1. Using and Adapting
Rubrics
for your classroom

2. Projects Portfolios Oral Demonstrations Performances
Alternative
Assessment
Authentic
Assessment
We are being bombarded with educational buzzwords like Authentic Assessment, Alternative Assessment and Performance Assessment. What do all of these have in common?
Performance
Assessment

3. Performance and Product Based Learning
How do we assess this type of learning?
Assessment where:
students create a response to a question rather than choose a response from a given list (i.e. multiple-choice, true/false, or matching)
principle that students learn best when they are actively involved in gaining knowledge and are required to show evidence that they have learned
(click) We all know how to grade traditional assessments, but how do we assess this type of learning?

4. Rubrics
We use rubrics.

5. What is a Rubric? Scoring guide Authentic assessment tool
based on a set of specific criteria against which a product or performance will be judged
used to measure students' work
usually handed out before the assignment begins in order to get students to think about the criteria on which their work will be judged.
Rubrics can be created for any content
Working guide for students

6. Chocolate Chip Cookies4
Delicious 3
Good 2
O.K. 1
Poor
Number of Chips
Chocolate chip in every bite
Chips in about 75% of bites
Chocolate in 50% of bites
Too few or too many chips
Texture
Chewy
Chewy in middle, crisp on edges
Texture either crispy/crunchy or 50% uncooked
Texture resembles a dog biscuit
Color
Golden brown
Either light from overcooking or light from being 25% raw
Either dark brown from overcooking or light from undercooking
Burned
Taste
Home-baked taste
Quality store-bought taste
Tasteless
Store-bought flavor, preservative aftertaste – stale, hard, chalky
Richness
Rich, creamy, high-fat flavor
Medium fat contents
Low-fat contents
Nonfat contents
(click) Dimension
(click) Scale
(click)
© Family Education Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

7. Chocolate Chip Cookies4
Delicious 3
Good 2
O.K. 1
Poor
Number of Chips
Chocolate chip in every bite
Chips in about 75% of bites
Chocolate in 50% of bites
Too few or too many chips
Texture
Chewy
Chewy in middle, crisp on edges
Texture either crispy/crunchy or 50% uncooked
Texture resembles a dog biscuit
Color
Golden brown
Either light from overcooking or light from being 25% raw
Either dark brown from overcooking or light from undercooking
Burned
Taste
Home-baked taste
Quality store-bought taste
Tasteless
Store-bought flavor, preservative aftertaste – stale, hard, chalky
Richness
Rich, creamy, high-fat flavor
Medium fat contents
Low-fat contents
Nonfat contents
© Family Education Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

8. Advantages Defines excellence Communicates to students
Communicates to parents
Consistency
Documentation
Help teachers define excellence & plan how to help students achieve it
Communicates to students what constitutes excellence & how to evaluate their own work.
Communicates goals & results to parents
Helps teachers to be accurate, unbiased, & consistent in scoring
Documents the procedures used in making important judgments about students.

9. Types of Rubrics General Specific Holistic Analytic Weighted
Student generated
General –broad performance or project
Specific –levels are unique to a specific task
Holistic – Uses a single scale to assess student work as a whole (checklist)
Analytic - Based on points that are assigned to various required elements in the response. 
2 or more separate categories of criteria
provides more detailed information
Weighted – A type of analytic – Some components are judged more heavily than others in order to stress particular aspects of the task.
Student generated – Criteria is defined by students

10. Rubric Options Adopt Adapt Create Rubric Options
Adopt – Use an existing rubric as is.
Adapt – Modify: re-word descriptors, omit categories, change proficiency levels, mix & match
Create – do it yourself

11. Evaluating Rubrics Does it match the outcomes being measured?
Does it match instruction?
Are the proficiency levels well defined?
Are the objectives clear so that students know what to do?
Is it reliable?
Here are some questions to ask when you are evaluating your rubric.
Does it match the outcomes being measured?
It needs to measure what it is intended to.
Does it match instruction?
The highest scale needs to measure a truly exemplary product.
Are the proficiency levels well defined?
Everyone should be clear as to what each proficiency level measures.
Are the objectives clear so that the students know what to do?
It is important to have clear definitions (descriptors) at each level.
Is it reliable?
The results are accurate and stable.
Judging is consistent over time and assessors.

12. Evaluating Rubrics Can students and parents understand it?
Is it developmentally appropriate?
Is it free from bias?
Is it practical to use?
Can students & parents understand it?
It should be clear enough to explain without jargon so even young students can understand what is expected.
Is it developmentally appropriate?
The proficiency levels need to be appropriate for the age of the student.
Is it free from bias?
It should not address variables which students have no control over, such as culture, gender, or home resources.
Is it practical to use?
It should give you the kind of information you need and can use effectively.
It should be easy to use.
It should not be too time consuming.

13. Credits
The Advantages of Rubrics: Part one in a five-part series. Teachervision.com. 21 June <
Evaluating Rubrics. Chicago Public Schools. 21 June <
Ferguson, Donna. Rubrics. University of Northern Colorado. 21 June <
How to create a rubric from scratch. Chicago Public Schools. 21 June 2002
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