Preparing Rubrics

PART I
In this tutorial, we will talk about a very significant and relevant topic related to assessment
practices but before coming to the specific topic, let me share with you an incident which is
common phenomenon of Indian classrooms and you might have encountered in your classrooms
as well.

This is a case of an undergraduate college, where few students after getting grades on a term
paper were dissatisfied with their results. They could not find out the reasons of their poor grades
instead of putting all their efforts in preparing the term paper. They wanted to know the criteria
on which they were marked. On the other side, after assessing the work of the students, the
teacher was wondering why few students were not able to perform well. When students
approached the concerned teacher and shared their concerns, the teacher realized that students
were not aware about what they were supposed to learn and produce in the term paper. In other
words they were unaware about the academic expectations and some of the elements they
skipped to include in the term paper because they overlooked their importance. This kind of
problem probably will never arise if we use Rubric appropriately as an assessment tool for this
sort of assignments. By sharing it with the students in advance both teacher and students can be
set on the path to maximize the learning of the students. Apart from this, if Rubrics are used
carefully with planning, many kinds of learning problems can be solved.

So, in this session, we will discuss a very significant topic ‘Preparing Rubrics’

In order to develop comprehensive understanding of the Rubrics and its construction we need to
go through the various parts of this module which includes 2 video lectures, 1 written text and
some web resources.

In the 1st video session we will discuss

- The basic concept of Rubrics like what is Rubric and what kind of performances can be
assessed with the help of Rubrics

WE WILL ALSO DISCUSS THAT,

- When do you need to use Rubrics i.e. under what circumstances you will not afford to
avoid using Rubrics in your classroom

AND, lastly we will discuss

- What are the different types of Rubrics

The construction of Rubrics shall be discussed in the second video session.

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 So, Let us start and identify what a Rubric is.

• A Rubric is a scoring and Instructional tool that lays out the specific expectations for a
task.

• In Rubric, the clearly stated criteria are used to sort out level of performance into various
categories.

In 2013, S.M. Brookhart defined Rubric as a coherent set of criteria for students’ work
that includes descriptions of levels of performance quality on the criteria’.

The definition given by Brookhart, clearly indicates that a Rubric should essentially has
two aspects-

- one is coherent sets of criteria and

- another is the descriptions of levels of performance for these criteria.

Let us see an example of Rubric which is available on the website of George Mason University.
The Rubric which is shown on the screen is for assessing a Research Paper.

As you can see this is a grid like structure and on the left side the criteria are listed and on the
top of each column the scale levels are written.

For this the criteria developed are

Visual Presentation,
Abstract,
Structure,
Research
Thinking and
Interest Factor

The scale-level selected are

Outstanding, Good, Fair and Unacceptable

On each box of the grid, a description for the performance for each level of each criterion is
written. Let us see the descriptions under each level for the Criteria Abstract.

The description under the outstanding level for the Criteria ‘Abstract’ is

Abstract is of proper length.

Highly informative, complete and easy to understand.
Appropriate vocabulary is used.
Abstract makes you want to read the paper.

The description under the level Good is

Abstract is of proper length
Informative, complete and understandable.
Appropriate vocabulary is used.

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The description under the level Fair is
Abstract is of proper length
Somewhat informative and understandable

Under the level Unacceptable is

Abstract is not of proper length.

Not very informative or understandable

In the same way, descriptions are written for each level under each category.
This Rubric is provided in the text for your reference with the help of which a Research paper
can be assessed. In the same way, many other kinds of work and assignments can be assessed
with the help of Rubrics. While moving ahead, let us see

What kind of works can be assessed with the Rubrics?

The primary purpose of Rubrics is to assess the performances. Some performances may involve
students to get engaged in process of doing something like playing a musical instrument
performing dance, doing gymnastics, typing, preparing a slide for the microscope, performing
an experiment, following a set of procedure when dissecting a frog, teaching, making a speech
to the class, reading aloud, street play or drama conducted by the learners, conversing in a
foreign language, conducting research, visit to the community with specific purpose as part of
the course, etc. We may assess Critical thinking, creativity or problem solving skill as well.

