Scoring Rubrics
[FOR WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS AND ORAL PRESENTATIONS]

Diane Ebert-May
Lyman Briggs School
Department of Botany and Plant Pathology
Michigan State University

WHY USE RUBRICS?
Has a student ever said to you regarding an assignment, “But, I didn’t know what you wanted!” or “Why did her paper get an ‘A’ and mine a ‘C?’”  Students must understand the goals we expect them to achieve in course assignments, and importantly, the criteria we use to determine how well they have achieved those goals.  Rubrics provide a readily accessible way of communicating and developing our goals with students and the criteria we use to discern how well students have reached them.

WHAT IS A RUBRIC?
Rubrics (or “scoring tools”) are a way of describing evaluation criteria (or “grading standards”) based on the expected outcomes and performances of students.  Typically, rubrics are used in scoring or grading written assignments or oral presentations; however, they may be used to score any form of student performance.  Each rubric consists of a set of scoring criteria and point values associated with these criteria.  In most rubrics the criteria are grouped into categories so the instructor and the student can discriminate among the categories by level of performance.  In classroom use, the rubric provides an “objective” external standard against which student performance may be compared.

WHAT IS INVOLVED? 
Instructor Preparation Time: Medium to High
Preparing Your Students: Continuous; but students catch on fairly quickly
Class Time: Variable. As students use rubrics, they become better writers and oral presenters; hence the time instructors spend evaluating students’ work is reduced.  
Disciplines: All
Class Size: All.  Rubrics are easy to use in small classes, and are particularly useful in large classes to facilitate scoring large numbers of written or oral assignments.
Individual/Group Involvement: Both.
Analyzing Results: The level of analysis depends on the instructor’s intended goal of the assessment task and the type of data desired about students’ performance.   For detailed analysis of students’ responses, each section of the rubric can be scored independently then totaled.  For a holistic analysis of students’ responses, all sections of the rubric can be blended and an overall score assigned.
Other Things to Consider: Rubrics must be readily available to students before they begin an assignment or written test.  Posting rubrics on the web and including them in the course pack for in-class writing promotes their usefulness. 

Contents
•	Description
•	Assessment Purposes
•	Limitations
•	Teaching and Learning Goals
•	Suggestions for Use
•	Step-by-Step Instructions
•	Variations
•	Analysis
•	Pros and Challenges
•	Theory and Research
•	Links
•	Sources
•	Diane Ebert-May

Description

Example 1.  Scoring Rubric for Quizzes and Homework
Level of Achievement	General Approach	Comprehension	
Exemplary
(5 pts quizzes)	•Addresses the question.
•States a relevant, justifiable answer. 
•Presents arguments in a logical order.
•Uses acceptable style and grammar (no errors).	•Demonstrates an accurate and complete understanding of the question.
•Backs conclusions with data and warrants.
•Uses 2 or more ideas, examples and/or arguments that support the answer.	
Adequate
(4 pts quizzes)	•Does not address the question explicitly, although does so tangentially.
•States a relevant and justifiable answer. 
•Presents arguments in a logical order.
•Uses acceptable style and grammar (one error).	•Demonstrates accurate but only adequate understanding of question because does not back conclusions with warrants and data.
•Uses only one idea to support the answer.
•Less thorough than above.	
Needs Improvement
(3 pts quizzes)	•Does not address the question.
•States no relevant answers.
•Indicates misconceptions.
•Is not clearly or logically organized.
•Fails to use acceptable style and grammar (two or more errors).	•Does not demonstrate accurate understanding of the question.
•Does not provide evidence to support their answer to the question.	
No Answer (0 pts)			

Assessment Purposes
•	To improve the reliability of scoring written assignments and oral presentations
•	To convey goals and performance expectations of students in an unambiguous way
•	To convey “grading standards” or “point values” and relate them to performance goals
•	To engage students in critical evaluation of their own performance.

Limitations
•	The problem of criteria: One challenge (or potential limitation) in developing and using rubrics is that of describing performance expectations, and defining the criteria that differentiate several levels of performance.  Quantitative descriptors may be helpful in differentiating among performance levels, e.g., “provide 2 examples of evidence that support the conclusion...,” or  “zero grammatical errors”.  Whereas variables such as vague or concise, must be described clearly so that students see the differences between a statement that is vague and a statement that is concise.  By carefully describing our performance expectations and defining the criteria we use to differentiate levels of performance, our role as evaluators becomes easier, more informative, and more useful to our students and us.
•	The problem of practice and regular use: No assessment tool is effective if it is not used on a regular basis.  Rubrics are most effective when we practice using them with our students over and over again.  Developing effective rubrics requires revision based on feedback from students.  The best rubrics are products of an iterative effort.

