Classroom Assessment (1) EDU 330: Educational Psychology Daniel Moos

What do you see? Please do not say it out loud…

Rubrics… With a neighbor/neighbors discuss (based on reading): What is a rubric? Why use a rubric? What characteristics define effective rubrics? What do you think a teachers needs to think about when designing a rubric? Questions about designing a rubric?

Classroom Assessment: Creating Rubrics A rubric is: A public declaration of expectations A communication tool A self-assessment tool for learners A gauge for examining performance Articulates gradations of quality for each criterion, from excellent to poor

Constructing a Rubric (1): Identify goals and specific skills you want student to develop What are the learning outcomes? Determine the levels of performance Are there levels of performance specific to each criteria? “Backward design” (important that learning activities, learning goals, and assessment all align) Share the rubric with your students Students should have an opportunity to see, discuss, or even design the rubric prior to the performance, project, activity, assignment, etc.

What makes a quality RUBRIC? An even number of standards of excellence Clear essential criteria Realistic number of criteria Explicit, observable indicators If points… clear to students upfront Deliberate sequence of criteria High interjudge reliability Tested out with students We need to teach the kids to use the rubrics as a TOOL (not only as an evaluation). Create a habit of mind = self-assess.

Rubric Activity With a partner or partners: (1) Select a student assignment you would like to evaluate. Here are some suggestions (does not have to be academic): Students must create and bake a pizza Students must… (2) Follow the steps of creating a rubric…

Why Should We Assess Student Learning? Classroom assessment involves two major types of activities: Collecting information about how much knowledge and skill students have learned/acquired (measurement)  Making judgments about the adequacy or acceptability of each student’s level of learning (evaluation) 2

Why Should We Assess Student Learning? continued Summative evaluation  To provide a summary judgment of student performance over time and different tasks Formative evaluation  To monitor student progress for remedial or supplementary instruction Diagnosis  To diagnose specific strengths and weakness in an individual’s learning Effects on learning To motivate further learning Feedback 3

Ways to Evaluate Student Learning Strengths and Weaknesses of Norm-Referenced Grading  Strengths – System is useful for evaluating advanced levels of learning – System is useful for selecting students for limited enrollment programs  Weaknesses – There are few situations in which the typical school teacher can appropriately use it

Ways to Evaluate Student Learning Strengths and Weaknesses of Criterion-Referenced Grading  Strengths – Provides more specific and useful information about student strengths and weaknesses – Promotes the motivation to learn because it holds out the promise that all students can master most of a teacher’s objectives  Weaknesses – Performance standards are arbitrary and may be difficult to justify – Standards may fluctuate as a result of unnoticed variation

How Can We Assess Student Learning? Lack of consistency of grading Focus on verbatim memorization? Focus on verbatim memorization Recognition v. Recall Disadvantages Assess higher-level abilities Relatively easy to write; Allow for breadth Efficiency Advantages Ask to discuss one or more related ideas according to certain criteria Objective; Ask to supply info from memory; Assess foundational knowledge Objective; Choose among alternatives; Assess foundational knowledge Characteristics Essay Tests Short-Answer Tests Selected-Response Tests 4

Classroom Assessment: Testing Issues Teachers’ test items commonly include many technical errors, such misleading information.   Teachers rarely analyze their items after having given them, and they rarely exam validity. Teachers reuse items without revision. Teachers state that higher-order objectives are important, but items are rarely written above the knowledge recall level. Very few teachers use the essay format in areas other than English. The short-answer format is most common.