Rubrics for Assessment

Rubrics are scoring tools with pre-established criteria that specify the level of quality for a performance on an assessment.  Reasons to use rubrics includes:
  • Defines what the target behavior or skill is and how to achieve it.​
  • Helps maintain instructional alignment with learning objectives.
  • Helps teachers be more accurate, objective, and unbiased in grading.
  • Informs students and parents of the expectations for the task.

SHAPE America Appropriate Practices

  • 4.2.2 Assessments include clearly defined criteria that are articulated to students as part of instruction before the assessment.
Additional Appropriate Practices:
  • Be flexible when evaluating (there may be more than 1 correct answer).
  • ​Expect to revise.
  • Set the top level as something challenging but achievable and set one level as the minimum cut score.
  • Use standards as guidelines and include benchmarks or exemplars.

Types of Rubrics

Checklist: Lists the critical elements of a skill; Focuses on the presence of criteria but does not assess quality.
Point System: Similar to checklists except that point values are given for the presence of a criterion.
Qualitative Analytic Rating Scale: Assesses the quality of the criterion using descriptions.
Quantitative Analytic Rating Scale: Assesses the quality of the criterion using numbers.
Holistic: Describes all the characteristics for each level of performance.
Single Point: ​Provides 1 thing to improve and 1 thing that was done well for each criteria.
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Templates for Rubrics

Below are templates you can use when creating your rubrics; just copy, paste, and modify (add and delete rows/columns as needed). Having each style in a template form makes them easy to add to any assessment. 

Online Rubric Makers