CHAPTER 12: Practices that “Lift the Veil”
Think about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
Post your answer to the questions above in the comment section here by clicking "Enter you comment" > choose "name/URL" in the drop down menu and add your name before typing your comment and clicking publish.
Comment on two peers' posts by clicking "reply" > choose "name/URL" in the drop down menu underneath their posts and add your name. Participants are required to comment on one " I notice...." and one " I wonder..." on two peers' reflections in each chapter.
Due. April 15, 2022
1. Think about your professional career. How have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque? How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that supervisors have made the evaluation of my work transparent. This is
particularly true during years when we have our formal EES evaluation. The Danielson rubric
descriptors are set up in a manner where there is a lot of subjectivity within them. I have had
administrators share that if the rubric descriptors are used authentically, it is unrealistic for
teachers to achieve the highest levels. These systems and beliefs make evaluations extremely
unfair and unmotivating. I am not sure that a greater common understanding is possible because
although I had advocated for myself and provided clear evidence to show that I had reached the
highest descriptors, the administrator did not agree. Based on the readings from the book, I have
learned that it would be effective for administrators to provide ongoing scores and feedback
throughout the year so that the final evaluation ratings given are not a surprise. For my students,
one change to my practice would be to simply refer to and have discussions around rubrics
throughout the school year. I create rubrics because I have to but it is a part of my practice that
needs to be utilized more. I will implement opportunities for my students to create student friendly
descriptors to better understand the teacher-created language in my rubrics.
2. Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the “rubric for rubrics”. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
“Performing for Growth” Rubric: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nB6bUQ2CVdOnBokhFVzSGhGomxwLyYenpkKDshpycfk/edit?usp=sharing
I believe that my rubric can be scored as a “Level 3” for all of the relevant “rubric for rubrics” descriptors. For “target alignment”, my criteria and descriptors align directly with the music elements and learning approaches related to effectively performing solo and ensemble pieces. For “focus on essential elements”, my rubric includes the important music elements that are necessary to be successful in their music performances. For “number of criteria”, there is a single criterion with two objectives that are relevant to effectively evaluating music performances. For “grouping of descriptors”, the two objectives or descriptors are related to the one criterion of “developing skills” being addressed. For “number of levels”, there are 5 levels which include excellent, substantial, adequate, limited, and no evidence. For “kind of detail”, the wording is descriptive and includes the specific music elements that must be addressed. It also includes that traditional and innovative skills, techniques, systems, products, and strategies are to be used to support growth as a performer. For “content of levels”, the wording of the features is the same across all of the levels. For “formative usefulness”, although my rubric is intended for summative assessments, the language has specific enough language that will help students who want to know specific strengths and growth areas.
Hi Zachary! I noticed you used the EES Charlotte Danielson evaluation as your example of an opaque grading system. I was thinking the same thoughts when I read the first question. I also believe that the EES evaluation is very difficult to understand and be transparent about. My administrators also share the same feelings but they are bound to the rubric as well. I also teach preschool and my students would never get to the distinguished category which means I can never get to that point either. I wonder if there was a better way to not only grade all teachers in a more transparent rubric, but also distinguish between grade levels and special education. I do not feel motivated during the EES observations except to pass. I see how many students may feel the same way when there is a difficult rubric that most students can't even accomplish. They just want to make it through and pass.
DeleteAloha Zachary- I noticed that you said that you feel that the EES descriptors are set up in a manner where there is a lot of subjectivity within them. I agree with that and also notice that the criteria sections are very long and wordy making it difficult to read through and decipher. I wonder what can be done to get the message across that the rubric they use is subjective and too wordy and could use some adjusting to make it more user friendly and transparent.
DeleteHi Zachary,
DeleteI also noticed that you have experienced frustration with the EES process. I recently had my closing interview with my administration and they too said that it is impossible to score “Distinguished” in all areas in one observation. I felt like it was a trick. I wonder how much discussion has been had over this aspect of the EES cycles. Why would we create a criteria category that is impossible to achieve? Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Hi Zach,..I agree with grading as in teachers being graded in ESS, there is a lot of subjectivity. I feel your frustration and know that you have pushed yourself to the highest level to involve the community in your class as well as support your students. I wonder if it depends on the administrator, if you had a different person, you would have gotten a higher score?
DeleteAloha Zachary,
DeleteI notice your comments on EES and the descriptors used for such evaluations. I was told that because my students are with disabilities, I would never be rated as "Distinguished" according to the EES criteria.
I wonder what the reasoning is behind that comment? Why would it be predetermined that I would not be a candidate for Distinguished status based on the fact that my students aren't able to be self directed learners and facilitators of education in my classroom (an EES criteria for teacher observation).
