Standards, Expectations, and Rubrics

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Higher Level Thinking Rubric

Teachers often use this rubric to evaluate the quality of students’ responses to higher level thinking (HLT) questions.  TTQA+ is a method used at PGS to help students structure their responses.  It stands for Turn the Question Around.  For example, a written or verbal response to the question “Why did Billy run away from his friend?” could be structured by writing “Billy ran away from his friend because…”  The plus represents the explanation that must be added after the student turns the question around.

Ice Cream Critical Stance Rubric (<-Click on title to load)

Similar to the more general Higher Level Thinking rubric, this rubric uses the 0-1-2 scale that the students are assessed with on the Connecticut Mastery Tests.  It is specifically geared for critical stance questions – those that call upon students to consider and idea and to take a critical stand on the issue and to support their stance with evidence from the text or from their own lives.  Student responses are evaluated as exceeding the goal (2), meeting the goal/proficient (1), or failing to meet the goal (0).  Ice cream cones with zero, one, or two scoops are used to represent the different levels of achievement on this rubric.  The HLT rubric may also be used to evaluate critical stance responses, depending on the situation.

Expository and Persuasive Writing Rubric

This is a PGS-developed rubric that we use to evaluate the quality of students’ writing.  Typically, students are scores on a 1-6 scale, however on major writing prompts, students will receive two scores (from two teacher scorers), and their scores will be combined to form one score out of 12 points.  The performance goal for students is a 4/6 or a 8/12 (depending on how many scorers are grading a particular piece.)  While we aim to help students to reach these goals as quickly as possible, it is normal for many students to start the year at a lower level and to improve their writing throughout the year as they work toward the proficiency level.  By the end of the year, your child aught to be at or near goal.

Narrative Writing Rubric

Much of our focus in fourth grade is on narrative writing – telling a story from a first or third person perspective.  This is a PGS-developed rubric that we use to evaluate the quality of students’ writing.  Typically, students are scores on a 1-6 scale, however on major writing prompts, students will receive two scores (from two teacher scorers), and their scores will be combined to form one score out of 12 points.  The performance goal for students is a 4/6 or a 8/12 (depending on how many scorers are grading a particular piece.)  While we aim to help students to reach these goals as quickly as possible, it is normal for many students to start the year at a lower level and to improve their writing throughout the year as they work toward the proficiency level.  By the end of the year, your child aught to be at or near goal.