Educators act ethically and maintain the integrity, credibility and reputation of the profession.
One way in which I maintain the integrity of the profession is by ensuring that I mark all of my students on a fair, explicitly stated scale. I use a variety of rubrics in my practice, each of which is specific to the task that students will be completing. Each of my rubrics is also aligned with the B.C. Performance Standards, to ensure students are being fairly and accurately assessed for their grade level. The above picture demonstrates a rubric for my Literary Studies 11 and Composition 11 students’ study questions (also known as reading response questions). Before I have students begin answering the questions, we go over the rubric as a class in order to ensure the students will know how they are being assessed. Furthermore, I model a ‘4,’ ‘3’, and ‘2’ to provide students with an example of what the different levels look like. In many cases, we have done a learning activity that involves having the students use the scale to mark the examples before I tell them how I have marked them myself. I always encourage students to ask questions during this time to ensure they understand what is being expected of them. Finally, when I mark students’ questions using this rubric, I attach a copy of it and I highlight the language in the rubric that applies to their work. Students then have an updated copy of where they fall on the four-point scale.