Components of a scoring rubric Scoring rubrics include one or more dimensions on which performance is rated, definitions and examples that illustrate the attribute(s) being measured, and a rating scale for each dimension. Dimensions are generally referred to as criteria, the rating scale as levels, and definitions as descriptors.
Herman, Aschbacher, and Winters distinguish the following elements of a scoring rubric:{Herman, J. L., Aschbacher, P. R., and Winters, L. A Practical Guide to Alternative Assessment. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1992.}
Steps to create a scoring rubric Scoring rubrics may help students become thoughtful evaluators of their own and others’ work and may reduce the amount of time teachers spend evaluating student work. Here is a seven-step method to creating and using a scoring rubric for writing assignments:[7]
Technical
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2013)
One problem with scoring rubrics is that each level of fulfillment encompasses a wide range of marks. For example, if two students both receive a 'level four' mark on the Ontario system, one might receive an 80% and the other 100%. In addition, a small change in scoring rubric evaluation caused by a small mistake may lead to an unnecessarily large change in numerical grade. Adding further distinctions between levels does not solve the problem, because more distinctions make discrimination even more difficult. Both scoring problems may be alleviated by treating the definitions of levels as typical descriptions of whole products rather than the details of every element in them.
Scoring rubrics may also make marking schemes more complicated for students. Showing one mark may be inaccurate, as receiving a perfect score in one section may not be very significant in the long run if that specific strand is not weighted heavily. Some may also find it difficult to comprehend an assignment having multiple distinct marks, and therefore it is unsuitable for some younger children. In such cases it is better to incorporate the rubrics into conversation with the child than to give a mark on a paper. For example, a child who writes an "egocentric" story (depending too much on ideas not accessible to the reader) might be asked what her best friend thinks of it (suggesting a move in the audience dimension to the "correspondence" level). Thus, when used effectively scoring rubrics help students to improve their weaknesses.
Multidimensional rubrics also allow students to compensate for a lack of ability in one strand by improving another one. For instance, a student who has difficulty with sentence structure may still be able to attain a relatively high mark, if sentence structure is not weighted as heavily as other dimensions such as audience, perspective or time frame.
Another advantage of a scoring rubric is that it clearly shows what criteria must be met for a student to demonstrate quality on a product, process, or performance task.
References
Rubrics offer the teacher an opportunity to evaluate the student's understanding of a scientific topic by levels of performance on certain criteria. A rubric can evaluate the depth, breadth, creativity and conceptual framework of an essay, presentation, skit, poster, project, lab report, portfolio, etc. A rubric may be applied to numerous tasks in the classroom. Rubrics are scoring criteria that are:
Holistic Rubric
Proficient- 3 points
The student's project has a hypothesis, a procedure, collected data, and analyzed results. The project is thorough and the findings are in agreement with the data collected. There are minor inaccuracies that do not affect the quality of the project.
Adequate- 2 points
The student's project may have a hypothesis, a procedure, collected data, and analyzed results. The project is not as thorough as it could be; there are a few overlooked areas. The project has a few inaccuracies that affect the quality of the project.
Limited- 1 point
The student's project may have a hypothesis, a procedure, collected data, and analyzed results. The project has several inaccuracies that affect the quality of the project.
Analytical Rubric
Constructing a Rubric:
Types of Rubrics
There are three common types of rubrics:
Analytic Rubrics
An analytic rubric resembles a grid with the criteria for a student product listed in the leftmost column and with levels of performance listed across the top row often using numbers and/or descriptive tags. The cells within the center of the rubric may be left blank or may contain descriptions of what the specified criteria look like for each level of performance. When scoring with an analytic rubric each of the criteria is scored individually.
Advantages of Analytic Rubrics
Developmental rubrics are a subset of analytic trait rubrics.
The main distinction between developmental rubrics and other analytic trait rubrics is that the purpose of developmental rubrics is not to evaluate an end product or performance. Instead, developmental rubrics are designed to answer the question, “to what extent are students who engage in our programs/services developing this skill/ability/value/etc.?”
Generally, this type of rubric would be based on a theory of development.
