Rubrics: A Tool for Evaluating Student Performance - Essay Sample

Introduction

A rubric refers to a logical set of criteria for students’ tasks that includes descriptions of levels of performance quality on each criterion. In simple terms, rubrics are multidimensional scoring guidelines used by tutors to ensure consistency in evaluating students’ work. While these two definitions sound simple, Brookhart (2013) observed that they are rarely demonstrated in practice. For instance, the internet is filled with rubrics that do not necessarily describe performance. This paper uses the earlier definition of rubrics which can be divided into two aspects, namely a coherent combination of criteria and description of levels of performance. The idea behind using rubrics is that they are descriptive rather than evaluative. Still, they are used as assessment tools by matching the performance of a specific measure to its description. As such, rubrics are only as good or bad as the descriptions of the levels of performance in every selected criterion. Therefore, for rubrics to be useful, they should have not only appropriate criteria but also clear descriptions of performance.

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The Importance of Rubrics

Rubrics are like many other evaluation tools in the sense that they are only useful for certain types of students’ works while they may not be suitable for others. Nonetheless, their primary purpose is to assess performance. In some cases, rubrics are based on observation by the teachers. For instance, a teacher can observe as his/her students discuss a topic or conduct an experiment. However, the most common type of rubric the product observed is usually the students’ finished work which could be a written report or essay.

How Rubrics Help Teachers

Contrary to common belief, rubrics are as important to teachers as they are to students. When writing or selecting, it is crucial to pay attention to the criteria by which to assess learning. Teachers use rubrics to improve instruction by shifting focus from what they intend to teach the students to what they want them to learn. The standard method of teaching lacks the clarity of both content and learning outcomes. This approach makes it hard for teachers to assess how much of various aspects of the material to teach. Rubrics provide teachers and students alike, with the clarity of both content and learning outcomes (Panadero & Jonsson, 2013).

Teachers can differentiate between the assignment or task with the learning objective by creating or selecting good rubrics. This eliminates confusion between the completion of assignments and learning. Rubrics ensure that teachers’ focus is on criteria and not tasks. Unfortunately, Reynolds-Keefer (2010), explains that many busy teachers choose to focus on tasks rather than learning because it is a straightforward approach to use. This may be the reason why the use of rubrics is rarely demonstrated in practice.

In many cases, teachers design rubrics that can be used repeatedly on different tasks. To use this approach, teachers should issue their students with rubrics at the beginning of a course. All the assignments and tasks for a particular class should be tackled using the same rubric. Students can submit their work, receive feedback, revise, handle a different task, continue practising, and finally get a grade using similar descriptions of criteria and quality levels to demonstrate their development. By using this approach, teachers ensure that learning is a more cohesive activity rather than a set of assignments with different assessment criteria (Cox et al., 2015).

How Rubrics Help Students

The main benefit of rubrics is that they help students understand the desired performance under every criterion described. If they are expertly designed, rubrics can guide students to know the level of performance and the weight of every measure. Students who formatively use rubrics can identify the steps required to enhance the quality of their work. This assertion is backed by Cox et al. (2015), who investigated the effect of using rubrics for 1st to 4th graders. The researchers used four strategies in teaching their students on self-assessment including involving them in defining criteria, explaining the application of the rubric, issuing feedback based on the self-assessments, and developing action plans for improving outcomes. The researchers found that students who participated in the self-assessment project outperformed the group not involved in the rubrics exercise.

According to Brookhart (2013), by aligning expectations and outlining learning objectives for various tasks, rubrics act as a communication tool between the teacher and his/her students. One benefit both teachers and students enjoy from aligning and stating expectations for every criterion is that it creates transparency in the grading system. When students can see what the grades are based on using rubrics, they will seem less arbitrary.

Conclusion

Rubrics benefit both teachers and students, giving them the potential of being assets in any classroom regardless of the academic level. However, for rubrics to be assets, they must be designed and implemented correctly. Teachers should spend their time investigating proper ways of integrating rubrics in the learning process. As aforementioned, rubrics are only as good or bad as the descriptions of the levels of performance in every selected criterion. They should also enhance learning outcomes for students. When ineffectively implemented, rubrics will promote shallow learning while simultaneously producing standardization of instruction.

References

Brookhart, S. M. (2013). How to create and use rubrics for formative assessment and grading. Ascd. http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/112001/chapters/What-Are-Rubrics-and-Why-Are-They-Important%C2%A2.aspx

Cox, G., Morrison, J., & Brathwaite, B. (2015). The rubric: An assessment tool to guide students and Markers. In 1st International Conference On Higher Education Advances (Head'15) (pp. 26-32). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://riunet.upv.es/bitstream/handle/10251/93103/414-2209-2-PB.pdf?sequence=1

Panadero, E., & Jonsson, A. (2013). The use of scoring rubrics for formative assessment purposes revisited: A review. Educational Research Review, 9, 129-144.

Reynolds-Keefer, L. (2010). Rubric-referenced assessment in teacher preparation: An opportunity to learn by using. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 15(1), 8. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1234&context=pare