I believe that when administrators utilize such evaluation criteria, transparency is key. But to make such predeterminations is unfair. A teacher's planning and implementation of strategies, techniques, accommodations and modifications are important to assisting students in the classroom instruction - students with and/or without disability.
I appreciate your comments!
Ceslee
Aloha, Zach! I noticed that it appears we're all having the same thoughts about the Danielson rubric. I read an article stating that Danielson herself was upset that her rubric was being used in an evaluative way, and I too, was demotivated by the rubric and also told that distinguished is out of reach (by multiple admin across different years). I wonder why this rubric is used in this way, and how admin can encourage us to continue to try our best, when the best is out of reach. How can they scaffold our learning so that it is possible? Or do they ever revisit the rubric themselves to discuss how to make it more equitable? Having taught inclusion this year, I also appreciated Ceslee's comments as well--it is not at all equitable if the same rubric is used to evaluate special education resource classes (though I do not want to disparage students and their abilities) and puts teachers at a disadvantage.
DeleteIn my career supervisors have made the evaluation of my work transparent or opaque through things like the EES evaluations. There are rubrics galore for that evaluation, and they are very wordy which sometimes obscures the main points in the criteria sections. When I look at the rubrics it is hard for me to pick out what they are really looking for in each level which affects my ability to conscientiously alter my practice and implement things that will allow me to achieve high levels of competency. Greater clarity would be achieved if they would include just one sentence in each criteria section. This would allow me to look at it and determine what I need to do to achieve high(er) levels of competency in my practice.
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1FxXYOirjbaDZg45-J04y_80Wcm5WRLM0qUatd_cmUHA/edit
The rubric I created for student presentations would receive a 3 for Target Alignment as the criteria and descriptors align directly with the content standards or learning targets they are intended to assess. I believe it would also get a 3 for Focus on Essential Elements because criteria and descriptors in my rubric represent best thinking in the field about what it means to perform well on the content standards or learning targets. Everything of importance for students at the level I teach has been included. There are no trivial and/or unrelated features. My rubric is in the ready to use column for Number of Criteria even though it only has three criteria because they reflect the complexity of the learning target for presentations. For Independence of Criteria I would give it a 3 because the criteria are independent of each other, they are all based off a different ELA standard. For Grouping of Descriptors I give it a 3 because indicators and descriptors are grouped logically within each criterion. For Number of Levels I give it a 3 because there are four levels in the rubric that fit the complexity of the target and intended use of the data. There are enough levels to reflect typical stages of student understanding, capabilities, or progress. For Kind of Detail I give it a 3 because I believe that there is enough detail in the wording of the criteria to match a studentʻs performance or product to the appropriate level. Descriptors provide an accurate explanation of the characteristics of quality expected at each level. For Content of Levels I give it a 3 because the features described across the levels for the presentation standards are parallel in content. For Formative Usefulness I give it a 3 because when students read the criteria that can easily use the rubric to revise their own work and plan their own next steps if they want to improve/ redo their work.
Hello Charme. I notice you took a lot of time to reflect on your rubric. I think it is important for us to reflect and modify as needed. Do you allow students to design their own standards-based and performance rubrics? I wonder if they would be motivated to put in more effort, having designed the rubric themselves? Perhaps we need to figure out a way to involve our students in this process.
DeleteHi Charme,
DeleteI notice your comments regarding your evaluators, specifically with EES. I agree that the rubrics used are chockfull of criteria, vocabulary, ratings, and "jargon" as I'd like to refer to it.
When broken down in manageable chunks, teachers can take their time understanding what is expected (via EES standards) and are able to plan efficiently. Consistent practice and implementation of their strong teaching strategies would definitely work in their advantage.
I wonder if EES evaluators allow for teachers to "retake" their observations so that we may demonstrate greater proficiency towards EES rubric expectations in more than one or two administrator observations? Hmm. Just my thoughts. I appreciate your comments!
Ceslee
Think about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteThinking back to my professional career, supervisors have made the evaluation of my work overall transparent, except for the EES rubric. I feel like that rubric is opaque. I like that they give us the rubric before we go through all the observations, but this rubric is difficult to understand and makes it very difficult to get the highest grade of distinguished. My Supervisors have been great at giving feedback, but they also shared that because I teach preschool special education, I most likely will never get top marks. This directly affected my feeling, trust, empowerment, and motivation by making me feel like I could only get a “C” average. It affected my job performance by making me just feel like I needed to pass but not go above and beyond. I could have gotten more clarity of my supervisor’s expectations by simplifying the rubric and accounting for my small class with students that do not speak yet. I did get good ideas as to what to do next in my teaching and have overall been supported in realistic expectations.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
grading rubric for body parts
As I assess my rubric with the “rubric for rubrics” I notice that I have made my rubric very simple and easy to understand. I did not give a lot of detail which could cause confusion. It is not detailed with which body parts I expect the students to know or how they will be telling me they know the body parts, whether it be receptive (pointing to body parts when named) or expressively (names body parts when asked “what is this?”). I believe that my “number of criteria” is precise and easy to understand.
