Developing a Scoring Rubric
z What are the attributes of a quality product or performance of the
assessment task?
z What qualities or features will tell me whether students have
produced or performed an excellent response to the assessment task?
z What do I expect to see if this task is done excellently, acceptably,
or poorly?
→ Do I have samples or models of student work (from my students
or outside sources) that exemplifies some of the criteria I
might use to judge the task?
z Write a definition of each of the attributes of a quality product or
performance.
z Develop a continuum (scale) for describing the range of
products/performances on each attribute.
→ You may choose to develop a checklist on which you will record
the presence or absence of the attribute.
z Evaluate the rubric.
z Pilot test the rubric or checklist on actual samples of student work.
z Revise the rubric and try it out again.
z Share the rubric with students and parents.
Consider these suggestions:
z Each point on the scale should be well defined.
z Scale range should be confined to no more than 6-7 points. You may
want to avoid odd numbers on the scale. You sometimes get a midpoint dumping ground.
z Longer scales make it difficult to gain agreement among scorers
(inter-rater reliability).
z Extremely short scales make it difficult to discriminate differences
in achievement
z Do you want to separate student achievement into 2-3 groups? If so,
a short scale may be adequate.
z If you are rating a product/performance on several attributes, will
you want to add up the points so that each attribute is equally
weighted? If so, you may want all scales the same length.
JGomes
Evaluating the Scoring Rubric
z Do the rubrics (defined attributes) relate to the targets being
assessed?
z Does the rubric cover everything of importance?
z Does the rubric address anything extraneous?
z Is the rubric written in student-friendly language?
z Is the rubric developmentally appropriate?
z Are the scales well defined?
z Is there a clear basis for assigning scores?
z Can the rubric be applied consistently by different scorers?
z Is the rubric feasible, useful, manageable, and practical?
Rubistar’s Web Site http://rubistar.4teachers.org
JGomes