LibGuides: Language Teaching Pedagogy: Rubrics

Rubrics: Introduction

Rubrics are scoring guides that signal to students performance markers in various categories for a given assignment (for example, for a research paper some of the graded categories addressed in the rubric may be “mechanics and grammar,” “citations,” “quality of research,” etc.). Each category for an assignment has several feedback gradations that range from “excellent” to “inadequate.” Thus, rubrics allow educators to clearly establish expectations for the work required for a given assignment by signaling the main areas of focus for the educator who will grade the work, while also rendering explicit the deliverables needed for each category. This gives students clear parameters for achieving their desired grade. Below, there are resource from the Undergraduate College and the Faculty Innovation Center that help educators design effective rubrics.

Different Types of Rubrics and How to Build Your Own

How to Build a Rubric
This PDF from the University of Texas at Austin Faculty Innovation Center offers a step-by-step guide and explanation for constructing effective rubrics. At the end of the document, there are also resources for using functionalities in Canvas to create more accessible rubrics.
This document is licensed by the UT Faculty Innovation Center under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0.

UT Undergraduate College: Rubrics and Checklists
This webpage links out to models and explanations of various types of rubrics and grading checklists (for example, "analytical rubrics," "holistic rubrics," "grading grids," etc.

Books on Rubrics

Creating and Recognizing Quality Rubrics by Judith A. Arter; Educational Testing Service Staff; Jan Chappuis
ISBN: 9780135134207

Publication Date: 2007-07-31

This book helps teachers choose or develop sound instructional rubrics, use rubrics effectively with students to maximize learning, convert rubric scores to grades, and communicate with parents about the use of rubrics in the classroom. The authors speak from direct experience in examining hundreds of rubrics for classroom use, developing rubrics for classroom use and state assessments, using rubrics in the classroom to help students learn, and speaking with parents, teachers, and students about rubrics.
Collections of Performance Tasks and Rubrics by Deborah Blaz
ISBN: 1138174467

Publication Date: 2016-01-20

This book features 68 performance tasks and rubrics, all designed to motivate and engage your students. Also included are samples of student work to help you apply the rubrics and develop your grading and scoring skills. The performance assessments in this book were contributed by teachers like you from all over the country and they include: - open-ended and extended response exercises - projects and portfolios - behavioral assessments (skits, debates, discussions, etc.) - authentic assessments - and student self-assessments, in addition to those administered by teachers.