Aloha Beth, I noticed that you said that in regard to EES, that this rubric is difficult to understand and makes it very difficult to get the highest grade of distinguished. I agree with your feelings about the EES process and its rubrics. We are told to make expectations easy to understand for our students and yet the rubric with expectations for teachers are complicated and hard to read, much less achieve high levels of competency. From the reading I learned that it is beneficial to allow students to have a part in creating rubrics. I wonder if we as teachers would be able to contribute to creating more effective and user friendly rubrics for our own observations. In my practice, I would like to work on inviting students to work along with me in creating simple yet very effective rubrics for my students that allow them to clearly know what the expectations are and that will assist in equitable grading.
DeleteHi Beth. I notice you also agree that the Danielson rubric for our EES evaluation is confusing. I think teachers try their best every moment of every class. This chapter provided us some insight on how it feels to be evaluated again. Have you tried involving students in the rubric process? I wonder how they would perform if they themselves create the performance and standards-based proficiency criteria for upcoming tasks and projects.
DeleteI noticed you shared how your supervisor prompted you to feel distrust, disempowerment, and a lack of motivation. I would have to agree with your disappointment in knowing that as a preschool teacher, the highest grade that could be earned would be a C average. I would feel inequality; the exact opposite of what this online course is teaching us. I wonder if you asked for an explanation for the inequality, would it prompt a change in the system? Thank you for sharing!
DeleteI noticed that you had problems with the teacher evaluation rubrics. I too believe that they are confusing and also not as equitable. Many evaluators could have different interpretations. I think a good meeting where evaluators are open for questions and getting some clarification will help the teacher improve in their teaching.
DeleteHi Beth!
DeleteI notice that your teacher evaluations for EES are very opaque and similarly I said the exact same thing!! My superiors made it seem like being highly effective was impossible. I think there needs to be a more equitable way to assess teachers since teachers are working so hard to find equitable ways to grade students. I wonder if other places in the continental U.S have a different format for assessing probationary teachers? I wonder what their rubric is like and if we could possibly model ours off of theirs.
I noticed that you talked about the EES rubric used to evaluate us teachers and agree that it is very opaque. While you have mentioned it is very difficult to get a distinguished mark, in my experience at my school it is very easy to get such a mark - which is evidence of the opaqueness. Even though administrators used to meet to calibrate their ratings, it seems that every setting has administration holding teachers to different standards in awarding those ratings.
DeleteThink about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteThe State of Hawaii adopted the EES evaluation for teachers a few years ago. How the EES is introduced by administration is transparent, however the Danielson rubrics and observational discussions are opaque. I find the EES rubrics to be extremely confusing and a bit subjective as well. Honestly the EES has not changed how I perform at my job whatsoever. I think it is a meaningless and demotivating evaluation system which should be re-evaluated itself.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
Rubric
This rubric would be at level two overall based on criteria in the ‘rubric for rubrics’ assessment. Perhaps one or more of the criteria need to be adjusted and separated. Expectations are clearly written for each performance task. I would like students to assist in creating the specific indicators and detailed performance criteria for each category. Student feedback would also drive effort and motivate them to do their best. I really like the idea of involving students to assist with designing rubrics. My students will have a final individual verbal exam at the end of fourth quarter. For our next project, I will have students create a detailed performance-level rubric for assessment.
I noticed you commented on how you like the idea of allowing students to assist in creating rubrics. As I read the textbook, “Grading for Equity” I wondered what that actually would look like in the classroom? What is the sequence of events in coming to a decision? Is it a survey? Do the students have the background knowledge of the standards? I think it would be a wonderful idea if the students knew all the standards that are being graded and dissected them like teachers do. That would be transparency! Thank you for sharing.
DeleteHi Melissa... I notice that you believe that the EES system should be revised. I wonder what ideas you might have to improve the evaluation system in place. I also believe that there are flaws which need to be addressed. For me, I would like to see the teacher having more flexibility in determining which categories they might be struggling in and use those areas as opportunities for growth. The evaluator would score according to rubrics on a teacher's growth rather than achievement levels. I think this type of teacher input with streamlined expectations might improve the whole intent of EES which is to instill ongoing growth and learning of teachers.
DeleteBeth, I noticed that you stated that you "find the EES rubrics to be extremely confusing and a bit subjective as well" and I couldn't agree more. Many of the elements according to Danielson are subjective - though Danielson herself says her tools are for improving practice but not evaluation. I wonder how we could improve the rubrics for clarity amongst teachers and evaluators so that there is less subjectivity.
