3)+How+do+we+measure+performance+tasks

//Rubrics are generally the obvious choice for performance tasks because of the subjectivity involved in assessing the students' performance (as opposed to a multiple choice test). Rubics also provide for authentic assessment by making learning goals and performance expectations clear to students ahead of time and providing student-friendly explanation as to how to meet the standards. Rubrics should also focus on developing higher order thinking skills, aligning directly to standards, and engendering deep understanding. One interesting idea I recently heard about in regard to using a rubric was to align each section of the rubric with a required standard. The student is not given a total point-value grade. Instead, the students is evaluated on each standard and their mastery of that standard is what is recorded in the grade book as the assessment grade. Perhaps a completion or effort type grade may also be entered in a separate grade book category or group. This is a big leap towards standards-based grading. In addition to a rubric, there may be a more traditional test or series of quizzes as skill checks or checks for individual discrete knowledge. It is also a good idea to provide either a reflective activity or allow for students to have opportunities for peer and self evaluation. Providing students with exemplars is an important part of the process of showing students what's expected and what that looks like on a real assignment, and also helping students understand how to achieve what's expected. **Suzanne N.**//

I, too, like the rcampus.com and Rubistar links for rubric creation - although I do feel somewhat restricted at times when playing with Rubistar. Yes, there is customization, but I typically end up recreating the rubric the way I want it to look in a word processing application anyways. More work, yes, but sometimes I just don't like the look of things I get off the web.

Anyways, rubrics are a great way to help measure performance tasks because it lays out exactly what students need to include in their performance, and what needs to be correctly completed in order to achieve whatever score they are striving for. If a student wants to exceed the standard on a task, a rubric lays everything right out for them. I think what I like most about rubrics, however, is that is gives students room to be creative and individual while staying within the guidelines of the task to help ensure that they are performing the tasks asked of them. This way teachers know that the assessment data will be accurate.

Checklists are also a nice reference tool for students (and teachers)! I love having a simple 5-step list for student reference before they complete a task. "Do I have this? Have I completed that step? Is there anything I'm missing?" Using a checklist gives students a final chance to polish their work before it is turned in. ~Sean S.

The first place I go is to blackboard and find the unit plan, there are often great sites and ideas already listed and ready to use. The new K12CAP doesn't have this feature yet, but I was at a math conference and I know they are working on this for next year. The toughest thing I face is the abundance of material available. Here are a few sites I found. [] is a good site for creating rubrics, it also has rubrics that are pre made that you can refine or use as is. I read what T.Eagen wrote and like the idea of a checklist for me and the students. I don't think I would use both since that seems redundant to me, but feel a checklist might be friendlier and easier to understand for the student. When I created rubrics at first I made them way to wordie and too complicated. Now I try to be clearer and more succinct. After all, they should know the material, just use the checklist to make sure they are meeting the critera. This website seemed friendly to create checklist! [] Kristina M. === Measuring understanding is crucial when incorporating Authentic Performance Tasks. What are the different ways you can measure them? Do a google search and find links for measurement ideas, rubrics etc. that will be helpful for classmates. Include these links below with a description about what can be found at your site.===

This particular site allows for teachers to create differing types of rubrics as well as checklists. I want to be more consistent with my launch and have specific criteria that I measure and that students are aware about. I looked specifically at checklists under poerformance basd learning and found a way to generate a checklist to measure oral presentation and communications skills. Since I have been spending time with the oral language/expression and listening templates I found this site interesting. There are many other tools to use as you are planning and delving in to the areas of your interest. [] T.Eagen Rubrics are the main way that I know for measuring authentic performance tasks. Portfolio collections, conferencing and reflective writings about project accomplishments could also be used but are not as easy to outline when developing the project criteria. I have attached 2 articles. One is by Jon Mueller and his toolbox that can be used for creating authentic assessments and rubrics for measurement. The second one is an article just about creating rubrics and the types of rubrics that you may want to use depending on the type of assessment. [] [] Lisa L.

Measurement of Authentic Performance Tasks can include the use of rubrics, having students present portfolios, modeling conversations, drawing comic strips, journaling, writing letters to penpals in target languages and others. The important thing for the teacher is to keep the students on track and focusing on the goal of the assessment. [] This is good website with a list of Alternative Assessments for specific subjects

[]One of the best resources for French teachers is our new curriculum website. Unfortunately, it can only be accessed by students and faculty that have purchased the texts.

[|www.fcps.edu/DIS/OHSICS/forlang/PALS/rubrics/] This is a site specific for World Language teachers Cynthia H.

