School rubrics still need improvement
By Patrick Martell
Staff Writer
When Westford Academy was preparing for the NEASC visit this fall they had a lot to do. One of the many things, was to develop a set of rubrics, which were to be used school wide.
These rubrics would provide a more consistent grading system for teachers and students alike, and would ensure that all teachers were on the same page.
For this task, a committee was created.
English teacher Janet Keirstead was one of the co-chairs of the mission and expectation committee along with history teacher Chris Connole, and was in charge of leading the group that put the rubrics together.
As part of this committee she played a role in developing the mission statement, but also in the development of the school rubrics.
Keirstead said that one of the biggest struggles was, “how do you find something that can be applied across the board?”.
To help with this, the committee tried to divvy up the rubrics as best as they could.
The committee itself consists of 17 teachers and had teachers from every department.
Keirstead said the committee, “tried to pair up people with the rubric that we thought would best apply to that department.”
Although the final NEASC report will not be in until the end of the year, they did give some initial feedback.
Assistant Principal Adam Goldberg said, “They wanted to urge Westford Academy to continue the conversation relevant to school wide rubrics, but they also applauded us for starting the journey.”
Goldberg also said that NEASC recognizes how hard it is to put school wide rubrics in place, and there are not many other schools that have them fully implemented.
Keirstead said that she could understand why NEASC was a little critical of the rubrics. She believes that because they are so new, that is likely why it is one of the areas where Westford Academy is the weakest.
As a teacher Keirstead even said herself, “I am struggling with the implantation of them and find myself not using them as often as I should.”
Westford Academy can only go up from here.
In future years, students should look for the rubrics to be used much more often in all of their classes, and at this point it looks as if the rubrics will keep being improved and revised as the years go on.