I visited Lewiston High School, where I taught for many years, and found frustration with the evaluation process and rubric scoring among staff members and students. Under the guise of complying with state mandates for “standards” and “accountability,” rubric scoring of non-substantive materials is being used for staff and student evaluation.
Some staff spent a workshop day trying to come to consensus about the scoring of writing papers for math classes. A great deal of time was used on whether a math paper could be scored high if the writing was good but the mathematics was wrong. Is this even a question? Will the school display that sample for all to see?
Students in a beginning language class, after six weeks, are being required to submit a writing sample in the new language that then is scored with the general rubric used for written English. Good scores on writing samples are going to be a requirement for graduation, but who would ever score a first-year student’s beginning effort in a new language in such a way?
Students are frustrated with inappropriate assignments, and staff will be evaluated based on their students’ progress. I have received emails from a parent of former students asking, “What is happening?”
It’s a good question.
The efforts to align scoring on rubrics show no progress in reaching consensus. The model was developed under the insistent direction of administrators who have moved to other schools. It should be rethought and rescinded.
Jim Perkins, Wayne
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