Why rubrics are useful

Common Misconceptions About Rubrics. Susan Brookhart is professor emerita in the School of Education at Duquesne University and an educational consultant at Brookhart Enterprises LLC, working with schools, districts, regional educational service units, universities, and states doing professional development.

She was the — editor of Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice , and is author or co-author of 19 books and over 70 articles and book chapters on classroom assessment, teacher professional development, and evaluation. She serves on the editorial boards of several journals. Member Book. About What is a rubric? Leave space for additional, tailored comments or overall impressions and a final grade.

Be transparent Give students a copy of the rubric when you assign the performance task. Integrate rubrics into assignments Require students to attach the rubric to the assignment when they hand it in.

Leverage rubrics to manage your time When you mark the assignment, circle or highlight the achieved level of performance for each criterion on the rubric. Be prepared to revise your rubrics Decide upon a final grade for the assignment based on the rubric.

Consider developing online rubrics If an assignment is being submitted to an electronic drop box you may be able to develop and use an online rubric.

References Facione, P. The holistic critical thinking rubric [PDF]. Rhodes, T. Assessing outcomes and improving achievement: Tips and tools for using the rubrics.

Using rubrics to provide feedback to students. In Learner-centered assessment on college campuses pp. Lewis, R. Focusing students: Three approaches for learning through evaluation.

Innovative Higher Education, 23 3 , Luft, J. Rubrics: Design and use in science teacher education. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 10 2 , Stevens, D. Introduction to rubrics: An assessment tool to save grading time, convey effective feedback, and promote student learning 2 nd ed.

Virginia: Sylus. Introduction to rubrics companion site. Feedback requested! Have you used the strategies in a Tip Sheet? Do you have questions or suggestions? Students can use this feedback as a tool to further develop their abilities. Rubrics encourage students to think about their own thinking and possibly about their own criteria for what is "good.

By using rubrics, teachers give students experience in their higher-level thinking processes. Rubrics are easy to understand at a quick glance.

They provide parents with a digestible, concise, and well-structured assessment. This article explains rubrics, types of rubrics, outlines how rubrics may benefit both faculty and students, and provides a few HuskyCT example rubrics. The clarity of rubrics is the most important characteristic for its comprehension and application Al-Rabai, UConn A-Z.