Course 3, Chapter 6 - A-REEF: Evaluation
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Overview
As discussed earlier in this course, assessment is the process of gathering information about what students know and can do.
E valuating is the process of interpreting and making judgements about that assessment information.
One simple way to interpret and make judgements about student work is to create a rubric (guidelines). In this section you will have a chance to see rubric samples and you will have an opportunity to create your own rubric.
The Eyeglasses We Create
If we think about assessment as "casting a net into fertile waters and gathering information", a rubric is like the eyeglasses we create and use when we look into the net. Rubrics help us to see; they help us to look for certain things we deem important.
A rubric can be issued from a pre-made template or inspired by school or national standards. A rubric can be created by a teacher or group of teachers. It can even be co-created with students.
A rubric can be created before the instruction has taken place in keeping with the "start-with-the-ending" design or during or after the instruction is complete if taking a "constructivist approach."
If a rubric is created before the instruction, it will dictate what we see - or what we look for in our fishing net. In this sense, the rubric becomes a bit like Escher's painting of the "hand drawing the hand" in that the very rubric we use influences the instruction and the teaching process itself.
Why Use Rubrics
The advantages of using rubrics (guidelines) in assessment are that they:
- Allow assessment to be more objective and consistent.
- Focus the teacher to clarify his/her criteria in specific terms.
- Promote student awareness about how their work will be evaluated and what is expected.
- Provide useful feedback regarding the effectiveness of the instruction.
- Provide benchmarks against which to measure and document progress.
What is it?
A rubric is a consistent form of evaluation applied to all students. Rubrics may be used "as-is" or they may be combined and modified in any way that is appropriate for your students. You may find it helpful to review the suggestions for evaluating and selecting rubrics. These items may be used as a checklist.
A rubric is the right one for your school if:
- It addresses the aspects of student work that you feel are most important,
- You and your colleagues can generally agree on the score that should be assigned to a given piece of student work.
A good way to find out which rubric is best for you is to pick a few likely candidates; try them out on actual examples of student work; and modify them if necessary. This is often best done in a group setting, so all of the teachers who will be using the rubric can be involved. It's worth taking your time to find a rubric that works well at your school because that rubric will make scoring your students' work easier and quicker.
Most rubrics are focused on particular subjects and grade level(s); if available, that information is often included in the rubric listing. Although subject areas and grades are specified for many of the rubrics, you may find that some rubrics can be applied to other subjects and grades with little or no modification; so if a rubric looks promising, don't be too concerned about the stated grade level or subject. For example, reading rubrics may often be used to assess listening, and writing rubrics can be used to assess speaking content and organization (you would need to add scales for vocal delivery and physical gestures and behavior).
Rubrics for art, music, drama, and dance may sometimes be used for a different art form with little modification. For example, an art rubric that deals with the artistic sensory elements of line, shape, value, color, and texture might be used as a music rubric by substituting musical sensory elements, such as rhythm, tempo, pitch, timbre, and dynamics.
Suggeted Reading:
Rubric Generators (online only).
When you get to this site, "scroll down" to see the information on types of rubrics and how to generate templates.
Examples
Please read the following websites focusing on rubrics:
Online
Oral Communication Assessment (an example)
Reading Rubric (an example)
Math Rubric (an example)
Science Rubric (an example)
Social Studies Rubric (an example)
Fine Arts (an example)
Speaking (an example)
Writing (an example)
PDFs
Oral Communication Assessment (an example)
Social Studies Rubric (an example)
Assignment 7: Designing Your Rubric
Assignment 7: Designing Your Rubric
HOW TO GET TO ASSIGNMENT 7:
One Way
To do this assignment, click on the link in color at the top of the page. When it appears, press "Save" and name the file so that you can work on this assignment "off-line." You can type right on the assignment template. Be sure to save your assignment on a disk or on your computer hard drive.
Another Way
You can also copy the text below, and save it to your disk or computer.
GOAL: To create a rubric for an upcoming project, activity, or assignment.
GIVE: Feedback to others on their assignments at the TWB Learning Cafe.
Assignment 7: Designing Your Rubric
1) Name an upcoming project, activity, or assignment for your class.
2) Design a rubric using any of the rubric models from the previous two pages.
Things to Keep in Mind:
- Decide whether the rubric addresses the most important aspects of student performance.
- Decide whether or not the rubric addresses the instructional outcome(s) to be measured.
- Decide whether the rubric includes anything extraneous. If so, change the rubric or use a different one.
- Don't pay too much attention to the rubric's stated grade level. It may be usable at other grades with little or no modification.
