Creating & Recognizing Quality Rubrics

A nationally recognized expert in performance assessment, Judy Arter's background includes statewide writing assessments, development of large-scale and classroom-based assessments for competency assessment and development of district performance assessments. Prior to joining ETS, Judy directed Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's (NWREL) assessment unit. She has written extensively on performance assessment and rubrics, and is the co-author of Creating & Recognizing Quality Rubrics. Prior to joining ATI, Jan Chappuis was a curriculum and assessment specialist responsible for professional development and school improvement. Her background as an elementary and secondary teacher, combined with her assessment expertise and professional development experience, enables Jan to provide teachers and school leaders with practical solutions for motivating students and involving them in their own academic success. Her most recent publication, Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning, helps teachers adopt formative assessment practices shown to improve learning.

Table of Contents

 

1 Defining Rubric ................................................................. 1

Contexts for Rubrics ..................................................... 3

Helping Teachers................................................................. 3

Helping Students ................................................................. 4

Rubrics as Part of Assessment of and for Learning........... 4

Types of Assessments Requiring Rubrics

and Scoring Guides........................................................ 6

Types of Rubrics............................................................. 6

Comparing Holistic and Analytic Rubrics .......................... 7

Comparing Task-Specifi c and General Rubrics................ 10

When to Use the Various Types of Rubrics ....................14

Learning Targets................................................................ 14

Recommendations for When to Use Each Type

of Rubric........................................................................ 17

Focus on General Rubrics................................................. 24

The Path Ahead: Book Content .....................................26

Summary......................................................................27

 

2 What a Good Rubric Looks Like .............................. 29

Features of a Good-Quality Rubric ...............................31

Understanding Rubric for Rubrics

Criterion 1: Coverage/Organization ......................... 34

Understanding Rubric for Rubrics

Criterion 2: Clarity ...................................................... 39

Practicing with the Whole Rubric for Rubrics...................43

Rubric for Rubrics Criterion 1:

Coverage/Organization ............................................. 46

Rubric for Rubrics Criterion 2: Clarity ......................... 54

For More Practice.............................................................. 60

Summary......................................................................62

 

3 How to Develop a General Rubric........................... 65

Rubric Development ....................................................67

Developing a Rubric When the Criteria Are Unclear .....68

Step 1: Choose a Learning Target Worth the Time ......... 68

Step 2: Search out Existing Relevant Scoring

Guides ........................................................................... 68

Step 3: Gather Samples of Student Work......................... 69

Step 4: Sort Student Work ................................................ 69

Step 5: Group Like Indicators Together........................... 73

Step 6: Identify Student Work That Illustrates

Each Level on Each Criterion ...................................... 77

Step 7: Test the Rubric and Revise It as Needed............. 78

Step 8: Repeat the Cycle of Scoring and Revising........... 80

Developing a Rubric When You Already

Have an Idea of the Structure of the Criteria ................81

Developing Student-Friendly Versions............................82

Summary......................................................................84

 

4 Quality Performance Tasks.......................................... 87

Planning for Task Quality ...............................................90

Determining the Purpose of the Assessment .................. 90

Identifying the Learning Targets to Be Assessed ............ 91

Criteria for Good Tasks .................................................92

Task Quality Criterion 1: Content of the Task ................ 92

Task Quality Criterion 2: Sampling............................... 100

Task Quality Criterion 3: Distortion Due to Bias......... 103

Authenticity and Complexity ...................................... 106

Ensuring Performance Task Quality .............................. 107

Summary.................................................................... 108

 

5 How to Convert Rubric Scores to Grades...........109

Grading Caveats ......................................................... 111

Caveat 1: Use Grades Only to Communicate ................. 112

Caveat 2: Use Grades Only to Communicate

About Learning ........................................................... 113

Caveat 3: Grades Are Not the Best Way to

Give Students Feedback on Learning........................ 114

Assigning a Grade to a Single Piece of Work

Scored with a Rubric .................................................. 114

Don’t Use Percentages, Use a Logic Rule ...................... 114

How to Weight Rubric Scores ......................................... 120

Determining a Final Grade Across Several

Pieces of Work, All Scored Using a Rubric ................. 122

Combining Rubric Scores with Percentage Scores

to Determine a Final Grade ........................................ 126

Step 1: Average the Ratings on the Rubric

Portion of the Grade................................................... 126

Step 2: Convert to a Logical Percentage ....................... 126

Step 3: Decide on the Weight for Each Portion of

the Grade and Compute the Average Percentage .... 128

Step 4: Convert the Average Percentage to a Grade ..... 128

Summary.................................................................... 129

 

6 Tasks and Rubrics as Assessment for Learning .....131

Performance Assessments as Episodes of Learning ...... 133

Rubrics as Teaching Tools............................................. 135

Strategy 1: Provide a Clear and Understandable

Vision of the Learning Target..................................... 137

Strategy 2: Use Examples and Models of Strong

and Weak Performances or Products ........................ 138

Strategy 3: Offer Regular Descriptive Feedback ........... 140

Strategy 4: Teach Students to Self-Assess and

Set Goals ..................................................................... 143

Strategy 5: Design Lessons to Focus on One

Aspect of Quality at a Time........................................ 144

Strategy 6: Teach Students Focused Revision............... 144

Strategy 7: Engage Students in Self-Refl ection and

Let Them Keep Track of and Share Their Learning... 145

Summary.................................................................... 146

 

7 Communicating with Parents about Rubrics ........147

What Rubrics Are and When You Use Them................. 149

How Using Rubrics Benefi ts Learning ............................. 152

How Rubrics Are Used in the Classroom ...................... 153

How to Interpret Rubric Scores ...................................... 154

How Parents Can Use Rubrics with Their Children ...... 155

Suggestions for Sharing Information with Parents.......... 156

When ................................................................................ 156

How .................................................................................. 157

Students’ Role in Communicating with Parents ............ 158

Summary............................................................................. 159

 

Glossary .............................................................................161

 

Bibliography .......................................................................165

 

Appendix A Rubric for Rubrics....................................179

 

Appendix B R ubric Sampler Table of Contents..........189

Appendix C Rubric Sampler Rubrics

 

Referenced in the Text ....................................................191

 

Appendix D Rubric for Tasks ........................................247

 

Appendix E CD Table of Contents .............................253