Writing a RUBRIC

for a
PERFORMANCE TASK
Self-reflection…

• What is your current view of rubrics? Write

down what you know about them and what
experiences you have had using them. Save your
reflection to verify whether your reflection is in
the right tract.


What Are Rubrics and Why Are They
Important?
• The word rubric comes from the Latin word
for red.
• The online Merriam-Webster dictionary lists the
first meaning of rubric as "an authoritative rule"
and the fourth meaning as "a guide listing
specific criteria for grading or scoring academic
papers, projects, or tests."
What is a Rubric?
• A scoring tool that lays out
the specific 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).
In other words…
• A rubric is typically an evaluation tool or set of
guidelines used to promote the consistent
application of learning expectations,
learning objectives, or learning
standards in the classroom, or to measure
their attainment against a consistent set of
criteria.
What is the purpose of rubrics?

• Like any other evaluation tool, rubrics are useful

for certain purposes and not for others.
• The main purpose of rubrics is to assess
performances.
Why Use Rubrics?
For teachers:
• Prompt a criterion-referenced
assessment
• Provide students with
detailed and timely feedback
• Encourage critical thinking
• Facilitate communication
with others involved in
scoring
• Help to refine teaching
skills/learning activities
For students:
• Clarify the teacher’s
expectations of student
performance
• Provide informative
descriptions of expected
performance
• Help to monitor and
critique own work
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD RUBRICS (1)

 Well defined
 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 specific
 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 / No overlaps in levels
 Represent the different levels of learning targets as defined by
LP
 Related to Common Core theme/strand
 Coherent with the cognitive complexity of the standards
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD RUBRICS (3)

 Explicit observable indicators

 they need to be written in observable or measurable terms
 the baseline indicators students are evaluated against need to be
as clearly and concisely written as possible to prevent biased or
inconsistent results.

 Real-world criteria
 Represents real world scenario/ situations

 Tested out with students

 Consider using “I” in the descriptors
 I followed precisely—consistently—inconsistently—MLA documentation
format.
 I did not follow MLA documentation format.
 T YPES OF RUBRIC

Analytic Rubric
Is a two-dimensional rubrics with levels of
achievement as columns and assessment criteria
as rows.
Allows you to assess participants’ achievements
based on multiple criteria using a single rubric.
You can assign different weights (value) to
different criteria and include an overall
achievement by totaling the criteria)
Analytic rubrics describe work on each criterion
separately.
Holistic Rubric
 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.
 performance descriptions are written in paragraphs
and usually in full sentences.
CRITERIA OUTSTANDING SATISFACTORILY DEVELOPING BEGINNING RATING
4 3 2 1

Rubric CRITERIA
are based on
the GRASPS
(standards)

Alignment of
rubric criteria
with standards
and transfer goal
 ANALY TIC (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
 ANALYTIC RUBRIC

CRITERIA OUTSTANDING SATISFACTORILY DEVELOPING BEGINNING RATING

4 3 2 1
OUTSTANDING (4)
CATEGORY 1 BEYOND
REQUIREMENT
SATISFACTORY
CATEGORY 2 Student
work is… (3)
COMPLETE;
Original
No Error
In-depth
CATEGORY 3
Creative DEVELOPING (2)
Innovative INCOMPLETE;
Detailed
CATEGORY 4 Insightful BEGINNING (1)
MISSING;
FULL OF ERRORS
 ANALYTIC RUBRIC

CRITERIA OUTSTANDING SATISFACTORILY DEVELOPING BEGINNING RATING

4 3 2 1

CATEGORY 1
OUTSTANDING (4)
SATISFACTORY +
EXTRA WORK
CATEGORY 2 SATISFACTORY
(3)
START HERE
CATEGORY 3 DEVELOPING (2)
TAKE OUT FROM
SATISFACTORY
CATEGORY 4
BEGINNING (1)
OPPOSITE OF
SATISFACTORY
 WHAT’S WRONG?

CRITERIA ADVANCED PROFICIENT DEVELOPING BASIC

Organization Organized in a Organized in all Organized in Is not organized

unique way parts some parts

Observable aspects of organized are not

defined.
 WHAT’S WRONG?