Example Developmental Rubric: Intercultural Maturity
Domain
Initial Level of Development (1)
Intermediate Level of Development (2)
Mature Level of Development (3)
Cognitive
Assumes knowledge is certain and categorizes knowledge claims as right or wrong; is naive about different cultural practices and values; resists challenges to one’s own beliefs and views differing cultural perspectives as wrong
Evolving awareness and acceptance of uncertainty and multiple perspectives; ability to shift from accepting authority’s knowledge claims to personal processes for adopting knowledge claims
Ability to consciously shift perspectives and behaviors into an alternative cultural worldview and to use multiple cultural frames
Intrapersonal
Lack of awareness of one’s own values and intersection of social (racial, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation) identity; lack of understanding of other cultures; externally defined identity yields externally defined beliefs that regulate interpretation of experiences and guide choices; difference is viewed as a threat to identity
Evolving sense of identity as distinct from external others’ perceptions; tension between external and internal definitions prompts self-exploration of values, racial identity, beliefs; immersion in own culture; recognizes legitimacy of other cultures
Capacity to create an internal self that openly engages challenges to one’s views and beliefs and that considers social identities (race, class, gender, etc.) in a global and national context; integrates aspects of self into one’s identity
Interpersonal
Dependent relations with similar others is a primary source of identity and social affirmation; perspectives of different others are viewed as wrong; awareness of how social systems affect group norms and intergroup differences is lacking; view social problems egocentrically, no recognition of society as an organized entity
Willingness to interact with diverse others and refrain from judgment; relies on independent relations in which multiple perspectives exist (but are not coordinated); self is often overshadowed by need for others’ approval. Begins to explore how social systems affect group norms and intergroup relations
Capacity to engage in meaningful, interdependent relationships with diverse others that are grounded in an understanding and appreciation for human differences; understanding of ways individual and community practices affect social systems; willing to work for the rights of other
King, P.M. & Baxter Magolda, M.B. (2005). A developmental model of intercultural maturity, Journal of College Student Development, 46(2), 571-592.
Advantages of Developmental Rubrics
Holistic Rubrics
A holistic rubric consists of a single scale with all criteria to be included in the evaluation being considered together (e.g., clarity, organization, and mechanics). With a holistic rubric the rater assigns a single score (usually on a 1 to 4 or 1 to 6 point scale) based on an overall judgment of the student work. The rater matches an entire piece of student work to a single description on the scale.
Example Holistic Rubric: Articulating thoughts through written communication— final paper/project.
Technology Resources
Assignment Design
Classroom Activities
Feedback & Grading
Overview
Direct Assessment
Low-Stakes Assignments
High-Stakes Assignments
Rubrics
Types of Rubrics
Creating Rubrics
Evaluating Rubrics
Responding to Plagiarism
After Grading
Submitting Grades
Professional Development
Videos on Teaching
Teaching@DePaul
Workshops & Events
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Herman, Aschbacher, and Winters distinguish the following elements of a scoring rubric:{Herman, J. L., Aschbacher, P. R., and Winters, L. A Practical Guide to Alternative Assessment. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1992.}
- One or more traits or dimensions that serve as the basis for judging the student response
- Definitions and examples to clarify the meaning of each trait or dimension
- A scale of values on which to rate each dimension
- Standards of excellence for specified performance levels accompanied by models or examples of each level
Steps to create a scoring rubric Scoring rubrics may help students become thoughtful evaluators of their own and others’ work and may reduce the amount of time teachers spend evaluating student work. Here is a seven-step method to creating and using a scoring rubric for writing assignments:[7]
- Have students look at models of good versus "not-so-good" work. A teacher could provide sample assignments of variable quality for students to review.
- List the criteria to be used in the scoring rubric and allow for discussion of what counts as quality work. Asking for student feedback during the creation of the list also allows the teacher to assess the students’ overall writing experiences.
- Articulate gradations of quality. These hierarchical categories should concisely describe the levels of quality (ranging from bad to good) or development (ranging from beginning to mastery). They can be based on the discussion of the good versus not-so-good work samples or immature versus developed samples. Using a conservative number of gradations keeps the scoring rubric user-friendly while allowing for fluctuations that exist within the average range ("Creating Rubrics").
- Practice on models. Students can test the scoring rubrics on sample assignments provided by the instructor. This practice can build students' confidence by teaching them how the instructor would use the scoring rubric on their papers. It can also aid student/teacher agreement on the reliability of the scoring rubric.
- Ask for self and peer-assessment.
- Revise the work on the basis of that feedback. As students are working on their assignment, they can be stopped occasionally to do a self-assessment and then give and receive evaluations from their peers. Revisions should be based on the feedback they receive.
- Use teacher assessment, which means using the same scoring rubric the students used to assess their work.
Technical
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2013)
One problem with scoring rubrics is that each level of fulfillment encompasses a wide range of marks. For example, if two students both receive a 'level four' mark on the Ontario system, one might receive an 80% and the other 100%. In addition, a small change in scoring rubric evaluation caused by a small mistake may lead to an unnecessarily large change in numerical grade. Adding further distinctions between levels does not solve the problem, because more distinctions make discrimination even more difficult. Both scoring problems may be alleviated by treating the definitions of levels as typical descriptions of whole products rather than the details of every element in them.
