Grading What Matters

• No matter how lofty our espoused education goals, our grading practices reveal what we truly value.

• If higher-order thinking matters most, then that is what our grades must assess, record, report and reward.

• Grading What Matters, Tony Winger, Educational Leadership ASCD, p 73-75

Assessing Student Work

• Are not just for teachers• Let the students know ahead of time how they

will be graded.• Provide a framework for justifying grading or

achievement.• Give them feedback on their work.– Self-assessment, peer, or teacher

• Provide exemplars of problem solving solutions. Let students know what you want.

• Help articulate levels of performance in terms student understand.– May need to develop a student rubric as well as a

teacher rubric• Help clear up misconceptions before students

begin to work.• Model the statewide writing process.

Rubrics With a Purpose

• Holistic—looks at the total process• Analytic—looks at the parts or steps of the

process• Specific—is used with single problem. • General—can be used to assess many types of

problems.

Combinations

• Holistic/Specific• Analytic/Specific• Holistic/General• Analytic/General

Carpet Problem

• Mr. Goldstein wants to buy carpet to cover the floors completely in his living room and game room. His living room is 10 feet by 15 feet. His game room is 20 feet by 30 feet.

The Question

• Mr. Goldstein thinks that the area to be carpeted in his game room is double the area to be carpeted in his living room.

• Is Mr. Goldstein correct?• Explain your answer to those around you. You

may use diagrams as part of your explanation and work.

• We will share solutions in 5 minutes.

Showand Tell

Assessing the Work

• Use the holistic rubric we have provide to score your solution.

• What could you do to improve your solution?• As a teacher what feedback could you provide

based on this rubric.

Using Rubrics

• If we had given you the rubric before you did the problem, would you have completed your solution differently?

• This rubric is specific to this problem or similar problems. Would it be possible to create a more generic rubric?

• What advantages and disadvantage would this create?

Double the Carpet Scoring Criteria (Holistic / Specific)

• Level 4 – Explanation, work, or diagram completely and correctly compares the areas of two rectangular shapes.

• Level 3 – Explanation, work, or diagram compares the areas of two rectangular shapes but contains a minor error or omission.

• Level 2 – Explanation, work, or diagram indicates some comparison of the areas of the rectangular shapes.

• Level 1 – Explanation, work, or diagram shows a beginning understanding of the area concept: however, that understanding is limited.

• Level 0 – Explanation, work, or diagram reveals no understanding of the area concept.

Double the Carpet Scoring Criteria Holistic/Specific

• Level 4 – Explanation, work, or diagram completely and correctly compares the areas of two rectangular shapes when their dimensions are given. The fact that the area is not doubled is supported by work showing that the area of the game room is actually four times the area of the living room or that the living room into a quarter of the game room.

• Level 3 – Explanation, work, or diagram compares the areas of two rectangular shapes but contains a minor error or omission. For instance, a correct answer is given and the two areas are calculated correctly, but no explicit comparison between them is made.

• Level 2 – Explanation, work, or diagram indicates some comparison of the areas of the rectangular shapes. A correct or incorrect answer may be given.

Double the Carpet Scoring Criteria Holistic/Specific

• Level 1 – Explanation, work, or diagram shows a beginning understanding of the area concept; however, the understanding is limited. For instance, the area of only the living room is calculated.

• Level 0 – Explanation, work, or diagram reveals no understanding of the area concept. Work may calculate perimeters instead of areas.

Analytic/Specific

Analytic/Specific

Analytic/Specific

• Take more time to create• Used for common assessments or to show

growth over time (School Improvement)

Analytic/General

• Can be used for a number of problems• Tie to UPAC, UPAL, UC3, or IDEAL• Problems Solving– Understand the problem or situation– Applying strategies– Checking the Problem

Student Problem Solving Rubric

Understand the problem or situation.

1 2 3

•I have no idea what the problem is about

•Some of 1 and some of 3 •I can explain the problem well

•I do not know what the facts are

•I know the facts

•I do not know what the question is

•I know what information is needed

•I do not know what kind of answer to look for

•I know what kind of answer I am looking for

Other Rubric Examples

• Math/Science Frameworks– Elementary– Middle Level/Secondary

• Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

Creating Rubrics

• http://rubistar.4teachers.org/