Designing and Developing Rubrics as an Instrument To Assess ISTE's (International Society for Technology in Education) National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T).
Authors: Shawn Foley, Christine Remley, David Roberto Morales, Lawrence M. Grega, Nathaniel Lantz, Noela Haughton, R-Kavena Shalyefu-Shimhopileni
Published in:  (2001-11-01)

Last year, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) worked to develop and improve teacher skills in the area of educational technology by creating technology performance profiles for teacher preparation. These standards were given to a group of Pennsylvania State University instructional systems graduate students who developed rubrics to assess the four categories of standards: general preparation, professional preparation, student teaching/internship, and first-year teaching. The process and methods used in the design, development and creation of these rubrics is presented and discussed. (Author/AEF) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Designing and Developing Rubrics As An Instrument to Assess ISTE's (International Society for Technology in Education) National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS -T) PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 Abstract Shawn Foley Christine Remley D. Roberto Morales MAJ Lawrence M. Grega Nathaniel Lantz Noela A. Haughton R-Kavena Shalyefu-Shimhopileni The Pennsylvania State University U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization / originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality.Shawn Foley Christine Remley D. Roberto Morales MAJ Lawrence M. Grega Nathaniel Lantz Noela A. Haughton R-Kavena Shalyefu-Shimhopileni The Pennsylvania State University U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization / originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position cr policy. Last year, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) worked to develop and improve teacher skills in the area of educational technology by creating technology performance profiles for teacher preparation. These standards were given to a group of PSU instructional systems graduate students who developed rubrics to assess the four categories of standards. The process and methods used in the design, development, and creation of these rubrics will be presented and discussed, and the rubrics will be available for use by the participants. Introduction Assessment has always been an important part of both the education and training fields. Standards are also valuable way of defining expectations, but when it comes to assessing whether standards have been achieved the plot thickens. Issues that arise concerning the reliability and validity of measurement and assessment will always be present. Assessment instruments are not always easy to design or develop. Some assessment instruments such as rubrics can be of some help. Rubrics are designed to focus on measuring a stated objective (performance, behavior, or quality), use a range to rate performance, and contain specific performance characteristics arranged in levels indicating the degree to which a standard has been met. (Pickett) A rubric may be applied in many situations and score criteria that is, summative, by providing information about a student's knowledge, formative, by providing information about a student's strengths and weaknesses, evaluative, by providing ways to create instruction that better fits each student's needs, and educative, by providing students with an understanding of how they learn. (Luft, 1997) Rubrics evaluate and measure a learning situation using a holistic or analytical approach that ideally results in the creation of an easy to use matrix of learning targets and the level at which these targets are achieved. The number of categories and levels of mastery is always up to the creator(s) of the rubric. This presentation discussed the use of rubrics as an instrument to assess standards. The National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) project writing team has created and defined technology performance profiles for teacher preparation across four categories in hopes to use these profiles in the development and improvement of teacher skills and competencies in the area of educational technology (http://cnets.iste.org/pdf/nets_brochure.pdf). This project, initiated by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), focused on the development of national standards for various uses of technologies that are associated with school improvement in the United States. A group of graduate students at Penn State University, taking a class based on analyzing outcomes and learners, given these standards and charged with developing assessment instruments based on the ISTE standards. This presentation explored the design and development of those assessment instruments. The presentation began with a brief introduction and statement of objectives. We then explored the work done by the ISTE NETS writing team with the intent to engage the audience in the specific areas addressed by these standards. We then explored the four categories of standards, general preparation, professional education, student teaching/internship, and first-year teaching and the suggestions for evaluation provided by a class well versed in analyzing learners and outcomes. We looked at separate rubrics the class constructed and examined how they relate to the original standards. We discussed the design and development of these rubrics and the processes, obstacles, and methodologies in which these assessment instruments were created. The presentation ended with an open forum and a brief question and answer period between the audience and the presenters. 536 4 BEST COPY AVAILABLE The format of this presentation recommends a refined approach, used for creating and implementing rubrics, as an appropriate instrument of assessment, specifically when evaluating performance based on the ISTE's National Educational Technology Standards. The audience was expected to offer constructive criticism and suggested ways to improve upon the processes and methods used.