Vivian Mun, Ed.D.
Accreditation 2012
Accreditation 2012
What is a rubric?
• A rubric is a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of
work, or “what counts” (for example, purpose, organization,
details, voice, and mechanics are often what count in a piece of
writing);
•It also articulates gradations of quality for each criterion,
from excellent to poor.
•Rubrics differ from traditional methods of assessment in that
they examine students in the actual process of learning, clearly
showing them how their work is being evaluated.
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Why Use Rubrics?
 Serves as powerful tools for both teaching and assessment
 Rubrics help to precisely define faculty expectations.
 Helps students become more thoughtful judges of the
quality of their own and others’ work
 Reduces the amount of time teachers spend evaluating
student work
 Their “accordion” (or flexible) nature allows them to
accommodate diverse learning needs
 Easy to use and to explain
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Types of Rubrics
Holistic Rubric -
Analytical Trait Rubric -
 addresses overall
 Breaks down objective or
characteristics of the entry
 views final product as set of
interrelated tasks
contributing to the whole
 One score provides a overall
impression of ability on any
given product or work
 Disadvantage: does not provide
detailed information about
student performance in specific
areas of content or skill
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final product into separate
parts
 assesses individual traits,
or components of the
performance separately
 Total score is sum of rating
for all of the parts that are
being evaluated
Parts of an Analytical Rubric
 Task Description (Outcome)
 Scales (Levels of Performance or Competency)
 Dimensions (Primary Traits of Evaluation/Criteria)
 Performance Descriptors (Qualifying Statements)
Basic Rubric
Task Description or SLO
SCALE LEVEL
1
SCALE LEVEL
2
SCALE LEVEL
3
Dimension 1
Performance
Level
Performance
Level
Performance
Level
Dimension 2
Performance
Level
Performance
Level
Performance
Level
Dimension 3
Performance
Level
Performance
Level
Performance
Level
Dimension 4
Performance
Level
Performance
Level
Performance
Level
A Rubric Consists Of
1.
Task Description (Outcome) –
The task description involves some sort of performance by the
student. What do you expect students to do with the knowledge they
receive in your class?
Ex) Keyboarding I class – Using word processing software, students will
create and edit business letters, reports, and memos.
2. Scales (Levels of Performance or Competency)
The scale describes how well or poorly any given task has been
performed.
General guidelines:
•Scale descriptors should be tactful but clear
•Three levels of performance is usually sufficient at least in the beginning
•Five levels of performance should be the absolute maximum
• Ex) Distinguished, proficient, intermediate, novice (4 levels)
• Ex) Good job, Doing Fine, What happened? (3 levels)
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A Rubric Consists of…(cont)
 3.Dimensions (Primary Traits of Evaluation/Criteria)
• describe the criteria that will be used to evaluate the work that
students submit as evidence of their learning.
• can also convey the relative importance of each of the criteria.
• provide students with information on how their work will be
evaluated and the relative importance of the skills they need to
demonstrate.
Ex) Writing – Introduction, Body, Conclusion, Language
 4. Performance Descriptors (Qualifying Statements)
 This area provides a description of what constitutes each level of
performance in the rubric.
 The performance descriptors offer specific feedback on the
dimensions of the task.

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How to develop a rubric:
 1) Reflect on the assignment or SLO:
-
What is the purpose? What is the objective? What evidence
could students provide to demonstrate their learning?
 2) List all the expectations.
 3) Group the expectations based on their similarities
 4) Label those groups with an overarching term.
(These labeled groups become the rubric’s
dimensions)
 5) Apply your work by fitting it into the rubric grid.
This is your draft rubric.
 6) Revise rubric draft through student input.
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Additional Tips on Rubrics
 Increase validity and reliability of rubrics by
calibrating with other faculty members
 Students are far more likely to understand a rubric
deeply if they have helped create it.
 At the very least, the criteria for grading should be
made clear to students at the onset of the assignment
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Outcome:
Students will write a multi-paragraph, in-class essay with an introduction, body
paragraphs, and a conclusion in response to a reading question.
Criteria
Exemplary
Acceptable
Unacceptable
Introduction
Contains a welldeveloped thesis
statement that
outlines the
development of the
essay
Contains a thesis
statement; may lack a
controlling idea or
organizing pattern
Thesis statement may
be vague or missing
Body
Body paragraphs
provide clear details
that develop the
thesis; transitions are
used throughout
Body paragraphs
contain details; use of
transitions may be
sporadic.
Details may be missing,
vague, or irrelevant;
few transitions are used
Conclusion
Extends the thesis in
some way
Restates the thesis
but may not offer
concluding question or
extension.
No conclusion evident;
student stops writing
without coming to a
conclusion
Language
Language is
consistently clear with
few, if any errors;
contains variety in
sentence patterns and
control of verb tenses.
Language is
comprehensible;
errors do not distract
reader; may lack
sentence variety;
control of verb tenses
may be inconsistent
May contain frequent or
serious errors that
distract reader;
sentence patterns may
not vary; control of verb
tenses may be weak.
Sample SLO Rubric
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Suggestions for Using Rubrics
 Have students develop the rubric for a project.
 Have students use the rubric for self-assessment or
peer assessment.
 Hand out the rubric with the assignment.
 Return the rubric with the grading on it.
Questions
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Resources
 General Information on Rubrics:
 http://www.teachervision.fen.com/teaching-methodsand-management/rubrics/4521.html
 http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox
 http://rubistar.4teachers.org.
 http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/ass
ess.html
 http://online.bakersfieldcollege.edu/courseassessment/
Section_4_Assessment_Tools/Section4_6PTA.htm
Additional Resources
 Examples of rubrics:
 www.rcampus.com/
 Create your own rubrics
 http://www.teach-nology.com/
 www.thinkinggear.com/tools/rubrics.cfm
 http://rubrics.coastline.edu/
Accreditation 2012