As an ESL teacher I find that keeping a portfolio for my students is very vital because it can show where students have begun with their English learning and the progress they have made. When they are frustrated or feel overhelmed it is nice for them to see that they are making marked improvement from six months ago. They are also helpful to show parents and use as another data analysis piece when discussing student progress.The site titled The ELL Outlook discusses the step-by-step process of using portfolios with ELL students. It is fairly simplistic but a great place to begin and understand the reasons why portfolios are beneficial for second language learners. http://www.coursecrafters.com/ELL-Outlook/2006/jan_feb/ELLOutlookITIArticle7.htm

There are many different ways to measure a student's level of success in an authentic performance task. The important thing is to remember the original goal and the essential questions that were to be answered as a result of the unit of study. In writing the rubric that will be used the measure the task, the teacher must keep in mind what he or she wanted to measure in the first place, and what level of performance will be considered proficient, advanced, partially proficient, or unsatisfactory. Below is a list of links I found as a result of a Goggle search on authentic assessments. I chose them because each is very different, but they all give good ideas that can be adapted to meet your particular needs. [] This website offers an explanation of authentic assessments, and has a specific link on how to write rubrics for authentic performance tasks.

[|www.exemplars.com] Exemplars .com claims to be a leader in the field of performance assessments. They actually offer rubrics in different subject areas, but these are not free.

[]. This was one of my favorite sites. It shows an actual civics authentic assessment and rubric. I like the way it is "kid friendly" ~ Linda C.

Although these are not noted as Authentic Performance Assessments and are called math projects, I use them in my math classes and now see how I can use them as a starting point and then adapt them to be a performance assessment. [] Melissa B.

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 * My weaknesses Grading, measuring, and recording are my weaknesses as a teacher. Also, I am inclined to lose papers if they are in my hands for too long. For all these reasons I am looking into doing more in an online format. **=====

[] -"are a creative means of organizing, summarizing, and sharing artifacts, information, and ideas about teaching and/or learning, along with personal and professional growth."

[] - this had some premade rubrics that I liked. They were nice not because they fit projects I wanted to do, but because they had already brainstormed many of the issues faced and worked out solutions.

[]- had many many learning resources and assessments that I think will help me see the steps to setting up my own program.

I might have gone off task here during the search, so let me bring it back. In order to effectively assess student understanding in performance assessments I still need to answer these questions.

1. What does it look like when a student has advanced understanding? Proficient? What does it look like when a student is not understanding?

2. How is understanding recorded separate from work effort? Can I look at my grade book and tell that students 1,2, and 3 have it but 4,5, and 6 need more work?

3. What does remediation work look like? How is the class set-up for remediation? When do you go one anyway?

Andrea P

I think the way you measure a performance task depends on the goal you have set and the perormance task itself. A teacher must decide what proficiency looks like, and what they want to see each student get out of the understanding. A teacher nees to account for remediation and levels of learning. [] Has analytical vs. holistic rubrics and has good descriptors on levels of performance. [] Planning, teaching & reporting online has rubrics and tips for choosing rubrics and breaks down subject areas [] has all kinds of authentic assessment links. my. hrw.com is a great resource also, but as stated above, you have to be using the companies textbooks to have access to it. Jessie W.

readwritethink.org is my all time favorite lang arts site. It is full of authentic assessments that can be used as is or tweaked to fit your own personal needs. Each lesson has the evaluation criteria as well, which is helpful. When I'm stuck or at the beginning of something we're going to study I usually go here early in my planning. If I don't find exactly what I'm looking for I often find a kernal of an idea that gets me going. Regardless of what the assessment is, I'm a big fan of rubrics. I spend a lot of time on them up front so it helps both me and the kids know exactly what to expect. As with most real-world projects we work collaboratively at least part of the time. Students work in table groups to solve problems, analyze text, plan writing before creating the final product. I have the opportunity to see where students are in the process and who needs extra help and who is ready for the next step. They may complete the final product independently (or not) but at least they are collaborating for part of it. - Lori R.

