SLO Summer Team, Session II June 24, 2008

1. SLO Summer Team, Session IIJune 24, 2008 Rubrics

2. Objectives for Day II • Discuss types of rubrics and their purpose • Examine models of rubrics • Consider advantages and disadvantages of homegrown rubrics and outside rubrics • Discuss Primary Traits Analysis • Determine Rubric for Individual Assessment Report • Finalize plan for Summer Individual Assessment, including rubric

3. Rubrics • Evaluation or scoring instrument • Can be used for grading and assessment • Explain expectations of student work • Can come in a variety of forms

4. Holistic Rubrics • Reduce entire assignment to one score or rank • Primary traits of assignment are grouped together into one score • Are often used to evaluated standardized writing tests • Do not provide the same type of specific, useful data as other rubrics • Can be misleading if one score does not reflect all primary traits of assignment • See Page 3 of Rubric Examples packet

5. Analytic Rubrics • Analytic Rubrics allow you to indicate a specific range of achievement for each primary trait or standard of an assignment. • They can, for a given assignment, provide more specific feedback. • They detail a range of expectations. • They can create more specific, meaningful data in assessment than simply one score. • Without careful explanation, they can seem overwhelming to students. • See page 4 of Rubric Examples.

6. Rubrics and Grades • In the classroom, primary traits of a rubric can be connected to points or percentages of an assignment. • This requires careful planning, since every primary trait in your rubric may have a different value in the assignment. • It may provide students with a tangible motivator to focus on your grading criteria for a given category. • It can also be frustrating if you discover the point or percentage values don’t match the grade you feel the work deserves.

7. Rubrics and Grades • Another approach is to use the rubric without attaching points to it. • Expectations are still clearly defined. • Students can still understand the basis of their grade. • Many instructors find this easier than trying to match point or percentage values appropriately with primary traits.

8. Homegrown or Outside • Homegrown rubrics allow you to include any criteria for any assignment you want. • They allow instructors great flexibility, but are incredibly time consuming to construct well. • It is easy to leave an important criterion out of a rubric by mistake. • It is easy to create a rubric that doesn’t actually match your grading practices. • Sometimes you don’t know until you try; then it is too late.

9. Outside Rubrics • Some rubrics have been rendered reliable and validated through faculty discussion, research, and trial and error. • The reliability of a rubric is determined by how accurately it classifies student work and by how likely it is that two different faculty using the same rubric will get the same results. • This takes a lot of work; much of it has already been done, if we know where to look.

10. Primary Trait Analysis • Think of the criteria you will use to assess an SLO or grade an assignment as your Primary traits. • They can become categories in an analytic rubric. • Creating a performance range for each category allows you to rank performance of the specified tasks. • Go to Janet Fulks’ training manual: • http://online.bakersfieldcollege.edu/courseassessment/Section_4_Assessment_Tools/Section4_6PTA.htm

11. When Writing or Selecting a Rubric • Consider what you want to measure, and how. • Consider the type of data that you want your assessment to produce. An analytic rubric will yield more ranges of data, thereby illuminating key areas of success and weakness in performance. • Consider how you will track the reports during your assessment. • Keep the student in mind. • Refer to Allen’s “A Rubric for Rubrics,” page 60 of Rubric Examples.

12. Useful Resources • Janet Fulks’ Training Manual: http://online.bakersfieldcollege.edu/courseassessment/Section_4_Assessment_Tools/Section4_7rubrics.htm • RubiStar (Rubric building web page): http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php • Assessment Workshop Materials, Mary Allen:http://www.csub.edu/TLC/options/resources/handouts/AllenWorkshopHandoutJan06.pdf

13. Today • Use the provided resources and faculty discussion to plan the rubric for your assessment • Communicate the status of your individual assessment report to the SLO Coordinator