Exemplars: Administrators

Exemplars provides standards-based performance tasks for schools and districts in the areas of Math, Science and Reading, Writing and Research. All of our material has been classroom tested and is based on sound scientific research.

Providing teachers with a firm foundation in assessment and instruction, will not only enable them to help students meet state and national standards, but also bring students to higher levels of achievement and greater understanding.

As administrators, there are a number of ways that you can help your teachers become successful Exemplars users and skilled in the art of assessing student performance.

Introduce standards-based assessment and instruction practices. Exemplars material makes it possible for schools, districts and teachers to begin using excellent performance assessment. All of our material includes subject-specific rubrics as well as task-specific rubrics aligned to national standards, communication, concepts and skills. Each task includes an individual write up, annotated anchor papers and teacher notes for assessment and instruction.

Our goal is to provide teachers and administrators with the fundamental tools to successfully integrate standards-based assessment and instruction in a user-friendly way. While all of our material can be easily differentiated, our math material has been formally differentiated to further facilitate this process. We even provide support through our Online Users Group. To download free samples, please click here.
Make our Getting Started Guide for Math and Science Tool Kit available to teachers. To help schools use our material, we have put together suggestions from experienced Exemplars users and workshop participants. These guides lead teachers through a step-by-step process for successfully using our math and science material. These pieces may also be used as components in your staff development.
Have teachers assess student work together. The most powerful conversations teachers can have are about student work. They can begin to practice by assessing sample pieces of student work using Exemplars Online Math and Science Tutorial. Additional examples can be found in our sample tasks, as well as our subscriptions and CD-ROMs, where student work has been assessed by Exemplars and annotated anchor papers are provided for teachers.
Encourage your teachers to join the Online Users Group. Exemplars is a community of users dedicated to helping schools become successful in standards-based performance assessment and instruction. To facilitate learning, offer guidance and promote communication between teachers, administrators and curriculum specialists we have created an Online Users Group.

If you are an Exemplars user, you have access to this FREE forum, where you can ask questions, share successes, and impart other useful information. Our editors and professional development leaders participate regularly in these discussions. To find out how to enroll, please contact us at info@exemplars.com.
Communicate the importance of using student rubrics. Students who are good self-assessors will perform more successfully than others. Encourage your teachers to use student rubrics in their classrooms.
Provide professional development to maximize the results of standards-based assessment. We have found that our most successful users are in schools and districts where educational leaders have taken an active role in helping their colleagues integrate Exemplars. Areas where professional development is helpful includes:
- Getting started with real problem solving
- Teaching students to communicate their thinking
- Using results to improve performance
- Managing the problem solving classroom
- Integrating content and problem solving
We have many years of experience in helping teachers achieve success in these areas. Our professional development workshops and Institutes emphasize hands-on experience where participants learn by doing. We focus on using rubrics to assess student work, using results and managing the standards-based classroom.

Our workshops may be customized to meet the specific needs of your school and/or district. Contact us for assistance in designing future professional development sessions.
The most important thing is to encourage teachers to get started and be persistent. Students who solve good problems, with appropriate support, become better problem solvers. Back to top

"Students are amazed at how they can lift their levels of achievement by following the rubric and knowing what is necessary for all levels."

A Title I Teacher