I also use readwritethink.org. It is full of authentic assessments that can be used. It also lets you build assessments that can be used to fit your students needs. -marybel

I'm right there with you on readwritethink.org. I use it in both English and social studies classes for ideas that cover both areas. As far as social studies goes, lessons with rubrics and authentic tasks are found in so many places it's almost overwhelming. As I'm looking to do my final "project" on the Cold War I googled that and found a great site with lessons and both formative and summative assessments attached. I think it's important that whatever we find on the web be adapted to our own style and grade level content. Sadly I've seen teacher who seek out lessons, employ them and then move on without really making it their own. Another site I discovered is Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement through the University of Minnesota. It nicely breaks down various social studies topics from sociology to psych to world to American and offers suggestions for authentic assessments. Sally H.

www.pgcps.pg.k12.md.us/~elc/developing**tasks**.html This site is from Prince George's County Public Schools. It was helpful to me because it gave ideas of catagories one might assess, as well as examples. Assessment measure will be different for each performance task. On a side note, in my research I discovered websites where businesses were developing ideas for how to measure how well their employees were performing work tasks. Business wanted to measure success at tasks so that they could improve performance. If we can teach our students to excel in our performance tasks, perhaps they will perform better in the workplace where emplyers are measuring their work performance. Heather Y

[] Rubistar is a basic Rubric maker. It allows you to come up with the criteria and the point value when creating a rubric. There are limited types of rubrics but it does allow you to customize. I think it works well for writing and group assignments. [] gives some basic examples that can be modied easily. Mandy K

As I was conducting my search, I came across a website that I found very interesting: [|www.LessonSense.com]. This site contains great information about various assessment types. Also, my favorite site to use for rubrics is [|www.rubistar.com]. This site is a great starting point for a variety of rubrics. I use this site in my Langauge Arts classes for projects, presentations, and smaller assignments. I find it to be very helpful. Dawn D.

Looking through the different websites, I found some good information, but none for the current project I am working on. However, all was not lost because I did find some rubrics for writing, such as persuasive essays, as well as rubrics to use for oral presentations. Kerry D.

http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/examples/examples_tasks_elementary_languagearts.htm This website is an Authentic Assessment Toolbox for elementary language arts. It includes many ideas and examples for various elementary grade levels. It is part of Jon Mueller's website. http://www.tensigma.org/products/perf_assess_samples.html gives ready-to-use performance assessments for various grade levels K-12. Shawna C.

I like the Jonathan Mueller website and found some great things to use with my poetry unit. I also like ReadWriteTHink, and find it helpful quite often. I use rubrics that we have created as a language arts team, as well as things I have created or collected over the many years and places I have taught. Deann D.

This is hard becuase people have already found so many great sites to use. I too love rubistar because it allows you to create your own rubrics. I also came across ReadWriteThink.org as I was looking for a rubric for procedural writing. -Katie S.

Two of the links that I found for rubrics were pretty helpful, [] and [], mostly because they had some good sources for math rubrics. However, I still like the Mueller website the best because it gave me lots of ideas on how to create my very own rubrics (me do it, me do it!) I have used Rubistar before but did lots of editing before I was even halfway happy with it. I have bookmarked the Mueller site and plan on using it as an ongoing resource... ﻿~SandieS

I liked this link of rubric ideas. [|Rubrics]It seemed like it would have some useful assessment tools, especially for online learning. This link also appeared interesting. http://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/performance/assessb.html I like how step by step it is. I too, like others, have use rubistar extensively and appreciate how easy and quick it is. Alisha L.

This simple pdf has links to a number of very practical rubrics and rubric designs. It is a page that I thought offered some concrete rationales and models for writing rubrics and assessing students in a variety of of authentic performance tasks. [|www.uni.edu/**assessment**/documents/**rubric**document.pdf] Similar Robin L.

I spent a little time building and forging through a //Google Squared//document (very cool tool, by the way) on "Performance Assessments" (see [] for the document. Click on the "science" description box and you'll find your way to "A Resource of EDC's Center for Science Education." Great description of PAs and implementation ideas. Hope it proves helpful. Mark W.

I know that a lot of teachers have already posted this, but it is the site I am most comfortable in using when I generate a rubric. I find it the easiest to work with... [] May F.

In social studies it is important for students to not just demonstrate understanding of content, but also to demonstrate understanding as it relates to communication and effective writing. The website I provided discusses the use of skills in performance assessment and not just content, and then it also provides many links of useful rubric examples that can be used.--Levi B. []

My search lead me to the University of West Florida Website that did a nice job of describing Authentic Performance Tasks (http://uwf.edu/atc/Guide/Developing/DesignStandards/assessment/Auth-Asses.cfm) and as did other web pages it suggested using rubrics to measure performance tasks. The website suggested going to a link to Rubistar ( [] ) to help create exemplary rubrics quickly. I tried the free website and it was very user friendly. I see now that several others also cited this page. I also found another site that had a sample rubric used for portfolios ([] ). Christi W-G[]

I feel I can search and search for authentic performance task rubrics and ideas. There is a ton out there to look at and try to attach to your own lessons. The most productive way to assess your students is to create your own rubrics to align learning to assessment outcomes from your essential questions. I have explored many sites only to find that bits and pieces of each can be used in my classroom. The site I have attached has rubrics that include language that can be used in my classroom with my students. [] This site has some language that may be useful in my classroom this coming fall. The sites above that other teachers in our class also includ possibilities for use next year. I believe that many of these examples can be useful.....if aligned with big ideas in units taught in my own classroom. - Dan P.

