My year of 4 P oint Rubrics

1. My year of 4 Point Rubrics In High school Shawn Whyte

2. Why? • 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.

3. What is the 4-Point Scale? • 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.

4. Level 1 - Beginning • 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.

5. Level 2 – Approaching • 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

6. Level 3 - Proficiency • 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

7. Level 4 - Mastery • 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.

8. The 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)

9. 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.

10. Step 2 - Rubrics • 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

11. 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.

12. 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 cm2 and the thumb nail is about 1 in2). 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.

13. Do 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.

14. Ok now what – Step 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?

15. 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.

16. A few examples • Workplace Math 10, 20. Science 10 • https://drive.google.com/?tab=wo&authuser=0#folders/0By_PRGk-x9SOOEVVUlBESjg3dWc

17. How 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

18. How 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%

19. Student 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

20. Parent 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

21. Parent Reaction • 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

22. Overall 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

23. What do you want to know? • Burning questions? • Concerns? • Ideas?