How to Create and Use a Rubric
A rubric is a tool used by teachers to evaluate the work of their students. It is a comprehensive, yet relatively easy, way to provide valuable feedback so students know what needs to be done to improve their work. Rubrics are also used to let students know what is expected of them so they are prepared to submit their very best work. Using rubrics will eliminate many of the questions students tend to have when they see their grades.
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Instructions
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Identify the assignment, and determine what categories will be evaluated. The categories usually evaluated in a written assignment include content, mechanics and format. Categories for a math assignment might include solution, method of solving and format. As the instructor, you need to decide what you want to evaluate in the students' work.
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Depending on the purpose of the assignment and number of points available for the assignment, determine how many points to attach to each category. Using an example of an essay with 100 points available, you could divide the points evenly among the categories or give more weight to one category over the others. If the purpose of the assignment is to provide information or content, you would naturally put more emphasis on the content area. If the purpose is to determine the student's skill as a writer, you would put more emphasis on the mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation) area. A fairly basic rubric for a written assignment is 70 points for content, 20 points for mechanics, and 10 points for format.
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Now that you've decided on the categories and the points attached to each one, you need to define the level of competency you are looking for in the assignment, using the categories as guidelines. First, define what the student needs to do to earn all 100 points. Four levels of competency are good basic starting points. Those levels could be excellent, good, approaching good and needs improvement. It is important to avoid negative labels like poor or not acceptable. The goal is not to berate the student but to help him improve the work.
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Describe what the levels of competence look like. A paper that earns an excellent rating, for example, will have no grammatical errors; will provide relevant, interesting and accurate content; and will meet all the formatting requirements of the assignment. A good paper may have a few mechanical errors but will still provide relevant, interesting and accurate content and meet the formatting requirements of the assignment. An approaching good paper will have some mechanical errors, the content will be lacking some important details, etc. This way, the student knows what he/she needs to do to achieve the level of competence he/she wants in the assignment. Do the same thing for the rest of the categories.
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Determine how many points each level of competency will earn based on the number of points available for each category. For example, if 20 points are available for the category of mechanics, excellent work in the area of mechanics would receive the full 20 points, good work might earn 15, approaching good might earn 10, and needs improvement might earn 5.
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Provide the rubric to students when you make the assignment. By doing this, the students know exactly what to do to get a good grade on the assignment.
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Attach a completed copy of the rubric, with your evaluation and comments, to the assignment before you hand it back to the student. This way the student will know exactly what was right (or wrong) with the paper and will be less likely to have any questions about why she earned a C or D on the paper.
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Tips & Warnings
Create the rubric in a chart format with room to add your comments while grading the paper.
The students will really like this form of feedback and expect it on all their graded assignments. Create your rubrics for all the assignments in a Word processor so you can easily adjust them for each assignment.
References
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