Assessment of Hands-on Science Including the Use of Portfolios By: Lori McEllin and Matt Shannon

Introduction The Illinois School Accreditation Process requires each school in the state to develop a coherent system of learning outcomes, instruction based on the outcomes, and an assessment system that is aligned with the outcomes and instruction.

Introduction A performance assessment requires a student to perform a task or generate his or her own response and consists of two parts. 1.) Task (written compositions, speeches, works of art, science fair projects, research projects, musical performances, open- ended math problems, and analysis and interpretation of a story the student has read)

Introduction 2.) A set of scoring criteria or “rubric” that organized and clarifies the scoring criteria well enough so that two teachers who apply the rubric to a student’s work will generally arrive at the same score.

A Good Scoring Rubric –Help teachers define excellence and plan how to help students achieve it. –Communicate to students what constitutes excellence and how to evaluate their own work. –Communicate goals and results to parents and others. –Help teachers or other raters be accurate, unbiased, and consistent scoring. –Document the procedures used in making important judgments about students..

Elements of a Scoring Rubric One or more traits or dimensions that serve as the basis for judging the student response. Definitions and examples to clarify the meaning of each trait or dimension. A scale of values on which to rate each dimension. Standards of excellence for specified performance levels accompanied by models or examples of each level.

Qualitative Rubrics Qualitative rubrics might have scale points with labels like these: –Not yet, developing, achieving –Emerging, developing, achieving –Novice, apprentice, proficient, distinguished –No evidence, minimal evidence, partial evidence, complete evidence

How Many Points Should a Rating Scale Have? There is no one answer to this question. Some things you should consider. –Each point on the scale needs to be well defined. –Longer scales make it harder to get agreement among scorers. –Extremely short scales make it difficult to identify small differences between students. –Do you want to divide students into two or three groups, based on whether they have attained or exceeded the standard for an outcome? –If you are rating a product/performance on several different dimensions, will you want to add up the scores so that each is equally weighted?

Things To Consider When Selecting a Rubric Does the rubric relate to the outcome(s) being measured? –Does it cover important dimensions of student performance? Do the criteria reflect current conceptions of excellence in the field? –Are the dimensions or scales well- defined? –Is there a clear basis for assigning scores at each scale point?

–Can the rubric be applied consistently by different scorers? –Can the rubric be understood by students and parents? –Is the rubric developmentally appropriate? –Can the rubric be applied to a variety of tasks? –Is the rubric fair and free from bias? –Is the rubric useful, feasible, manageable, and practical? Things To Consider When Selecting a Rubric

Options For Selecting Rubrics –Adopt –Adapt –Do it yourself –rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Problems Encountered by Scorers –Positive/negative leniency error –Trait error –Appearance –Length –Fatigue –Repetition factor –Order effects –Personality clash –Skimming –Error of central tendency –Self-scoring –Discomfort in making judgments –The sympathy score

Portfolio Purpose: helps determine which students need more help and where classroom instruction needs to be expanded. Selecting Pieces: decision made between the teacher and the student.

Portfolio Layout: –Creative Cover –Table of Contents –Contents –Written Comment –Evaluation Sheet concepts process skills and critical thinking scientific reasoning skills individual and group skills

Portfolio Portfolio Conference: Meet with the student and have questions ready to ask Show me something you are proud of and why Show me something you enjoyed doing and why Show me something you revised

Activity Kits M.A.S.H. Kits were developed through a cooperative effort among local school districts and Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and originated from a regional Title II Science Cooperative. Funding by the Illinois State Board of Education through a Science Literacy Grant provided development, piloting, and revision of these kits. The kits are designed to meet the needs of teachers wanting to teach activity- based science in southwestern Illinois.

Activity Kits The key elements of the MASH Kit Program are: Scope & Sequence Alignment with state goals Science process skills Cooperative Learning Integration of Language Arts Mathematics Problem Solving Alternatives in Assessment

Works Cited Chicago Public Schools Rubric ubric_Bank/ScienceRubrics.pdfhttp://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/R ubric_Bank/ScienceRubrics.pdf State Rubric ubric_Bank/ScienceRubrics.pdfhttp://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/R ubric_Bank/ScienceRubrics.pdf eas_and_rubrics.htmlhttp://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/id eas_and_rubrics.html nology.com/currenttrends/alternative_assessment/rubrics/ nology.com/currenttrends/alternative_assessment/rubrics/

Works Cited Portfolio ortfolioassessment.htmlhttp://education.shu.edu/portfolios/AGarcia/p ortfolioassessment.html Activity Kits Lesson (Testing Heat and Temperature) wstick.htmwww.life.uiuc.edu/boast1/sciencelessons/glo wstick.htm