Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation

SUMMARY

Designing Scoring Rubrics for Your Classroom

                                                                               

Rubrics are rating scales, scoring guides, consisting of specific pre-established performance criteria, used in evaluating student work on assessments.
There are two types of rubrics:
1. Holistic: score the overall process or product as a whole.
2. Analytic: score separate, individual parts of the product, then sums the individual scores to obtain a total score.
                                                                                
A teacher must decide whether the performance or product will be scored holistically or analytically. Regardless of which type is selected, specific performance criteria and observable indicators must be identified as the initial step. To choose is important that teachers consider how they intend to use the results, the time requirements, the nature of the task and the specific performance criteria being observed.

When converting rubric scores to grades or descriptive feedback, it is important to remember that there is not one correct way to accomplish this. As teachers we must find a system of conversion that fits our different individual system of reporting students performances.

In order to create your own rubric, ask yourself the following:

1. What are the specif tasks and subtasks of the assignment?
2. What's the purpose? Is this a qualitative or quantitative rubric? Is the rubric for student feedback or to provide a grade?
3. What are your descriptors going to be? Remember to avoid negative connotations.
4. Did you consider and build in a full range of skills and knowledge with clear indicators of each level of performance?
Also remember to keep making revisions to your rubric, there is always something to improve for the benefit of our students.