The other performances may involve them in producing some work in the form of a product like
a Research Report, laboratory report, magazine article, lesson plans, concept map, written
answer of an essay question, poem, story, diagram of a structure (like diagram of atom, flower
or planetary system) or it may include any kind of exhibit, map, graph, Watercolor painting,
handmade product, etc. So, almost all kinds of the performances in educational institutions can
be assessed effectively with the Rubrics, except, the test items or oral questions that demand the
answers in right or wrong format. i.e. the questions which have clear correct answers.

Now, let us move to another segment and try to understand those indications which show
that you may need to use Rubrics. In this context, in 2005 Stevens & Levi suggested few
situations which indicate that you should not avoid using Rubrics in your classroom.

You need to use Rubric.

• If you write the same or similar comments repeatedly for several students while assessing
their work

• If you find assignments are pending to be checked and you are far behind to finish this by
deadline.

• If after grading all the papers/work you worry that the last one is graded slightly different
than the first one even with the same submission

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 • If after grading few papers you realize students did not understand what they were
supposed to learn

• If sometimes you get disappointed by the whole assignment because you realize that your
students were unaware of the academic expectations so basic that you neglected to
mention them

• If you realize that time required to explain the class about a very carefully planned
assignment is too long or sometimes even after explaining it to the learners or even after
giving a long narrative descriptions about the assignment in the syllabus, they continually
ask questions in the classes about your expectations.

• If you have designed a complex assignment that incorporates all the work over the term
and find it difficult to communicate all the diverse expectations easily and clearly to the
students.

• If you are designing the same assignment for the course in collaboration with your
colleagues and wonder that your grading scales are different

• If your students express concerns about your grading and you perhaps wonder sometimes
if they are right

So, friends, if you find any two of these true for you, then I will suggest, you should certainly
start using Rubrics. It can help you to address all these concerns.

To move further, let us see the various types of Rubrics. It can be classified in many ways.
However, S. M. Brookhart has classified Rubrics by keeping two aspects under
consideration.

One aspect is, whether the rubric contains the criteria one at a time or together. On this basis
Rubrics are classified in two types a) Analytic Rubrics b) Holistic Rubrics

i) The other aspect is whether the rubric is general and could be used with a family of
similar tasks or is task‑specific and only applicable for assessing a particular task
once.
On this basis Rubrics can be classified again into two types a) General Rubrics b)
Task-specific Rubrics

The example of ‘Research Paper Rubric’ which we have seen previously in this tutorial
falls in the category of Analytic Rubric. In Analytic Rubric, there are several indicator
categories/criteria and level of performance for each category. In other words, work on
each criterion for various levels is described separately in analytic rubrics. Here on the
screen you can see the template which we may use for analytic rubric. The design of the
analytic Rubrics on a grid format contains four parts:

Task Description which is written at the top,

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Indicator categories which may be called criteria or dimension and is written on the left
side here,

The scale levels which indicate level of performance and these take the uppermost part of
each column,

And, the last part is the descriptions of performance under each scale level for each
category. These descriptions are written on these boxes.

Teacher rates each category/criterion separately in order to differentiate level of

performance within and among categories. Hence, learners receive detailed and specific
feedback of their performance which may be utilized by them for improving their
performance.

Now let us move ahead and discuss about holistic rubric

In Holistic Rubrics, works are described by applying all the criteria, at the same time,
under each level. In pictorial form, it looks like the Figure, which is displayed on your
screen. This Figure contains three visible parts: The task description, the Scale Levels
written on the left side of the table, and the descriptions of performances under each
level. As I have told, that in Holistic Rubric work is described by applying all the criteria
at the same time under each level. So, the criteria are present in the hidden form in the
descriptions of performances. It enables the teacher to assess the quality of the
performance as a whole, without focusing on separate components. Though it does not
provide specific or detailed feedback to the learner but gives a quick, evaluative picture
of the work.

