one. Teachers, however, might need to communicate a single score based on the rubric. If this is the case, they can calculate the mode or median (see figure 1.8, page 22). As Susan M. Brookhart (2013) advises in such a situation, “If you do need one overall grade … and must summarize an assessment with one overall score, use the median or mode, not the mean, of the scores for each criterion” (p. 114).
Source: Glass, 2018, p. 45.
Figure 1.8: Process to determine median and mode.
Using Teacher-Created Targets and Scales and Implementing Routines for Using Them
Once teachers create the scales or rubric, they can generate a checklist to articulate the characteristics that students should include in their writing pieces (see figure 1.9 and figure 1.10, page 24, for a secondary and primary example). Although they lack a rubric’s descriptions or a scale’s learning targets for each level of performance, checklists can serve as a useful guide to students as they write because they detail the requirements of an assignment.
It is incumbent upon teachers to be transparent in their expectations. Preparing and presenting the criteria against which teachers will score students at the outset of writing readies them for achievement. For this purpose, teachers can conduct the activity we outline in What do you think you know? (element 15 in chapter 6, page 89) to introduce students to a proficiency scale, rubric, or checklist that articulates the writing goals. Doing so creates a sense of ownership as students move forward fully aware of what their teachers expect them to eventually produce. Plus, it paves the way for using these mechanisms as instructional tools formatively during each lesson in the unit. To this point, teachers routinely refer to specific items on the scale, checklist, or rubric to set the purpose for learning, constantly reminding students of a lesson’s targeted goals. Because clearly defined learning goals are essential for designing any unit, lesson ideas within this book all emanate from these pieces. For example, students measure worked examples (element 9 in chapter 4, page 55)—student and published writing samples—against the criteria, and complete a revision sheet aligned to the criteria to self-assess and review a peer’s writing against the expectations (element 18 in chapter 6, page 100).
Figure 1.9: Argumentation writing checklist (secondary).
Source: Glass, 2017b, pp. 34–35.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Figure 1.10: Opinion writing checklist (primary).
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
When teachers use scales or rubrics to identify what they want students to know and be able to do, it enables them to squarely focus learning. Utilizing them as instructional tools sets students up for success as expectations are well-defined and students can track their progress against clearly defined goals.
Element 2: Tracking Student Progress
With proficiency scales or rubrics in place, the teacher can help provide each student with a clear sense of where he or she started relative to a topic and where he or she is currently. Figure 1.11 presents the self-rating scale for element 2, tracking student progress.
Figure 1.11: Self-rating scale for element 2—Tracking student progress.
This section illustrates the following concrete examples for writing instruction associated with strategies about tracking progress. (For all the strategies related to this element, see figure A.1, page 156, in appendix A.)
• Designing assessments that generate formative scores
• Using different types of assessments
Designing Assessments That Generate Formative Scores
Using a proficiency scale or analytic rubric line item as a learning focus, teachers design formative assessments to gauge students’ level of understanding. As a guide to generate them, teachers can implement a variety of instructional strategies from other elements featured throughout this book. For example, they can conduct a concept attainment activity (element 7, page 39) or ask students to write a summary or complete a graphic organizer (element 8, page 46). The detailed suggestions in chapter 3 (page 37) illustrate these particular strategies and how they can function well as formative assessments. As readers go through the book, they can consider other strategies that serve as effective opportunities to formatively assess students’ progress and incorporate those strategies into their lessons.
Using Different Types of Assessments
Teachers can administer different types of formative assessments—unobtrusive, obtrusive, or student-generated—to check for students’ understanding of targeted learning goals. Together these assessments formulate a picture and reflect student growth toward learning.
Unobtrusive assessments, as the name implies, do not interrupt the flow of a lesson as students barely, if at all, realize that teachers are assessing them. Informally and unobtrusively, teachers watch and listen for time on task, group work involvement, or students who are stuck and those speedily finishing a task. During whole-class discussion and interaction, teachers also pay attention to the quality of students’ responses and their engagement levels. For specific examples, teachers can notice and gauge students at work, making entries on a recordkeeping sheet to inform future planning. For example, teachers might notice what parts of the text a student annotates, where a student places a prepared, labeled card on a student writing sample that indicates a characteristic of a genre (for example, thesis, reason, or evidence), a student’s detailed drawing that reflects an author’s sensory details about a character, or the organization of a student’s notes while he or she listens to a lecture.
Obtrusive assessments
