Rubric for Evaluating Unit Goals and Accompanying Rubrics

Goals that meet the following criteria will receive an A:

1. The goals are phrased so that they describe a text that students will produce to represent what they have learned through their engagement with the unit texts, activities, discussions, and/or lessons.
2. The goals should potentially engage all students in the construction of significant meaning and knowledge in relation to the unit topic.
3. The number of goals should be reasonably attainable given the length of time allotted, the literacy levels of the students, and the challenges afforded by the unit texts.
4. Each goal includes a general description of the text and its form, and a bulleted set of criteria that more specifically describe the features of the text. Ultimately, these bulleted criteria should additionally provide the teacher with a set of teaching responsibilities.
5. Each goal, while describing a product and its form, should also describe a text that embodies a significant social action engaged in by students as a way to construct new knowledge or understanding.
6. The set of goals as a whole should enable a broad range of students to have access to success. That is, the goals should provide learning and assessment opportunities for students who bring different ways of knowing to the task.
7. The set of goals should be aligned with the unit rationale. That is, they should serve as vehicles for students to achieve the purposes that serve as the basis for the unit.
8. Each goal is accompanied by a grading rubric that clearly differentiates between each set of adjacent grades (e.g., between an A and a B, between a B and a C, and so on). The differentiation should be based on significant questions of learning and representation, rather than simply on the surface features of learning and representation. The grading scale can be a conventional A-F scale, can be a numberical scale, or in some cases can distinguish between Pass and Fail. Pass/Fail grades should be reserved for special circumstances since in almost all situations you will be required by your district to issues A-F grades on report cards.
9. There is evidence that a peer or practicing teacher has read and critiqued the goals and accompanying rubrics.

Goals that meet the following criteria will receive a B:

1. The goals are phrased so that they describe a text that students will produce to represent what they have learned through their engagement with the unit texts, activities, discussions, and/or lessons.
2. The goals should potentially engage all students in the construction of significant meaning and knowledge in relation to the unit topic.
3. The number of goals should be reasonably attainable given the length of time allotted, the literacy levels of the students, and the challenges afforded by the unit texts.
4. Each goal includes a general description of the text and its form, and a bulleted set of criteria that more specifically describe the features of the text. Ultimately, these bulleted criteria should additionally provide the teacher with a set of teaching responsibilities. In goals that receive a B, these bulleted criteria might not be as clearly spelled out as those in goals that receive an A.
5. Each goal, while describing a product and its form, should also describe a text that embodies a significant social action engaged in by students as a way to construct new knowledge or understanding.
6. The set of goals as a whole should enable a broad range of students to have access to success. That is, the goals should provide learning and assessment opportunities for students who bring different ways of knowing to the task.
7. The set of goals should be aligned with the unit rationale. That is, they should serve as vehicles for students to achieve the purposes that serve as the basis for the unit.
8. Each goal is accompanied by a grading rubric that differentiates between each set of adjacent grades (e.g., between an A and a B, between a B and a C, and so on). There might be greater ambiguity about the differentiation in a B rubric than an A rubric. The differentiation should be based on significant questions of learning and representation, rather than simply on the surface features of learning and representation. In a B rubric, the criteria may lean more toward surface features of learning than on students' concept development.
9. There is evidence that a peer or practicing teacher has read and critiqued the goals and accompanying rubrics.

Goals that meet the following criteria will receive a C:

1. The goals are phrased so that they describe a text that students will produce to represent what they have learned through their engagement with the unit texts, activities, discussions, and/or lessons.
2. The goals should potentially engage all students in the construction of significant meaning and knowledge in relation to the unit topic. In goals that receive a C, the meaning or knowledge tends more toward superficial knowledge that is not used toward the construction of new knowledge.
3. The number of goals should be reasonably attainable given the length of time allotted, the literacy levels of the students, and the challenges afforded by the unit texts. In goals that receive a C, there might be too few or too many goals given the conditions in which the unit is taught.
4. Each goal includes a general description of the text and its form, and a bulleted set of criteria that more specifically describe the features of the text. The general description might be vague, or the bulleted criteria unrelated, underspecified, or unclear in goals that receive a C.
5. Each goal, while describing a product and its form, should also describe a text that embodies a significant social action engaged in by students as a way to construct new knowledge or understanding. In goals that receive a C, the significance of the social action will only be dimly apparent.
6. The set of goals as a whole should enable a broad range of students to have access to success. That is, the goals should provide learning and assessment opportunities for students who bring different ways of knowing to the task. In goals that receive a C, the range of students afforded opportunities will be narrow.
7. The alignment between rationale and goals will not be clear.
8. Each goal is accompanied by a grading rubric that differentiates between each set of adjacent grades (e.g., between an A and a B, between a B and a C, and so on). These distinctions might be sufficiently unclear that a student or parent could legitimately challenge the grade issued. The differentiation might be based more on surface features of learning than on students' concept development.
9. There is evidence that a peer or practicing teacher has read and critiqued the goals and accompanying rubrics.

Goals that meet the following criteria will receive a D:

1. The goals will not clearly describe a text that students will produce to represent what they have learned through their engagement with the unit texts, activities, discussions, and/or lessons. They might rather describe broad philosophical goals (e.g., that students will learn to love literature) or actions taken by the teacher (e.g., the teacher will lead discussions).
2. The goals do not engage students in the construction of significant meaning and knowledge in relation to the unit topic.
3. The number of goals is clearly out of line with the length of time allotted, the literacy levels of the students, and the challenges afforded by the unit texts.
4. The goals lack either a description of the text to be assessed, or bulleted criteria that more specifically describe the features of the text.
5. The goals do not embody significant social action engaged in by students as a way to construct new knowledge or understanding.
6. The goals provide only a narrow range of students with opportunities to show their knowledge or understanding of the unit concepts.
7. The set of goals is not aligned with the unit rationale.
8. Each goal is accompanied by a grading rubric that poorly differentiates between each set of adjacent grades (e.g., between an A and a B, between a B and a C, and so on). These differentiations could leave the evaluation of student work open to legitimate challenge, grievance, and possible law suit. Furthermore, tha differentiation largely focuses on surface features of learning than on students' concept development.
9. There might not be evidence that a peer or practicing teacher has read and critiqued the goals and accompanying rubrics.

Goals that meet the following criteria will receive an F:

1. The goals are incomprehensible in terms of describing assessment of student knowledge or understanding.
2. The goals do not engage students in the construction of significant meaning and knowledge in relation to the unit topic.
3. The number of goals is grossly out of line with the length of time allotted, the literacy levels of the students, and the challenges afforded by the unit texts.
4. The goals lack either a description of the text to be assessed and bulleted criteria that more specifically describe the features of the text.
5. The goals do not embody significant social action engaged in by students as a way to construct new knowledge or understanding.
6. The goals provide little or no opportunity for students to show their knowledge or understanding of the unit concepts.
7. The set of goals is not aligned with the unit rationale.
8. There is no accompanying grading rubric.
9. There might not be evidence that a peer or practicing teacher has read and critiqued the goals and accompanying rubrics.