Anecdotal Records

Significant incidents or specific, observable behaviours can be recorded by teachers in anecdotal records. These records provide cumulative information about students' development in the learning objectives of the language arts as well as their physical and social growth and development. By systematically collecting and analyzing anecdotal comments, teachers can evaluate students' progress and abilities to use language and then plan appropriate instruction. Anecdotal Records An anecdotal record is "a written record kept in a positive tone of a child's progress based on milestones particular to that child's social, emotional, physical, aesthetic, and cognitive development, Anecdotal Records Usually include the date, time, event, setting, student s name, and teacher s name Some teachers use notebooks for keeping track of such notes, others use sticky pads to write things down and have a system of keeping track of these notes. Sometimes the notes end up in a child's file at the end of a school year, other times, they stay with a teacher's records or end up in the trash.

Purposes

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to provide information about students' development over an extended period of time to identify the instructional needs of students

Teacher Note:

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To be useful, anecdotal records should be brief and focused. Anecdotal comments may be recorded in binders with a single page for each student, in a notebook with each entry dated to provide a chronological record of classroom activities and students' growth and development, or on checklists. Record an accurate description of the situation and comments or questions that may guide further observations. Anecdotal comments should be recorded daily and immediately after the observation. Anecdotal records should include information about students' strengths and weaknesses. Comments should be recorded during different times and during different activities of the day in order to develop a complete profile of students' language abilities, interests and attitudes. Examine the records regularly to be sure that comments are made for each student on a variety of skills and behaviours. Individual entries may or may not be shared with students or parents. ecdotal comments may be recorded on post-it notes and then affixed to a large chart that lists the students and the days of the week. At the end of the week, the recorded information is transferred to each student's file and the chart is reused the following week.

Joanne Monday - prefers to work alone

Greg - having difficulty with report - conference Tues.

Gail

Shelley

Rory

Tuesday - working on sorting ideas - prioritizing, outlining - 15th entry in Reading Log - chose first biography - reviewed writing portfolio and evaluated 4 pieces

- editing story with J.R.'s help - great group discussion -shared ideas

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Checklists are written lists of criteria used while a product or a student s behavior is being assessed involve the use of a checkmark next to the criterion that is represented by the observed behavior can be used for diagnostic purposes and for tracking change

11. Disadvantages of Checklists Only two choices: criterion is performed or not, goal is met or not. There is no middle ground for scoring and no representation of extent.

A rubric is an authentic assessment tool used to measure students' work. It is a scoring guide that seeks to evaluate a student's performance based on the sum of a full range of criteria rather than a single numerical score. A rubric is a working guide for students and teachers, usually handed out before the assignment begins in order to get students to think about the criteria on which their work will be judged. Rubrics can be analytic or holistic , and they can be created for any content area including math, science, history, writing, foreign languages, drama, art, music, etc... The rubric is one authentic assessment tool which is designed to simulate real lifeactivity where students are engaged in solving real-life problems. It is a formative type of assessment because it becomes an ongoing part of the whole teaching and learning process. Students themselves are involved in the assessment process through both peer and self-assessment. As students become familiar with rubrics, they can assist in the rubric design process. This involvement empowers the students and as a result, their learning becomes more focused and self-directed. Authentic assessment, therefore, blurs the lines between teaching, learning, and assessment (Pickette and Dod

Rubrics can be created in a variety of forms and levels of complexity, however, they all contain three common features which:

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focus on measuring a stated objective (performance, behavior, or quality). use a range to rate performance. contain specific performance characteristics arranged in levels indicating thedegree to which a standard has been met (Pickett and Dodge).

Advantages of Rubrics Many experts believe that rubrics improve students' end products and therefore increase learning. When teachers evaluate papers or projects, they know implicitly what makes a good final product and why. When students receive rubrics beforehand, they understand how they will be evaluated and can prepare accordingly. Developing a grid and making it available as a tool for students' use will provide the scaffolding necessary to improve the quality of their work and increase their knowledge. Rubrics offer several advantages.

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Rubrics improve student performance by clearly showing the student how their work will be evaluated and what is expected. Rubrics help students become better judges of the quality of their own work. Rubrics allow assessment to be more objective and consistent. Rubrics force the teacher to clarify his/her criteria in specific terms. Rubrics reduce the amount of time teachers spend evaluating student work. Rubrics promote student awareness about the criteria to use in assessing peer performance. Rubrics provide useful feedback to the teacher regarding the effectiveness of the instruction. Rubrics provide students with more informative feedback about their strengths and areas in need of improvement. Rubrics accommodate heterogeneous classes by offering a range of quality levels. Rubrics are easy to use and easy to explain.