Assessment Article Response

“Don’t mess with the volcano my man, ‘cause I will go Pompeii on your…Butt!” – Mr. Furious

            This article summarizes an approach known as PTA, or Primary Trait Analysis. Baughin et al. argue that PTA is the best approach to take in the classroom because it is efficient, explicit, and fair. Not only is it efficient and fair for teachers to use, it is also efficient and fair for students because it includes them in the process and explains to them the scoring rubric in depth before it is used to grade and assignment. Primary Trait Analysis is an explicitly designed rubric that is conveyed to students before they begin, complete, and turn in an assignment. Also, I think that including students in the process of creating such a specific rubric will help boost their confidence as they set out to complete their assignment and achieve the goals that have been set for them.

            The benefits of such an explicit rubric for any assignment cannot be ignored. First of all, it makes it easy for teachers to systematically grade assignments if they know exactly what they expect and are looking for in any given assignment before they start to grade it. Secondly, students are more likely to reach the standards set for them if they are fully aware of the standards before hand, especially if they are given the opportunity to help make the standards. In many cases, I believe that students truly understand what they need to work on and will help the teacher to develop goals to help them achieve those goals. Third, it is a genuinely fair rubric because of the fact that it is so explicit. If students see the language very clearly laid out in front of them, stating exactly how they earn points on an assignment, they are likely to not feel cheated when they miss points. Obviously, “fairness” requires that teachers are giving students enough time to complete the task to the standards that have been set.

            I think the reaction to an article should mirror my own and show excitement. Too often it seems as though assignments are given arbitrary point values and are graded subjectively. This is a practice that needs to end in a lot of ways. Though students need to be graded in part on their improvement throughout a class system, certain assignments require that students be held to standards that indicate their ability to reach the goals set for them by the state or district. Having such an explicit rubric for smaller homework assignments also doesn’t always mean that you are compromising differentiated instruction. Similar to the article I read for the last class, which argued that keeping students involved in the scoring process boosted student achievement, I also think that making sure students are always explicitly aware of what is expected of them will help in the long run as well.

Works Cited

Baughin, Judith A., Brod, Evelyn F., and Page, Deborah L. “Primary Trait Analysis: A Tool for Classroom-Based Assessment.” College Teaching. 50.2 (2002): 75-80. Print.