One of the drawbacks of posting later is that there really aren't any original sites left for me to mention. I used [] quite a bit for writing in my fourth grade classroom a few years ago. What I liked about it was that there were many resources ready-to-go- so that as a teacher I didn't have to reinvent the wheel. There are mentor papers, diagrammed writing samples for visual aide, graphic organizers, and checklists. I never really explored the resources in areas other than writing, so I cannot really speak to them. What I've used lately (in the area of writing) is that we examine the KUDs from the CAP document first so that we are clear about what students are to gain from a particular genre. Then, we've worked in teams to create rubrics for units that we've planned together. We have agreed that not every genre will assess every writing trait, so most of the discussion with teams has focused around what traits and KUDs are specific to the genre at hand. To my knowledge, individual teachers and teams are using different writing samples to assess. In other words, we don't have all of fourth grade administer a particular prompt at the same time. To be honest, I can't say that I've ever thought this was easy in Jeffco or outlined. We've come a long way in our district in other contents, but writing hasn't really ever had a district-wide assessment since Jeffco Writes or short constructed repsonses on Acuity and CSAP. There hasn't been any ongoing assessment of writing systemically. I would hope that all teachers are doing writing conferences and having students produce writing samples, but again this is up to individual teachers as to how, when, and why to do this. I'd like to see us create rubrics and/or checklists using some of the sites mentioned here and begin to build a district-wide practice. At my school, I'd like to also find a way to really build in some professional development time for teachers to score writing together and have PST conversations specific to the area of writing. ~ Melanie D.

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 * Some ways that I have found effective to measure is to set up a standard protocol in the studio/classroom that follows a line of thinking based on the studio/classroom as operating as a practicing artist studio --- following this I have a list of what artists do--- Artists look at art Artists write about art ---Artists talk about art-- Artists make art--- so the way I use this to measure a performance task of making I create checklists and reflections that help me to see how the artists in my studio/classroom are understanding their process through writing about their art, looking at art and talking about their art. Elizabeth B. I have also used ** readwritethink.org on many occasions, but now I am so excited about all of the new sites all of you have listed. Thanks so much! That being said, I have made numerous rubrics throughout my years of teaching. One thing I do with my kids is we discuss the rubrics and build them together. My students get to have some input, but I carefully guide them in selecting those authentic assessment pieces that I will need to assess their skills and understandings. I love that we work together to create a productive and useful rubric and my students are more apt to perform because they were involved in the construction of the rubric. I also feel this is a great way for students to truly understand what is expected of them. Rhoda F.======

I have a great deal of difficulty creating rubrics. In Math.. It was usually a department rubric, created by "others" and then I could tweek it to fit the needs of the unit. I will definitely require the help of my Coach and my partner to set up and write the rubrics I will need for my kidw! Kim P

I have found check-lists a great way to keep track of the day to day observations that I make especially in reading groups. I have put together all the benchmarks into a spreadsheet with all the students names. As I observe the students doing one of the items independently I will date when I observed it. This is also an easy way to look over my class to see who gets it or who needs another minilesson on a particular benchmarks. This also helps with forming guided reading groups. I use rubrics on most of my larger assignments. I like Rubistar.com because it gives you the format and several already formed ones. I find that my rubrics turn into a list of benchmarks for the different pieces that need to be included in a large project. For instance, if students need to show use of figurative language in their writing than I will make sure it is one of the items on my rubric. Megan J

We have a variety of choices in the way we assess student learning through authentic performance tasks. Regardless of the specific type of outcome, rubrics will identify and communicate levels of proficiency. All rubrics should be tied to the original focus or essential question of the unit. Student participation in the creation of these scoring rubrics can be an effective part of the assessment process. Sue M

I have not been very successful using rubrics in my math class. I do have one for constructed response problems but I find myself not using them. I think that after reading what my classmates have said and reading other articles I need to start using them. They are a great tool to communicate expectations to students and they also act as a communication tool between me and the parents. I think it would be great to have a rubric for my performance task. - Nicole L.