Scoring rubrics may also make marking schemes more complicated for students. Showing one mark may be inaccurate, as receiving a perfect score in one section may not be very significant in the long run if that specific strand is not weighted heavily. Some may also find it difficult to comprehend an assignment having multiple distinct marks, and therefore it is unsuitable for some younger children. In such cases it is better to incorporate the rubrics into conversation with the child than to give a mark on a paper. For example, a child who writes an "egocentric" story (depending too much on ideas not accessible to the reader) might be asked what her best friend thinks of it (suggesting a move in the audience dimension to the "correspondence" level). Thus, when used effectively scoring rubrics help students to improve their weaknesses.
Multidimensional rubrics also allow students to compensate for a lack of ability in one strand by improving another one. For instance, a student who has difficulty with sentence structure may still be able to attain a relatively high mark, if sentence structure is not weighted as heavily as other dimensions such as audience, perspective or time frame.
Another advantage of a scoring rubric is that it clearly shows what criteria must be met for a student to demonstrate quality on a product, process, or performance task.
References
- The National Science Education Standards (1996), http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4962&page=75) page 93
- http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rubric
- http://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/sci_data/codes/icd9/type_txt/icd9.asp
- http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED174629&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED174629
- Dirlam, D. K. (1980). Classifiers and cognitive development. In S. & C. Modgil (Eds.), Toward a Theory of Psychological Development. Windsor, England: NFER Publishing, 465-498
- Grubb, Mel. (1981). Using Holistic Evaluation. Encino, Cal.: Glenco Publishing Company, Inc.
- Goodrich, H. (1996). “Understanding Rubrics.” Educational Leadership, 54 (4), 14-18.
- Flash, P. (2009) Grading writing: Recommended grading strategies. Retrieved Sep 17, 2011, from http://writing.umn.edu/tww/responding/grading.html
- http://www.uen.org/rubric/
- Stevens, D. & Levi, Antonia J. (2013). Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback, and Promote Student Learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
- University of Minnesota, Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA), Virtual Assessment Center. (n.d.). Creating Rubrics. Retrieved September 23, 2009, from http://www.carla.umn.edu/assessment/vac/Evaluation/p_7.html
- Winter H., (2002). Using test results for assessment of teaching and learning. Chem Eng Education 36:188-190
Rubrics offer the teacher an opportunity to evaluate the student's understanding of a scientific topic by levels of performance on certain criteria. A rubric can evaluate the depth, breadth, creativity and conceptual framework of an essay, presentation, skit, poster, project, lab report, portfolio, etc. A rubric may be applied to numerous tasks in the classroom. Rubrics are scoring criteria that are:
- summative- provide information about a student's knowledge
- formative- provide information about a student's strengths and weaknesses
- evaluative- provide ways to create instruction that better fits each student's needs
- educative- provide students with an understanding of how they learn science
Holistic Rubric
Proficient- 3 points
The student's project has a hypothesis, a procedure, collected data, and analyzed results. The project is thorough and the findings are in agreement with the data collected. There are minor inaccuracies that do not affect the quality of the project.
Adequate- 2 points
The student's project may have a hypothesis, a procedure, collected data, and analyzed results. The project is not as thorough as it could be; there are a few overlooked areas. The project has a few inaccuracies that affect the quality of the project.
Limited- 1 point
The student's project may have a hypothesis, a procedure, collected data, and analyzed results. The project has several inaccuracies that affect the quality of the project.
Analytical Rubric
Constructing a Rubric:
- Know the goals for instruction- what are the learning outcomes?
- Decide on the structure of the rubric- holistic or analytical--what fits best for the task?
- Determine the levels of performance- are there levels of performance specific to each criteria?
- Share the rubric with your students-students should have an opportunity to see, discuss or even design the rubric prior to the performance or the science activity.
Types of Rubrics
There are three common types of rubrics:
Analytic Rubrics
An analytic rubric resembles a grid with the criteria for a student product listed in the leftmost column and with levels of performance listed across the top row often using numbers and/or descriptive tags. The cells within the center of the rubric may be left blank or may contain descriptions of what the specified criteria look like for each level of performance. When scoring with an analytic rubric each of the criteria is scored individually.
Advantages of Analytic Rubrics
- Provide useful feedback on areas of strength and weakness.
- Criterion can be weighted to reflect the relative importance of each dimension.
- Takes more time to create and use than a holistic rubric.
- Unless each point for each criterion is well-defined raters may not arrive at the same score.
Developmental rubrics are a subset of analytic trait rubrics.
The main distinction between developmental rubrics and other analytic trait rubrics is that the purpose of developmental rubrics is not to evaluate an end product or performance. Instead, developmental rubrics are designed to answer the question, “to what extent are students who engage in our programs/services developing this skill/ability/value/etc.?”
Generally, this type of rubric would be based on a theory of development.