- See if a rubric from a different subject area can be adapted to fit your needs. Reading rubrics can often be used to assess listening; writing rubrics may be adapted to assess speaking; and fine arts rubrics can sometimes be applied to several different art forms.
- Make sure the rubric is clear.
- Feel free to combine or modify rubrics to make them work better.
3) Pick one item you disagree with from the original rubric you chose. Revise it to fit your philosophy of learning. Explain the theory behind your disagreement, and how your changes will promote student learning.
4) Now that you have created a rubric, try the rubric out on some actual samples of student work. What do you notice?
5) Ask colleagues to use the rubric on the same samples of student work. See if you and your colleagues can arrive at consensus about what scores to assign a piece of student work. What do you notice?
6) How might you revise your rubric now?
7) Place your rubric below:
8) Reflect upon the process of creating a rubric using steps 1 - 7 from above.
(2 - 3 paragraphs)
Creating a Rubric with Students
Steps:
- Show students a copy of a simple rubric so that they know what a rubric is. For an example, click here.
- Give students the same rubric in #1 (above), but this time they'll see that it is an empty rubric except for the title of the assignment (i.e. "I am From" poem) and underneath the title it says, "What we are looking for." For an example, click here.
- Explain to the students that you would like their help in making a rubric and that they will not only participate in the making of the rubric, but that they will have a chance to evaluate themselves, as well.
- Tell students the name of the assignment or project you are creating a rubric for, i.e. "I am From" poem. (For the first time, it should be an assignment or project that the students have just completed.) Show them the words on the page that say, "What we are looking for," and ask the students to fill in the blanks, listing what things they think would be important to look for in evaluating this project. Have them write their responses right on the sheet.
- After the students have been given ample time to write their responses on their individual sheets, ask students to share answers out loud with the group. List student responses on the board.
- Add any things you would like to have on the rubric as well, so that your thinking is made visible too.
- Tell the students that you will create a rubric using the ideas listed on the board, from their sheets, and things you'll add as well. (Be sure to collect their sheets and to copy the responses from the board.)
- Type up the rubric using student input and your ideas. Create categories. For an example of a student and teacher co-created rubric, click here.
- Assign weighted points to the categories and then individual points for each item.
- When the students complete the project, give them a copy of the co-created rubric and instruct them to fill it out giving a point value to each item listed and supporting evidence where asked. Also, have them write a reflection and instruct them to assign points for their reflection based - not on content, but on the depth of their analysis.
- Collect their assignments/projects and their completed, self-scored rubrics with reflection.
- Evaluate your students' work on a separate sheet of the same rubric and without looking at the scores they have given themselves.
- Note the areas of similarities and differences. Do this for yourself.
- Give each student his/hers completed rubric and your completed rubric. Ask each student to reflect on similarities in scoring and places where the scoring was different. Have them reflect on these similarites and differences in a reflective writing piece. Tell them that this is the place where "dialogue begins." If you can, conference with each student and talk to him/her about their reflection and their proces of evaluating their own work.
- To create another rubric, complete steps 1 -14. This time, however, create it together before an assignment or project has begun.
Assignment 8: Co-Creating a Rubric with Students
Assignment 8: Co-creating a Rubric with Students
HOW TO GET TO ASSIGNMENT 8:
One Way
To do this assignment, click on the link in color at the top of the page. When it appears, press "Save" and name the file so that you can work on this assignment "off-line." You can type right on the assignment template. Be sure to save your assignment on a disk or on your computer hard drive.
Another Way
You can also copy the text below, and save it to your disk or computer.
GOAL: To co-create two rubrics with your students - the first is after they have completed a project; the second is designed before you even start the instruction.
GIVE: Feedback to others on their assignments at the TWB Learning Cafe.
Assignment 8: Co-Creating a Rubric with Students
- Follow steps 1 - 15 from the previous page. Show the two co-created rubrics below:
- Reflect on the process of designing these two co-created rubrics. What did you notice? (1 - 2 paragraphs)
- What did you notice about the process of evaluating with a co-created rubric? (1 - 2 paragraphs)
HOW TO GET TO THE NEXT MODULE:
Usually, you just click "Next" to go to the next page. When you finish a section, however, (as you're about to do when you finish reading these two paragraphs), you need to click on the "Outline" button, which is on the bottom, right-hand side of the page. Look underneath the blue bar and click on the word "Outline."
When you click on "Outline," a screen will come up that will show you the outline for Course 2. Look for the next section to read and click on the first topic in that next section. For example, when you get to the outline now, look under the next section called "A-REEF: E ffective F eedback" and look for the first topic in black lettering called "Overview." Click on "Overview."
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This work is licensed by Fred Mednick under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0).
Last edited by Fred Mednick on Mar 13, 2006 3:25 pm US/Central.