This is Jennifer Gonzalez welcoming you to episode 167 of the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast.

In this episode we're going to learn how to work with students to build our assessments,

also known as co-constructing success criteria.

Early on in my teaching career I would spend entire weekends grading a stack of student papers,

highlighting the accompanying rubric to indicate problem areas, and writing comment after comment

to point out strengths and areas for improvement. The following Monday when I return the papers,

far too many students would look at their grades and feedback like it was written in another language.

Despite the fact that I had gone over the requirements at the beginning and given them a copy

of the rubric ahead of time, they acted like they were seeing them for the first time.

This situation did not result in the most optimal learning, and that was my fault.

I had done a few things right, namely making the requirements available from the start,

but I hadn't really done anything to make sure students understood them.

As I gained more experience I added in a few more steps that helped.

I showed students models of finished products, which gave them a much clearer picture of what they

were shooting for. I also had them score a few samples to get them to pay closer attention to

the requirements in the rubric. Both of these went a long way toward getting students to understand

what they needed to do, but I knew I wasn't all the way there yet. I just couldn't figure out why.

After talking with my guest today, I think I found the last few pieces of this puzzle.

Star Sackstein has spent the better part of the last decade fine-tuning the way she assesses

students and helping other teachers do the same through her books, videos, and trainings.

She was a very early guest on this podcast in episode 13 where we talked about teaching without

grades. In her new book, Assessing with Respect, she looks at assessment through the lens of

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