Chapter 8: Criteria and Validity

In line with Stage 2 of UbD Template, chapter 8 offers us the two other elements to be considered when planning evidence from performance. First, we must consider the criteria and rubrics by which our students will be assessed and second we must verify if the evidence matches our established goals. In order to do so, we must establish “independent variables in the performance”. This means different criteria we will focus on when assessing our students’ performance.

Rubrics are a scoring guide based on different and independent criteria. Rubrics describe each criterion or characteristic to be assessed. According to the chapter, there are two general types of rubrics: Holistic and analytic.  The most used and also recommended by UbD is the analytic rubric because it provides our students’ a better quality of feedback, a less subjective; more comprehensive and more reliable feedback. The book also suggests that building and revising a rubric also depends on an analysis of student performance. In this chapter, we can find meaningful examples and also real rubrics and criteria to prepare our own assessment planning, using the six facets of understandings.

From my personal point of view, one of the unnatural things about UbD is the fact that I must write and establish the criteria before defining the task to be assessed. This part of UbD has been really difficult to understand. I think it does not make sense to me. Not yet. Besides, I fully understand that the first step to help our students improve their performance and thus their understanding of a subject is by providing them effective, clear, appropriate and pertinent feedback. However, considering my forty-student classroom, it is difficult to assess them all and by using different methods or formats as suggested in chapter seven, because the time does not allow for it. I should probably resort to self-assessment and peer review.