The assessment resources shared this week in class are very helpful. In past semesters, I found it challenging to write assessments for elementary math and elementary science, and I am still developing in my knowledge of constructing assessments. We have talked about some similar strategies of backward design (writing assessments early in the unit planning) and matching assessments to the learning targets/objectives, but I am still growing in this skill of trying to find the best match. I imagine that it will take many years of practice to become strong at building ideal assessments, and I appreciate all of the great examples shared in class of do’s and don’ts of assessment writing.
For me, rubrics can be very confusing – both as a parent when my children bring them home from school and as a future teacher trying to design a rubric that measures what it intends to measure and that is clearly written. Lisa’s question about the difference between the 4 and the 3 in the example shared in class is similar to questions that I have. Sometimes it is very hard to see what distinguishes a 3 from a 4 without an example of each to go along with it. This is why I really like the idea of providing examples of each category for students and teaching them to self-assess their own work against the rubric.
I am excited to learn about the Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool. I had never previously heard of this resource. I think that it will be helpful to spend some time working with this tool and using it to assess the quality of other rubrics. Personally, I still need some work brainstorming ways to measure student progress through performance assessments. It always seems easier and less time consuming to have the students do a written test, but I am interested in learning more about and planning for performance assessments that assess students ability to apply their knowledge. I had an “AHA” moment during the course reading this week when it talked about how project scoring often places disproportionate weighting on attributes like the neatness or colorful display, etc. versus the true subject matter content or skill that the student was supposed to be developing. I have often seen this to be the case with assignments that my children have completed. I will definitely try to keep this in mind when I am developing rubrics for my future class projects.
The theater box video shares a great example of a possible summative assessment project that could be used in an upper elementary classroom. I love that it incorporates intelligences outside of the traditional mathematical and linguistic intelligences that are the most frequently focused on at school. This project allows the students to be creative and showcase their talents in their own way. What a great idea to have each student share their own “special secret” about the time period they are researching to add to the excitement of the project. I hope to use this same activity in my future classroom.
Tonya,
I often find rubrics to be problematic, but usually that’s because they are poorly written. Analytic rubrics often have too much going on across many level of performance. You have to really know what you’re doing to fill in all those boxes to define what a novice through expert performance looks like. I much prefer single point rubrics and wish teachers would just focus on the what a grade-level proficient performance looks like.
You may find some helpful resources in these pieces.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/6-reasons-try-single-point-rubric
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/single-point-rubric/
With a single point rubric, students are better able to look at the target and see where they need to go.
Thanks for your response and for the helpful links!
Tonya, I believe that teacher collaboration in the creation of rubrics for common performance assessments can definitely ease the stress that comes along with designing rubrics. It takes practice but with the right tools in place can be effective in the long run for students. Always begin with aligning rubrics to the SOL content and skills and using a common rubric to start with. Having a rubric to start with and tweaking it along the way is very helpful.