1. Seminar #4
Assessment
& Rubrics
Chris Brands

2. Assessment Beliefs
• Good assessment improves student
learning, not just monitors it.
• Good assessment values the process as
well as the product of learning.
• Good assessment reveals the criteria by
which student performance is judged.
These criteria are understood in advance,
are explicit, and are appropriate to the
task.

3. “If assessment is authentic,
ongoing, and integrated with
classroom instruction, then it is
easy to see that it will take many
different forms”
-Stiggins

4. Performance-Based Assessment
• Assessment tasks that require
a student to construct a
response, create a product, or
demonstrate applications of
knowledge
• Performance is often related
to a continuum of agree-upon
standards of proficiency or
excellence.

5. Have you ever heard that a little
hard work up front saves time in
the end?

6. Why Use Rubrics?
• Rubrics can be an integral part of the
teaching and learning process
– Give students a basis for self-assessment
– Promote independent learning
– Eliminate vague assessment criteria and
overly subjective performance behavior

7. • Both a formative and a summative
assessment
– Formative assessment because it defines
criteria for student performance in advance
(Instructional)
– Summative assessment because it will be
the basis for determining a grade for the
project (Evaluation)
Characteristics
of a Rubric

8. • It articulates gradations of quality for each
criterion, from excellent to poor.
• As such, they support the mandate for
authentic (“real world”) assessment stated
in national standards across the
curriculum.

9. Teachers Use
Rubrics to…
• Answer the question “Why
did you give me a D?”
• Define expectations for
learners and for
themselves by clearly
showing students how
their work will be
evaluated
• Link assignments clearly
to curricular goals
D?
?
?
? ?
?
?
? ?
? ?

10. AND
• Rubrics reduce the amount of time
teachers spend evaluating student
work.
• Teachers tend to find that by the
time a piece has been student-
assessed according to a rubric, they
have little left to say about it.
• Teachers can then often simply
check an item in the rubric, rather
than struggling to explain the flaw or
strength they have noticed, and
trying to figure out what to suggest
in terms of improvements.
• Rubrics provide students with more
informative feedback about their
strengths and areas in need of
improvement.

11. Students Use
Rubrics to…
• Answer the question
“Why did I get a D?”
• Take more responsibility
for their learning
• Increase independence
• Lower anxiety about
assignments and projects
D?
?
?
? ?
?
?
? ?
? ?

12. More Advantages of using Rubrics
in Assessment:
• They allow assessment to be more objective and
consistent.
• They focus the teacher to clarify the criteria in
specific terms.
• They clearly show the student 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.

13. Constructing a Rubric:
• Know the goals for instruction
• Know the specific skills that you want students to
develop throughout the activity/assignment.
• What are the learning outcomes?
• Decide on the structure of the rubric; holistic or
analytical -- what fits best for the task?
• Determine the levels of performance
• Are there levels of performance specific to each
criteria?
• Share the rubric with your students
• Students should have an opportunity to see,
discuss, or even design the rubric prior to the
performance, project, activity, assignment, etc.

14. Criteria Below Average
1 Point
Good
3 Points
Excellent
5 Points
Number of
chips
Texture
Color
Size
Cookie Rubric

15. Below Average Good Excellent
Number of
chips Too few chips
Chips in 75% of
bites
Chip in every
bite
Texture Like a dog biscuit Chewy middle,
crispy edges
Chewy
Color Burned Too brown or too
light
Golden brown
Size Smaller than 2
inches in
diameter
Smaller than three
inches, but larger
than 2
Larger than 3
inches in
diameter
Cookie Rubric

16. • When teachers begin designing
assessments as part of their lesson
planning, the process forces them to think
carefully about what they’re going to
teach, and what they expect students to
learn.
• Prepare rubrics as guides students can
use to build on current knowledge.
• Consider rubrics as part of your planning
time, not as an additional time
commitment to your preparation.
Rubrics & Lesson Planning

17. Rubrics are basically
a simplified way
to grade
a complicated
assignment.

18. The Lesson Plan Assignment
• Hand out explaining the lesson plan
assignment due Wednesday 3/10