DeleteHi Melissa! I noticed that you also used EES as a good example of an opaque rubric. I am grateful that they give us the rubric before we are evaluated, but I agree that it is difficult to understand and achieve the highest standard. I find it difficult to understand why they would make a rubric that does not let teachers accomplish the highest grade. We are teachers and expect students to always strive for the best. I wonder why they do not let teachers also strive for the very best in their teaching. My students are special education preschoolers and they will not meet the criteria of distinguished, which in turn makes me not get the highest grade as well.
ReplyDeleteIn my professional career, expectations for high quality performance have become clearer as I’ve gained more experience over the years. When I think back to the beginning of my career, I had a big learning curve to trek, as the job requirements seemed gigantic at the time. As I moved between different schools and leadership throughout my career, I experienced supervisors and district expectations for high quality work; principal observations, state evaluations, reflections, etc. The one thing they all had in common were rubrics that detailed the expectation for high quality work. The communication lines between my leadership were always open and welcomed; if I had any concerns or questions, the principals were very receptive to provide intervention and best practices for improved instruction. The expectations between supervisor and worker must be clear; detailed, exemplars, communicated.
ReplyDeleteThe rubrics for rubrics document provided detailed information that was very comprehensive in the way teachers should be creating rubrics that are clear and transparent, that address learning standards. I read through the rubric for rubrics document a few times to fully understand its criteria, then I graded my personal writing rubric using the rubrics document by marking the levels that my writing rubric is currently at. I graded my rubric with a few level 3s and a level 2, and did not grade one of the indicators as I struggled to understand the meaning. The rubric for rubrics document was very concise in a way that portrays transparency and equity between students, teachers, peers, and families. As I look back at how I can improve my writing rubric, I could improve the “Interdependence of Criteria” indicator by including a variability in the strands that I’m grading, which gives the students/families a clearer and more accurate skill to focus on. What makes a rubric equitable is the gesture of providing an understandable and easy to follow rubric prior to instruction; compared to the rubrics for rubrics document which made it difficult to understand and follow along. I have learned and gained a higher awareness of the possibilities and options I have to create transparency and equity utilizing rubrics.
Hi Matthew,
DeleteI noticed that you have felt that the expectations for your performance have been transparent and communicated. Have you experienced the same issues of the EES observations as other teachers have addressed? I wonder, do you and your administrators have strategies to maintain a transparent dialogue around performance expectations? I am glad you have had a positive experience. Thank you for sharing!
Think about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteIn the past, I have experienced very vague and uncertain evaluations that made me feel unmotivated and confused. I have had instances in which administrators would evaluate performance without discussing exactly what they were looking for. Currently, I feel that I have had very transparent discussions regarding my performance evaluations. It has definitely given me more confidence and motivation to improve my performance. WIth the former experience, I did not feel a trust between my supervisor and I felt very unsure. Now that I have a clearer line of communication with my current supervisors, I know what is expected and I know how to achieve it.
TO address the EES observations, I too felt the framework provides unrealistic expectations for teachers, especially new teachers. The rubric in which teachers are evaluated give room for bias and are vague. When looking at the “Distinguished” category, it is clear to see that achieving that mark in all categories is unattainable for most teachers.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
I used a rubric I had created for an essay in my ELA 9 class. Looking over the rubric for ways in which I can improve my rubric is working on my clarity in writing. I believe there are some instances in which the descriptors are a bit vague and “fuzzy.”I also think my rubric should have a few more levels to demonstrate student growth. I think it would benefit me to have more discussions with my students on what they think are important factors to consider when creating a rubric. If the students are able to have a say in the rubric creation process, they are more likely to understand the criteria and successfully perform.
Hi J Economy, I notice many people have the same experience. When we do not understand the evaluation and if it is confusing, we lose confidence and get down. When we are evaluated, all eyes are on us, but we don't know what they are looking for. I am glad, that your new supervisor is much more transparent. How is it best to relate this experience to the classroom when we grade students?
DeleteJ. Economy,
DeleteI noticed that you stated the distinguished category as part of the EES is unattainable for most teachers. I am wondering if some of our students feel that way when they receive a rubric. That it is just something they will not be able to do. Do you think it would be helpful and less overwhelming if when a student received a rubric is showed where they were currently at?
Aloha J! I noticed that you consider including student voice in the creation of your rubrics in order for them to understand the criteria and can perform successfully. That is such a great idea to develop transparency, equity and autonomy! I wonder what other ways we could also include student voice in our grading system and grading practices, aside from co-creating rubrics. Mahlo for your thoughts!
DeleteHi J Economy... I notice that you share how the EES process can be unrealistic for teachers to achieve the distinguished category based on the rubric descriptors. I wonder if a teacher could select 1 or 2 categories for the administrator/evaluator to assess based on their own areas of need/growth. This would be a much more realistic expectation for teachers to work towards.
