments are primarily used to:

Norm-referenced assessments are designed to evaluate a student's performance in relation to the performance of a group, typically their peers. This type of assessment allows educators and stakeholders to determine how an individual student stands among a defined population, providing a benchmark for comparison. The primary goal is not to assess mastery of specific content standards but rather to ascertain where an individual student scores compared to the average or typical performance of others in the same age or grade.

This approach is particularly valuable in contexts such as identifying students who may need additional support or determining the effectiveness of educational programs across various demographics. Norm-referenced assessments can highlight high performers as well as those who may be struggling compared to their peers, which can guide instructional decisions and group placements.

In contrast, the other options focus on different assessment methodologies. For instance, comparing individual performance against a predetermined standard refers to criterion-referenced assessments, which measure how well students understand specific material without regard to their peers. Evaluating progress using curriculum-based methods typically involves ongoing assessments that help monitor student growth over time rather than a snapshot comparison with normative data. Finally, measuring competency in specific subjects only would suggest a more focused or content-based assessment strategy, which again deviates from the broader comparative nature of norm-referenced assessments.