M Y YEAR OF 4 P OINT R UBRICS In High school Shawn Whyte

W HY ? For high school, we don’t have to report using a 4 point scale. Percentages in outcomes is fine. Read some research (Marzano), talked to some people, and I decided to try it.

W HAT IS THE 4-P OINT S CALE ? The 4 point scale tells students, parents, and teachers what outcomes of a curriculum students excel, survive, or just don’t understand. It breaks it down into manageable chunks that allows for more focussed instruction and shows where a student’s strengths lie.

L EVEL 1 - B EGINNING This is the bottom level. Students do not have an understanding of the skills or content They need more instruction or support, and may not succeed even with help.

L EVEL 2 – A PPROACHING Students here have a basic understanding of the outcome They can solve questions and show skills that are lower level Blooms – Remember, comprehend. Not much thinking involved, more wrote use of ideas. They may achieve higher levels, but they still need help

L EVEL 3 - P ROFICIENCY Students here are meeting the outcome expectations on their own. This is a higher level of Blooms – Apply, Analyze, Synthesis Multi-step questions and deeper understandings are key here. To achieve a level 3, they must be able to show level 2 understatings as well

L EVEL 4 - M ASTERY Students here can think and use level 2 and 3 knowledge and skills, and then solve questions or apply understandings to novel situations Also, they can justify their work and explain their train of thought This is the highest levels of Blooms – Synthesis and Evaluate. Should be difficult to attain.

T HE FIRST STEP The first step was breaking my course into its outcomes, and picking my key indicators. For Math, this is a pretty easy. Each outcome is basically its own unit for planning. For humanities, the process is very similar. The only difference will be with assessment creation (more on that to come)

Surface Area WA10.5 Demonstrate using concrete and pictorial models, and symbolic representations, understanding of area of 2-D shapes and surface area of 3-D objects including units in SI and Imperial systems of measurement a. Describe situations relevant to self, family, or community in which SI and/or Imperial units for area measurement are used. b. Justify the choice of referents for area measurements in both the SI and Imperial units (e.g., a dime or a small fingernail is about one cm2 and the thumb nail is about 1 in2). d. Develop, generalize, explain, and apply strategies (including measuring and applying formulae) for determining areas and surface areas of: regular, composite, and irregular 2-D shapes, including circles 3-D objects, including right cylinders and right cones. f. Develop, generalize, explain, and apply strategies to convert, within the same system of measurement, area measurements expressed in: an SI unit squared to another SI unit squared an Imperial unit squared to another Imperial unit squared.

S TEP 2 - R UBRICS When I started there were some rubrics floating around: NESD P.A. Carleton Various others I tweaked, modified, and flat-out created what I could to suit my classes

To make the rubrics better, I focussed on the curriculum. I needed to decide: what does a level 2, 3, or 4 look like? What indicators where at what level of blooms? What were my key indicators students needed to accomplish? These become my level 2 and 3 scores.

Subject: Workplace and Apprenticeship Math 10 Outcome: WP10.5 Students will demonstrate, using concrete and pictorial models, and symbolic representations, understanding of area of 2-D shapes and surface area of 3-D objects including units in the SI and Imperial systems of measurement. Beginning – 1 I need help. Approaching – 2 I have a basic understanding. Proficiency – 3 My work consistently meets expectations. Mastery – 4 I have a deeper understanding. I cannot determine surface area of 2D and/or 3D shapes. I can determine area and surface area of regular 2D and 3D shapes with a diagram. I can solve situational problems involving area and surface area of composite and irregular 2D shapes, and 3D shapes without a diagram. I can convert surface area within systems of measurement. I can explain, solve, and justify problems which involve composite 3D shapes and situational questions relevant to self or community such as price per unit squared. I can convert surface area between systems of measurement. Indicators – please select and assess as appropriate to your unit, bold text indicates possible key indicators. a. Describe situations relevant to self, family, or community in which SI and/or Imperial units for area measurement are used. b. Justify the choice of referents for area measurements in both the SI and Imperial units (e.g., a dime or a small fingernail is about one cm 2 and the thumb nail is about 1 in 2 ). c. Estimate, using strategies such as personal referents or grids, area and surface area measurements in SI or Imperial units including regular, composite, and irregular 2-D shapes and 3-D objects found in the classroom, at home, or in the community. d. Develop, generalize, explain, and apply strategies (including measuring and applying formulae) for determining areas and surface areas of: regular, composite, and irregular 2-D shapes, including circles 3-D objects, including right cylinders and right cones. f. Develop, generalize, explain, and apply strategies to convert, within the same system of measurement, area measurements expressed in: an SI unit squared to another SI unit squared an Imperial unit squared to another Imperial unit squared.

D O YOU HAVE TO MAKE ALL OF THESE ? No. Rubrics have been created by teacher teams and are mostly done (or so I’m told). You can create your own, or tweak ones that are made.

O K NOW WHAT – S TEP 3 Creating assessments using my rubric was next. I needed to ask myself: What outcomes am I assessing? What will be formative and what will be summative? What does a level 2 look like? A level 3? A level 4?

Assessments made with a 4 point rubric need to be outcome specific. Performance tasks: If a performance task covers more than one outcome, each outcome is marked seperately.

A FEW EXAMPLES Workplace Math 10, 20. Science 10 /0By_PRGk-x9SOOEVVUlBESjg3dWc /0By_PRGk-x9SOOEVVUlBESjg3dWc

H OW DO THEY WORK ? Ease of marking Right or wrong Formative – quick overview Minutes for each assessment Formative – the rubric becomes the feedback Reassessments Students can redo or retest only if they spend some time learning more Silly mistakes don’t really matter – they can be changed Students know exactly what they need to do to achieve higher

H OW DO THEY WORK ? Motivation Recommends – all assessments and outcomes at least a level 3 Why do they need to re-show their learning if the achieved standard Conversions to percentages 4 – 100% 3 – 90% 2 – 60% 1 – 40%

S TUDENT REACTION Motivation Students take responsibility and ask to redo, hand everything in, and on time (Recommends) Know exactly what they need to work on Know exactly how to get that level 3 or 4 Start using the terminology of outcome, formative, summative Differentiation They can choose what level they want to achieve Even adapted student work can be marked using same rubric

P ARENT REACTION Mixed Some parents like it Know what they child is good at and what needs work See progression and ability increases/decreases Can see how child is marked through rubrics Transparent – little question of where student is achieving

P ARENT R EACTION Some parents don’t Still caught up on the % - don’t care how they are doing, what is their mark Like to compare to other students – 4 points of grading doesn’t give much to compare to others Don’t like the huge report card – every outcome listed “Wasn’t the way they did it” The big gap between 2 and 3 percentage-wise

O VERALL AS A YEAR It has been a year of learning, working, and surprises I thought it was so easy – once it is set up Takes a bit longer to create assessments Takes no time at all to mark I am more confident my marks are accurate and valid I can defend the mark students achieved

W HAT DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ? Burning questions? Concerns? Ideas?