CRITERIA ADVANCED PROFICIENT DEVELOPING BASIC

Format Follows and Follows entire Follows format Does not follow
enhances format in some parts format
format

Items like format or mechanics not part of

standards; use as checklist items
 WHAT’S WRONG?

CRITERIA ADVANCED PROFICIENT DEVELOPING BASIC

Supporting Gives more than Gives 3-5 Gives 1-2 Gives no

Examples 5 supporting supporting supporting supporting
examples examples examples examples

Quantity not usually found in standards; quality

of specific criteria
 WHAT’S WRONG?

CRITERIA ADVANCED PROFICIENT DEVELOPING BASIC

Following Follows and Follows Follows Does not follow

Directions enhances direction in all direction in directions
directions parts some parts

Concerned with task rather than with learning

 WHAT’S WRONG?

CRITERIA ADVANCED PROFICIENT DEVELOPING BASIC

Explanation Gives logical Gives wrong Gives Reasons do not

reasons reasons inconsistent make sense in
throughout sometimes reasons in some certain parts
parts

No clear distinction between levels; Advanced

sounds like Proficient
 SAMPLE

CRITERIA ADVANCED PROFICIENT DEVELOPING BASIC

Content The content is The content is The content is The content is

complete with comprehensive comprehensive insufficient and
additional and acceptably but insufficient. not
information that sufficient. Some expected comprehensive.
reflects the information Expected
student’s deep were not information
understanding. discussed. were not
Very discussed.
comprehensive.
 SAMPLE

CRITERIA ADVANCED PROFICIENT DEVELOPING BASIC

Use of Visual Contain a lot of Contain pictures Contain pictures Does not
Materials pictures or or videos and or videos but contain pictures
videos and complete description or or videos.
complete description or explanations
description or explanations were not
explanations were provided. provided.
were provided.
Additional
details were
included.
 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 provide Level 2 Overall description of Level 2
specific feedback
for improvement Level 1 Overall description of Level 1
 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.
 ADVANTAGES OF HOLISTIC RUBRICS

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.
DISADVANTAGES OF HOLISTIC RUBRICS

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.
 WHEN TO USE RUBRICS

 On performance-based tasks:
 extended response items
 projects
 presentations
 portfolios
WHAT T YPE OF RUBRIC WORKS BEST FOR
YOUR PURPOSES?

Use an analytic rubric when:

You want to see relative strengths and
weaknesses.
You want detailed feedback.
You want to assess complicated skills or
performance.
You want students to self-assess their
understanding or performance.
You want information for instructional planning.
Use a holistic rubric when:
You want a quick snapshot of student
performance level.
There is no single correct answer or response
to a task (e.g. creative work)
The focus is on over-all quality, proficiency, or
understanding of a specific content or skills
 HOLISTIC RUBRIC
VS ANALY TIC RUBRIC
 Holistic rubrics are most useful in cases when
there’s no time (or need, though that’s hard to
imagine) for specific feedback. You see them in
standardized testing — the essay portion of the
SAT is scored with a 0-6 holistic rubric. When
hundreds of thousands of essays have to be graded
quickly, and by total strangers who have no time to
provide feedback, a holistic rubric comes in handy.
 HOLISTIC RUBRIC
VS ANALY TIC RUBRIC
 4 KEY STAGES IN CREATING RUBRICS

 Reflecting 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 specific
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
 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
 WHY ARE RUBRICS IMPORTANT?

 Rubrics are important because they clarify for

students the qualities their work should have.
This point is often expressed in terms of students
understanding the learning target and criteria for
success. For this reason, rubrics help teachers
teach, they help coordinate instruction and
assessment, and they help students learn.
 Effective rubrics show students how they will
know to what extent their performance passes
muster on each criterion of importance, and if
used formatively can also show students what
their next steps should be to enhance the quality
of their performance.
 CAUTION

Don’t let the rubric stand alone:

ALWAYS, ALWAYS provide specific
“Comments” on your rubric and/or on the
student product itself.
Self-reflection…

• What is your current view of rubrics? Write

down what you know about them and what
experiences you have had using them. Save this
reflection to compare with a similar reflection
after this lecture. 
 WORKSHOP

Draft a rubric in line with your

GRASPS and TRANSFER GOAL