APA Dictionary of Psychology

an exam from which decisions are made about an individual’s absolute level of accomplishment (i.e., mastery or nonmastery) of the material covered in that exam according to some standard reference point. For example, if a student obtains a score of 70% on a reading exam and a passing score is 65%, then they have done acceptably well. Also called content-referenced test. See also domain-referenced test; norm-referenced test.