Day 3: Rubrics as an Assessment Tool

"There are only two good reasons to ask questions in class: to cause thinking and to provide information for the teacher about what to do next." (William, 2011) All students must be engaged in questioning, call on students at random- what should you do when you receive an "I don't know"? Lessons should be designed with at least one "hinge-point question" in the middle of the instructional sequence - the hinge is a point at which the teacher checks whether the class is ready to move on through the use of a diagnostic question. How the lesson proceeds depends on the level of understanding shown by the students.

Should take no longer than two minutes, and ideally less than one minute, for all students to respond to the question Must be possible for the teacher to view and interpret the responses from the class in thirty seconds or less

A language arts teacher has been teaching her students about different kinds of figurative language. Before moving on, she wants to check her students' understanding of the terms she has been teaching, so she uses a real-time test. She gives each student a set of six cards bearing the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F, and on the board she displays the following:

Can be used for quick feedback Can be used to generate meaningful discussions

An AP calculus teacher has been teaching students about graphing and sketching and wants to check quickly that the students have grasped the main principles. She asks the students, "Please sketch the graph of y equals one over one plus x squared." Each student sketches the graph on a whiteboard and holds it up for the teacher to see. The teacher sees that the class has understood and moves on.

A middle school science teacher is designing a unit on pulleys and levers. Fourteen periods are allocated to the unit, but all the content is covered in the first eleven periods. In period 12, the teacher gives the students a quiz and collects the papers. Instead of grading the papers, she reads through them carefully, and on the basis of what she discovers about what the class has and has not learned, she plans appropriate remedial activity for periods 13 and 14.

A simple way to monitor for understanding is to have each student use either cups or table tents.

A history teacher has been teaching about the issue of bias in historical sources. Three minutes before the end of the lesson, students pack away their books and are given an index card on which they are asked to respond to the question "Why are historians concerned about bias in historical sources?" The students turn in these exit passes as they leave the class at the end of the period. After all the students have left, the teacher reads through the cards and then discards them, having concluded that the students' answers indicate a good enough understanding for the teacher to move on to a new chapter.

Check-Ins are a great way to see what individual students under- stand. Check-Ins are quick and easy and can be done on the way in or out of the room.

 In Scaling, or Standards-Based Rubrics, teachers use national, state, or local standards as the criteria important to the successful completion of the task.  Learning Targets are written in the first column of the rubric.

Scaling Many & Sparks Many, ABS Enterprise 2013.solution-tree.com 1 Minimal Learning With no help, there is limited understanding or skill demonstrated. With help, a partial knowledge of some of the simpler and complex details and processes. 2 Basic Learning No major errors or omissions regarding the simpler details and processes but major errors or omissions regarding the more complex ideas and processes. 3 Proficient Learning No major errors or omissions regarding any of the information and/or processes (simple or complex) that were explicitly taught. 4 Advanced Learning In addition to exhibiting level-3 performance, in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught in class.

Scaling Many & Sparks Many, ABS Enterprise 2013.solution-tree.com.5 Even with help, no understanding or skill is demonstrated. 1 Minimal Learning With no help, there is limited understanding or skill demonstrated. With help, a partial knowledge of some of the simpler and complex details and processes. 1.5 Partial knowledge of the simpler details and processes, but major errors or omissions regarding the more complex ideas and processes. 2 Basic Learning No major errors or omissions regarding the simpler details and processes but major errors or omissions regarding the more complex ideas and processes. 2.5 No major errors or omissions regarding any of the simpler information and/or processes and partial knowledge of the more complex information and processes. 3 Proficient Learning No major errors or omissions regarding any of the information and/or processes (simple or complex) that were explicitly taught. 3.5 In addition to exhibiting level-3 performance, partial success at in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught in class. 4 Advanced Learning In addition to exhibiting level-3 performance, in-depth inferences and applications that go beyond what was taught in class.

Standard: Students will use pictures, diagrams, and text to describe characters, settings, and events.1Minimal2Basic3Proficient4Advanced LT: Use pictures, diagrams, and text to describe characters. Student can name the characters in the story. Student can describe some characters using pictures, diagrams, or text. Student can describe characters using pictures, diagrams, or text. Student can describe characters using a combination of pictures, diagrams, and text. LT: Use pictures, diagrams, and text to describe setting Student is aware of the setting of the story. Student can describe some aspects of the setting using pictures, diagrams, or text. Student can describe the setting using pictures, diagrams, or text. Student can describe the setting using a combination of pictures, diagrams, and text. LT: Use pictures, diagrams, and text to describe events. Student can name some key events in the story. Student can describe some key events using pictures, diagrams, or text. Student can describe key events using pictures, diagrams, or text. Student can describe all key events using a combination of pictures, diagrams, and text.

Standard: Students will count by 10s, count to 100, sequence numbers, and write numbers.1Minimal2Basic3Proficient4Advanced LT: Counts to 100 Student counts to less than 50. Student counts to 100 with some prompting. Student counts to 100 with no prompting. Student can count beyond 100. LT: Counts by 10s Student cannot count by 10s. Student counts by 10s with inconsistent accuracy. Student can count by 10s consistently to 100. Student can count by 10s consistently beyond 100. LT: Sequences Numbers Student has difficulty counting forward or backward starting at numbers other than 1 or 100. Student can count either forward or backward starting at various numbers between 1 and 100 with some prompting. Student can count forward and backward from numbers between 1 and 100 with some prompting. Student can count forward and backward from numbers between 1 and 100 independently. LT: Writes Numbers Student needs assistance to write numbers. Student can accurately write most numbers. Student can accurately write the numbers 1-20 with minimal assistance. Student can consistently and accurately write the numbers 1-20 independently.

 Standard: Students will be able to analyze the multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the Civil War.  Learning Targets for Standard: ◦ State multiple causes of the Civil War. ◦ Describe key events of the Civil War. ◦ Explain the complex consequences of the Civil War.  Formative Common Assessment: ◦ LT #1: Causes of the Civil War

Scaling Many & Sparks Many, ABS Enterprise 2013.solution-tree.com.5 With help, student has partial success at score 2.0 content, but not at score 3.0 content. 1 Minimal Learning With help, student has partial success at score 2.0 content and score 3.0 content. 1.5 Student has partial success at score 2.0 content, but experiences major errors or omissions regarding score 3.0 content. 2 Basic Learning Student will be able to identify slavery as one of the causes of the Civil War. 2.5 In addition to a score 2.0 performance, student demonstrates partial success at score 3.0 content. 3 Proficient Learning Student will be able to articulate differing views of Northern and Southern citizens regarding the underlying causes of the Civil War. 3.5 In addition to a score 3.0 performance, student demonstrates partial success at score 4.0 content. 4 Advanced Learning Student will be able to identify multiple causes of the Civil War by comparing and contrasting speeches and writings of statesmen during that period.

Determine the Scale (I prefer 4... Advanced, Proficient, Developing, Basic) Determine the order of point values (1-5 or is the highest score the best, or are we playing golf?) The most important step... DETERMINE SUCCESS CRITERIA Designing a Rubric

Determining Success Criteria  Select the Learning Targets you are assessing  Determine what it will LOOK like when students have learned  Begin writing with the outcome in mind  Use student-friendly language

 CAN be used as a final grade, but can also be used partway through the unit/project to gauge performance  All teachers within a unit should be using the rubric in the exact same way  Student Use vs. Teacher Use

Bring needed materials for a lesson and/or unit to create formative assessments for.