Meaningful Assessments

We live in a data driven world where it often seems like we all we do is assess our students. For given purposes, assessments are ultimately necessary. They provide us with a  lot of information about what a student knows. It also drives our instruction. A major factor when talking about assessments are our state standardized tests. These tests measure how the student is progressing, but rarely is used to improve instruction. This is why teachers need to be knowledgeable about assessments. We want to make sure that assessing our students actually allows us to see where they are excelling and struggling. One way to do this is by using a rubric. A rubric is an evaluation tool that is a lot like a checklist. It is a guideline of what the students work should include. Rubrics can be holistic (scoring the work as a whole) or analytic (scoring the work criteria by criteria).

Here are a few guidelines for creating and using rubrics:

-Rubrics should be child friendly

-They should not limit creativity

-Don’t always use rubrics; children should be writing often without always being assessed

-Keep your focus on effective writing.

Check out this site:

http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/shared-writing-30686.html

“No rubric or progression of steps captures the full range of what writers actually do.”

-Regie Routman