Developing Rubrics

What is a rubric?

A rubric can be defined as a descriptive guideline, a scoring guide or specific preestablished

performance criteria in which each level of performance is described to contrast it with the
performance at other levels. This is in contrast to a rating scale which provides a scale (1-5) and a
description of each number in the scale (1 = Unacceptable to 5 = Exceeds Expectations), but does not
provide a description of what the specific differences are among performances at each level.

A set of rubrics is used to guide the rating of performance, products or processes of student learning
at various levels of performance . Levels of performance are typically divided into three- to six-point
scales and given labels such as basic-proficientadvanced; needs improvement-meets expectations-
exceeds expectations; or seldomsometimes-usually-often; poor-good-excellent-superior; beginning-
basic-proficientadvanced-outstanding. The rubric for a particular level describes the performance
outcome at that level, and each subsequent rubric describes the quality of performance at each
subsequent level in the series. Rubrics do not use numbers or grades without descriptors and below
average, average, above average, excellent aren’t used because rubrics are not used to compare the
performance of students, but to compare a single student against the set criteria.

The number and type of rating scales and attributes are determined based on the objectives and
standards of the performance task. Most any learning task can be considered as a performance for
which rubrics can be written. Performance tasks can be a written paper, an oral presentation, daily
classroom attendance and participation, attitude or disposition, practice performance in a
professional role such as musician, athlete, counselor, attorney, teacher, scientist or mathematician
and can even include descriptions of performance on an exam or on a portfolio. The descriptive
criteria for each level of performance and the specific attributes of the learning task move the
assessment process beyond traditional grading to reinforce clearer criteria for grading.

Types of Rubrics Holistic Rubrics The two basic types of rubrics are holistic and analytic. Holistic
rubrics ask the evaluator to make a single judgment about the object or behavior being evaluated. If
you are using a 4 point holistic rubric to evaluate students’ oral presentations, you indicate whether
the presentation is a 1, 2, 3, or 4 based on the level at which it meets the described criteria. This is a
quick way to provide an overall evaluation of the presentation. Table 1 presents an example of this
type of rubric.

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Analytic Rubrics Analytic rubrics are used to assess multiple outcomes simultaneously or for
multidimensional outcomes and each dimension needs to be rated separately, resulting in multiple
judgments about an object or performance. The analytic rubric describes the criteria for each of the
judgments. Analytic rubrics provide more useable data than holistic rubrics because the criteria
provide strengths and weaknesses and describe the performance at each level in more detail, thus
providing more information on what is lacking in the poorer performance. Table 2 is an example of
an analytical rubric for information literacy in a term paper.

Table 2: Analytic Rubric to Assess Information Literacy

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Why use Rubrics?

Developing rubrics helps clarify the expectations you and others have for student performance by
providing detailed descriptions of those agreed upon expectations. Well designed rubrics used for
assessment increase the reliability and validity and ensure that the information gathered can be used
to make changes in the instruction.

Rubrics allow faculty to efficiently assess complex products or behaviors. Once the criteria for a
performance are clearly defined, an instructor can align the course with the criteria to help students
meet the requirements.

Rubrics that have been defined and agreed upon by all the evaluators increase the likelihood that all
evaluators will provide comparable ratings, thus increasing the inter-rater reliability. As a result, the
assessments based on these rubrics will be more effective and efficient.

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Writing Rubrics

Step 1 : Set the Scale

Select a learning outcome from your academic program. Use your professional judgment to assess
student learning on a scale of 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, or 1-X that is appropriate for evaluating the performance.

Step 2 : Define the Ratings

Add appropriate descriptors to each number on the scale that you have identified.

4 = Advanced; 3 = Proficient; 2 = Basic; 1 = Beginning

Step 3: Identify basic descriptions

Add simple descriptions for each number on the scale.

4 – Advanced ability to __________; 3 – Proficient ability to ___________;

2 – Basic ability to _____________; 1 – No ability to ________________.

Step 4: Descriptions of what performance will look like at each level

4 - The student is able to (description of what advanced performance would look like).

3 – The student is able to (description of what proficient performance would look like) but not yet
able to (description of advanced performance).

2 - The student is able to (description of what basic performance would look like) but not yet able to
(description of proficient performance).

1 - The student is unable to (description of desired performance).

For additional training on developing rubrics: http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/videos/Rubrics/Rubrics.html To access an online program

that provides templates for various types of rubrics: http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/videos/Rubistar_tutorial/index.html

References:

Allen, M.J. (2004). Assessing academic programs in higher education. Bolton, MA: Anker.

Allen M.J. (2006) Assessing general education programs. San Francisco, CA: JoseyBass.

Mertler, Craig A. (2001). Designing scoring rubrics for your classroom. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(25). Available online:
http://ericae.net/pare/getvn.asp?v=7&n=25

Moskal, Barbara M. (2000). Scoring rubrics: what, when and how? Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(3). Available online:
http://ericae.net/pare/getvn.asp?v=7&n=3

Stevens, Dannelle and Levi, Antonia. (2005). Introduction to Rubrics. Sterling, VA: Stylus