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Understanding Proficiency - Learning from Student Work on Performance Tasks

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Video Library

These videos feature educators working together to score and analyze student work, and reflecting on that process.

Reflections on Scoring

  • ELA Grade 4click to playInstructional Shifts and Implications

    In this video, National Board Certified teacher Julie Webb explains how looking at student work helped her deepen her understanding of the instructional shifts of the Common Core.

  • ELA Grade 5click to playHow to Use Student Work in Professional Learning

    Watch as teacher and adjunct professor Nancy Veatch explains why looking at student work together with other teachers is so powerful.

  • ELA Grade 7click to playWhat Teachers Can Learn from Analyzing Student Work

    In this video assistant principal Justin Conn explains how he and a colleague worked together to unpack the Smarter Balanced rubrics by dimension.

  • ELA Grade 8click to playThe Benefits of Looking Closely at Student Work

    Watch as reading specialist Virginia Day explains how collaboration and close analysis helped her gain a deeper understanding of what performance tasks demand of students.

  • Math Grade 3click to playUsing performance tasks to target student support

    Watch as former teacher and professional development provider Debbie Atwell explains how looking at student responses helped her unpack student knowledge and skills to target student support.

  • Math Grade 5click to playUsing student responses to build meaningful conversations

    In this video, former 5th grade teacher Shawne Hillard explains how responses to performance tasks can be used to facilitate conversations with students about what they do understand and where they need opportunities to deepen understandings.

  • Math Grade 7click to playThe importance of purposeful language

    In this video, former math specialist and coach Donna Lione discusses how different interpretations of task wording impact responses to performance tasks.

  • Math – High Schoolclick to playSupporting shifts in instructional practice

    Watch as principal Kee Zublin discusses how performance tasks support needed instructional shifts in mathematics.

  • Math Reflectionclick to playUsing a rubric to score student responses individually and collaboratively

    Watch as four educators reflect on the use of a rubric to score student responses and on the value of collaborative scoring.

Analyzing Student Work

  • ELA Grade 8click to playComing to Consensus Using the Rubric

    Watch as two educators use the language of the rubric to come to consensus about scores.

  • ELA Grade 5click to playDigging into the Language of the Rubric

    In this video two educators look carefully at the language of the rubric in order to determine correct scores for the different dimensions.

  • ELA Grade 7click to playLooking at Trends in Student Work

    Thinking about strengths and weaknesses helps these educators determine trends across student work samples.

  • ELA Grade 11click to playLooking Closely at Argumentative Writing Using the Rubric

    In this video, educators analyze student work alongside the rubric in order to determine the argument, counter argument, evidence and elaboration.

  • ELA Grade 4click to playLooking for a Preponderance of Evidence When Scoring

    These two educators locate a preponderance of evidence to help them land upon the correct score.

Professional Learning Resources

  • click to playBuilding Educator Assessment Literacy – Assessment Continuum

    This video provides an overview of Smarter Balanced performance tasks, their part in the Smarter Balanced assessment system, and how they fit into the assessment continuum.

  • click to playGathering Evidence and Scoring – Elementary

    This video demonstrates a process for using evidence-based scoring to evaluate student writing using the Smarter Balanced Informational Rubric (Grades 3–5).

    • Elementary – Sample A (PDF)
    • Elementary – Sample A Scores and Annotations (PDF)
  • click to playGathering Evidence and Scoring – Secondary

    This video demonstrates a process for using evidence-based scoring to evaluate student writing using the Smarter Balanced Explanatory Rubric (Grades 6–11)

    • Secondary – Sample A (PDF)
    • Secondary – Sample A Scores and Annotations (PDF)
  • click to playUniversal Design for Learning Overview

    This video provides an overview of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework that can inform the design of instruction and assessment to ensure access to learning for all students.

    • Transcript (PDF)
  • click to playDeveloping College and Career Readiness Skills in English Learners in ELA

    This video focuses on the challenges posed by English Language Arts performance tasks and shares various strategies that teachers of English learners can use to provide the support students need to develop essential 21st Century language skills.

    • Transcript (PDF)
  • click to playSupporting English Learners Through Performance Assessment

    Performance tasks, which ask students to provide evidence of their learning through a tangible product or performance, offer an excellent opportunity for teachers of English learners to simultaneously engage students in meaningful language development and content learning.

    • Transcript (PDF)

Instructional Shifts and Implications

How to Use Student Work in Professional Learning

What Teachers Can Learn from Analyzing Student Work

The Benefits of Looking Closely at Student Work

Coming to Consensus Using the Rubric

Digging into the Language of the Rubric

Looking at Trends in Student Work

Looking Closely at Argumentative Writing Using the Rubric

Looking for a Preponderance of Evidence When Scoring

Building Educator Assessment Literacy – Assessment Continuum

Gathering Evidence and Scoring – Elementary

Gathering Evidence and Scoring – Secondary

Universal Design for Learning Overview

Developing College and Career Readiness Skills in English Learners in English Language Arts

Supporting English Learners Through Performance Assessment

Using performance tasks to target student support

Using student responses to build meaningful conversations

The importance of purposeful language

Supporting shifts in instructional practice

Using a rubric to score student responses individually and collaboratively

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