Rationale for Rubrics
We use rubrics in all of our online courses because they provide accountability, fulfill an NCATE requirement, and are considered a best practice in assessment.
Students who receive a rubric with the directions for an individual assignment are less likely to have questions regarding what is expected and are more comfortable knowing the point value of each aspect of the assignment. The gradations of quality described in each box of a rubric (the “descriptors”) allow participants to self-assess their own work before submitting an assignment. Students should be able to accurately review their own work, using the rubric or other scoring tool, and come up with the same grade as the facilitator. Using a rubric with specific, measurable descriptors should take the guesswork out of your expectations and what score the participant will receive. When you deduct points, you can make it clear to the participant exactly why the points were lost by indicating the appropriate descriptor from the rubric in your gradebook comments. Rubrics tend to reduce conflicts in grading, as they are perceived as more neutral, reducing defensiveness in participants who have lost points.
NCATE requires the use of a scoring tool for any summative assessment (any assessment that counts toward the final grade of a student). For tests and quizzes, the “tool” is simply the point value of the questions (they should be noted on the assessment itself as the student completes it). When grading authentic assessments, the scoring tools become more complex as the submission being graded increases in complexity.