Post on 28-Jan-2016
EXEMPLARS IN THE CLASSROOM
Karen Leitenberger
Discovery PLC March 2014
WHAT IS AN EXEMPLAR?
E
xemplars are examples of high quality student work. Combining
rubrics and exemplars allow students not only to know the
assessment criteria for a writing task, but also what a finished
piece of writing looks like at the different levels. Rubrics tell, but
exemplars show. This complementary rubric/exemplar combination
allows students to use assessment criteria as well as examples to
improve their own writing. That is the premise that Foster and
Marasco present in Exemplars: Your Best Resource to Improve
Student Writing.
Exemplars: Your Guide to Improve Student Writing
Exemplars can be used:
•To help instruct your students in problem solving and applying concepts in meaningful, real-life situations
•To explore how your class is performing in problem solving and give you an overall feel of your students’ skills
More Reasons to Use Exemplars:
•To diagnose the ability of particular students to apply concepts and solve problems
•To help students learn to self-assess their skills using the rubrics and anchor papers
•To help students communicate by sharing their thinking process verbally and in written form
Exemplars and Anchor Papers
I
n addition to rubrics, Exemplars performance material also includes annotated
anchor papers for each assessment.
S
amples of student work are provided at each of the four levels of the Exemplars
rubric: Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner and Expert. The marked annotations
identify important distinctions for teachers to look for when assessing students.
T
hese visual examples can be useful in providing students with a concrete
understanding of what works meets the standard (and why). Anchor papers can
also be used as a basis for student peer- and self-assessment and in staff
development.
ANCHOR PAPERS
Anchor papers are examples of student work at different
levels of performance that, along with rubrics, guide
formative and summative assessments. Schools and
districts can either build their own collections of anchor
papers over time or reference examples.
MAKING USE OF ERRORS.
B
y highlighting errors in anchor papers, teachers can create learning
opportunities for their students. In Japanese classrooms, teachers use
errors in student work as a teaching opportunity, whereas in American
classrooms this is rarely done. In the U.S., teachers tend to continue polling
students in search of the correct solution, generally ignoring errors.
D
iscussing errors helps to clarify misunderstandings, encourage argument
and justification, and involve students in the exciting quest of assessing the
strengths and weaknesses of the various alternative solutions that have
been proposed. The Learning Gap (Summit Books, 1992) p. 191
PROS to Using Exemplars:
1
. It provides a clear example of what it is you are looking for. This means
students have a clear idea of the target and know what they are aiming for.
2
. They can be used to demonstrate what NOT to do as well as what is good to do.
3
. They can be used as a comparison source for self evaluation. Is mine as good
as the exemplar? Better? Not quite there yet?
4
. If student created, it gives an idea of what past students have created and what
would be age/grade appropriate at that level.
CONS to Using Exemplars:
1
. Student’s might view the exemplar as completely out of their reach. It seems to them that
it’s far better than anything they could ever come up with and so they give up before they
even try. This is the peril of always showing the “best case” exemplar. You might be able to
show some leveled exemplars, but then you run into this problem….
2
. Students only aim for what the exemplar is providing. It stifles the creativity of the higher
achievers who may have given you something even better. And likewise, the lower achievers
aim for the “passable minimum” if they think that’s all they have to do.
3
. You get twenty five copies of what you showed them. They aim to recreate the exemplar
to this finest detail instead of infusing their own creativity.
4
. Exemplars aren’t always available or appropriate, depending on your assignment.
RESOUCEShttp://cherraolthof.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/to-exemplar-or-not-to-exemplar
http://www.exemplars.com/assets/files/the_guide.pdf