The ChecBric

Artifact two is The Checkbric, and its place in student assessment.

http://www.larrylewin.com/teachingresources/checbrics.html

ChecBric examples are attached at the bottom of the review.

Summary

The rubric has become the common assessment tool in the classroom. I have heard teachers praise the rubric because it "makes assessment objective". I don't think that any tool can completely achieve that feat. While I was on my internship, I was introduced to a grade nine English team that has adapted the rubric to include a checklist. This idea was introduced to them by Larry Lewin, and has been affectionately dubbed "The ChecBric". While on internship I accepted this tool with open arms and spread praises of the ChecBric. I’ll describe it more clearly.

The ChecBric promises to make assessment more transparent and easier for the students to understand. Students, say proponents of the ChecBric, have long complained about the difficult “teacher wording” of rubrics. They have a difficult time understanding what is a 3 and what is a 5. They prefer checklists that tell them exactly what to do in order to do well. One of the downfalls to using only a checklist as an assessment tool is that there is no value easily assigned to a checklist. This causes a larger gap for teacher bias to effect the assessment. To combat this, Larry Lewin combined the checklist (in student language) and the rubric (in teacher language). This addresses both the questions of “What should I put in my project?” and “How can I mark this?”.

By it’s explanation, the ChecBric sounds wonderful. But let’s examine it a little more closely.

Evaluation

First of all, let’s look at the benefits of using a ChecBric. The checklist side is created using “I statements” (i.e. I have had my essay peer edited), which helps the students take ownership of the assessment, as well as reminds them to complete parts of the task that they may have forgotten. The students can easily check off the required elements of the task as they go along, helping them to manage their time better and create”to-do” lists for what still needs to be completed. The requirements checklist gives students clarity in what is required of them. The checklist is there, it’s clear, and students know what to expect. Match that to the rubric that lets a teacher easily and confidently assess the task, and it sounds like a winner. Let’s look at the cons.

The biggest deterrent in the usage of ChecBrics is the time that needs to be invested in them. Teachers have to, in essence do double the work. They must create the task to be assessed by the ChecBric. Then they must create a rubric that explains the criteria for the task, and how each of the criteria will be scored. After that, a checklist must be created that includes everything that students should consider, and include in their projects. During my internship, often my cooperating teacher and I could spend an entire evening developing a ChecBric. Examining the criteria, discussing what should be included, looking for examples online for ideas, searching for the correct wording to use for descriptors, creating a draft, revising it, and finally coming to a finished product can be very time consuming.
On the plus side, a well-designed project and ChecBric can be used again in years to come once it has been created. Putting in time at the beginning can result in time saved later in our teaching careers.

While this is good, and I do agree with the use of ChecBrics, and employ them in the classroom, there is a question that is lingering in my head. Are they necessary? ChecBrics were explained to me as a way to bridge the gap between “student language” and “teacher language”. If we, as teachers, put time into developing our rubrics, ensuring that they are clear, concise and in language that students understand, do they need an accompanying checklist? Throughout our research for our “Rubrics” presentation, all resources stressed that rubrics should be clear, and in language that students understand. We should go through the rubrics we use with our students, and ensure that they understand them. We need to provide exemplars and grade them as a class, so that students are able to distinguish between an “A” assignment and a “C” assignment. If we do these things, do we need to go to the trouble of creating the ChecBric? Or will all of that take more time than it does to create one?

There is not much research on the ChecBric, as it is a relatively new concept. I think the answer to these questions will come through trial and error. I will definitely use the ChecBric in my classroom, but I will also try to create well-written rubrics and see if they can have the same effect.


The following are examples of the assessment tools questioned in this review.
Textbook Rewrite ChecBric

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Homework Academic Work

The Bridge Builder Checkbric

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Academic Work