Effectively Using Rubrics in the 7th Grade English Language Arts Classroom

1. Effectively Using Rubrics in the 7th Grade English Language Arts Classroom TE 804 Shari Wolke, MA

2. Inquiry Question • How can using very specific instruction in using rubrics (a day to go over the rubric and how to tailor the writing piece to the goals of the assignment as explained in the rubric), which I will refer to as “Explicit Rubric Instruction,” as well as Rubric Self-Assessment, improve student writing in a 7th grade English Language Arts classroom?

3. Project Description • This project examined the effect of explicit instruction in the use of rubrics in a 7th grade English Language Arts classroom. • Explicit instruction in the use of rubrics and student self-assessment over the course of two projects, and Argumentative essay and a Technology Research presentation, • Survey on how effective they perceived this instruction to have been/ how helpful they perceive it to be to future writing assignments.

4. Background/Research on Rubrics • “Andrade concluded that simply handing out and explaining a rubric can increase students’ knowledge of the criteria for writing, but translating that knowledge into actual writing is more demanding. She recommended sustained attention to the process of assessing writing…by teaching students to self-assess their works in progress” (Andrade, Wang, Du and Akawi 2009).

5. Self-Assessment • Studies have shown Self-assessment, or the process of evaluating one’s own work with the use of a rubric, to “can also promote self-efficacy” (Andrade, Wang, Du and Akawi 2009). • Self-efficacy is, “an indvidual’s belief in his or her capability to achieve a specific goal” (Andrade, Wang, Du and Akawi, as cited in Bandura, 2003). • Thus the value of rubric Self-Assessment is twofold- increased academic performance on the task at hand as well as self-efficacy.

6. Strategies/Practices • In contrast to my mentor, I began to use rubrics in class for papers and projects in order to clarify for students both: • how they would be assessed on their upcoming project and • why they received the grade they did. • I used what I will call “Explicit Rubric Instruction” (ERI), where the rubric is explained when the paper is introduced and again before students handed in their papers. • “ERI” was used for both Units 4 (Argumentative Paper) and Unit 5 (Informational Paper and PowerPoint Presentation).

7. Stategies/Practices, Cont. • I utilized the 7th Grade English Language Arts common rubrics, the department-required rubrics for every project in 7th Grade ELA. • Student self-evaluation on the rubric itself was also used in order to ask students to look at the rubric and in hopes of students revising components based on them noticing these components were lacking/ needed revision, and as a self-efficacy tool.

8. Survey Results Q: Has using a rubric helped you at all in your writing/creating projects? Please explain yes or no. • “Yes. It helps me stay organized and it helps me be able to be graded.” • “Having a rubric has helped my writing because it shows me what the paper or project needs to include and how to incorporate.” • “Yes, because it tells you want it [sic] need to have included in your writing/projects. Also it’s like a guide, because it will say if you need transition words, or have a clear conclusion etc.”

9. “Yes, because I can find out what I need to work on.” • “Yes, using a rubric has helped me in my writing and creating projects by telling me what I need to include in my project in order to get a good grade.”

10. Q: How has your understanding of how to effectively use a rubric changed while using them in Units 4 and 5? • “I thought a rubric was just scoring until I learned how to effectively use it for my advantage.” • “Well it change [sic] in Unit 5 because in Unit 5 you got to grade how well you think you did and then the teacher actually graded it, which really helped. Another reason it had changed is because it has more of an explanation to use it well.”

11. “Alot [sic]. I understand that rubrics are used for grading & organizing the things for that project.” • “At first I would review them but not pay attention to what it had to say, but now I do and it has helped my writing.” • “I now understand that the rubric is not just for the teacher to use to grade is [sic] for you so you know what to put on your paper.” • “It helped me notice my strengths and weaknesses in writing and try to challenge myself in writing to make it better.” • “During these past units the rubrics make it even harder to get a certain grade on them, but this should help students to get greater papers for the grade.”

12. “My understanding of how to use a rubric is getting better as we use them.” • “Now I understand why I got the grade I got on an assignment.” • “In Unit 4 all I did was skim through the rubric. But in Unit 5 I have been looking through it thoroughly before I start the paper, and then I write my paper and revise it. Also I highlight and underline the stuff I need to fix.” • "It has had a major impact on my grade.”

13. Reflection/Further Directions • Students expressed a need for even more instruction: • Q: What do you think could help me to better teach students about using rubrics? • “To explain how big of an effect it has on your grade, especially if you don’t know how to do the actual paper. Because it gives you the points where you need to be aware of because that’s what you’re getting graded.” • “Start out with a smaller rubric and slowly make them larger, so students will notice how much it affects you/ a students grade.”

14. Reflections, Continued • “I think that (though you already do) you should stress more about how helpful it is and highlight on the threes beforehand what to do to make something a three.” • Therefore, while spending two days on the rubric for each Unit appeared, initially, enough time to cover rubric instruction and student self-analysis, it’s clear from student responses that this was not enough time. • Thus for students whose first very explicit use of and introduction to a rubric comes in 7th grade, the suggestion to begin with smaller rubrics is apropos.

15. Conclusions • For those middle school teachers not already using rubrics, this tool is an invaluable one. • Further, self-assessment of rubrics before the paper/project is due tends to lead to a clearer understanding of expectations as well as increased student efficacy. • Finally, there appears to be no such thing as “too much” time spent with the rubric before the paper or project is due. While carving out even more time in the calendar is difficult, if not impossible, for most teachers, it is nonetheless an important component of rubric instruction.

16. References • Andrade, Heidi. “Using Rubrics to Promote Thinking and Learning.”Educational Leadership 57.5 (2000): 13- 18. Print. • Andrade, Heidi, Du, Ying, & Kristina Mycek. “Rubric- referenced Self-assessment and Middle School Students Writing.”Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 17.2(2010): 199-214. Print. • Andrade, Heidi and Ying Du. “Student Perspectives on Rubric-Referenced Assessment.”Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation. 10.3 (2005). Print. • Wynguard, Sandra and Rachel Gerhke. “Responding to Audience: Using Rubrics to Teach and Assess Writing.”English Journal 85.6 (1996): 67-70. Print.