EXEMPLARS IN THE CLASSROOM

Karen Leitenberger

Discovery PLC March 2014

WHAT IS AN EXEMPLAR?

E

xemplars are examples of high quality student work. Combining

rubrics and exemplars allow students not only to know the

assessment criteria for a writing task, but also what a finished

piece of writing looks like at the different levels. Rubrics tell, but

exemplars show. This complementary rubric/exemplar combination

allows students to use assessment criteria as well as examples to

improve their own writing. That is the premise that Foster and

Marasco present in Exemplars: Your Best Resource to Improve

Student Writing.

Exemplars: Your Guide to Improve Student Writing

Exemplars can be used:

•To help instruct your students in problem solving and applying concepts in meaningful, real-life situations

•To explore how your class is performing in problem solving and give you an overall feel of your students’ skills

More Reasons to Use Exemplars:

•To diagnose the ability of particular students to apply concepts and solve problems

•To help students learn to self-assess their skills using the rubrics and anchor papers

•To help students communicate by sharing their thinking process verbally and in written form

Exemplars and Anchor Papers

I

n addition to rubrics, Exemplars performance material also includes annotated

anchor papers for each assessment.

S

amples of student work are provided at each of the four levels of the Exemplars

rubric: Novice, Apprentice, Practitioner and Expert. The marked annotations

identify important distinctions for teachers to look for when assessing students.

T

hese visual examples can be useful in providing students with a concrete

understanding of what works meets the standard (and why). Anchor papers can

also be used as a basis for student peer- and self-assessment and in staff

development.

ANCHOR PAPERS

Anchor papers are examples of student work at different

levels of performance that, along with rubrics, guide

formative and summative assessments. Schools and

districts can either build their own collections of anchor

papers over time or reference examples.

MAKING USE OF ERRORS.

B

y highlighting errors in anchor papers, teachers can create learning

opportunities for their students. In Japanese classrooms, teachers use

errors in student work as a teaching opportunity, whereas in American

classrooms this is rarely done. In the U.S., teachers tend to continue polling

students in search of the correct solution, generally ignoring errors.

D

iscussing errors helps to clarify misunderstandings, encourage argument

and justification, and involve students in the exciting quest of assessing the

strengths and weaknesses of the various alternative solutions that have

been proposed. The Learning Gap (Summit Books, 1992) p. 191

PROS to Using Exemplars:

1

.  It provides a clear example of what it is you are looking for.  This means

students have a clear idea of the target and know what they are aiming for.

2

.  They can be used to demonstrate what NOT to do as well as what is good to do.

3

.  They can be used as a comparison source for self evaluation.  Is mine as good

as the exemplar?  Better?  Not quite there yet?

4

.  If student created, it gives an idea of what past students have created and what

would be age/grade appropriate at that level.

CONS to Using Exemplars:

1

.  Student’s might view the exemplar as completely out of their reach.  It seems to them that

it’s far better than anything they could ever come up with and so they give up before they

even try.  This is the peril of always showing the “best case” exemplar.  You might be able to

show some leveled exemplars, but then you run into this problem….

2

.  Students only aim for what the exemplar is providing.  It stifles the creativity of the higher

achievers who may have given you something even better.  And likewise, the lower achievers

aim for the “passable minimum” if they think that’s all they have to do.

3

.  You get twenty five copies of what you showed them.   They aim to recreate the exemplar

to this finest detail instead of infusing their own creativity.

4

.  Exemplars aren’t always available or appropriate, depending on your assignment.

RESOUCEShttp://cherraolthof.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/to-exemplar-or-not-to-exemplar

http://www.exemplars.com/assets/files/the_guide.pdf