Assessment Rubrics

A rubric is an authentic assessment tool used to measure students' work. It is a scoring guide that seeks to evaluate a student's performance based on the sum of a full range of criteria rather than a single numerical score. A rubric is a working guide for students and teachers, usually handed out before the assignment begins in order to get students to think about the criteria on which their work will be judged. Rubrics can be analytic or holistic, and they can be created for any content area including math, science, history, writing, foreign languages, drama, art, music, etc...

The rubric is one authentic assessment tool which is designed to simulate real life activity where students are engaged in solving real-life problems. It is a formative type of assessment because it becomes an ongoing part of the whole teaching and learning process. Students themselves are involved in the assessment process through both peer and self-assessment. As students become familiar with rubrics, they can assist in the rubric design process. This involvement empowers the students and as a result, their learning becomes more focused and self-directed. Authentic assessment, therefore, blurs the lines between teaching, learning, and assessment (Pickette and Dodge).

3 Common Features | Advantages of Rubrics

Creating a Rubric | Rubric Template

Sample InTech Rubrics | Rubric Generators

Credits

3 Common Features

Rubrics can be created in a variety of forms and levels of complexity, however, they all contain three common features which:

• focus on measuring a stated objective (performance, behavior, or quality).
• use a range to rate performance.
• contain specific performance characteristics arranged in levels indicating the degree to which a standard has been met (Pickett and Dodge).

Advantages of Rubrics

Many experts believe that rubrics improve students' end products and therefore increase learning. When teachers evaluate papers or projects, they know implicitly what makes a good final product and why. When students receive rubrics beforehand, they understand how they will be evaluated and can prepare accordingly. Developing a grid and making it available as a tool for students' use will provide the scaffolding necessary to improve the quality of their work and increase their knowledge.

Rubrics offer several advantages. 

• Rubrics improve student performance by clearly showing the student how their work will be evaluated and what is expected.
• Rubrics help students become better judges of the quality of their own work.
• Rubrics allow assessment to be more objective and consistent.
• Rubrics force the teacher to clarify his/her criteria in specific terms.
• Rubrics reduce the amount of time teachers spend evaluating student work.
• Rubrics promote student awareness about the criteria to use in assessing peer performance.
• Rubrics provide useful feedback to the teacher regarding the effectiveness of the instruction.
• Rubrics provide students with more informative feedback about their strengths and areas in need of improvement.
• Rubrics accommodate heterogeneous classes by offering a range of quality levels.
• Rubrics are easy to use and easy to explain. 
  

Sample InTech Rubrics

Rubric Templates

Rubric Generators

Credits:

Heidi Goodrich Andrade. "Understanding Rubrics." [Online] 22 October 2001. < http://www.middleweb.com/rubricsHG.html>.

Teachervision.com. The Advantages of Rubrics: Part One in a Five-Part Series. [Online] 22 October 2001. < http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-4522.html>.

Nancy Pickett and Bernie Dodge. "Rubrics for Web Lessons." [Online] 22 October 2001. < http://edweb.sdsu.edu/webquest/rubrics/weblessons.htm>.

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