NADSFL

National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages

Rubrics & Grading

How do we make rubric graded assessments practical and efficient for teachers?  Can both be done?

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Sauer on April 19, 2010 at 3:12pm
I have a small cohort of teachers who have been developing rubrics for a larger assessment project. After a lengthy process and some field testing, I thought I would share what we have come up with as a group. Keep in mind that the rubrics will be used for performance-based unit assessments.

Would love to have feedback from my fellow NADSFL members on how we could improve them. Also wondering if other districts would be willing to share their rubrics.
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Permalink Reply by Greta Lundgaard on April 19, 2010 at 3:37pm
These are the rubrics we have been using for Interpersonal Speaking, Presentational Writing, & Presentational Speaking. They are based on the ACTFL Performance Guidelines and are meant to be used in any situation. Depending on how formal/informal, formative/summative the task, the teachers use all 4 criteria or the 2 or 3 criteria which are most important for the task. We have 1 set for levels 1-2 (we do not have elementary programs, so level 1 begins in 7th grade or in 9th grade) and another set for levels 3-4. We use a sliding scale to convert the rubric score to a 100 pt grade. The teachers wanted the ability to give a .5 (1/2), so that is why the descriptors are bulleted--the teachers can give specific feedback to students who achieved some of the descriptors but not all. Imperfect, as always, but we are finding that they work for us. BTW--these are NOT in student friendly language!
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Permalink Reply by Diane DeNoon on April 20, 2010 at 4:53pm
How timely that Greta and Thomas have shared their work in progress rubrics. We have rubrics for each of our 3 or 4 assessment tasks per semester per course but our first attempt yielded a wide variety of rubrics. Last summer we had 6-12 vertical team of teachers that made good progress with developing common rubrics. We got a little stuck in the mud with some criteria that were too big picture proficiency for our teachers' liking and the teachers didn't think those would give the students enough specific feedback. So they added a few criteria that would be more task specific yet would allow use across languages and levels. Like Thomas, we have considered the the proficiency scale labels in an attempt to help students see the entire journey of novice mid - intermediate high. In the next breath, the teachers prefer our current Exemplary, Proficient, Developing and Growth needed categories. The latter are not pegged to proficiency levels per se, although certainly we kept the proficiency levels in mind as teachers wrote the rubric description....but not always....so we have some rubrics that are out of sync with the kids' proficiency levels, ie. too high.
To make the full range tool more practical , we will probably take specific columns from the master rubric chart and extract the continuum of proficiency levels that would more likely apply for a level 1, level 2 student, etc. and provide a limited set of criteria for each task. Teachers think this will be less daunting for the kids. I like Greta's approach of providing sufficient criteria and then applying only the ones that are most pertinent for a given task. I will post as we get our drafts into more shareable products.
Permalink Reply by Leslie Baldwin on October 29, 2010 at 8:50am
The Fairfax County, VA rubrics are great. Like any other, it takes some norming work, but the explanations they provide are really helpful with that process. We've been using these with our PBA push. At first glance the teachers thought they were too complicated, but then as we practiced using them with students' samples, they saw how effective the rubrics are, how it helps them to be objective in the grading, and how the specificity of each category helps with the process rather than making it too complicated.
http://www.fcps.edu/DIS/OHSICS/forlang/PALS/rubrics/
Permalink Reply by Thomas Sauer on October 29, 2010 at 8:59am
We also looked at the Fairfax model when we began our process and so many good elements. However, when we began using rubrics when also began changing the conversation. What is the purpose of the rubric? I believe the answer to that question is key in the development of effective rubrics. I see two categories of questions:
(1) Is the purpose to assign a grade? Is the purpose to tell students how they will be graded?
(2) Is the purpose to provide students with feedback on their learning and suggestions for improvement? Is the purpose to provide students with feedback on how they meet the expected learning targets?

It's very difficult to accomplish both in one rubric. After playing with our rubrics for a year. We changed them quiet a bit from what I posted here last spring. I'm attaching our latest work in progress in hopes to stir a discussion and get some feedback for our teachers.
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Permalink Reply by Greta Lundgaard on November 1, 2010 at 5:11pm
well, we've revised ours as well, and the correlation tables for determining grades. I've been working w/ a district that is at the ground floor as far as performance assessment is concerned. I can see that it would be extremely difficult to start using someone else's rubrics, particularly if the rubrics had gone through implementation, feedback, revision, etc. The process is so important. While it is a faster process to use rubrics developed elsewhere, at some point in the process it might be a valuable experience to then revise based on feedback from students & teachers. We have found that as we continue in the performance assessment journey consistently through courses, our learners become more proficient, causing us to have to revise upward our performance tasks. That often leads to an adjustment in our rubrics.
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