If you have been following this blog more closely it is likely you understand what a challenge it has been to make an informed decision on how to proceed with evaluation of critical thinking.
I believe that Rose Colby's webinar powerpoint on Competency Based Assessment gives a good background to the current professional understanding of evaluation. I think anyone following the goals of NGC could see the connection between the highest levels of task complexity and the model. But I would like to take this model as step further by tailoring this assessment model to OUR specific needs.
The elements we need to include while evaluating critical thinking:
1. National Education Standards specifically CCSS (SCALE from Stanford Assessment by Rick Wormeli)
2. 21st Century Learning Standards, Media Literacy, and Executive Functioning (Rush University)
3. Transdisciplinary IB Learner Profile
4. Levels of autonomy (Fontan and 1 to 1 Learning)
5. UNCG MetaCognitive Rubrics
But managing this wide range of resources is bulky at best and at worst down right unusable.
So here are the two strategies we are going to try in order to move towards cohesive scalable evaluation of critical thinking.
One is a program, one is of my own creation.
Digital Badging
Through this process students will improve students 21st century skills, media literacy, and high levels executive function patterns through completing badges like:
internet safety, cyber bullying, file management, internet etiquette, social media (using the tool for more than selfies), executive function with self management and direction, application flexibility, effective search engine, information management, responsible ownership, keyboarding, digital leadership badge (helping other students pass badge levels)
This will build the micro and macro skills of being savvy digital learners and doers.
It will also focus the teaching process on the way students use these skills to represent and manage content, instead of using the content to explore the tool.
Critical Thinking Document Assessment
This is single best synthesis that the various lenes of myself can afford to put together for now. It is a one category rubric describing developing, meeting, and exceeding responses from students can be used across grade levels to describe what critical thinking really means guided by a scale.
I believe that Rose Colby's webinar powerpoint on Competency Based Assessment gives a good background to the current professional understanding of evaluation. I think anyone following the goals of NGC could see the connection between the highest levels of task complexity and the model. But I would like to take this model as step further by tailoring this assessment model to OUR specific needs.
The elements we need to include while evaluating critical thinking:
1. National Education Standards specifically CCSS (SCALE from Stanford Assessment by Rick Wormeli)
2. 21st Century Learning Standards, Media Literacy, and Executive Functioning (Rush University)
3. Transdisciplinary IB Learner Profile
4. Levels of autonomy (Fontan and 1 to 1 Learning)
5. UNCG MetaCognitive Rubrics
But managing this wide range of resources is bulky at best and at worst down right unusable.
So here are the two strategies we are going to try in order to move towards cohesive scalable evaluation of critical thinking.
One is a program, one is of my own creation.
Digital Badging
Through this process students will improve students 21st century skills, media literacy, and high levels executive function patterns through completing badges like:
internet safety, cyber bullying, file management, internet etiquette, social media (using the tool for more than selfies), executive function with self management and direction, application flexibility, effective search engine, information management, responsible ownership, keyboarding, digital leadership badge (helping other students pass badge levels)
This will build the micro and macro skills of being savvy digital learners and doers.
It will also focus the teaching process on the way students use these skills to represent and manage content, instead of using the content to explore the tool.
Critical Thinking Document Assessment
This is single best synthesis that the various lenes of myself can afford to put together for now. It is a one category rubric describing developing, meeting, and exceeding responses from students can be used across grade levels to describe what critical thinking really means guided by a scale.
The rather, I think daring claim, is that the critical thinking process is ALWAYS the same. In kindergarten I want to start students thinking in this way and for the rest of their lives I want them searching for the implicit meaning of the world.
I feel this rubric addresses the essential elements from our list by:
1. National Education Standards specifically CCSS (SCALE from Stanford and Summit and in positive language via Rick Wormeli)
This rubric focuses on the skills or tools of critical thinking (perspective, argument, evidence etc), uses the idea of "document" to mean a variety of mediums and formats, and suggests that it is increasing levels of rigor or text complexity that moves students forward. All three of these are at the heart of CCSS. It also uses the scaled perspective acknowledging that continuums best help describe the process. Finally, like Wormeli suggests, it puts all descriptors in the positive of what should be happening, it moves beyond a checklist or no nos.
3. Transdisciplinary IB Learner Profile
This rubric emphasizes the significance of personal and global connection to content. The IB learner profile seeks to develop students who are moving beyond facts and skills towards personal integration and action.
4. Levels of autonomy (Fontan and 1 to 1 Learning)
Students who practice identifying implicit messages have a greater chance of developing self awareness as "living documents" interacting with their world. What are the implicit messages I want to send and what are the ones I am sending that I don't like? Self awareness can lead to higher levels of autonomy and self management.
5. UNCG MetaCognitive Rubrics
Students who are searching for implicit meanings must by nature move past the surface and so naturally must engage in a metacognitive process. It is students documenting their process while developing these answers which will allow for insight on individualized and personalize metacognitive growth, instead of cumbersome rubrics.
So.....
I know it's not perfect. There's a lot of planning that will need to be developed in order to put a badging program in place. I know the rubric going to need editing, feedback, test runs, to find what is missing, and what this synthesis doesn't capture. However, it feels like a manageable place to start a "to scale" effort in our school to help teachers evaluate the heart of critical thinking.
I feel this rubric addresses the essential elements from our list by:
1. National Education Standards specifically CCSS (SCALE from Stanford and Summit and in positive language via Rick Wormeli)
This rubric focuses on the skills or tools of critical thinking (perspective, argument, evidence etc), uses the idea of "document" to mean a variety of mediums and formats, and suggests that it is increasing levels of rigor or text complexity that moves students forward. All three of these are at the heart of CCSS. It also uses the scaled perspective acknowledging that continuums best help describe the process. Finally, like Wormeli suggests, it puts all descriptors in the positive of what should be happening, it moves beyond a checklist or no nos.
3. Transdisciplinary IB Learner Profile
This rubric emphasizes the significance of personal and global connection to content. The IB learner profile seeks to develop students who are moving beyond facts and skills towards personal integration and action.
4. Levels of autonomy (Fontan and 1 to 1 Learning)
Students who practice identifying implicit messages have a greater chance of developing self awareness as "living documents" interacting with their world. What are the implicit messages I want to send and what are the ones I am sending that I don't like? Self awareness can lead to higher levels of autonomy and self management.
5. UNCG MetaCognitive Rubrics
Students who are searching for implicit meanings must by nature move past the surface and so naturally must engage in a metacognitive process. It is students documenting their process while developing these answers which will allow for insight on individualized and personalize metacognitive growth, instead of cumbersome rubrics.
So.....
I know it's not perfect. There's a lot of planning that will need to be developed in order to put a badging program in place. I know the rubric going to need editing, feedback, test runs, to find what is missing, and what this synthesis doesn't capture. However, it feels like a manageable place to start a "to scale" effort in our school to help teachers evaluate the heart of critical thinking.