ReplyDeleteThink about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteI remember I was an EA in college. This was part of my graduate career in art. I was not getting paid, but would receive credit. The one thing I got pissed at was I got like a B grade. I felt it was unfair and did feel I needed more clarity on how and why I received that grade. I knew from my other cohorts that they received a higher grade than I. Thus, I felt a sense of mistrust in graduate school. I think, my advisor should have provided me copy of what my job as an EA would look like and what I would be expected to do. I think if he did that, it would have been a greater partnership and trust.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
Rubric CriterionB-One POINT Perspective.pdf
As I look at my rubric and assess it with rubric for rubrics, I think that there are ways it can be more transparent and equitable. One thing I can do is really before I start the project, have students grade previous work. I could have them use a rubric and break them up into groups. We could then compare what all groups say and I would need to reemphasize what the rubric targets are. I really think having students discuss and critic grading would benefit them. This would in fact give students clarity, thus more transparency and equity when they receive their grade.
Aloha Jeff,
DeleteSo sorry that you had to go through that experience. I noticed that you mentioned that providing a rubric or at least a job description would help you know the expectations. I totally agree with that! Were you able to ask the reason for receiving a lower grade? Clarity, transparency and equity ultimately helps a student become better and they are able to achieve their goals.
I notice that you felt first hand what it was like to not have transparency in how you are graded. While that must have been hard, I am sure that it has helped you empathize with your students in similar situations.
DeleteI wonder what the impact would be of having students grade previous works. I am also very interested in this process and I am excited to try it in the future.
Hi Jeff!
DeleteI notice that your college art class failed to give you a rubric in which you were surprised to receive a B. Similarly in one of my college education classes, I received a C on a summative assignment because the "random" assessment of the week was professional attire. We needed to dress like how we would when teaching in the classroom, and it wasn't made clear that we were being assessed on how we looked. I received a C because I "still looked like a student", but I think this is attributed to my young appearance as a whole (I look young). I wonder if students will remember the rubrics that we give them and voice their concerns to teachers who don't have rubrics?
Think about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteGoing through the cycles of evaluations my administrator will take the time to go over my own performances as a teacher and an upcoming lesson that he will evaluate. I think that the evaluation is as transparent as can be. We meet before to talk about what will be done in the lesson and we also meet after to go over what had happened. The administrator takes the time to share his notes with me. I feel that the outcome from the evaluation is what I expect because of being transparent.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
In the rubric that I used and in general when I use rubrics to grade projects I think the area that I could be more transparent is my comments. A lot of times I do not make comments. Most of the time because I feel that the rubric is clear enough, but I still feel that comments will make the evaluation more personable to the students' performance.
Dayton,
DeleteI noticed that you expressed that you think that comments are valuable. I totally agree. A rubric provide students with tons of information, so they may not know what to focus on as next steps. I like to list what students did well or highlight one strengthen and then provide them one thing to work on.
Sorry for got my name =( Unknown reply is from me.
DeleteI noticed how you could be transparent by creating a comment section. Which is a great to add to a rubric, whether to give correct criticism or praise. At times adding in a comment section, we can be a great tool towards improvement or an area to fear reading, lol.
DeleteI wonder if you started giving comments to your students work? I began adding a comment section in my rubrics due to detailed feedback, which helps my student musicians work on the fine skills that rubrics don't always contain for not wanting to be too wordy.
Think about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteSomething that I have found most helpful in my professional career is being provided the data that shows what I am doing well on and what I need to work on. It is hard to argue with the numbers and it makes things more black and white which I appreciate. Also helpful, early on in my career I had to video myself teaching and then reflect. It was very eye opening. I am the type of person who has strong intrinsic motivation so seeing things for myself pushed me to be better. I think it would be helpful to create goals and expectations with my supervisor, so we are on the same page and moving forward together.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
When looking at my old rubric and ones that I am working on while taking this class, what I have noticed is that I used to include things in the rubric that had nothing to do with the standard. For example number of sentences or grammer/spelling. I need to make sure that the language that is used is easy for students to understand and that the level of success for a paticial standard is clear. Grading a piece of work together as a class and discussing would be a great way to to all be on the same page and identify if any changes are needed. This also would be an opportunity for students to understand what is expected on them
I notice that you commented that you benefit from watching yourself teach on video and reflecting on it. I think that is a great introspective way to better yourself as a teacher. I also remember videoing myself for my student teaching and how beneficial it was for my development.
DeleteI wonder if it would be appropriate to still including the grammar/spelling on a rubric considering that although it may not be a specific standard in your class, it is a very important standard in other classes (right?) and therefore to create more interdisciplinary curriculum, it would be useful to be included.
