This document discusses product-oriented performance-based assessment and the use of scoring rubrics to evaluate student work. It defines performance-based tasks as those that require students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills through a completed product or project. Scoring rubrics are presented as a tool to assess student performance based on learning competencies defined at different levels from beginner to expert. Examples are provided of developing rubrics to evaluate projects in areas like history, geometry, and typing.

1. PRODUCT-ORIENTED PERFORMANCE-
BASED ASSESSMENT
CHAPTER 5:

2. Performance-based education poses a
challenge for teachers to design instruction
that is task-oriented. The trend is based on
the premise that learning needs to be
connected to the lives of the students through
relevant tasks that focus on students’ ability to
use their knowledge and skills in meaningful
ways. In this case, performance-based tasks
require performance-based assessment in
which the actual student performance is
assessed through a product, such as a
completed project or work that demonstrates
levels of task achievement.

3. Product-Oriented Leaning Competencies
Student performances can be defined as
targeted tasks that lead to a product or
overall learning outcomes. Product can
include a wide range of student works that
target specific skills.
Examples:
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Reading Writing
Speaking Listening

4. PSYCHOMOTOR SKILLS (requiring physical
abilities to perform a given task).
Using rubrics is one way that teachers
can evaluate or assess student performance
or proficiency in any given task as it relates
to a final product or leaning outcomes.
The leaning competencies associated
with products or outputs are linked with an
assessment of the level of “expertise”
manifested by the product. Thus, product
oriented learning competencies target at
least three (3) levels: novice or beginner’s
level, skilled level, and expert level.

5. There are other ways to state product-
oriented learning competencies. For
instance, we can define learning
competencies for products or outputs in the
following way:
Level 1: Does the finished product or project
illustrate the minimum expected parts or
functions? (Beginner)
Level 2: Does the finished product or project
contain additional parts and functions on
top of the minimum requirements which
tend to enhance the final output? (Skilled
level)

6. Learning Competencies: The final product
submitted by the students must:
Possess the correct dimensions (5” x 5” x 5”)
– (minimum specifications)
Be sturdy, made of durable cardboard and
properly fastened together – (skilled
specifications)
Be pleasing to the observer, preferably
properly colored for aesthetic purposes –
(Expert level)
Example: The desired product is a scrapbook
illustrating the historical event called EDSA I
People Power.

7. Level 3: Does the finished product contain
the basic minimum parts and functions,
have additional features on top of the
minimum, and us aesthetically pleasing?
(Expert level)
Example: The desired product is a
representation of a cubic prism made out of
cardboard in an elementary geometry class.

8. Learning Competencies: The scrapbook presented
by the students must:
Contain pictures, newspaper clippings and other
illustrations for the main characters of EDSA I
People Power namely: Corazon Aquino, Fidel V.
Ramos, Juan Ponce Enrile, Ferdinand E. Marcos,
Cardinal Sin. – (minimum specifications)
Contain remarks and captions for the illustrations
made by the student himself for the roles played
by the characters of EDSA I People Power –
(skilled level)
Be presentable, complete, informative and
pleasing to the reader of the scrapbook – (expert
level)

9. Performance-based assessment for products
and projects can also be used for assessing
outputs of short-term tasks such as the one
illustrated below for outputs in a typing
class.
Example: The desired output consists of the
output in a typing class.

10. Learning Competencies: The final typing
outputs of the students must:
• Possess no more than five (5) errors in
spelling – (minimum specifications)
• Possess no more than five (5) errors in
spelling observing proper format based
on the document to be typewritten –
(skilled level)
• Possess no more than five (5) errors in
spelling, has the proper format, and is
readable and presentable – (expert level)

11. Notice that in all of the above examples,
product oriented performance based
learning competencies are evidence-based.
The teacher needs concrete evidence that
the student has achieved a certain level of
competence based on submitted products
and projects.

12. Task Designing
How should a teacher design a task for
product-oriented performance based
assessment? The design of the task in this
context depends on what the teacher desires
to observe as output of the students.
The concepts that may be associated with
task designing include:
• Complexity. The level of complexity of the
project needs to be within the range of
ability of the students. Projects that are
too simple tend to be uninteresting for the
students while projects that are too
complicated will most likely frustrate them.

13. • Appeal. The project or activity must be
appealing to the students. It should be
interesting enough so that students are
encouraged to pursue the task to
completion. It should lead self-discovery of
information by the students.
• Creativity. The projects need to encourage
students to exercise creativity and
divergent thinking. Given the same set of
materials and project inputs, how does
one best present the project? It should
lead the students into exploring the
various possible ways of presenting the
final output.

