Automating Authentic Assessment
With Rubrics
Technology and the Future
of Education
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(Students Are Not the Only Ones Being Assessed)
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Students must develop more than a factual knowledge base in
order to become scientifically literate.
They need to develop skills and
attitudes that are appropriate for critical thinking and problem solving.
National Science Reform has Focused
on Assessment
Project 2061 recommends that "...(assessment
developers) invest more heavily than in the past in developing new kinds of tests
to provide practical alternatives to tests that reward only the memorization
of bits of information."
American Association for
the Advancement of Science, Science for All Americans: Project 2061
While discussing what students should be learning and doing, an example was provided:
"...students should learn how to analyze situations and gather relevant
information, define problems, generate and evaluate creative ideas,
develop their ideas into tangible solutions, and assess and improve
their solutions."
American Association for
the Advancement of Science, Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy: Project 2061
"To become good problem solvers, students need to develop drawing and modeling
skills, along with the ability to record their analyses, suggestions, and
results in clear language."
American Association for
the Advancement of Science, Benchmarks for Scientific Literacy: Project
2061
"Another important shift is toward authentic assessment. This movement calls for
exercises that closely approximate the intended outcomes of science education."
National Academy of Sciences-National
Research Council National Science Education Standards
"Authentic assessment exercises require students to apply scientific information
and reasoning to situations like those they will encounter in the world
outside the classroom as well as situations that approximate how scientists
do their work."
National Academy of Sciences-National
Research Council National Science Education Standards
State Science Frameworks Affirm
the Need for New Assessments
for example in Florida:
"The assessment of science learning is complex, and cannot be accomplished
solely through pencil and paper tests."
Florida Department of Education,
Science for All Students: The Florida Pre K-12 Science Curriculum Framework
State Educational Goals Reflect
the Same Mandate;
again, in Florida: Standard 3.1
"Florida students locate, comprehend, interpret, evaluate, maintain, and apply
information, concepts and ideas found in literature, the arts, symbols, recordings,
video and other graphic displays, and computer files, in order to perform tasks
and/or for enjoyment."
Florida's Blueprint 2000
Goal 3: Student Performance
Local School Districts Are Often
Realigning Educational Priorities to Include Authentic Assessment
"Given the opportunity to use resources,
analyze information, and critically evaluate problems and solutions,
students will be better prepared for life in the 21st Century."
Brevard County Schools:
Scientific Literacy for All
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the Table of Contents
The Problem:
Authentic Assessment is a Time Intensive Method
A typical science class has thirty or
more students. To be able to assess students for the skills that the 21st century
will require means watching them as they focus on problems, gather information,
identify key variables, develop a research question, etc. A teacher circulating
around the room listening to cooperative groups may be able to catch a few of
these behaviors on a legal pad with a clipboard. However, many more of the behaviors
will be missed entirely as the teacher tries to identify the student and take
notes on what they did. Furthermore, all of that written data will have to be
interpreted at some point into summary data.
Teachers, especially Science Teachers,
have very little time to spare with their current responsibilities. Consider
designing task scenarios, collecting the necessary equipment and supplies, communicating
performance standards, observing performance of students, evaluating performance,
cleaning up following the activity, and then communicating the evaluation to
students and families in a comprehensible fashion. This all requires a lot of
what teachers don't have... TIME.
WE NEED
TO SELECT
AN EFFECTIVE, EFFICIENT
MEANS OF ASSESSING
STUDENT SKILLS AND
LEARNING PROCESSES.
Return to
the Table of Contents
A rubric is a scoring guide that differentiates,
on an articulated scale, among a group of sample behaviors, or evidences of thought
that are responding to the same prompt.
The rubric may correlate with quantitative or qualitative scores.
(with appreciation to Donna Szpyrka
and Ellyn B. Smith)
- Divide overall task into distinct
subtasks that evidence student skills or comprehension/application of knowledge.
- Identify both cognitive and performance
components that can be assessed.
- Determine whether qualitative
or quantitative descriptors are going to be for each subtask- this may
be influence by the purpose of the assessment ie: primarily for student feedback
or for incorporating into a numerical average.
- Allow for full range of skill/knowledge
with clear indicators of each level of performance.
- Use rubric for an evaluation of
an presentation or activity.
- Revise rubric as necessary.
Return to the
Table of Contents
Rubric Assessment on the Computer
- Performance standards can be set
up quickly, edited easily, and reused continuously for future classes, and
sometimes similar future assignments.
- Performance standards can be published
to clearly explain expectations to students.
- Recording performance can be simplified
with computerized form.
- Following the observation and
recording period, the computer does the computational work instantaneously.
- Publishing student reports is
easy, clear, consistent with pre-performance standards, and professional looking.
- Databases are frequently compared
to electronic Rolodexes.
- Databases hold fields of distinct
information types for each record or client (in this case each student).
- Databases can perform mathematical
functions to total scores for each student's individual performance grades.
- Once the rubric is created, it
can be published for the students prior to the activity or performance so
that they will be informed about how they will be evaluated.
- Following the activity or performance
an individualized report to each student is easily printed with the students
own scores in each field.
- The computed grade from the database
can then be exported to the teacher's gradebook program.
How is this
done?
Return to the Table of Contents 
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's)
such as the former Apple Newton®, Palm®, and the Visor®, are about
the size of a calculator or TV remote.
- Newtons boast handwriting recognition
via a pencil sized stylus on a 3 inch by 4 inch screen.
- Newtons can hold performance assessment
databases.
- Newtons will respond to tapping
of buttons on the that bring up records, input specified information such
as assessment of task completion.
- Newtons are very mobile, running
on typical AA batteries.
- Newtons will download their information
into Macintosh or Windows computers via a serial port or infrared beam.
- Much to the dismay of many users
and developers, it was necessary to cancel the Newton product line in 1998
in order to stablize the future of Apple Computer. There is still no personal
digital assistant that measures up to the capablities of the Newton. However,
the Palm OS is close.
Return to the
Table of Contents
The Florida Institute of Technology/Brevard County School District had hoped to
receive a grant to purchase a set of Apple Newtons. These Apple Newtons were to
be used in an Assessment Pilot Study - we are now redirecting our attention to
studying the software and capablities of the Palm OS (summer of 2001).
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Authentic Assessment!
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This webpage has been available since
January 22,1995.