1. Our EES evaluations are the first thing that come to mind in terms of myself being evaluated by my superiors. While the Charlotte Danielson rubric is helpful to understanding how you are being evaluated, it is not explicitly clear on what the teachers expect to see in the observation. I remember my first year my administrator sat down with me after the first observation and explained that while it was a good lesson, what they are really looking for is student led discussion, that would prove the highest rating on the evaluation. So, for my second observation I made sure it was at a time when we were doing a student led discussion, and I got top marks. Through this meeting with my admin, she helped me to understand deeper how I was going to be evaluated, and explained how a student led discussion helped her to see all of the parts of the rubric framework that she was looking for. This was very helpful for me in my understanding of the evaluation. I think without this sit down meeting with her, I would not have been demonstrating what the admin was hoping to see, not because I couldn't do it, but just because I didn't know what would best show off my teaching.
ReplyDelete2. I looked at a few different rubrics that I have used in the past and evaluated them against the rubric for rubrics. I have to say, that most of the rubrics fell into the 2-3 range, with the exception of target alignment. I need to work on better aligning the rubric to the exact language of our standards to have that alignment tighter.
Aloha Jessica, I noticed you thought about your EES ratings, as did I! I had a very similar discussion with my admin after my first observation, so I too, for my second observation did a student led discussion (socratic seminar) in which students discussed various environmental issues and solutions, however, I was told essentially that we cannot ever achieve the highest level. I LOVE that there are other schools where you can earn distinguished! That gives me a lot of hope, however, it does make me wonder if there is a system of interrater reliability in the DOE other than initial education and training as an admin.
DeleteThink about your professional career. How have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque? How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteI’ve been at this high school for a short time; not long enough to have been evaluated for EES nor for anything else. Therefore I cannot speak to administrative transparency or opacity. On the other hand, my department chairperson for special education is quite transparent about the legalities I work by when delivering support services for a vulnerable population of students. I am motivated by the law that protects students/families that receive special education services. I have been living according to this type of obedience in my personal life and most definitely at work. Within our special education department exists clear understanding, overall expectations and great support for what we do and how we go about fulfilling our responsibilities. If it weren’t for such strict laws and procedures for delivering special education services, I would flounder and possibly become complacent at my job like so many others I work with. When our administrators never share work expectations, our teachers have no one nor anything to answer to. For me, in my humble opinion, this is where inner turmoil stirs.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
I drafted a math constructed response and attached a math rubric to it. This math rubric was created by the math department of teachers. It was not student-teacher generated, however, it does include task expectations that the students were made aware of ahead of time. If I were to assess this math rubric to other ones, the rubric I use is flawed in many areas. In order to be more transparent with this math rubric, I feel the need to attach grade-level math standards and the assignments that will be given in order to demonstrate knowledge of these standards. I believe that when a connection can be made between the content expectations and a visual representation of standards/assignments that students may respond better academically and accurate scores are rendered.
I noticed how to shared that you're using the math department rubric and that you spotted flaws and found ways to have it support your students goals/objectives.
DeleteI wonder if you can work with your math department lead and course a-like team to create a rubric that works in a resource class environment. There were a few times I worked with my math coaches and Gen-Ed teacher to create a rubric that works well for our inclusion and resource class.
Val Shindo-Uehira
DeleteHi Ceslee,
I really like your idea of adding course work to the rubric that aligns with the standards. That would definitely provide the students with a framework of expectations and what skills and knowledge they will need to demonstrate in order to be proficient. I think I might have to "borrow" your idea!
Think about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteTruthfully, I think different supervisors make the evaluation of my work more transparent than others. My most recent supervisor did a good job of going through the rubric with me (Danielson framework) and explaining what they wanted to see. They also explained what documents they wanted me to complete before meeting with them, and they encouraged me to keep my reflections brief because they themselves did not want to read a lot! That transparency and that assistance built a lot of trust with them, I did feel confident and empowered to know how to adjust the lesson as needed, and I felt comfortable going into the observation. That said, after my post-observation meeting, I still didn’t understand how I could improve, since I did not meet the highest level of proficiency. After I asked, I was essentially told that no one reaches that mark, and we may hit it briefly during a lesson, but an entire lesson will likely never be in the “distinguished” category because you would have to hit all categories exceedingly well throughout the whole lesson, so don’t worry about it. That was extremely frustrating and discouraging to hear, because it felt like no matter what I or my students did, it was out of reach. I could have gotten more clarity by going through examples of distinguished lessons, and that would definitely give me hope to know that it is possible and I and my students can achieve it. It's also disappointing that the a rubric would be built to be unattainable--it is incredibly demotivating.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
My rubric is based primarily on the rubric from the International Baccalaureate Program which determines what criteria we assess, however, we do have a task specific rubric in which we can modify some of the wording. Overall, I would rate it at a 4, as it is well organized, the criteria are parallel in each level, we’ve used it for inter-rater reliability and had consistent results across teachers, however, I do think the wording is vague for student use. “Describe” vs. “summarize” vs. “outline” vs. “state”. As a teacher who has used these rubrics for years, I’ve come to understand the distinctions between the four, however, as a student I could see how the four could be very similar, and the gradations between them could be blurry. Describe vs. outline is easy to distinguish, as well as summarize vs. state, but describe vs. summarize, or summarize vs. outline, the distinctions can blur together.
