Creating & Recognizing Quality Rubrics

A nationally recognized expert in performance assessment, Judy Arter's background includes statewide writing assessments, development of large-scale and classroom-based assessments for competency assessment and development of district performance assessments. Prior to joining ETS, Judy directed Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's (NWREL) assessment unit. She has written extensively on performance assessment and rubrics, and is the co-author of Creating & Recognizing Quality Rubrics.Prior to joining ATI, Jan Chappuis was a curriculum and assessment specialist responsible for professional development and school improvement. Her background as an elementary and secondary teacher, combined with her assessment expertise and professional development experience, enables Jan to provide teachers and school leaders with practical solutions for motivating students and involving them in their own academic success. Her most recent publication, Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning, helps teachers adopt formative assessment practices shown to improve learning.

• Table of Contents  1 Defining Rubric ................................................................. 1Contexts for Rubrics ..................................................... 3Helping Teachers................................................................. 3Helping Students ................................................................. 4Rubrics as Part of Assessment of and for Learning........... 4Types of Assessments Requiring Rubricsand Scoring Guides........................................................ 6Types of Rubrics............................................................. 6Comparing Holistic and Analytic Rubrics .......................... 7Comparing Task-Specifi c and General Rubrics................ 10When to Use the Various Types of Rubrics ....................14Learning Targets................................................................ 14Recommendations for When to Use Each Typeof Rubric........................................................................ 17Focus on General Rubrics................................................. 24The Path Ahead: Book Content .....................................26Summary......................................................................27  2 What a Good Rubric Looks Like .............................. 29Features of a Good-Quality Rubric ...............................31Understanding Rubric for RubricsCriterion 1: Coverage/Organization ......................... 34Understanding Rubric for RubricsCriterion 2: Clarity ...................................................... 39Practicing with the Whole Rubric for Rubrics...................43Rubric for Rubrics Criterion 1:Coverage/Organization ............................................. 46Rubric for Rubrics Criterion 2: Clarity ......................... 54For More Practice.............................................................. 60Summary......................................................................62  3 How to Develop a General Rubric........................... 65Rubric Development ....................................................67Developing a Rubric When the Criteria Are Unclear .....68Step 1: Choose a Learning Target Worth the Time ......... 68Step 2: Search out Existing Relevant ScoringGuides ........................................................................... 68Step 3: Gather Samples of Student Work......................... 69Step 4: Sort Student Work ................................................ 69Step 5: Group Like Indicators Together........................... 73Step 6: Identify Student Work That IllustratesEach Level on Each Criterion ...................................... 77Step 7: Test the Rubric and Revise It as Needed............. 78Step 8: Repeat the Cycle of Scoring and Revising........... 80Developing a Rubric When You AlreadyHave an Idea of the Structure of the Criteria ................81Developing Student-Friendly Versions............................82Summary......................................................................84  4 Quality Performance Tasks.......................................... 87Planning for Task Quality ...............................................90Determining the Purpose of the Assessment .................. 90Identifying the Learning Targets to Be Assessed ............ 91Criteria for Good Tasks .................................................92Task Quality Criterion 1: Content of the Task ................ 92Task Quality Criterion 2: Sampling............................... 100Task Quality Criterion 3: Distortion Due to Bias......... 103Authenticity and Complexity ...................................... 106Ensuring Performance Task Quality .............................. 107Summary.................................................................... 108  5 How to Convert Rubric Scores to Grades...........109Grading Caveats ......................................................... 111Caveat 1: Use Grades Only to Communicate ................. 112Caveat 2: Use Grades Only to CommunicateAbout Learning ........................................................... 113Caveat 3: Grades Are Not the Best Way toGive Students Feedback on Learning........................ 114Assigning a Grade to a Single Piece of WorkScored with a Rubric .................................................. 114Don’t Use Percentages, Use a Logic Rule ...................... 114How to Weight Rubric Scores ......................................... 120Determining a Final Grade Across SeveralPieces of Work, All Scored Using a Rubric ................. 122Combining Rubric Scores with Percentage Scoresto Determine a Final Grade ........................................ 126Step 1: Average the Ratings on the RubricPortion of the Grade................................................... 126Step 2: Convert to a Logical Percentage ....................... 126Step 3: Decide on the Weight for Each Portion ofthe Grade and Compute the Average Percentage .... 128Step 4: Convert the Average Percentage to a Grade ..... 128Summary.................................................................... 129  6 Tasks and Rubrics as Assessment for Learning .....131Performance Assessments as Episodes of Learning ...... 133Rubrics as Teaching Tools............................................. 135Strategy 1: Provide a Clear and UnderstandableVision of the Learning Target..................................... 137Strategy 2: Use Examples and Models of Strongand Weak Performances or Products ........................ 138Strategy 3: Offer Regular Descriptive Feedback ........... 140Strategy 4: Teach Students to Self-Assess andSet Goals ..................................................................... 143Strategy 5: Design Lessons to Focus on OneAspect of Quality at a Time........................................ 144Strategy 6: Teach Students Focused Revision............... 144Strategy 7: Engage Students in Self-Refl ection andLet Them Keep Track of and Share Their Learning... 145Summary.................................................................... 146  7 Communicating with Parents about Rubrics ........147What Rubrics Are and When You Use Them................. 149How Using Rubrics Benefi ts Learning ............................. 152How Rubrics Are Used in the Classroom ...................... 153How to Interpret Rubric Scores ...................................... 154How Parents Can Use Rubrics with Their Children ...... 155Suggestions for Sharing Information with Parents.......... 156When ................................................................................ 156How .................................................................................. 157Students’ Role in Communicating with Parents ............ 158Summary............................................................................. 159  Glossary .............................................................................161  Bibliography .......................................................................165  Appendix A Rubric for Rubrics....................................179  Appendix B R ubric Sampler Table of Contents..........189Appendix C Rubric Sampler Rubrics  Referenced in the Text ....................................................191  Appendix D Rubric for Tasks ........................................247  Appendix E CD Table of Contents .............................253