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Improving Your Own Classroom Assessments
by Karie Gregory, Grade 6 Science and Social Studies, Middle School West, Gahanna, Ohio
Traditional Tests
Especially during my first year at our school, my tests were all multiple choice, true-false, and matching, which could be graded by the Scantron machine or by a student helper during study hall.
When I did include an “essay” question, I had a rudimentary 10-point scale in my mind and would slap a grade on the answer.
Honestly, there were occasions when the time of day and how I felt—my mood or fatigue—impacted the score more than definable quality and content.
Need for Clear Expectations
Nor could I verbalize to students or parents exactly what was wrong when questioned. When talking with my science colleague on the other team, I would discover that her scores differed from mine by a letter grade or two for the same basic answer.
I felt this was not fair to students, who often found they had no idea what I wanted from them.
Without clear expectations to begin with, students made no improvement from test to test, especially in their ability to express in written form a skill or process in science.
The biggest frustration was the Science Proficiency Test, where students had to think through a scientific scenario even for the multiple-choice questions.
Rubric-Based Tests
Why rubrics? I could take a particular skill or process and break it into specific levels of quality. Before the unit began, students could have the rubric in hand, and I would teach them how to read and use it to guide their study.
I would actually take a tired, old test full of memorization and boost its power by replacing five or six multiple-choice questions on bacteria, for example.
The new question would call for students to explain in writing how bacteria are helpful as well as harmful or to tell the difference between viruses and bacteria.
The process involved turning memorization items into the “why” and “how” of higher-order thinking.
That meant I had to have some criteria in writing—a rubric—for the two or four point questions, along with sample answers used to help students see differences in quality.
Improved Student Achievement
We began to discuss the samples and rate them according to the rubric. I observed that as students practiced analyzing the exemplar answers, they began to internalize how to create high quality answers themselves.
Each time the tests got a little better. Now my tests are full of diagrams, graphs, and pictures that students are required to follow and interpret.
Our students’ scores on the Sixth Grade Science Proficiency test improved 12% over last year. I do not believe it is due to “teaching to the test” but to improving the way students think and write about science for regular classroom assessments.
Check out this article on rubric-based assessment training >
