Part 1

• How does the Exemplars criteria for both math and reading rubrics follow a top-down or bottom-up approach? How do you know?

The criteria for the math rubric follow top-down approach. One of the elements in a top-down approach is that the strategy is chosen first with no basis. Similarly, a teacher will deliver knowledge to students by ensuring they focus on an extensive view of the subject, making them picture and without necessarily giving an explanation about the subject (www.exemplars.com). On the other hand, the reading rubric is quite different. In this case, the teacher starts a lesson by reading information from many texts. Although there is no basic information in the beginning; however, it will aid in giving the direction of the activity. For both math and reading rubrics, the bottom-up approach is the practitioner. Under the practitioner, information would be broken down, and this would lead to students developing and understanding the lesson.

• To what degree are performance level descriptions addressed?

The performance levels are addressed to the degree of proficiency. It will be Ideal if the students express their expertise with the minimum energy and time. However, the rubric did not show any goals for students to attain so that the performance level could impact advanced stages.

• Do these live up to what Brookhart proposes, that “. . .the most important aspect of the levels is that performance be described, with language that depicts what one would observe in the work rather than the quality conclusions one would draw” (p.26)?

Yes, the performances levels in the rubric concur with Brookhart’s ideas. It is because proficiency allows the learners to advance in their knowledge and speak in an acquired language. Therefore, the language used in rubric gives a clear picture of what an assessment is all about.

• In your opinion, what are the values placed on using the terminology for mastery (Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner, and Expert)? In other words, how effective do you believe this terminology is and why?

The terminologies used in these rubrics are effective in the following manner. First, novice portrays a situation where the students start to learn the various skills. Second, apprentice entails the learners getting the skills and move forwards with it. Third, the practitioner is the performance level where the students are expected to meet the goal for the skill. Lastly, the expert level shows how the students should move above the expectation for a skill.
Part 2

• Explain the position Brookhart argues in Chapter 2 against rubrics that merely summarize the requirements of the task, as opposed to rubrics that describe evidence of learning.

I agree with the argument and therefore; teachers need to provide the evidence required to assess the learning process. They should be against rubrics that only summarize the task requirements.

• Explain what Brookhart means when saying; “Rubrics should not confuse the learning outcome to be assessed with the task used to asses it” (p.15).

It means that most educators make a mistake when using rubrics to focus on the task and products. However, they do not focus on the learning outcome the task is meant to allow students to demonstrate. Similarly, rubrics are partially based on the criteria for that particular task, and also they do not measure the learning outcomes.

• What is the relationship between this and what you learned about aligning formative assessments with the learning standards and objectives?

A teacher will use rubrics to monitor learning and instructions. Also, rubrics are helpful in providing feedback to students. The educators mostly provide rubrics to their students prior to any exam so that it helps them to clarify their understanding of expectations (Brookhart, 2013). Therefore, the instructors use rubrics to make assessment more objective and rate the work using the given criteria.

References

Brookhart, S. M. (2013). How to create and use rubrics for formative assessment and grading. Ascd.

Retrieved from http://www.exemplars.com

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