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Why Rubrics?

How to Develop a Rubric

1. First, teachers need to define the learning outcome or objective that students are expected to achieve. From that point, begin to work backwards defining possible criteria or performance levels that students would possibly demonstrate. This levels would range from the possible highest performance to the lowest performance that can be expected from students on any given task and would provide descriptions of performances for each level. Each level should be directly observable.

2. To determine how to describe each level, use "anchor products" that represent various performances that can be evaluated as high quality, average, and low. Have at least three samples of each level to make such judgements. Use these samples to evaluate all of the students products.

3. Scores (either numerical or qualitative, or a combination of both) can then be assigned for each level from highest to lowest, or vice versa.

4. Once each level is determined with rating scales assigned, share the descriptions with the students and ask for feedback so that each level is clearly understood by students. It is imperative that students clearly understand how they are being evaluated and what each level represents in relation to scores assigned. This really helps students to understand the standards that they are being held accountable to achieve. It is also a great tool for helping students self diagnose strengths and weaknesses so that they become part of the "planning for instruction" process.

For an example of a rubric that includes a student's evaluation along with a teacher's evaluation, click on:

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/lab_report/

5. Provide examples of students work (kept anonymous) that illustrate each performance level. Using a rubric, explain to students what each performance level means in relation to the rubric and the rating scales used to evaluate the performances. Show students how each example meets the criteria listed for each level of performance. Give students the opportunity to rate some samples of works that would be scored using a rubric.

6. The scoring system should be objective and consistent. The tasks should be appropriate to students' abilities to avoid or minimize scoring error. Be practical when designing the scoring system. No more than six dimensions should be used for a single final product. For rubrics that define a "set of tasks" to be performed, there should be no more than ten dimensions. Descriptions within each dimension should also be clear enough for students to focus on what is expected. Fewer dimensions are better than more in most cases when developing rubrics.

7. Our Platinum Membership is one of the most powerful on-line tools for creating rubrics. We offer 50+ preformatted rubrics that you can customize. You can design every aspect with our user-friendly rubric maker.

To create your own rubric, click on:

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/general/

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