A rubric is an assessment tool that is simple for both teachers and students to use. Analytical rubrics focus on the quality of the student’s work and can be used not only for assessment but also as a self-evaluation and improvement tool for students.
Specified Criteria
The rubric may contain different sets of criteria based on the assignment. For example, a research assignment in a social studies class might contain specifics for grammar and spelling, quality of research or facts used, and variety of accurate sources. Each of these category sets can be further qualified, such as dividing accurate sources to specify a variety of sources including the Internet and books, properly cited references, and reliability of sources.
The criteria specified in the rubric provide the characteristics of a well done assignment as compared to a poorly created assignment. These qualities are frequently divided into four parts; novice, basic, proficient and advanced. The wording used to describe each should be kept descriptive and positive. A novice description for including images in a brochure might state, “Many images have no relation to the topic,” whereas an advanced description might be, “All images add to the understanding of the topic.”
Degrees of Quality
Though some rubrics use three degrees of quality, most use the four degrees of novice, basic, proficient and advanced. Typically, the goal set for a student depends on the student’s previous skill assessment. If it is the first time a skill is introduced the teacher might tell students to aim for a basic assessment. For review assignments the quality should be proficient. This is also useful for heterogeneous classrooms where some students might be struggling to reach basic and others already advanced for some skills.
Reporting on the Assessment
By its nature, an analytical rubric does not easily convert to a letter or percentage grade. These tools are designed to provide students and teachers with an easy and understandable way to explain what is expected of the student and what has been learned. It is possible a student could be advanced in some areas and novice in others.
Whether being used as a self-assessment or teacher assessment tool, analytical rubrics describe strengths and weaknesses by the user circling the correct quality for each criterion. A hybrid version of this rubric can be created by assigning points or values for each quality and criterion, thus providing traditional grade, but the grade value does not always accurately reflect the student’s performance.
Though not always easy to design the first time, analytical rubrics become easier to create with experience. The criteria can also be reused for multiple assignments, providing teachers and students with a way to observe the growth of the student’s skills. Students can also be provided with goals for quality, use the rubric for self-assessment, and know what is expected for success on an assignment.
Reference: Andrade, H.G. Understanding Rubrics. Educational Leadership, 54(4). 1997.
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