Rubrics: An Undervalued Teaching Tool

Stephanie Almagno, PhD February 15th, 2016

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/rubrics-an-undervalued-teaching-tool/

Here are five different ways to apply the same rubric in your classroom.

1. A Rubric for Thinking (Invention Activity)

2. A Rubric for Peer Feedback (Drafting Activity)

3. A Rubric for Teacher Feedback (Revision Activity)

4. A Rubric for Mini-Lessons (Data Indicate a Teachable Moment)

5. A Rubric for Making Grades Visible (Student Investment in Grading)

How often have we heard that students believe grades to be arbitrary or capricious? Repeated use of a single rubric is good for both students and instructors. Switching roles between author and editor results in students’ increased familiarity with the process and the components of good writing. Over the course of the semester, students will synthesize the rubric’s components into effective communication. The instructor, too, will shift from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side,” answering fewer questions (and answering the same question fewer times). In other words, students will gain greater independence as writers and thinkers. And this is good for all of us.

For more detailed information, go to the full version of the article: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/rubrics-an-undervalued-teaching-tool/

More on rubrics in this blog

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=rubrics&submit=Search

Luther Rotto

For what it’s worth, here’s something I used ‘long ago’ on rubrics:
http://web.stcloudstate.edu/LRotto/im4-522/assignments/rubrics.htm

Links to information about rubrics:

Creating Rubrics
The folks at TeacherVision.com weigh in on rubrics.
http://www.teachervision.com/lesson-plans/lesson-4521.html
How to create a Rubric
The Chicago Public Schools page on writing rubrics from scratch
http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/Create_Rubric/create_rubric.html
The Rubric Bank
The Chicago Schools again with a list of rubrics for various subject areas
http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/Rubric_Bank/rubric_bank.html
Rubrics Resources – Westfield (MA) Public Schools
A links page to many other sources about using rubrics to improve instruction.
http://www.k12.westfield.ma.us:591/technology/pdev/rubric_resources.htm
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators – Assessment Rubrics
Kathy Schrock’s links listing for rubrics – examples and about them
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html
Rubric How-To’s – MidLink’s Teacher Resource Room
Caroline McCullen’s (a multimedia teacher) page about rubrics with links to other sources on the topic
http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/rubrics/
Rubrics by Bernie Dodge
The Master details how rubrics and WebQuests dovetail nicely.
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/rubrics/weblessons.htm
RubiStar site
An example of a web-based tool that can generate rubrics at the click of a button.
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.shtml
TeAch-nology.com’s Teacher Rubric Makers
Yet another example of a web-based tool that promises to generate rubrics.
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics