What are Rubrics and Why are they important? - Article

Analytic Rubric

Each criterion is evaluated separately Advantages: -Gives formative feedback to the students. - Adaptable for Summative Assessments. Disadvantages: - Takes more time to score. - Takes more time achieve inter-rater reliability than holistic rubrics.

How does a rubric evaluate a performance?

It describes it.

Why are general rubrics used?

- Describe students performance in terms that allow for many different paths to success. - Focus the teacher on developing students' learning of skills instead of task completion.

Holistic Rubric

All criteria is evaluated simultaneously. Advantages: - Scoring is faster than with analytic rubrics. - Requires less time to achieve inter-rater reliability. Disadvantages: - Single overall score does not communicate information about what to do to improve. - Not good for formative assessments.

What do effective rubrics have?

Appropriate criteria and well written descriptions of performance.

What is the main purpose of a rubric?

Assess performances.

General Rubrics

Description of work gives characteristics that apply to a whole family of tasks. Advantages: - Can share with students, explicitly links assessment and instruction. - Reuse same rubrics with several tasks or assignments. Disadvantages: - Lower reliability at first than with task-specific rubrics. - Requires practice to apply well.

Task-Specific Rubrics

Description of work refers to the specific content of a particular task. Advantages: - "easier" to score -Less time to achieve reliability Disadvantages: - Can't share with students - Need to write new rubrics for each task.

What is an example of a product? (Type of performance)

Lab report, model of a diagram of a structure, etc.

Are performances learning outcomes?

No, they are indicators of learning outcomes.

Do general rubrics give away answers?

No, they don't contain any information that the students are supposed to be developing themselves. They clarify for students how to approach the assignment.

Why are rubrics important?

Rubrics are important because they clarify for students the qualities their work should have.

What type of performances should your students be able to do?

State standards, curriculum goals, and instructional goals and objectives.

Rubrics help students learn...

-The criteria and performance level descriptions in rubrics help students understand what the desired performance is and what it looks like. - Effective rubrics show students how they will know to what extent their performance passes on each criterion of importance, and if formatively can also show students what their next steps should be to enhance the quality of their performance.

Self evaluation instruction - 4 strategies:

1. Involving students in defining criteria 2. Teaching them how to apply the criteria 3. Giving them feedback on these self-evaluations against criteria 4. Helping them develop action plans based on self-evals.

What is an example of a process? (Type of performance)

Playing a musical instrument, doing a forward roll, reading aloud, working independently, etc.

Why are task-specific rubrics used?

They are used to function as "scoring directions" for the person who is grading the work.

Rubrics help teachers to...

-Focus on what you intend students to learn rather than what you intend to teach actually helps improve instruction. - Help with clarity of both content and outcomes. - Help keep teachers focused on criteria, not tasks.

Rubric

Coherent set of criteria for students' work that includes descriptions of levels of performance quality on the criteria.