Grading Using Rubrics

Rubrics are attempts to quantify and make more objective the grading of a paper or project; they are grading matrices describing specific criteria to be evaluated in a paper or project. Each grading criteria, (i.e. writing style, content, grammar, etc.) is described on a continuum which is assigned points. When grading papers, the instructor assigns a numerical score for each criteria. For example:

CRITERIA	BELOW EXPECTATIONS 6 or below Points	MEETS EXPECTATIONS 7-8 Points	EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS 9-10 Points	SCORE
Clearly organized introduction, body, conclusion	Disorganized, leaves reader wondering what is being said	Paper has intro, body, conclusion	Smoothly written easy to read, topic introduced, organization clearly evident	7.7 The body of the paper didn’t always relate to what you promised in the introduction.
The paper has a clear focus, controlling idea and purpose; the student’s reaction to the topic is clearly stated	Fails to offer a main idea; the student does not clearly identify his/her reaction to the topic	The entire paper’s content relates to the main idea; the student explains his/her reaction to the topic	The student’s reaction to the topic is explained in captivatingly worded language; immediately interesting and supported with detail	7.2 Your ideas didn’t always stick to the topic.

The advantage to using rubrics is that the instructor will be able to more easily explain to students why they got the grades they did on their assignments.

Instructors need to remember to discuss the rubrics with students before the assignment is due! It’s good practice to share the rubric with students at the same time you hand out the assignment requirements. Students need to know how they will be evaluated.

Most writing assignments are graded on several topical areas, such as organization of ideas, content, writing style, grammar, and adherence to APA style. Each of these topical areas usually have several criteria by which the paper or project is judged. 

Here is an example of a rubric used to evaluate Reaction Papers:

RUBRIC for REACTION PAPER

CRITERA	NEEDS IMPROVEMENT 6.9	MEETS EXPECTATIONS 7.9	EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS 10	YOUR SCORE
ORGANIZATION
Clearly organized introduction, body, conclusion	Disorganized, leaves reader wondering what is being said	Paper has intro, body, conclusion	Smoothly written easy to read, topic introduced, organization clearly evident
The paper has a clear focus, controlling idea and purpose; the student’s reaction to the topic is clearly stated	Fails to offer a main idea; the student does not clearly identify his/her reaction to the topic	The entire paper’s content relates to the main idea; the student explains his/her reaction to the topic	The student’s reaction to the topic is explained in captivatingly worded language; immediately interesting and supported with detail
Supporting Ideas: All of the supporting ideas are developed with evidence	Supporting ideas are not developed; the paper seems to jump from topic to topic and is disorganized	Supporting ideas are developed and may, or may not, include evidence	Supporting ideas are well developed and supported with evidence from the text while at the same time maintaining an interesting tone and making the paper interesting to read
Writing Style: Ideas are clearly connected and make sense	Ideas are not connected; little or no supporting facts or use of material from the text	Ideas are connected, important points make sense, citations are used, and facts and examples support the main ideas	Ideas are connected, important points make sense, citations are used, and facts and examples support the main ideas. Uses evidence from the text
Evidence of evaluating the topic	Weak or no evaluation of the topic	The student describes the topic and then evaluates the topic but may be lacking clear evidence or supporting citations	The student both describes the topic and then evaluates the topic; supports assertions with citations and examples
GRAMMAR
Fewer than 10 mechanics, spelling, usage, grammar, or punctuation errors	Exceeds 8 grammatical and/or punctuation errors	Between 4-5 errors, but they are minor and do not detract from the summary	No errors whatsoever!
Use of transitions to connect sentences and ideas	Choppy, sentences are not connected	Paper expresses the ideas of the author; sentences relate to one another; may take a re-reading to understand	This paper is easy to read and makes sense the first time it is read. It is interesting to read and smoothly written.
Correct choice of words, verb tenses, avoidance of wordy phrases, etc	Improper use of language or slang, wrong word choice, appears “padded”	Occasional wrong word choice, somewhat wordy but not enough to detract from the summary. May occasionally use wrong verb tense	No wrong word choice or slang, uses correct verb tenses. Tightly written and uses words to convey meaning rather than take up space.
FORMATTING
Follows academic writing style of using 12 point Times Roman font and uses one-inch margins all around	Fails to meet this criteria by obvious disregard for the expectations stated in the criteria	Meets this criteria with only minor exceptions	Exceeds this criteria by completely meeting ALL of these requirements with NO exception!
APA_style cover sheet, citations, and references; appropriately use in-text citations in APA style formatting	Fails to meet this criteria by obvious disregard (+8) for the expectations stated in the criteria	Meets this criteria with only minor (3-4) exceptions	Exceeds this criteria by completely meeting ALL of these requirements with NO exception!

Teaching Online? The easiest way to grade papers using rubrics is to download a student’s paper first and save it to your hard drive. Then copy and paste the rubric to the end of the student’s paper. Now you can simply turn on Track Changes in MS Word and make your comments and corrections on the student’s paper. When you get to the end of the paper, enter your score for each criteria in the rubric. The total score on the rubric will determine the student’s grade. Now the student will be able to see how you graded each area of his/her paper.

We live in an age of accountability, and instructors need to be accountable just as we hold students accountable. Assigning a paper and simply giving a grade of A or B or C does not help  students improve their writing skills. Just as you and I like to know how our performance will be judged, so too, students need to know how their work will be judged. It will also be much easier for you, the instructor, to explain to students how their papers measured up against the rubric.

If you need help constructing rubrics for your assignments, let your department Chair know, or simply do a Google search for academic rubrics. There are lots of them out there and with a simple bit of tweaking, you can easily create your customized rubric for your class!

You can also email me at johanna.p.bishop@wilmu.edu to ask about rubrics.