Val Shindo-Uehira
DeleteHi Jennifer,
That is so awesome that your supervisor took the time to explain and clarify the scoring criteria and expectations! Not too many take the time. The EES rubric is leaves a lot of room for subjective scoring. I don't even know what "teacher communicates passion for the subject" looks like. How do you even score that? This just reinforces the need for clarity and transparency when grading student work. I also liked your response to the second question in regards to how we communicate the performance tasks so that students are clear about what is expected. My students struggle with "explain", "describe" and "justify".
1) What I learned from this chapter is that you need to read the rules of the game for yourself and not try to go off of what you see others do as first hand knowledge. When I first started as a teacher, no one really taught me how my classroom management should be run or how my learning culture should be expected by the students and teacher. When I was able to attend PD training and pull-outs with my academic coaches, I began to see in text what I needed to know and do in order for my students to succeed in the course. This then made evaluations transparent as it was my first time learning about EES - scoring, objectives, evidence, etcs.
ReplyDeleteChallenges to my practice, at first I felt frustrated that I was being taught this when I didn’t learn about it while attending classes for my teaching license; it’s as if my college wanted me to learn it from the school I was working with and not from them. Secondly, knowing what I had to do was great motivation enough to have it accomplished - yet, that doesn’t always go as planned. Though my lesson was made to be ‘proficient’ it ended up being ‘basic’ because of my students' outcome and evaluation.
I will implement asking in advance for rubrics and clarity on what is expected of me and build a strong foundational understanding between my Admin and Academic Coaches for EES. Clarity is important in wanting to make sure everything is valued - having trust, transparency, empowerment, motivation and productivity
2) What I learned from this chapter is that, “rubrics make grading so much more straightforward and bias-resistant, relieving the teacher of the worry that her evaluation of student work won’t be objective: giving a higher grade on student work that has nicer penmanship, more “glitter”, or other qualities that aren’t relevant to the evaluation of the student knowledge and that often inquitably reflect a student’s resources or supports, but that nonetheless often influence a grade.” (Feldman, pg. 189) I concur with this explanation because of how simple and detailed a rubric can be to explain all of the goals/objectives that a student can master.
Challenges to my practice will always double check my rubrics at the start of each unit. By doing this, I want to ensure that my students are able to meet the standards and goals created in the rubric and that they align with any IEP goals/objectives.
I will implement rubrics in courses and units, a rubric that students can visually see at the start of the unit/standard, to use the rubric as a guide to achieve the mastery that they would want to achieve.
Val Shindo-Uehira
ReplyDelete1-Think about your professional career. How have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
I believe that my administration team has made an attempt at making the evaluation process of my work transparent. I know that I am evaluated using the EES criteria however, many of the criteria seem quite vague and subjective. For example, under the criteria for Critical Attributes the rubric states “teacher communicates passion for the subject”. What does that look like exactly? In addition, one year, I remember an administrator sitting in my classroom for 10 minutes to complete my evaluation and I remember thinking to myself “what could he have seen in such a short period of time to complete my evaluation?”. The next evaluation cycle, a different administrator completed my evaluation and stayed for the entire class period. She took notes and at times recorded my lessons so she wouldn’t forget anything. I could have gotten more clarity about my administrator's expectation by meeting with him prior to my observation to seek clarity on his interpretation of each criteria of the EES rubric. If we shared the same interpretation of the criteria I would have known exactly what I was being evaluated on and it would have been easier for me to prepare for my observation. Reflecting on this question made me realize the importance of teacher clarity especially when it comes to communicating expectations and grading criteria. What I could do in the future is to ask the students to interpret the rubric and explain how they think they are being graded. This way I will be able to address any misunderstandings and provide clarity.
2-Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
Looking at my rubric for the last assessment administered, I believe that I could revise some things to help make it more transparent and equitable. First, I could section the rubric by the success criteria with each criteria being scored separately. I believe that this would be more equitable because it would not be an omnibus grade, students would be scored on each section having a better chance of earning a better score. I could have also used more specific language that provided students with a clear understanding of what the project should include and how they will be graded. In addition, I could have done a better job of reviewing the rubric with the students to check for understanding and clarifying any misunderstandings.