Now, Let us see the examples of Analytic Rubric and Holistic Rubric for Creativity.
Here, is the Analytic Rubric for assessing creativity. In this Rubric the dimension or
criteria developed are:
Depth and Quality of Ideas,
Variety of Sources utilized,
Organization and combination of Ideas and
Originality of contribution

The chosen scales or level of performance spreads from very creative to imitative. The
highest level of performance which is expected from the learners is termed Very creative
and the lowest level of performance which may be displayed by the learners, however is
completely undesirable is termed as Imitative. The 2nd scale level is termed as creative
and the 3rd one is termed as Ordinary or Routine.
Under the scale level ‘very creative’ for the criteria Depth and quality, it is expected
from the learners that they will present ideas which represent a startling variety of
important concepts from different contexts or disciplines.
Those who may be rated under creative level of the same criteria are expected to present
Ideas which represent important concepts from different contexts or discipline.

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For ordinary level, the presentation of the ideas should be able to represent the important
concepts from the same or similar contexts or disciplines and under imitative level
the description is stated as ‘ideas do not represent important concepts.

Similarly, for each category and scale level the expected level is described which you can
see in this Rubric. The Rubric is provided as supplementary text for your reference.

Moving ahead, let us see the Holistic Rubric for assessment of creativity. Here is the
Holistic Rubric for assessing creativity. In this, the same scale levels are used which were
used in the analytic Rubric, i.e. Very creative, Creative, Ordinary and imitative. As we
know, the different components of the task i.e. the criteria, is not represented in the
distinctly visible form in the Holistic Rubric, so here too, instead of representing the
criteria or different components of the task separately, they are used together. Let me
clarify it again, that all the criteria are present in the holistic rubric as of analytic rubric
which were shown previously, it is just that we are applying all the criteria at the same
time for overall judgment about the quality of work. So in the ‘holistic rubric for
creativity’, the scale level ‘very creative’ includes all the highest levels of learning
performance together, which were given under each criterion shown in Analytic Rubric.
In other words, the descriptions under the level ‘very creative’ for all the criteria from the
analytic Rubric for Creativity, are merged together and will constitute the description for
very creative level in Holistic Rubric. Let us see the description under the level very
creative in holistic rubric for creativity.

The 1st statement of the description is

‘-Ideas represent a startling variety of important concepts from different
contexts or disciplines,
This statement was the description for the level ‘very creative’ under the criterion Depth
and Quality of Ideas in Analytic Rubric for Creativity

The 2nd statement of the description is

-Created product draws on a wide-ranging variety of sources, including different
texts, media, resource persons, and/or personal experiences
This was the description for the level ‘very creative’ under the criterion Varity of
Sources in Analytic Rubric.

The 3rd Statement of the description is

-Ideas are combined in original and surprising ways to solve a problem, address
an issue, or make something new.
It was the description for the level ‘very creative’ under the criterion Organization and
combination of Ideas in Analytic Rubric for Creativity.

The 4th and the last statement of the description is

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-Created product is interesting, new, and/or helpful, making an original
contribution that includes identifying a previously unknown problem, issue, or
purpose.’
It was the description for the level ‘very creative’ under the criterion Originality of
Contribution in Analytic Rubric.

Here, we have understood that how the descriptions of each criterion under the highest
scale level i.e. Very Creative in our case of Analytic Rubric may be merged together to
produce description for the holistic rubric under the same level. It also shows that all the
criteria of ‘Analytic Rubric for Creativity’ under the scale level ‘Very Creative’ are
present in the same scale level of Holistic Rubric for Creativity in hidden form.
In the same way, the descriptions are written for other scale levels which you can see in
detail while going through the supplementary text provided to you.

Both types of the rubrics have their own specialty and can be used accordingly. Analytic
Rubric is suitable for most of the classroom purposes and can be used for formative as
well as summative assessment. It allows the teacher as well as learner to focus on one
criterion at a time and hence serves the purpose of formative assessment where learners
get to know about their strengths and weaknesses for specific components/skill of
learning and hence know what kind of attention is required for which component of
work. Holistic rubrics can be preferred over analytic rubric when the information
obtained with this will not be used for any other purpose except grading, which makes it
more suitable for summative assessment.

