Creating Quality RubricsStephanie DoepkeKim Schneidau

Dear Grading, I hate you.

Many of our experiences with graded writing – both as writer and grader – revolve around the

infamous red pen. We hated these markings as a student, but we often times don’t know how to

grade any other way – it is all we know.

The Red PenSince at least the 1700s, the color red has been used to mark corrections on academic papers, primarily because it was easy to see.The color red is emotionally charged in many cultures, and most people agree that red ink seems to scream.In some school districts, teachers are asked to refrain from grading in red ink due to concerns that the color may be perceived as negative, intense or stressful.

Editing Marks

Traditionally, our teachers would supply us with a

laundry list of editing marks…

…to create the madness seen above.

Misconceptions about Grading Writing

1. All editing marks must be used on the paper whenever there is an error.

2. Grammar should be a percentage of the grade.

3. Everything. All the time.4. The grader must ALWAYS hand-write

individualized feedback.5. The graded paper is the student’s finished,

final product.

Debunk #1Don’t keep correcting the same error

over and over. The student is not going to mysteriously get the

concept because of your continuous markings. If the error is consistently present across the class(es), then this will need to be re-taught on a

group scale.

Debunk #2Grammar does NOT have to be any

percentage of the grade. Grammar is the most OBJECTIVE way to grade writing,

which is why we naturally sway towards using it as part of the grade, but it does

not have to be included. Often times, it is more important that students can express

a cohesive idea through various paragraphs of writing as opposed to

capitalizing proper nouns.

Debunk #3You can NOT grade everything all the

time. You will go crazy (trust me!).You can, however, grade 2-3 standards for a single piece of writing. This micro-grading makes it manageable for you

and the student. Pick the key emphases for a particular assignment and stick to grading ONLY those things (this is where

rubrics come in!).

Debunk #4Yes, hand-written, individualized

feedback is wonderful; however, it is unrealistic to think that you can do this for EVERY written assignment.

Rubrics offer specific, pre-determined feedback that the students can use

without you having to write a diatribe on every piece of writing.

Debunk #5Encourage students to re-write evaluated work. It is important that they realize that

the first draft of something is not the FINAL draft. It is also important that they realize that the last draft is not the FINAL

draft. You can save yourself some headaches by using rubrics as a peer-

editing tool that then allows them to go back and re-write before you look at it.

Bad RubricsVagueSubjectiveAre not scaled properly or proportionatelyToo wordyNot wordy enoughAcademic language is overbearingProvided to students post-assignment

What’s Wrong Here?

Good RubricsSpecificObjectiveScaled properly and/or proportionatelyJust the right amount of wordsUse kid-friendly language & vocabularyProvided to students pre-assignment

What’s Right Here?

Good WritingThesis Statement in introduction: ONE sentence that highlights the subject for writing, the writer’s position (usually without using a first-person pronoun) AND the how? or why? for that position.Organization: Paragraphs should contain only one idea in C-E-A format (make a claim, provide evidence for the claim and analyze – or further explain – the selection of that evidence).Fluency > Grammar: Varied sentence structure without beginning every sentence the same way; fluidity to the writing that allows for it to be easily read aloud.

To Create Your RubricSelect the key standards you would like to assess in your writing.Figure out your scale (with our current system, a 0-4, or 5-point scale, works best)A 0 obviously demonstrates no evidence of the skill.A 3 is proficient, so decide what OBJECTIVE measurements can be made to demonstrate proficiency.Then, systematically break down what a 1, 2 & 4 would look like within that framework.Your nouns stay the same, but the adjectives used to describe those nouns change.