Aloha Val! I noticed that you had the realization of how important teacher clarity is because of your personal narrative of opaque classroom observation expectations. By reading the other participants’ responses, I have determined that inequities do not only exist within how the system is set up for the students but also for teachers and any other stakeholders. I also find inequity on the EES rubrics which measure teacher’s effectiveness based on the performance of the students which I find SPED and EL teachers are at a disadvantage. I wonder what HIDOE could do to address this inequity. Mahalo for your insights!
Delete1. Think about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque? How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteIn HIDOE, we have the Educator Effectiveness System for educators on probation and on cycle. There exists the Danielson Rubrics that is the basis for the classroom evaluation. During my first year of teaching and evaluation, I had my evaluator come for classroom observation but the rubrics in which I should be graded had been presented during the post-observation conference and so I was not aware of how my teaching would be evaluated before the classroom observation. Worse, most of the criteria focuses on student’s engagement and participation, which I am at a disadvantage because of the fact that I am teaching a self-contained ELA class with entering and emerging levels of ELs. The opacity of the classroom observation and evaluation made me question my effectiveness as a teacher, however with the fact that two observations need to be conducted during that time, I made sure that I will hit the criteria that I can be in control of, during the final classroom observation.
I should have asked for the rubrics prior to the classroom observation so I could have gained more clarity on my evaluator’s expectations. I should have also asked the specific things she is looking for, that fits the context of my classroom—the population I teach, their current language and academic proficiency level and their behavioral background, because engagement and participation looks differently across different student populations.This common understanding should have made me feel more empowered and comfortable, and not think about teaching in a general education classroom instead so that I will get a higher evaluation score given that I am being graded according to the performance of my students.
2. Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
Most of the rubrics I have created indicate ELA content standards that I needed to paraphrase so that it will become more objective and more understandable to the ELLs that I have. I also have adjusted my grading scale to 0-no evidence, 1-Emerging (Student is unable to demonstrate the skill without assistance), 2-Developing (Student is able to demonstrate the skill with less assistance), 3-Expanding (Student has key gaps in their understanding of the standard) and 4-Mastered (Student has mastered the standard). I designed it the way they are graded in their ACCESS for ELs test so they could make the connections and for more consistency. Removing the exceeding the standard as a mastery level in the rubrics creates more equity in my context since they are entering and emerging levels of ELs and they are struggling in both language and academics. Removing the Exceeding the Standard level of mastery makes it more accessible for my ELs to achieve the highest score. I am also thinking about calibrating an exemplar with the students and checking if we grade the same work the same way. This strategy will surely allow my ELLs to produce a more quality output, within their capabilities. Transparency and equity could be achieved through explicitly communicating the expectations—The What’s and the How’s and eventually the Why’s.
Screenshot/ Link to: Chapter 12 post and comments on two peers
ReplyDeleteIn my professional career having my evaluation of my work is often opaque and difficult to understand. For example, the first three years of being a teacher we are on probationary status and are not tenured until we pass a series of observations and evaluations by our administrators. We are assessed on a score of four with 3 being effective and 4 being above highly. Upon my interview prior to my observation, my administrator said “this is what you need to be effective - no one is highly effective”. He then gave me a textbook with information on the evaluation and just said “I’m sure you'll be fine, just dont’ be upset you aren't highly effective because you're new”. The expectations for my observation were EXTREMELY unclear and being the high achiever I am, I wanted to know why it was “impossible” for a new teacher to be highly effective? If he wanted my stats to show growth over the three years he could've just said that instead.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FK6OumOOiBSgn3IkU-1DD34aWcj_C2a_gFQ2jlYrepA/edit
Above is the link to the rubric of a workout project. This rubric could be more transparent and equitable by removing the part about turning it in on time. I could also be more detailed in what I mean by “effort” and change this into adding special effects or something that is measurable.
Think about your professional career. How Have your supervisors made the evaluation of your work transparent, or opaque?How has that transparency, or opacity, affected your feelings or trust, empowerment, motivation, and how you did your job? How could you have gotten more clarity about your supervisor’s expectations, and how would greater common understanding between the two of you change your feelings and your work?
ReplyDeleteWhen my principal does my EES evaluation we always meet prior to the lesson and after the lesson to discuss his evaluation. I feel that my administration is transparent and I can trust that he was able to make observations based on my teaching expectations. I feel that I am able to ask him questions and indicators that he will be on the lookout for that will help me perform better when he evaluates me.
Draft a rubric for an upcoming assessment or select one you’ve already created and assess it against the rubric for rubrics. What are ways that your rubric could be more transparent and equitable?
When looking at rubrics that I used before the course and after the course I noticed that there were differences that helped me be more transparent in my grading and equitable to all students. In the past I had descriptors that were not standards based and were more centered around the appearance and GLO grade of the project. Now my rubrics are more focused and grading headings have also changed.