Example Developmental Rubric: Intercultural Maturity
Domain
Initial Level of Development (1)
Intermediate Level of Development (2)
Mature Level of Development (3)
Cognitive
Assumes knowledge is certain and categorizes knowledge claims as right or wrong; is naive about different cultural practices and values; resists challenges to one’s own beliefs and views differing cultural perspectives as wrong
Evolving awareness and acceptance of uncertainty and multiple perspectives; ability to shift from accepting authority’s knowledge claims to personal processes for adopting knowledge claims
Ability to consciously shift perspectives and behaviors into an alternative cultural worldview and to use multiple cultural frames
Intrapersonal
Lack of awareness of one’s own values and intersection of social (racial, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation) identity; lack of understanding of other cultures; externally defined identity yields externally defined beliefs that regulate interpretation of experiences and guide choices; difference is viewed as a threat to identity
Evolving sense of identity as distinct from external others’ perceptions; tension between external and internal definitions prompts self-exploration of values, racial identity, beliefs; immersion in own culture; recognizes legitimacy of other cultures
Capacity to create an internal self that openly engages challenges to one’s views and beliefs and that considers social identities (race, class, gender, etc.) in a global and national context; integrates aspects of self into one’s identity
Interpersonal
Dependent relations with similar others is a primary source of identity and social affirmation; perspectives of different others are viewed as wrong; awareness of how social systems affect group norms and intergroup differences is lacking; view social problems egocentrically, no recognition of society as an organized entity
Willingness to interact with diverse others and refrain from judgment; relies on independent relations in which multiple perspectives exist (but are not coordinated); self is often overshadowed by need for others’ approval. Begins to explore how social systems affect group norms and intergroup relations
Capacity to engage in meaningful, interdependent relationships with diverse others that are grounded in an understanding and appreciation for human differences; understanding of ways individual and community practices affect social systems; willing to work for the rights of other
King, P.M. & Baxter Magolda, M.B. (2005). A developmental model of intercultural maturity, Journal of College Student Development, 46(2), 571-592.
Advantages of Developmental Rubrics
- Useful when the goal of evaluation is to determine level of development rather than the quality of a final product.
- Especially when there is no expectation that students should or could fully develop a skill or ability during the course of their education or potentially ever (such as in “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” there is no expectation people can or will become “self-actualized”).
- Rubric can be based on relevant developmental theory.
- Conceptually, this type of rubric is more difficult to design.
- Developing a developmental rubric requires a close tie between assessment criteria and the theory of development.
Holistic Rubrics
A holistic rubric consists of a single scale with all criteria to be included in the evaluation being considered together (e.g., clarity, organization, and mechanics). With a holistic rubric the rater assigns a single score (usually on a 1 to 4 or 1 to 6 point scale) based on an overall judgment of the student work. The rater matches an entire piece of student work to a single description on the scale.
Example Holistic Rubric: Articulating thoughts through written communication— final paper/project.
- Above Average: The audience is able to easily identify the focus of the work and is engaged by its clear focus and relevant details. Information is presented logically and naturally. There are no more than two mechanical errors or misspelled words to distract the reader.
- Sufficient: The audience is easily able to identify the focus of the student work which is supported by relevant ideas and supporting details. Information is presented in a logical manner that is easily followed. There is minimal interruption to the work due to misspellings and/or mechanical errors.
- Developing: The audience can identify the central purpose of the student work without little difficulty and supporting ideas are present and clear. The information is presented in an orderly fashion that can be followed with little difficulty. There are some misspellings and/or mechanical errors, but they do not seriously distract from the work.
- Needs Improvement: The audience cannot clearly or easily identify the central ideas or purpose of the student work. Information is presented in a disorganized fashion causing the audience to have difficulty following the author's ideas. There are many misspellings and/or mechanical errors that negatively affect the audience's ability to read the work.
- Emphasis on what the learner is able to demonstrate, rather than what s/he cannot do.
- Saves time by minimizing the number of decisions raters make.
- Can be applied consistently by trained raters increasing reliability.
- Does not provide specific feedback for improvement.
- When student work is at varying levels spanning the criteria points it can be difficult to select the single best description.
- Criteria cannot be weighted.
Technology Resources
Assignment Design
Classroom Activities
Feedback & Grading
Overview
Direct Assessment
Low-Stakes Assignments
High-Stakes Assignments
Rubrics
Types of Rubrics
Creating Rubrics
Evaluating Rubrics
Responding to Plagiarism
After Grading
Submitting Grades
Professional Development
Videos on Teaching
Teaching@DePaul
Workshops & Events
About | Contributors | Site Map | Contact [email protected] | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube
© 2007-2014 DePaul University | Disclaimer | Contact | 1 E. Jackson, Chicago, IL 60604 | 312-362-8000