14. Goal-Based. Finally, the teacher must bear
in mind that the project is produced in
order to attain a learning objective. Thus,
projects are assigned to students not just
for the sake of producing something but for
the purpose of reinforcing learning.
Example: Paper folding is a traditional
Japanese art. However, it can be used as an
activity to teach concept of plane and solid
figures in geometry. Provide students with a
given number of colored papers and ask
them to construct as many plane and solid
figures from these papers without cutting
them (by paper folding only)

15. Scoring Rubrics
Scoring rubrics are descriptive scoring
schemes that are developed by teachers or
other evaluators to guide the analysis of the
products or processes of students’ efforts
(Brookhart, 1999). Scoring rubrics are
typically employed when a judgment of
quality is required and may be used to
evaluate a broad range of subjects and
activities.

16. From the major criteria, the next task is to
identify sub-statements that would make the
major criteria more focused ad objectives.
For instance, if we were scoring an essay on :
“Three Hundred Years of Spanish Rules in the
Philippines”, the major criterion “Quality”
may possess the following sub-statements:
 Interrelates the chronological events in an
interesting manner
 Identifies the key players in each period of
the Spanish rule and the roles that they
played

17.  Succeeds in relating the history of
Philippine Spanish rule (related as
Professional, Not quite professional, and
Novice)
The example below displays a scoring rubric
that was developed to aid in the evaluation
of essays written by college students in the
classroom (based loosely on Leydens &
Thompson, 1997).

18. When are scoring rubrics an appropriate
evaluation technique?
Grading essay is just one example of
performances that may be evaluated using
scoring rubrics. There are many other
instances in which scoring rubrics may be
used successfully: evaluate group activities,
extended projects and oral presentations.
Also scoring rubrics scoring cuts across
disciplines and subject matter for they are
equally appropriate in English, Mathematics
and Science classrooms.

19. Other Methods
Authentic assessment schemes apart
from scoring rubrics exist in the arsenal of a
teacher. For example, checklists may be used
rather that scoring rubrics in the evaluation
essays. Checklists enumerate a set of
desirable characteristics for a certain product
and the teacher marks those characteristics
which are actually observed.

20. General versus Task-Specific
In the development of scoring rubrics,
it is well bear in mind that it can be used to
assess or evaluate specific tasks or general or
broad category of tasks. For instance,
suppose that we are interested in assessing
the student’s oral communication skills.

21. Process of Developing Scoring Rubrics
The development through a process.
The first step in the process entails the
identification of the qualities and attributes
that the teacher wishes to observe in the
students’ outputs that would demonstrate
their level of proficiency. (Brookhart, 1992).
The next step after defining the criteria for
the top level of performance is the
identification and definition if the criteria for
the lowest level of performance.

22. Resources
Currently, there is a broad range of
resources available to teachers who wish to
use scoring rubrics in their classrooms. These
resources differ both in the subject that they
cover and the level that they are designed to
assess. The examples provided below are
only a small sample of the information that is
available.
 State of Colorado (1998) has developed an
online set of general for K-12 teacher,
holistic scoring rubrics that are designed
for the evaluation of various writing
assessments.

23.  Chicago Public Schools (1999) maintain an
extensive electronic list if analytic and holistic
scoring rubrics that span the broad array of
subjects represented throughout K-12
education.
 (1997a, 1997b; Danielson & Marquez, 1998)
for mathematics teachers, Danielson has
developed a collection of reference books
that contain scoring rubrics that are
appropriate to the elementary, middle school
and high school mathematics classrooms.
Resources are also available to assist college
instructors who are interested in developing and
using scoring rubrics in their classrooms.

24.  Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators (2000)
contains electronic materials for both the
pre-college and the college classroom.
 Brookhart (1999) The Art and Science of
Classroom Assessment: The Missing Part
of Pedagogy, provides a brief, but
comprehensive review of the literature on
assessment in the college classroom.
 Moskal (1999) has developed a web site
that contains links to variety college
assessment resources, including scoring
rubrics.

25. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and
Evaluation [ERIC/AE] provides several
additional useful websites.
 Scoring Rubrics-Definitions and
Constructions (2000b), specially addresses
questions that are frequently asked with
regard to scoring rubrics.
 Site also provides electronic links to web
resources and bibliographic references to
books and articles that discuss scoring
rubrics.

26. Submitted by:
EDUARDO O. SABANGAN
TCP