Now let us move to another group of Rubrics i.e. Generic or General Rubric & Task-
specific Rubric. In General Rubrics, those criteria and descriptions of performance are
included which may be applied across disciplines or content area. It can be used with
different tasks of similar performances and has wider application. In general rubric,
learners encounter the same expectations of learning outcomes each time they approach a
similar task. For instance, problem solving and writing ability of the learners can be
assessed with the generic rubrics. Each time learners solve a problem, they know that
certain key elements of learning must be present, regardless of the specific problem.
Single General Rubrics can be used for many similar kinds of assignment and hence there
is no need to prepare Rubric for every assignment. It describes the learners’ performances
in a style that allow for various paths to success. As General Rubrics do not include any
specific information that learners are expected to include in the response to a task, it can
be shared with the students at the beginning of the assignment in order to help them in
planning and monitoring their own work. It focuses the teacher on developing the
knowledge and skills among the learners rather than completion of a particular task by
them.

In contrast, the Task-Specific Rubrics are specific to the performance tasks, with which
they are used. It includes the specific descriptions of performance related to a particular
problem. It contains the answer to a particular problem, may list facts and concepts or

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 explain the reasoning that learners are supposed to mention and use. In other words, it
details the elements to look for in the student’s performance on a particular task. It is like
a scoring guide for a teacher to grade the performance of the students. Scoring learner’s
response with the help of a Task-specific Rubric is comparatively a lower-inference work
for a teacher than using General Rubric, because Task-specific Rubrics contain details of
the elements which should be looked for in the student’s response to a particular task.
Consequently, sharing it with the students in advance is not a good idea and therefore, it
is not useful for formative assessment. Task-specific rubrics actually sacrifice a major
purpose of using rubrics for helping learners to conceptualize and monitor progress of
their own learning. Often, it is used when assessment on the same task has to be done at
mass level. Hence, task specific Rubrics are widely used throughout the world for the
national level of assessment surveys.

All the Rubrics which we discussed before are examples of Generic Rubrics. Let us see
the example of a task-specific Rubric. Here you can see on the screen the physical
science question designed to assess Practical reasoning along with the task specific rubric
for scoring it.
In this particular question, pictures of Runner1 and Runner 2 are given. And the question
states that, ‘The picture above shows the positions of two runners at one-second
interval as they move from left to right. For each runner, indicate whether the runner's
speed seems to be constant, increasing, or decreasing. Explain, how you can tell this
from the pictures.

The corresponding;’ task specific Rubric’ is based on the design of Holistic Rubric and
uses four scale levels – complete, essential, partial and unsatisfactory. To understand the
specialty of Task-specific rubrics we need to look at the description carefully.
The description for the ‘complete’ scale level is ‘Student correctly indicates that Runner
1 has a constant speed (or moves at a steady pace) because equal distances are covered
each second, and that Runner 2's speed is increasing because increasing distances are
covered in each successive second (spacing increases)’.
Here, you can note that the descriptions have included the specific answers of the
question.
In other scale levels too, the elements of correct answer are included and hence this
particular rubric cannot be shared with the students in advance.

So, friends, in this session we have learnt about the basic concepts of Rubrics, different
types of rubrics i.e. Analytic, Holistic, Generic and Task specific Rubrics. We also
developed understanding about the relative strengths and limitations of these kinds of
rubrics.

References:

1) National Assessment of Educational Progress, Grade 8, 2005, block S11, question # 5.

Accessed on 23/10/2018 through https://nces.ed.gov/NationsReportCard/nqt/Search

2) Susan M. Brookhart (2013). How to create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and
Grading, pp. 54, 55, 4. ASCD Virginia, USA.

3) https://stearncenter.gmu.edu/teaching/grading/sample-rubric-for-grading-a-research-paper.
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4) Stevens & Levi (2005). Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to save Grading Time,
Convey Effective Feedback, and Promote Student Learning. pp:5-6. Stylus Publishing, LLC,
Virginia.

Note: The contribution of the two titles mentioned in the Reference Sl. No. 2 & 4 is significant
for development of this lecture.