Aligning Assessments to Proficiency Scales

What I find most useful about proficiency scales is the fact that they make it so easy to design assessments. In my math class, I can basically just rephrase each bullet point in the proficiency scale in the form of a question to make a perfectly aligned "pass off quiz". When a student has earned full marks on "Part A" (the section that addresses the Level 2 content) they have achieved level 2 status. If they can successfully do Part A and some of Part B, they have achieved a 2.5. If they can successfully complete part B in full, they have achieved mastery of that standard and can move on!

I think that this is best shown with an example. In this example, I have used icons to indicate which quiz question(s) correspond(s) to specific bullets in the proficiency scale. You'll see how the wording barely changes. I use all the same verbs and address the appropriate vocabulary. In the example below, you can clearly see this if you follow the pink explosion icon from the proficiency scale to the pass-off.

Here is the proficiency scale:

...and here is the pass-off:

A couple of things to notice: each bullet is addressed on the assessment. The level three bullets are all housed in Part B of the assessment. Finally, there is absolutely nothing on my assessment that is not addressed in the proficiency scale. This ensures that I am only testing the most important and pertinent information.

My precalculus students are currently working through a unit on calculator skills. Clearly, all of the standards in this unit are "performance" targets. For example, one of our basic targets is, "I can use my calculator to edit an expression using DEL, INS, and arrows". This is the closest that you can get in math to a performance. Thus, in order to assess it, I need to be the audience! Instead of having purely written pass-offs for this unit, I have pass-offs which are partially written but then the student will get to a question that says "show Ms. C___________" and the student will call me over and I'll sit with them as they demonstrate the skill.

These alignment strategies can also be adapted for other types of assessment besides paper and pencil based exams. For example, at the end of the first semester, rather than take a final, I offered my students the option of putting together a portfolio that addresses some of the standards from each unit. The project description was as follows:

The unit one section addresses four different standards (one about graphing parent functions, one about domains and ranges, one about transformations of graphs and the one about properties of graphs that we already discussed. The unit two section addresses four standards (using various methods to find x-intercepts, determining the asymptotes of rational functions, and graphing polynomial and rational functions using end behavior and test intervals). The unit three section addresses two standards (graphing exponential and logarithmic functions, understanding the inverse relationship between logs and exponents). The description for the project asks the students to demonstrate understand at a level three, however, it is in the rubric that the details are really fleshed out.

In the rubric, rather than give any grades regarding the aesthetic of the project, each category represents a standard. To earn a three, you must demonstrate the skills as listed in the standard itself. To earn a two, you only need to demonstrate tasks that are in the level two section of the proficiency scale. For example, with the standard we looked it in the last post, a level two student is not able to describe all the properties of the graph required of a level three, but they can demonstrate some of them.

The picture to the right shows my students working on this assignment.

This example could be MUCH better. I plan to revise it for next year, but it's a start and it gets the idea across.

In my role next year, I'll be working with teachers across disciplines and I foresee rubric being a key tool for aligning assessments with proficiency scales. I plan to do a lot of research on how this might work and maybe pilot a few with humanities teachers in the early fall or possibly even this spring. I'll keep you posted. If you have done anything like this, please reach out to me and give me ideas!