The final component for designing a powerful assessment is a rubric. A rubric is a scoring tool that lists the criteria for a piece of work, or the major points on which the student will be graded. For example, eye contact, strong voice, clear beginning, middle and end, and neat/clean in appearance are some criteria required for a public speaking performance. Or, a rubric for an e-mail project could include criteria for spelling and grammatical expectations, clearly defined purpose and supporting paragraphs, socially acceptable on-line behavior, and so on. As stated in an article by Heidi Goodrich: Rubrics appeal to teachers and students for many reasons.

• First they are powerful tools for both teaching and assessment. Rubrics can improve student performance, as well as monitor it, by making teachers expectations clear and by showing students how to meet these expectations. The result is often marked improvements in the quality of student work and in learning.
• A second reason rubrics are useful is that they help students become more thoughtful judges of the quality of their own and others work.
• Third, rubrics reduce the amount of time teachers spend evaluating student work. When the teacher does have something to say, he/she can often simply circle an item in the rubric, rather than struggling to explain the flaw or strength they have noticed. Rubrics provide students with more informative feedback about their strengths and areas in need of improvement.
• Finally, rubrics are easy to use and explain.

A rubric is a useful tool that not only shows you, the instructor, if the student is learning, but provides the student with yet another meaningful learning experience. The more specific and detailed the rubric, the clearer it is for the student.

Rubrics can take many forms from a simple checklist to a detailed analysis (with accompanying point values) of each and every component of a successful demonstration. The rubric can be developed by the instructor or cooperatively with the students.

Designing Rubrics

Writing a rubric for the first time can be difficult. However, once you have successfully completed one or two, it becomes increasingly easy and begins to require less and less time. There are, however, a few tips for writing good rubrics:

• Review your outcomes and make certain that what you are asking your students to do in the assessment is congruent with your outcomes.
• Brainstorm a variety of ways students will be able to demonstrate their mastery of the outcome. Don't get stuck on requiring the traditional paper or exam for demonstration. Take into consideration the opportunities the ever-growing field of technology brings to student assessment.
• After deciding on the "context" of the demonstration, list the criteria for what you think counts for quality work.
• Break the criteria into distinct categories.
  • Describe what constitutes a "quality" effort in each category.
  • Then describe what constitutes an "OK" effort in each category.
  • Third, describe what constitutes a "below average" effort in each category.
  • And finally, describe what constitutes a "failing effort" in each category.
• Check to be sure that the language you have used is clear and concise and will not be misinterpreted or misunderstood.
• Avoid unnecessary negative language. We all respond better to being told what is working and how we can improve than we do to what is wrong.
• Always give the rubric to the student prior to the assessment.

Creating the rubric is the hard part, using them is the fun part. Once they are created they can be used over and over again, reducing the time involved in evaluation and assessment.

External Resources

Articles

• Understanding Rubrics by Heidi Goodrich http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/thinking/ docs/rubricar.htm

Tutorials

• Authentic Assessment Toolbox created by Jon Mueller
• Creating Rubrics - this five-part series explores how one teacher designs, refines, and implements rubrics in a variety of subject areas.
  Maintained by Teacher Vision
• Rubric Builder - "The Rubric Builder enables teachers to build effective assessment rubrics and to make them available over the World Wide Web."