Inclusive Curriculum and Assessment
Students Rubric
Team Version
Facilitator Guide (opens in new tab)
Inclusive Curriculum and Assessment provides the opportunity to learn about perspectives beyond one’s own experiences and elevates historically marginalized voices. It includes opportunities to learn about power, bias, and inequity and empowers learners to be agents of positive social change.
Instructions: Meet with the other students that your school has asked to participate in the rubric pilot (check with your teacher if you are unsure of the other students to work with). Use the guiding questions below to estimate together where your class or classes fall overall on each element of the rubric. Be honest – this activity is most valuable as a learning experience. We recommend spending about 45 minutes on the rubric. Save your notes and ratings for future discussions.
Note: Your rubric responses are not saved until you click the Submit button at the bottom of this page. If you're not ready to submit yet, keep this page open. Closing the tab will not save your work.
Progression of Engagement
Exploring
Cultural Responsiveness is in its initial phase
Growing
Cultural Responsiveness is practiced in some situations
Utilizing
Cultural Responsiveness is practiced in most situations
Transforming
Cultural Responsiveness is continuously practiced and promoted
Commitments
The extent of school community members’ dedication to culturally responsive practices across the school experience
Commitments
Curriculum Contains Diverse Perspectives
Guiding Questions:
How diverse are the authors and resources we use in class? Which traditionally marginalized groups (e.g. African American, Latinx, LGBTQ+, students with disabilities, etc.) have we learned about? Are our own backgrounds represented, and do we get to talk about how we understand different perspectives from our own?
Exploring
We rarely use resources written by or about traditionally marginalized perspectives in our classes.
Growing
We sometimes use resources written by or about traditionally marginalized perspectives.
Utilizing
We regularly use resources written by or about traditionally marginalized perspectives, with some also representing our backgrounds.
Transforming
We regularly use resources written by or about traditionally marginalized perspectives, with some also representing our backgrounds, and we discuss how these perspectives add to our understanding.
Selected Rating:
None
Commitments
Classroom Assessments Connect to Students' lives
Guiding Questions:
How relevant are our tests and assessments to our daily lives and cultures? Do we get to use experiences from our daily lives to show our teachers what we have learned in school?
Exploring
Our classroom assessments are rarely connected to our daily lives and/or culture.
Growing
Our classroom assessments sometimes provide us with opportunities to use our experiences from our daily lives and/or culture.
Utilizing
Our classroom assessments regularly provide us with opportunities to use our experiences from our daily lives and/or culture.
Transforming
Our classroom assessments are creative in the ways they provide us with opportunities to use our experiences from our daily lives and/or culture.
Selected Rating:
None
Commitments
Student Involvement in Data-Informed Decision-making
Guiding Questions:
How much do we understand about how our assessments influence the groups and classes we are placed in? Do our teachers talk to us about our test scores and why we are placed in certain groups? Do they work with us to set goals based on our assessment scores?
Exploring
We rarely see how the results from our assessments influence the groups and classes we are placed in.
Growing
We sometimes see how the results from assessments influence the groups and classes we are placed in.
Utilizing
We regularly see how results from assessments influence the groups and classes we are placed in.
Transforming
We regularly see how results from assessments influence the groups and classes we are placed in and we participate in goal setting as part of the process.
Selected Rating:
None
Empowerment
School practices include all school community member voices
Empowerment
Curriculum Connects to Students’ Lives
Guiding Questions:
How much, and in what ways, do our teachers connect our class content to our daily lives? Are we able to make connections on our own?
Exploring
Our teachers rarely connect our class content to our daily lives.
Growing
Our teachers sometimes connect our class content to our daily lives.
Utilizing
Our teachers regularly connect our class content to our daily lives.
Transforming
Our teachers regularly connect our class content to our daily lives and offer opportunities for us to make further connections.
Selected Rating:
None
Empowerment
Authentic demonstrations of student learning
Guiding Questions:
What ways do we have to demonstrate our learning in our classes? Are we able to choose some different ways to show our teachers what we have learned (e.g. performances, presentations, experiments) or do our teachers only know this from our tests and quizzes?
Exploring
We have few ways to demonstrate our learning beyond tests.
Growing
We sometimes have ways to demonstrate our learning beyond tests.
Utilizing
We collaborate with our teachers to find ways to demonstrate our learning beyond tests.
Transforming
We can choose different ways to demonstrate our learning beyond tests, with our teachers’ support.
Selected Rating:
None
Relationships
The quality of connections amongst school community members
Relationships
Student interests reflected in lessons
Guiding Questions:
Do our teachers incorporate our interests into class lessons? How often and in what ways?
Exploring
Our lessons don’t connect to our interests.
Growing
Our teachers rarely incorporate our interests into lessons.
Utilizing
Our teachers sometimes incorporate our interests into lessons in ways that help us learn.
Transforming
Our teachers often incorporate our interests into lessons in ways that help us learn.
Selected Rating:
None
Relationships
Local Field trips Connect to Community
Guiding Questions:
Do we take local field trips (e.g. museums, parks, cultural centers, other neighborhood locations) that help us learn about our community and local culture? How do our teachers help us make a connection between what we learn from our community and what we learn in school?
Exploring
We do not take local field trips that increase our understanding and connections to the community and local culture.
Growing
We rarely take local field trips that increase our understanding and connections to the community and local culture.
Utilizing
We sometimes take local field trips that increase our understanding and connections to the community and local culture and our teacher connects these experiences to our lessons.
Transforming
We sometimes take local field trips that increase our understanding and connections to the community and local culture and we work with our teachers to connect these experiences to our lessons.
Selected Rating:
None
Collaboration
The extent of cooperation amongst school community members
Collaboration
Collaborative Projects
Guiding Questions:
How often do we have projects to demonstrate our learning over time? Are we involved in developing them? Are there some subjects or classes where this happens more often than others?
Exploring
We have few projects that allow us to demonstrate our learning over time.
Growing
We rarely collaborate with our teachers to create meaningful projects that allow us to demonstrate our learning over time.
Utilizing
We regularly collaborate with our teachers to create meaningful projects that allow us to demonstrate our learning over time.
Transforming
We regularly collaborate with our teachers to create meaningful projects that allow us to demonstrate our learning over time and discuss them afterwards to improve future projects.
Selected Rating:
None
