Assessment (page 2 of 3)
Older students, who are able to articulate what they have learned in writing, can provide formative feedback through many different means, such as the exit slip. In a fourth and fifth grade class I asked the students the central question of the lesson as an exit slip in order to determine what they had gained from the lesson. The lesson itself contained both a reading portion and a discussion portion, and I was concerned that the students would suffer from information overload, preventing them from discussing the issues in an informed manner. By asking the same question that framed the lesson, I was able to determine how much more study the students required on the topic.
I want students to learn until they have achieved mastery. By providing them with clear expectations as well as comprehensive narrative feedback, I feel students can gain a good sense of what they have learned and what they have left to learn. I also believe that students who have not achieved mastery should be given iterative opportunities to demonstrate their learning as it grows. I believe the scale system that schools are now adopting is a great opportunity to give some control to students over their own learning and to aid teachers in assessing learning. When I present complete rubrics to students, I typically include a detailed narrative to explain my scale choice.
The example below is the grading rubric for class presentations that were the culmination of a larger science and language arts project. The students were given explicit instructions for the oral presentations, and the language used in the "Fluency" portion of the rubric matched the language used during a grade-wide focus on fluency skills. This was the students' first oral presentation for the year, so the requirements were fairly basic. Each student received comprehensive notes on their presentation, including things they did well and the next steps to take in improving their performance.
The example below is the grading rubric for class presentations that were the culmination of a larger science and language arts project. The students were given explicit instructions for the oral presentations, and the language used in the "Fluency" portion of the rubric matched the language used during a grade-wide focus on fluency skills. This was the students' first oral presentation for the year, so the requirements were fairly basic. Each student received comprehensive notes on their presentation, including things they did well and the next steps to take in improving their performance.
My student teaching placement school was starting to use grading scales rather than letter grades. While the scales were only required for language arts, my cooperating teacher and I decided to see what happened when we applied it to other content areas. The rubric below is my first attempt at creating a scale for a social studies project. Students rated themselves and wrote why they gave themselves that rating when they turned in their work. Students who were unhappy with their rating were allowed to redo the assignment until they were satisfied with their work. The original assignment defined what the required elements were.