The Nessecity of Developing a Qualitative Ruberic to Implement the Descriptive Evaluation of Mathematics at the Elementary School in Iran

The purpose of the present study was to shed more lights in elementary teachers’ ambiguities with the implementation of descriptive assessment. 27 students from one 5th Grade class, classroom teacher, as well as seven other 5th Grade teachers, voluntereely participated in this study. Due to the nature of the study, the qualitative paradigm was chosen to carry the research. The data were collected via two mathematics word problems focusing on reasoning. For the sake of triangulation, the data collected through various sources including classroom teacher’s assessment of students, another seven independent teachers’ assessments and the first author’s field notes and observations while students were solving problems to assure the confirmability of the data. The main finding of the study was a descriptive rubric that is qualitative in nature and is relative, flexible, subject - dependent and based on teachers’ judgements supported by the documents and observations collected in students’ portfolios.