Chapter 8, page 191
This is the rubric that the teachers design to evaluate how well learners have progressed toward considering
counterarguments in their writing.
RUBRIC FOR CONSIDERING COUNTERARGUMENTS
Definition of
LevelExampleLevel 4 Mentions
competing ideas
and explains
them. Also
discusses
evidence for and
against these
ideas, and
resolves the
conflict between
the positions in
some way.A student defends the argument that the main cause of the Depression
was the collapse of the US stock market on October 29, 1929. The
student notes that there is another position that economists have taken,
namely that the Federal Reserve’s contraction of the money supply
was the more important cause and elaborates on this position in
several sentences to explain it more. In addition, the student discusses
evidence for the idea the money supply was an important factor.
Finally, the student either (a) presents evidence for rejecting this causal
factor as less important or (b) notes that the issue is not fully resolved,
and that both factors may have been important.Level 3 Mentions
competing ideas
and explains
them. Also
discusses
evidence for and
against these
ideas.A student defends the argument that the main cause of the Depression
was the collapse of the US stock market on October 29, 1929. The
student notes that there is another position that economists have taken,
namely that the Federal Reserve’s contraction of the money supply
was the more important cause and elaborates on this position in
several sentences to explain it more. In addition, the student discusses
evidence for the idea the money supply was an important factor.
However, the student does clearly explain why she has opted not to
accept this theory.
Level 2 Mentions
competing ideas
and explains
them.A student defends the argument that the main cause of the Depression
was the collapse of the US stock market on October 29, 1929. The
student notes that there is another position that economists have taken,
namely that the Federal Reserve’s contraction of the money supply
was the more important cause and elaborates on this position in
several sentences to explain it more. However, the student does not
discuss evidence for or against this claim.
Level 1 Mentions
competing ideasA student defends the argument that the main cause of the Depression
was the collapse of the US stock market on October 29, 1929. The
student also mentions that there is another position that economists
have taken, namely that the Federal Reserve’s contraction of the
money supply was the more important cause.
Level 0 No
consideration of
competing ideasA student defends the argument that the main cause of the Depression
was the collapse of the US stock market on October 29, 1929, and
mentions no other position.Again, the rubric helps the teacher identify how well students have progressed toward mastery of this
learning goal. A student at Level 1 has progressed very little. A student at Level 3 is doing better, but there
are still areas for improvement before Level 4 can be attained.