Guidelines for Developing a Scoring Rubric
Step 1: Select a project/assignment for assessment.
Step 2: What performance skill(s) or competency(ies) are students demonstrating through their work on this project?
Step 3: List the traits you'll assess when evaluating the project--in other words, ask: "What counts in my assessment of this work?" Use nouns or noun phrases to name traits, and avoid evaluative language. Limit the number of traits to no more than seven. Each trait should represent a key teachable attribute of the overall skill you're assessing.
Content
Coherence and Organization
Creativity
Graphics and visuals
Delivery
Step 4: Decide on the number of gradations of mastery you'll establish for each trait and the language you'll use to describe those levels.
Five points of gradation:
| 5=Proficient | 4=Clearly Competent | 3=Acceptable | 2=Limited | 1=Attempted |
Four points of gradation:
| Exceptional/Excellent | Admirable/Good | Acceptable/Fair | Amateur/Poor |
Step 5: For each trait write statements that describe work at each level of mastery. If, for example, you have seven traits and five gradations, you'll have 35 descriptive statements in your rubric. Attempt to strike a balance between over-generalizations and task-specificity. For the trait "coherence and organization" in a four-point rubric:
| Exceptional: | Thesis is clearly stated and developed; specific examples are appropriate and clearly develop thesis; conclusion is clear; ideas flow together well; good transitions; succinct but not choppy; well-organized. |
| Admirable: | Most information presented in logical sequence; generally very organized but better transitions between ideas is needed. |
| Acceptable: | Concept and ideas are loosely connected; lacks clear transitions; flow and organization are choppy. |
| Amateur: | Presentation of ideas is choppy and disjointed; doesn't flow; development of thesis is vague; no apparent logical order to writing |
Step 6: Design a format for presenting the rubric to students and for scoring student work.
Step 7: Test the rubric and fine tune it based on feedback from colleagues and students.
Source: Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment, Barbara E. Walvoord, Virginia Johnson Anderson, Thomas A. Angelo (Foreword by) (1998).