Example 2. Scoring Rubric for Grant Proposals (35 points possible)
Level of Achievement	General Presentation (10 points possible)	Conceptual Understanding (10 points possible)	Argument Structure  (10 points possible)	Use of literature and pertinent resources (5 points possible)	
Exemplary	•	(10 pts.)
•	Provides a clear and thorough introduction and background
•	States a specific, testable research question
•	Provides clear explanation of proposed research methods
•	Presents rationale and significance of proposed research in the form of a well-structured, logical argument.
•	Uses acceptable style and grammar (0 errors)
		•	(10 pts.)
•	Demonstrates a clear understanding of the LTER site and the proposed research.
•	Uses a broad range of information to build and support arguments.
•	Demonstrates a good understanding of the implications of the data and/or information.  
	•	(10 pts.)
•	Provides strong, clear, convincing statements (i.e. conclusions) of the reasons the proposed research is important and should be funded.
•	Provides relevant evidence to support conclusions.
•	Provides reasons for the legitimacy of the evidence (i.e. warrants) that enable conclusions.
	•	(5 pts.)
•	Follows proper format in providing citations.
•	Uses data and/or information relevant to the proposed research
	
Adequate	•	(8 pts.)
•	Provides an introduction and background that is only somewhat significant to the experiment.
•	States a clear, but untestable research question.
•	Provides an adequate explanation of proposed research methods
•	Shows some effort to present the rationale and significance of proposed research in the form of a well-structured argument.
Uses adequate style and grammar  (1-2 errors) 	•	(8 pts.)
•	Demonstrates a partial understanding of the LTER site and the proposed research.
•	Uses a information from only 2 or 3 sources to build and support arguments.
•	Demonstrates a partial understanding of the implications of the data and/or information.  
	•	(8 pts.)
•	Provides statements (i.e. conclusions) explaining the reasons the proposed research is important and should be funded, but weak evidence to support conclusions and no warrants.
	•	(4 pts.)
•	Follows proper format in providing citations, but not consistently throughout the proposal.
•	Uses limited number of sources of data and/or information relevant to the proposed research.
	
Needs Improvement	•	(6 pts.)
•	Provides an introduction and background that is insignificant to the experiment.
•	States a vague, untestable research question.
•	Provides an unorganized explanation of proposed research methods
•	Presents rationale and significance of proposed research in the form of a weak, unstructured argument.
•	Fails to use acceptable style and grammar (>2 errors) 
	•	(6 pts.)
•	Does not demonstrates an understanding of the LTER site and the proposed research.
•	Uses less than two sources to build and support arguments.
•	Does not appear to understand the implications of the data and/or information.  
	•	(6 pts.)
•	Provides statements (i.e. conclusions) explaining the reasons the proposed research is important and should be funded, but no evidence to support conclusions and no warrants.
	•	(3 pts.)
•	Does not follow proper format in providing citations.
•	

Teaching and Learning Goals 
Students learn to communicate about science in a variety of ways and especially improve their writing skills.  The quality of students reasoning and logic increases.  Instructors gather a variety of data about students’ understanding and performance.

Suggestions for Use
I design rubrics for the multiple forms of assessment I use in my courses: short writing samples, essays, poster displays, research papers, public hearing papers, oral presentations, weekly homework assignments, and concept maps.  Each rubric stands on its own, but the general criteria in many rubrics are similar.  For example, rubrics for written assignments have the same criteria for acceptable style and grammar; responses must address the question, and arguments must be presented in a logical order [compare Figures 1 and 3].  Alternatively, a rubric designed to evaluate the mechanics of a poster display may include a checklist to guide the student in developing all of the sections of the poster.  Each component of the poster should then have additional criteria for evaluation.  For example: What are the criteria for the title of a poster?  Is the title informative?  Are specific key words used?  

Example 3.  Scoring Rubric for Essay Questions
Level of Achievement	General Presentation	Reasoning, Argumentation	
Exemplary (10 pts)	•	Provides a clear and thorough introduction and background
•	Addresses the question
•	Addresses the question
•	Presents arguments in a logical order
•	Uses acceptable style and grammar (no errors)
	•	Demonstrates an accurate and complete understanding of the question
•	Uses several arguments and backs arguments with examples, data that support the conclusion
	
Quality (8 pts)	•	Combination of above traits, but less consistently represented (1-2 errors)
•	Same as above but less thorough, still accurate
	•	Uses only one argument and example that supports conclusion
	
Adequate (6 pts)	•	Does not address the question explicitly, though does so tangentially
•	States a somewhat relevant argument
•	Presents some arguments in a logical order
•	Uses adequate style and grammar (more than 2 errors)
	•	Demonstrates minimal understanding of question, still accurate
•	Uses a small subset of possible ideas for support of the argument.
	
Needs improvement (4 pts)	•	Does not address the question
•	States no relevant arguments
•	Is not clearly or logically organized
•	Fails to use acceptable style and grammar
	•	Does not demonstrate understanding of the question, inaccurate
•	Does not provide evidence to support response to the question
	
No Answer (0 pts)			

Step-by-Step Instructions
There are many routes to developing a useful scoring rubric, however, all of them involve the following five steps:
•	Develop the goals for your course and daily class meetings
•	Select the assessment tasks that provide data aligned with the goals
•	Develop performance standards for each of the goals
•	Differentiate performances (categories) based on well-described criteria.
•	Rate (assign weight or value to) the categories 

To provide a useful example of how these steps “play out” in a real world context, I will describe how I developed rubrics for my own introductory biology and ecology courses.

1. I developed the goals for my course and daily class meetings.  Keep in mind the assessment tasks must be linked to student learning goals and outcomes.  So writing goals is the first step.  These are examples of stems and sample goals from introductory ecology or biology courses:

Students will be able to demonstrate their ability to: 
•	utilize science as a process
•	communicate an understanding of and links among biological principles
•	write about, criticize and analyze concepts in biology
•	use the process of scientific inquiry to think creatively and formulate questions about real-world problems
•	apply content knowledge in the resolution of real-world problems
•	reason logically and critically to evaluate information
•	argue science persuasively (in both written and oral format)
•	illustrate the relevance of ecology to your lives by applying ecological knowledge in the resolution of real-world problems