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A guide to development and use

By the end of the presentation you should be able to:
Describe a rubric (what is it?)
Describe the purpose of rubrics.
Describe the difference between holistic and
analytic rubrics.
List the characteristics of good rubrics.
Create/modify a rubric for an assignment or
activity in a class you teach.
Identify strengths and weaknesses in a rubric.
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Rubrics are performance-based assessments
that evaluate student performance on any
given task or set of tasks that ultimately leads
to a final product, or learning outcome.
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Importance of Reliability
Validity of the assessment
Reduction of bias in grading
Clarifying goals for you as the teacher
Communicating expectations to students
Improve students ability to judge their own
performance
Means for providing better feedback to
students

"Rubrics" explicitly state criteria for
assignments.
May lead to a grade or be part of the grading
process.
Are more specific, detailed, and disaggregated
than a grade.
Show strengths and weaknesses in student
work.
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Assess student performance along a task-
specific set of criteria
Measures performance against a
predetermined criteria
Includes essential criteria for the task
Has multiple levels of performance
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10
Criteria 4 3 2 1
Organization

Information in
logical,
interesting
sequence which
reader can
follow.
Student presents
information in
logical
sequence which
reader can
follow.
Reader has
difficulty
following work
because
student jumps
around.
Sequence of
information is
difficult to follow.
Content

Student
demonstrates full
knowledge (more
than required).
Student is at
ease with
content, but fails
to elaborate.
Student is
uncomfortable
with content
and is able to
demonstrate
basic concepts.
Student does not
have grasp of
information;
student cannot
answer questions
about subject.
Reference
Work displays the
correct number
of references,
written correctly.
Reference
section was
completed
incorrectly
Work does not
have the
appropriate
number of
required
references.
Work displays no
references.
Neatness
Work is neatly
done.
Work has one or
two areas that
are sloppy.


Work has three
or four areas
that are sloppy.
Work is Illegible.
Increase an assessment's construct and
content validity.
Increase an assessment's reliability
set criteria that raters can apply consistently
and objectively
Established criteria reduces bias
Can help teachers clarify goals and improve
their teaching
Help learners set goals and assume
responsibility for their learning
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Help learners develop their ability to judge
quality in their own and others' work (self-
and peer- assessment rubrics)
Provides specific feedback about areas of
strength and weakness
Learners can use rubrics to assess their own
effort and performance before submitting it
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Learners and teachers monitor progress over
a period of instruction
Reduces time spent grading
Engaging students in the design empowers
them
Moves away from subjective grading
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Ask yourself:
For a particular task, do you want to be able
to assess how well the students perform on
each criterion, or do you want to get a more
global picture of the students' performance
on the entire task?
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a holistic rubric does not list separate levels of
performance for each criterion

a holistic rubric assigns a level of
performance by assessing performance
across multiple criteria as a whole.
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Score
Level
Criteria
4

The students accent has no trace of first language
influence. Accent is fairly Standard American.
3

The students accent is very understandable by a native
American although some intonation can be inconsistent
and can be traced back to L1 intonation.
2
The students accent is evidently very much affected by
L1 intonation. However, it is fairly understandable.
1
The students accent is very much affected by L1
intonation and it is difficult to understand.
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Want to assess each criterion separately
Involve large number of criteria
More variance across the criteria
Need to weight criteria differently
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Criteria 4 3 2 1
Organization

Information in
logical, interesting
sequence which
reader can follow.
Student presents
information in
logical sequence
which reader can
follow.
Reader has
difficulty
following work
because student
jumps around.
Sequence of
information is
difficult to follow.
Content

Student
demonstrates full
knowledge (more
than required).
Student is at ease
with content, but
fails to elaborate.
Student is
uncomfortable
with content
and is able to
demonstrate
basic concepts.
Student does not
have grasp of
information;
student cannot
answer questions
about subject.
Vocabulary
Few errors; precise
and appropriate
Fairly broad
vocabulary; some
errors
Adequate but
repetitive ;
invented words
Words dont fit
the context; hard
to understand
Neatness
Work is neatly
done.
Work has one or
two areas that
are sloppy.


Work has three
or four areas
that are sloppy.
Work is Illegible.
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Step 1. Examine the learning objective to be
addressed by the task.

Step 2. Identify observable attributes you
want to see (as well as those you dont want to
see) your students demonstrate in the
product, process, or performance.

Step 3. Brainstorm characteristics of each
attribute.
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Step 4a. Write thorough narrative
description for excellent and poor work for
each individual attribute.

Step 4b. Complete the rubric by describing
other levels on the continuum that ranges
from excellent to poor for each attribute.
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Use an even number (4 or 6) of levels of
performance on the scale.
When there are an odd number of levels,
the middle level tends to become a catch-
all category.
With an even number of levels, raters
have to make a more precise judgment
about a performance when its quality is
not at the top or bottom of the scale.
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High to low scale.
Students read first the description of an
exemplary performance in each criterion.
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4 3 2 1
Exemplary Excellent Acceptable Unacceptable
Exceeds
expectations
Meets
expectations
Progressing Not there yet
Superior Good Fair Needs work
Limited number of dimensions or criteria.
The criteria are those components that are
most important to evaluate in the given
task and instructional context.
A rubric with too many dimensions may be
unworkable in classroom assessment.
Equal steps along the scale.
The difference between 4 and 3 should be
equivalent to the difference between 3 - 2
and 2 - 1.
"Yes, and more", "Yes", "Yes, but", and "No"
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4 3 2 1
Task All Most Some Very few or none
Frequency Always Usually Some of the time Rarely or not at
all
Accuracy No errors Few errors Some errors Frequent errors
Comprehen
sibility
Always
comprehen
sible
Almost always
comprehensible
Gist and main
ideas are
comprehensible
Isolated bits are
comprehensible
Content
coverage
Fully
developed,
fully
supported
Adequately
developed,
adequately
supported
Partially
developed,
partially supported
Minimally
developed,
minimally
supported
Vocabulary
Range
Variety

Broad
Highly
varied; non-
repetitive

Adequate
Varied; occasionally
repetitive

Limited
Lacks variety;
repetitive

Very limited
Memorized;
highly repetitive
http://www.teach-nology.com

http://www.rubistar.4teachers.org

http://www.rubrics4teachers.com

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1. Describe a rubric (what is it).
2. Describe the purpose of rubrics.
3. Describe the difference between holistic and
analytic rubrics.
4. List the characteristics of good rubrics.
5. Create/modify a rubric for an assignment or
activity in a class you teach.
6. Identify strengths and weaknesses in a rubric.
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