Journal Summary: Rubrics at Play

Rubrics are useful for a number of purposes: to assess students, to provide feedback to students, and to plan instruction. Similarly, there are many different varieties of rubrics and a multitude of methods to use rubrics effectively with students. Formative assessments are based on more specific criteria, and therefore give students more beneficial feedback, whereas summative assessments serve the purpose to assign a letter grade or number to a student's overall quality of work. Rubrics are also categorized as either holistic, analytic, specific, or general. Holistic rubrics, a method of summative assessment, give one overall score of the student's work. Analytic rubrics, on the other hand, include more specific areas in which students receive a score for. Specific rubrics are created solely for one task or assignment, as opposed to general rubrics which can be used for many similar or related tasks. General rubrics can be given to students before beginning the assignment, because the answer is not included on these rubrics. Also, some teachers find it helpful to allow students to assist in the process of developing a rubric. This holds students more accountable for their work and keeps them motivated to improve their work to the next level as described on the rubric.

I found this article to be helpful in explaining the many different ways that a rubric can be used. I was not previously aware that there were so many types of rubrics, probably due to the fact that many of my past teachers and professors have used similar types of rubrics. Also, I found the section that described how a teacher included her students in the process of developing a rubric. Although the teacher did mention that this took an entire day of class time for math, I feel it was a worthwhile activity. This is an idea that I will hold on to and will seriously consider adopting for my own classroom. I believe that it empowers students and helps them to understand how grades are derived. Similarly, I found the idea of general rubrics to be of particular interest to me as a special educator. At first, I was skeptical that a general rubric could be effective; however, it is beneficial in that it is more practical for reasons of efficiency. In a special education classroom, I may have students who are all doing work on different levels or in a different format. A more general rubric will allow me to more easily adapt it to each individual student's needs.

McGatha, M. B. and Darcy, P. (2010). Rubrics at Play. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. 15(6), 328-336.