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Assessing Student Performance
Types of Rubrics
The evaluation scale can be either
holistic or analytical—or a combination of the two.
A holistic rubric consists of a single scale—all factors
that are to be evaluated are identified together for each level of
performance. It might be a checklist or a description of each attainable
level of performance. Continuing our example of business-letter writing,
the criteria for business letters might address the letter's content,
organization, style, focus, and conventions. Descriptions of these
criteria at the mastery level might be:
All necessary
information was presented clearly and concisely. Content had logical
organization. Business-letter form was maintained. All contact
information was complete. Letter showed command of sentence structure,
grammar and punctuation. Spelling and word usage were correct.
Holistic rubrics are quicker to develop
and learn, quicker to score, and quicker to find agreement among various
evaluators than are analytical rubrics. Because they produce a single
score, they are most effective when the elements being assessed are
closely related. However, they do not give as much feedback to students,
and so they are more difficult to use as a learning tool than analytical
rubrics. Two different business letters can earn the same score for very
different reasons.
Analytical rubrics, on the
other hand, are excellent tools for teaching as well as for assessment. An
analytical rubric consists of multiple, separate scales, and therefore
provides a set of scores rather than just one. The multiple scales enable
students to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses related to each
criterion. Looking again at the business-letter writing example, the key
aspects of each criterion (i.e., content, organization, style, focus, and
conventions) would be described separately for each level of performance.
For each criterion, a scale of descriptors is developed.
These are phrases or sentences that describe the quality of the
performance along a continuum of performance levels. Levels of performance
are used to designate the quality, or how well, the student performed each
of the descriptors. A student's performance can vary across all
performance levels, e.g., some aspects of a student's writing ability
might be Professional, while other aspects might be at a Novice level or
anywhere in between. An example of a portion of an analytical rubric is
presented in the following figure.
The analytical rubric provides feedback to
students by letting them know exactly which elements of the skill were
mastered and which need more practice. While it is an excellent teaching
tool, the analytical rubric does take longer to learn well and more time
to score. Scores attained for the various criteria may be combined to make
a final score. Several factors
should be considered in choosing the type of rubric. The first is the
complexity of the skill. Complex skills require complex scales for
adequate evaluation. Simpler skills may require only a checklist. In
addition, the degree of mastery expected with a skill should be
contemplated. Consider the purpose of the assessment. Is the rubric being
used to introduce a new skill or as a capstone to a unit of teaching?
Those skills being introduced for the first time, with no expectation of
mastery, may best be evaluated with a simple rubric. |
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