Rethinking Rubrics

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Comment by Dianne Hoeve on March 25, 2009 at 6:28pm

Maja, your Jan 11 comment is such a reflection of my own sentiments on evaluating writing via rubrics. Thank you for daring to question/challenge the discouraging trend that is sweeping so many bandwagoning English teachers off their feet. I think I am the only teacher in my school who openly expresses a dislike for rubrics. I do feel, though, that I will eventually have to succumb to the pressure to use them, since the final exam relies on them as an evaluation tool. How unfortunate...

Comment by Margo Kipps on January 15, 2009 at 6:47pm

So nice to hear that others hate rubrics too. I always feel they are written in a some foreign language. What the heck does that mean? I keep saying as I score, when required to, on them. The CaliforniaWriting Project developed a useful tool that akes some getting used to. It is for academic writing to specific (AWPE type prompts), and it took years to develop. It is a development rubric which describes only what a kid is doing and then shows the next step in achievement-- all pretty positive. A teacher can print one out and assess each paper on the same one to show where strengths, or where "backsliding," might be seen. Now that I am back inth classroom, I going to experiment with it-- I'll let you know.

Comment by Jeff Lombardo on January 15, 2009 at 2:51pm

I've found that using examples of good (and sometimes bad) writing is far more effective than using a rubric. For example, when 12th graders work on their college essay, they don't want to see a rubric. They want to see examples of essays that got kids into college! Rubrics are better for analyzing specific skills or products (like a speech) but writing is too complex. I've posted it before - read Alfie Kohn's essay about rubrics. I found it to be insightful.

Comment by Todd Finley on January 15, 2009 at 2:29pm

Great to get this snapshot of rubric history!

Comment by Barry Lane on January 12, 2009 at 8:58pm

Good point. Examples of writing can be various and very helpful. Learning to talk about what makes a great essay work is actually an important skill that a rubric could aid, though, more often then not, I think the rubric directs and limits the discussion a bit too much.

Comment by Judy Christian on January 12, 2009 at 3:45pm

I'm thinking of "centering samples" as opposed to rubrics. As AP Lit readers know, there is no "rubric" or "template." However, we do have examples of what is a good essay.

In the everyday world of the classroom, wonder if the rubrics help the students more than they help the teacher/reader. When I use rubrics, it is generally to show my students what they need to include in order to do well. I rarely use the rubric as "god" when grading their creations.

Comment by Barry Lane on January 11, 2009 at 10:41am

I think the danger of rubrics, even those designed by students is that they promote the one size fits all approach. I am at the airport in Albany New york right now. I can assess the apparel of those passing me but I have forgotton my fashion rubric. Damn! That shouldn't stop me. At best , a rubric is a describing tool, a way of creating a common language to talk about writing. But is the rubric meant to replace the teacher or simply supplement her intuitive responses. Weaker teachers might depend on the rubric too much and forget that their personal response means much more to a student. The standards movement is an ideology that frowns on so-called subjectivity and values Data over everything.

Comment by Maja Wilson on January 11, 2009 at 8:28am

Sheri,
We don't really need to put rubrics in a box; they ARE the box! Still, I don't want to undermine the seriousness of your point with the silliness of the metaphor. Your point, I think, is that some rubrics are better than others. Amen! However, there is a serious practical and theoretical argument against the very idea of rubrics. This isn't to say that NO ONE SHOULD USE THEM. However, since they're sweeping the educational assessment landscape--a landscape that seems to be littered with very tall imposing walls to keep people from escaping--I felt it necessary to make a case that a thoughtful teacher doesn't need to use them at all. Maybe they work for some people. Great. But they've never worked for me, and I needed a way to defend my rubric-free approach--an approach that my students seem to appreciate and that I would want applied to me in my own writing life.

Comment by ben reynolds on January 11, 2009 at 7:31am

Maja's book spendidly takes on the stupidity of over-rubricizing. And, it's a darn good piece of writing, an enjoyable read.

I believe most of my teachers do not use rubrics, although many are careful to state the specific areas/skills they focused on when evaluating a particular piece of work.

Still, having graded AP essays and SAT essays, I can see the utility of rubrics in circumstances like those -- a large number of testers needing to be graded efficiently. The rubric doesn't even exist when these students sit down to write. It emerges from the results of the prompt. It's likely testers are writing to their idea of what an AP or SAT essay should be, but that isn't much different from awareness of audience.

Comment by Barry Lane on January 11, 2009 at 7:17am

I agree but the question remains, "Do we need them at all?" Why teach students to strive for uniformity of response. A good rubric designed by students still promotes this idea of finding the magic formula for creating good writing. Faulkner and Joyce would flunk on most rubrics. Likewise, a rubric designed by Joyce might flunk most other writers.

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