A View to assessment

1. Learning targets: Students will be better able to: ‘Unpack’ the standards. Describe the purpose and value of using a rubric Evaluate whether a rubric can validly assess the learning toward the standards. A View to assessment

2. What to AssessA technique for unpacking the standards

3. Relating to other standards

4. How, When, Why to use a Rubric • Why? • Transparency. • Clarity of expectations. • Helps remove subjectivity when grading. • When? • Assignments targeting skills assessment. • Open response assignments or projects. • Looking for evidence of proficiency. • How? • Understand the rubric. (Teacher and students) • Confer with colleague for face validity. • Give the rubric to students upfront. • Begin with Proficient then move up or down based on student’s work.

5. Guidelines for Design • Be clear and concise about what is expected. • Write rubrics that can be used for multiple tasks/assignments. • Expectations are measurable. • Expectations can be taught/scaffolded. • 4 levels of performance: • Novice, Developing, Proficient, Exceptional • Difficulty for each level of performance is equally spaced. • Limit the number of categories to approximately 4.

6. What to consider? How do you know that the assessment that you designed will measure what you designed it to measure? Validity: The certainty that you are measuring the skill or knowledge that you claim to be measuring. Face Validity: “Yup, this looks like a good final assignment to me. I’ve also given it to a colleague and they think it assesses the targeted objectives that I want to test the students on.” Content Validity: “I’ve developed a rubric to assess the final assignment that includes the relevant content objectives for a “good” final assignment. I’ve given my rubric to colleagues to gauge their belief in its ability to adequately assess the final assignment.”

7. How do you know that the assessment that you designed will be consistent in measuring student learning of the target objectives? Reliability: In research, the term reliability means "repeatability" or "consistency". A measure isconsidered reliable if it would give us the same result over and over again (assuming that what we are measuring isn't changing!). One Type of Reliability: Inter-Rater or Intra-Rater Reliability:
 Used to assess the degree to which different raters/the same rater gives consistent estimates of the same phenomenon. For example, if Timothy, Leslie, and I were given the same group of student work and asked to assess it using a rubric, the grades we give should be the same, ideally. Or should be very close, more likely. The rubric should be designed to limit subjectivity for the person who is using it to score the student work.

8. Example prompt for essay: • Does the fact that To Kill A Mockingbird has been taught in high schools for 50 years imply that progress has, or has not, been made with respect to race in the U.S.? (Use the Critical Thinking rubric to see the grading criteria for this essay.) • Discussion: Which rubric would YOU use to assess your students for this assignment? Why? • 2.1 Writing: Create compositions that engage the reader, have a clear message, a coherent thesis, and end with a clear and well-supported conclusion.