Using Rubrics: Learning Through Assessment

Overview

Types of assessment: formative and summative; standardized, large-scale, alternative; discrete-point and holistic

Focus on formative assessment for learning

Key to assessment: Clear behavioral objectives, organized step-by-step to lead students to achieve course goals.

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Definitions

Alternative assessment: "Alternative Assessment is any type of assessment in which the student creates his or own answer to a question, perhaps in the form of an essay or drawing, as opposed to choosing from provided responses, as typically seen on multiple-choice tests. Most commonly, alternative assessments include short answer questions, essays, performance assessments, oral presentations, exhibitions, and portfolios." (Education.com)

Criterion-referenced test: A test that is "designed to measure student performance against a fixed set of predetermined criteria or learning standards—i.e., concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education. In elementary and secondary education, criterion-referenced tests are used to evaluate whether students have learned a specific body of knowledge or acquired a specific skill set."  (Great Schools Partnership)

Discrete-point test: "Discrete point testing refers to the testing of one element at a time, item by item. This might, for example, take the form of a series of items, each testing a particular grammatical structure." (LanguageTestingUM)

Formative assessment: "Formative assessment refers to a wide variety of methods that teachers use to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson, unit, or course. Formative assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support." (Also called classroom assessment.) (Edglossary.org)

Goals: "Goals are statements about general aims or purposes of education that are broad, long-range intended outcomes and concepts." (University of Connecticut) 

Holistic scoring: "Holistic scoring results in a more general description for categories, but includes the different elements of writing implicitly or explicitly. The result is usually a global grade, such as A, B, C, D, E." (Foreign Language Teaching Methods) 

Learning objectives: "Objectives are brief, clear statements that describe the desired learning outcomes of instruction; i.e., the specific skills, values, and attitudes students should exhibit that reflect the broader goals" (University of Connecticut) 

Learning outcomes: "Learning outcomes are user-friendly statements that tell students what they will be able to do at the end of a period of time. They are measurable and quite often observable." They focus on the student, not the teacher, and clearly tell learners what they should be able to do by the end of the course. (Indiana University) Note that the terms "goals," "objectives," and "outcomes" are not described consistently.  

Norm-referenced test: "Tests that are designed to compare and rank test takers in relation to one another. Norm-referenced tests report whether test takers performed better or worse than a hypothetical average student, which is determined by comparing scores against the performance results of a statistically selected group of test takers, typically of the same age or grade level, who have already taken the exam." (Great Schools Partnership)

Portfolio: "A student portfolio is a compilation of academic work and other forms of educational evidence assembled for the purpose of (1) evaluating coursework quality, learning progress, and academic achievement; (2) determining whether students have met learning standards or other academic requirements for courses, grade-level promotion, and graduation; (3) helping students reflect on their academic goals and progress as learners; and (4) creating a lasting archive of academic work products, accomplishments, and other documentation." (Great Schools Partnership)  

Rubric: "A rubric is typically an evaluation tool or set of guidelines used to promote the consistent application of learning expectations, learning objectives, or learning standards in the classroom, or to measure their attainment against a consistent set of criteria." (Great Schools Partnership)

Standardized test: "A standardized test is any form of test that (1) requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from common bank of questions, in the same way, and that (2) is scored in a “standard” or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of individual students or groups of students." (Great Schools Partnership)

Summative assessment: "Summative assessments are used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the conclusion of a defined instructional period—typically at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year." The goal of summative assessment is to find out if students have learned what they were expected to learn. They are generally used to evaluate learners, not to improve instruction. (Edglossary.org)

Resources

Persuasive essay template

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=CustomizeTemplate&bank_rubric_id=127&section_id=5&

Oral presentation template

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=CustomizeTemplate&bank_rubric_id=4&section_id=1&

Sample rubric matrix templates

Last updated 13 May 2024 by D. Healey