Why use

rubrics?
Characteristics
of good rubrics
Defi nition &
types of rubric
RUBRIC Strategies for
rubric
DEVELOPMENT development
SOLO
taxonomy
Phenomeno -
graphic sorting
Using rubrics
with students
 SCORING RUBRIC

Defi nition
 A scoring tool that lays out the specifi c expectations for an
assessment task (Stevens & Levi, 2005)
 A set of clear explanations or criteria used to help teachers
and students focus on what is valued in a subject, topic, or
activity (Russell, & Airasian, 2012).
Components of a rubric:
 Criteria/Indicator
 aspects of an assessment task which the assessor takes into
account when making their judgment
 May use diff erent weightings for diff erent criteria
 Level of Attainment
 often use grade level descriptors
Types of rubrics:
 Descriptive (Analytic), Holistic
 Why and when we use particular types of rubrics
 WHY USE RUBRICS?

For teachers: For students:

• Prompt a criterion- • Clarify the teacher’s

referenced assessment expectations of student
• Provide students with performance
detailed and timely • Provide informative
feedback descriptions of
• Encourage critical expected performance
thinking • Help to monitor and
• Facilitate communication critique own work
with others involved in
scoring
• Help to refine teaching
skills/learning activities
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD
RUBRICS (1)

Well defi ned

 Clearly describe the expected level of student
performance for each criterion in a rubric
 Avoid general evaluative words (poor, excellent, etc.)
 Use specific objective terms (correctly identifies, uses
only basic vocabulary, chooses incorrect formula… )

Context specifi c
 Describe what teachers expect from student for a
given performance or work product on a particular
subject domain
 Viable for instruction
 CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD
RUBRICS (2)

Finite and exhaustive

 Every response must be scorable
 Too many score levels is confusing for students and
causes disagreement among teacher scores
Ordered
 Represent the diff erent levels of learning targets as
defined by LP
Related to Common Core theme/strand
 Coherent with the cognitive complexity of the
standards
 ANALYTIC (DESCRIPTIVE) RUBRICS

Components:
(1) Task Task Description:
description Criteria Criteria Criteria Criteria Total
1 2 3 4
(2) Assessment
criteria
Level 5
(3) Performance
levels Level 4

Level 3
Advantage:
 Provides Level 2
judgment on Level 1
each criterion
Disadvantage:
 Time
consuming to
make
 HOLISTIC RUBRICS

A single scale with all criteria to be included

in the evaluation being considered together
 Based on an overall judgment of student work
Task Description:
Advantage: Criteria
 Saves time in Level 5 Overall description of Level 5
developing and
Level 4 Overall description of Level 4
scoring
Disadvantage: Level 3 Overall description of Level 3
 Does not
Level 2 Overall description of Level 2
provide specifi c
feedback for Level 1 Overall description of Level 1
improvement
 WHEN TO USE RUBRICS

On performance-based tasks:

 extended response items
 projects
 presentations
 portfolios
 4 KEY STAGES IN CREATING
RUBRICS
 Refl ecting on the task & content
 Learning outcomes of the unit and the particular
assessment
 What we want from the students, why we created this
assessment, what our expectations are
 Listing the learning outcomes & expectations
 Focus on the particular details of the task and what
specifi c learning objectives we expect to see in the
completed task
 Grouping & labeling the outcomes & criteria
 Organize the results of reflections, group similar
expectations together to become the rubric Indicators
 Application of a rubric format
 Apply the templates & descriptions to the final form of
the rubrics
 STRATEGIES FOR RUBRIC
DEVELOPMENT

Relationship between the intended Learning

Progression (LP) and rubrics
 Direct use of the LP as standard reference
Use of a general strategy (i.e. modifi ed
Bloom’s taxonomy or SOLO taxonomy)
 Assign the target outcome as mapped onto the
Cognitive Rigor Matrix as the maximum level of the
rubric
 Use the SOLO taxonomy as scoring
Phenomenographic sorting
 SOLO TAXONOMY

A possible value of 0 – 4 can be used to score

each question

Possibl Level Responses that …

e Score

4 Extended not only include all relevant pieces of information,

but also extend the response to integrate relevant
pieces of information not in the stimulus.
3 Relational integrate all relevant pieces of information from the
stimulus.
2 Multistructural respond to several relevant pieces of information
from the stimulus.
1 Unistructural respond to only one relevant piece of information
from the stimulus.
0 Pre-structural consist only of irrelevant information.

* Modified from Wilson (2005,

p. 75)
 PHENOMENOGRAPHIC SORTING

1. Sort student responses into performance

level piles (excellent, good, …, and poor), or
in terms of the levels of understanding of
the responses
2. Describe similarities within a pile and
diff erences between
 These similarities and diff erences can inform the
diff erent level of rubrics
3. Do sorting in pairs
 To reconfirm matches & mismatches
 Allow dialogue to maximize the eff ectiveness of
rubric development
 USING RUBRICS WITH STUDENTS

Explain what the test will emphasize

 Emphasis and expectations will be delineated in the
assessment criteria in the rubrics
Inform students how the assessment will be
scored
 Explain what each of the assessment criteria defined
in the rubrics means
Explain how the results will be used
 Explain the importance of the test scores in the
student’s learning progression
 HOW TO USE RUBRICS WITH
STUDENTS
Make sure that the wording of the rubrics is
understandable to students (simplify wording
for lower grades).
Works best with holistic rubrics (or with a
combined version of analytic descriptions).
Provide rubrics to students in advance of the
administration of the assessment.
Alternatively, students can be provided with a
general rubric and a small number of papers
(names removed). Students can score the
papers in small groups; groups are required
to come to consensus on the grade to be
assigned.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

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