This paper seeks to extend the use of scoring rubrics presented by B. Moskal and others (2000) and to present examples of holistic rubrics that might be used against performance to the standards for the purpose of evaluating cross discipline student performance in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The Educational Testing Services (ETS)…

This document deals with testing in communication arts for 11th graders in Missouri public schools. The document contains the following items from Session 1 in the Test Booklet: "Thomas Hart Benton: Champion of the American Scene" (Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan) (Items 5, 6, and 7); "Rhythms of the River" (Rebecca Christian)…

This document deals with testing in communication arts for third graders in Missouri public schools. A story from "Highlights for Children" ("The Night the Lights Went Out") was used as a passage for Session 1 of the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test. The test provides five reading and writing activities from the story.…

This document deals with testing in communication arts for 11th graders in Missouri public schools. The document contains the following items from the Test Booklet: "Two Words" (Isabel Allende) (Session 1, Items 5, 6, and 7); "Gumshoes Turn to Internet for Spadework" (Nicole Gaouette) (Session 1, Item 5); a writing prompt; and…

This paper explains the construction of a grading rubric that is designed to empower students with expectations of quality work. Teachers and students "negotiate" a mutually acceptable consensus. The contract process is based on the idea that when students feel they are valued participants in the assessment process, they become motivated to strive…

This document consists of articles 23 through 26 published in the electronic journal "Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation" in 2001: (23) "Effects of Removing the Time Limit on First and Second Language Intelligence Test Performance" (Jennifer Mullane and Stuart J. McKelvie); (24) "Consequences of (Mis)use of the Texas Assessment of…

The purposes of this study were to investigate the role of benchmark writing samples in direct assessment of writing and to examine the consequences of differential benchmark selection with a common writing rubric. The influences of discourse and grade level were also examined within the context of differential benchmark selection. Raters scored…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the selection of benchmark writing samples influences the assessment of students' writing quality. More than 300 grade 3 writing samples were scored in two separate rating sessions. Within each scoring session, raters used a different set of benchmark writing samples. Raw ratings were analyzed…

This paper describes a work in progress on a second edition of "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain," also known as "Bloom's Taxonomy" (B. Bloom and others, Eds., 1956). The new edition will be grounded in the collective wisdom of the original…

The term "rubric" refers to a scoring guide used to evaluate the quality of students' constructed responses (written compositions, oral presentations, or science projects). Although educators rave about rubrics, the vast majority are instructionally fraudulent. Problems arise when rubrics are too task-specific or general or lengthy and…

Describes an approach to evaluating students in a seminar-style science course that involves students in the design of the assessment instrument and defense of their own performance using the instrument, taking students' performance evaluation to a level beyond measuring learning and teaching effectiveness to self-reflection and critique.…

Describes various aspects and advantages of the use of rubrics as tools for assessment. Presents additive rubrics as assessment tools that allow students to assume responsibility for the quantity and quality of their work and to see its value beyond the letter grade they receive. (JRH)

Discusses the possible disjunct between what is good for large-scale assessment and what is good for teaching and learning. Represents one attempt to "marry" large-scale and classroom perspectives. Presents background and rationale for a new narrative rubric that was designed to support classroom instruction. Presents evidence for the…

Studied four forms of score resolution used by testing agencies and investigated the effect that each has on the interrater reliability associated with the resulting operational scores. Results, based on 120 essays from the Georgia High School Writing Test, show some forms of resolution to be associated with higher reliability and some associated…

Defines a two-stage process by which a holistic rubric is applied to the assessment of open-ended items, such as writing samples. Indicates that the use of rating augmentation can improve the inter-rater reliability of holistic assessments, as indicated by generalizability phi coefficients, correlation coefficients, and percent agreement indices.…