Gender
Male/Female
A is male
B is female
Different sex
A is male, B is female
Clothing
Short hair/long hair
Male (a valid characteristic of A)
One is male, one is female
Short pants/long pants
He has a hat (but not: "a hat")
One is wearing a cap, the other isn't

• Answer that is clearly wrong (e.g. one is adult, one is child)
• Switch characteristics of A and B (e.g. A is female, B is male)
• Illegible response

QUESTION #4 (p.1) - 1 point for No

QUESTION #5 (p.1) - 1 point for Yes

QUESTION #6 (p.2) - Max. 6 points

1 point each for placing the six pictures in the correct boxes.

Note: Do not award points for A and B.

QUESTION #7 (p.3) - max. 7 points

1 point for each of the seven labels correctly placed.

NOTE: Do not award points for Age, Winter, and Child-Summer.

PART 2: CLASSIFYING MATERIALS

Follow these procedures in the order in which they are written

QUESTION #1 (P.4)

1) COLUMN GROUPS: (2 points)
To get the 2 points for the column labels, the groups must meet TWO criteria

a) Both groups must be part of the same variable. This means that the two groups in a column must be mutually exclusive.

b) There must be corroborating evidence of student understanding. This can be demonstrated by any one of the following methods:

1. Does the PROPERTY label fit both groups? (e.g. the property "Size" fits the groups "Big" and "Small") If not, then

2. Are the LABELS INSIDE THE BOXES consistent with the column group labels? If NOT then

3. Are the MATERIALS in each column sorted in a way that is consistent with the group label for that column? (It does not have to be perfect.)

50% RULE: If 50% or more of the materials in a column fit the label for that column, then it corroborates the column label. Both labels must be corroborated for the student to get credit for the group labels.

"DEAD" RULE: If student uses dead/living (alive) for groups, deduct 1 point for groups and read "dead" as "inorganic" (but "dead" & "never living" are OK as groups).

2) COLUMN PROPERTY: (1 point) Both column groups must fit the property.

MAMMAL RULE: Student does not receive a point if he or she uses the same label for a group and for the corresponding property, unless student says "OR," uses a question mark, or somehow recognizes a dichotomy between the groups in the property label. For example, "mammal" is not OK, but "mammal or not mammal" is OK>

NOTE: If a student uses the same property or group labels for the rows and columns, he/she can only receive points once.

3) ROW GROUPS: (2 points)

Same criteria as column groups (see above)

4) ROW PROPERTY (1 point)

Both row groups have to fit the property (see above).

5) BOX LABELS: (1 point each up to 4 points)

Each inside box label must match its outside row AND column group labels. Close synonyms are acceptable (e.g., outside group label is "Big" and the corresponding box label says "large," is OK).

6) MATERIALS: (1 point each up to 8 points)

Does the material fit the box? Give first priority to the outside group labels. Materials placed in more than one box cannot receive a point. A student can get all 8 points for materials only if every box has at least one material. If this rule is not satisfied, but all the materials are classified properly, then assign a score of "7" for materials.

See "Chart for Scoring Materials" for guidelines on how to score each object. "Remember, a student can get points here even if he or she did not get points for the groups (see "Special Cases")

QUESTION #2 (P.5) - 1 point

Student receives 1 point if his or her response is accurate relative to his or her own classification system. Student must identify a box or boxes, or give valid reasons for not placing the object in a box.

GIVE POINT IF ANY OF THE STUDENT'S EXPLANATION CONTAINS ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

a) A unique box label that is valid (applies to characteristics of the pencil) - for example, comes from trees.

b) Row and column labels that are valid - for example, smooth and not alive.

c) Box number AND either row or column label, both of which are valid.

d) Student mentions more than one box and gives valid reason for why the object fits into each box - for example, can go in Box 1 (organic/big) or Box 2 (inorganic/big).

e) Student says object doesn't fit any box and gives valid reason that is consistent with his or her system.

Give the student a point if the explanation satisfies one or more of the rules above. A student who does not receive a point is most likely to:

a) Provide a box number only, with no reason (needs at least one word).

b) Put object in a box and provide a reason that is inconsistent with his or her labels or classification system.

c) Mention a row or column without specifying a particular box or stating why both boxes would be applicable.

If there is an internal conflict (e.g., fits box label but not row and column labels), student gets the benefit of the doubt and receives a point.

SPECIAL CASES:

a) One of both sets of groups labels do not constitute levels of a variable (e.g., big and dark).

AND

b) Student has a valid cross-classification within the table.

Ways in which this may occur:

• Outside labels do not represent levels of a variable, but student uses these to create a cross-classification inside the table and this cross-classification makes sense. (See examples 1A & 1B in this handout.)
  SCORING: No points for group labels that are not levels of a variable.
  1 point awarded for each correct box label (box label that contains each of the corresponding row and column labels).
  1 point awarded for each properly classified material.
• Group labels are missing but the box labels show a valid cross-classification. (See examples 2A & 2B in this handout.)
  SCORING: No points awarded for groups or properties
  No points awarded for boxes
  1 point awarded for each properly classified material.
• Group labels conflict with the box labels inside the table, but the box labels and materials form a valid cross-classification within the table (See examples 3A & 3B in this handout.)
  SCORING: Points awarded for groups only if they can be corroborated by an appropriate property label.
  No points awarded for boxes.
  1 point awarded for each properly classified material.

