Touchstone 3: Peel back the curtain and make my performance expectations clear

Standards, learning targets, and rubrics are not meant for the teacher’s eyes only. Students must be engaged with the efforts of the teacher to clarify the intended learning content and the teacher’s expectations for how and what to learn must be presented to the students in a clear and precise way to maximize their engagement and understanding. Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) recommend rubrics as a way to prescribe learning goals and to help students understand success criteria. I utilize rubrics for everything from student effort to daily tasks analysis and chapter-wide learning goals. An example of a rubric I use for a chapter learning target. This rubric was created based on the principles of Burke and Burke (2011). Students use the rubric to predict their level of understanding and update their progress throughout the unit, culminating in a grade on their summative assessment. In addition, homework is a small part of the student’s overall grade, but is presented as the most important tool for self improvement in the classroom. Students can continue to use the rubrics presented for chapter learning as a measure of how their homework is helping to achieve their long term goals. My students know that while effort is important, precision and proficiency are the sole determinant of their grades. Self-assessment based on clearly defined goals allows for absolute transparency, so that students know exactly how their performance is measured and how that translates to their grades.

References:

Burke, K., & Burke, K. (2011). From standards to rubrics in six steps: Tools for assessing student learning. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.

McGatha, M. B., & Darcy, P. (2010, February). Rubrics as Formative Assessment Tools. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 15(6).

Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying focused every day. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.