Rubrics
What are rubrics?
A rubric is an objective method for evaluating student skills. It is a scoring tool that lists, usually in grid format, the criteria students must have included in their work to receive a certain score or rating. Rubrics help the student figure out how their work will be evaluated, what makes a good final product and why.
Generally rubrics specify the level of performance expected for several levels of quality. These levels of quality may be written as different ratings (e.g., Excellent, Good, Needs Improvement) or as numerical scores (e.g., 4, 3, 2, 1) which are then added up to form a total score which then is associated with a grade (e.g., A, B, C, etc).
When students receive rubrics beforehand, they understand how they will be evaluated and can prepare accordingly. Rubrics can improve students' end products and therefore increase learning because it helps students judge and revise their own work before handing in their assignments. Rubrics can also perform as a checks & balances system when there is a question on the appropriateness of a given grade.
Why use rubrics?
There are many advantages to using rubrics, here are a few:
- It is an objective method for evaluating student skills.
- Teachers can increase the quality of their direct instruction by providing focus, emphasis, and attention to particular details as a model for students.
- Students have explicit guidelines regarding teacher expectations.
- It tells the student why they deserve the grade they received.
- Students can use rubrics as a tool to develop their abilities.
- Teachers can reuse rubrics for various activities.
How do I create a rubric?
Below are a few basic steps for creating a rubric. Creating the rubric will take some time and careful thought but once it is created it actually saves time while creating a higher quality student product.
- Determine the concepts to be taught. What are the essential learning objectives?
- Choose the criteria to be evaluated. Name the evidence to be produced.
- Develop a grid.
- Plug in the concepts and criteria.
- Share the rubric with students before they begin the assignment.
- Evaluate the end product by comparing the students' work with the rubric to determine whether they have mastered the content.
A good rubric should:
- address all relevant content and performance objectives;
- define standards and help students achieve them by providing criteria with which they can evaluate their own work;
- be easy to understand and use;
- be applicable to a variety of tasks;
- provide all students with an opportunity to succeed at some level;
- yield consistent results, even when administered by different scorers.
Web resources for rubrics
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators,
S.C.O.R.E. Rubrics