IMPORTANT:

In order for a student to receive points for materials in these special cases:

a) For row groups that are not legitimate, there must be at least one properly classified material in each box in a row for student to get points for any materials in that row. For column groups that are not legitimate, there must be at least one properly classified material in each box in a column for student to get points for any materials in that column.

b) 50% Rule: At least 50% of the materials in each row must fit that row, whether the student is using external labels or box labels. At least 50% of the materials in each column must fit that column.

SCORING GUIDE: MATERIALS - CLASSIFICATION - 1994 7th and 8th GRADE

PART 1: Classifying People

QUESTION #2 (p.1) - max. 2 points

1 point for each valid similarity listed by the student, including: sitting, tired, in chairs, hand on knee, wearing shoes. Not acceptable: people, humans, homosapiens, both have eyes (ears, arms, etc.)

Student must clearly indicate two distinct similarities (e.g. "they are both sitting in chairs" would only get one point, but "both sitting, both in chairs" would get 2 points).

QUESTION #3 (p.1) - 1 point

1 point for any valid difference.

For example, award a point if student answers:

Gender
Male/Female
A is male
B is female
Different sex
A is male, B is female
Clothing
Short hair/long hair
Male (a valid characteristic of A)
One is male, one is female
Short pants/long pants
He has a hat (but not: "a hat")
One is wearing a cap, the other isn't

Ways in which student may fail to earn a point:

• Answer that is clearly wrong (e.g., one is adult, one is child)
• Switch characteristics of A and B (e.g., A is female, B is male)
• Illegible response

QUESTION #4 (p.1) - 1 point for No

QUESTION #5 (p.1) - 1 point for Yes

QUESTION #6 (p.2) - Max. 6 points
1 point each for placing the six pictures in the correct boxes.

Example: Student says "rock, cone, and fur" are dark and "seaweed, sand, star, bone, and shell" are light. Assign 2 pts for dark column and 4 pts for light column for a total of 6.

• Column GROUPS are mutually exclusive
• Row GROUPS are mutually exclusive
• Column PROPERTY fits its two groups
• Row PROPERTY fits its two groups

Award 1 point for GROUPS if the same names are used for the columns and rows. Award 1 point for PROPERTY if the same one is used twice. Do not award points for property names that do not accurately generalize the groups/variable levels in question: For example, "growth" is not an adequate property for the groups, "forest" and "ocean," but "place" is.

OR RULE: Assign no points for a property if the group label is the same as the property label UNLESS the student uses the word "or," a question mark, or otherwise recognizes a dichotomy between groups in the property label (e.g., 1 point if the groups are "land" and "sea" and the property label is "land or sea", "land or not land", or "land/sea").

TWO-WAY CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM SCORE (max. 4 pts.)

Assign a 0 if one or both of the following occurred:

(1) There is not one properly cross-classified material in at least 3 of the 4 boxes.
(2) Student did not get both points for OUTSIDE column and row labels - OR - student did not get all 4 points for inside labels.

Otherwise, initially assign a score of 4. Deduct 1 point for each inside label that does not correspond to its outside row and column labels (maximum deduction is 2 points), but close synonyms are OK (such as "big" and "large") - not deduction if inside labels are missing. Deduct 1 point for each material that is improperly classified.

QUESTION #2 (P.5) - 1 point

Student receives 1 point if his or her response is accurate relative to his or her own classification system. Student must identify a box or boxes, or give valid reasons for not placing the object in a box.

GIVE POINT IF ANY OF THE STUDENT'S EXPLANATION CONTAINS ANY OF THE FOLLOWING:

a) A unique box label that is valid (applies to characteristics of the pencil) - for example, comes from trees.

b) Row and column labels that are valid - for example, smooth and not alive.

c) Box number AND either row or column label, both of which are valid.

d) Student mentions more than one box and gives valid reason for why the object fits into each box - for example, can go in Box 1 (organic/big) or Box 2 (inorganic/big).

e) Student says object doesn't fit any box and gives valid reason that is consistent with his or her system. The argument that the object doesn't fit because ALL of the cells in the table have some given property is acceptable: For example, "all of the things in my table are natural, and the pencil is man-made."

Give the student a point if the explanation satisfies one or more of the rules above. A student who does not receive a point is most likely to:

a) Provide a box number only, with no reason (needs at least one word).

b) Put object in a box and provide a reason that is inconsistent with his or her labels or classification system.

c) Mention a row or column without specifying a particular box or stating why both boxes would be applicable.

If there is an internal conflict (e.g., fits box label but not row and column labels), student gets the benefit of the doubt and receives a point.