How can we teach properly and evaluate correctly?
The Ladder of Learning Growth: Everything You Need to Know About Creating and Using Rubrics

Rubrics have become common in educational settings recently, but they are often not used properly.
"How to Create and Use Rubrics" corrects misconceptions about rubrics and guides the creation and use of effective rubrics through clear explanations and various examples.
Part 1 provides guidance on what a rubric is and how to create one, using various examples. Part 2 covers how to effectively use rubrics in teaching and learning.
The author provides specific information on correct and incorrect rubrics, and suggests various evaluation factors and appropriate techniques for each topic, helping teachers in the field to avoid getting lost and organize student learning according to the nature and purpose of the rubric.


The top priority in assessment should not be grading and grading, but rather, “How does this assessment support students’ learning?”
Through this book, teacher readers will realize that rubrics are ultimately for student learning and growth, and that the process itself is also for teacher learning and growth.

This book is divided into two major parts.
Part 1 is about rubrics themselves, covering what they are, how to write them, and various examples.
Part 2 covers how to use rubrics in teaching and learning.
---From "Preface: To All Teachers Using Rubrics"

Rubrics are unique in that they are descriptive rather than evaluative.
Of course, rubrics are used for evaluation.
However, the actual principle of using a rubric is not to “judge” the performance results, but to “connect” them to the skills at each performance level on the rubric.
Therefore, to determine whether a rubric is good or bad, we must examine whether the evaluation factors have been properly selected and whether the corresponding performance levels have been properly described.
An effective rubric has appropriate assessment factors and well-written performance descriptions.
---From "Chapter 1: What is a Rubric and Why is it Important?"

What should be assessed by a rubric is the learning outcome, not the task used to assess the learning outcome.
These two should not be confused.
A rubric is more than just a table with instructions for an assignment.
The biggest mistake teachers make when using rubrics in performance assessment is focusing on the task—the product—rather than on the learning outcomes or proficiency students are expected to demonstrate through the task.
I have had this experience myself, and other studies have confirmed this.
---From "2 Common Misconceptions About Rubrics"

The role of technology in a rubric is to allow assessment factors to be identified along a continuum of qualitative levels.
A piece with three minor grammatical errors may demonstrate a much more “complex” and “sophisticated” English communication ability than a piece with only one error but only a few short sentences.
---From “3 Creating and Selecting Effective Rubrics”

The most meaningful part of this rubric, which expresses thinking from a student's perspective, is the description of the level of performance of 'demonstrating mathematical knowledge'.
A math problem-solving rubric written from an adult's perspective describes a student's problem-solving process with terms such as "demonstrates understanding of mathematical concepts and principles," "uses appropriate terminology and notation," and "executes an algorithm completely and correctly."
However, we cannot ask students to assess their own “understanding of mathematical concepts and principles.”
That is a judgment that must be made by an outside observer.
This student-friendly rubric flips the concept of understanding from something the teacher observes to something the student does.
---From "4 General Rubrics for Basic Ability Assessment"

Although task-specific rubrics and grading scales are not the most important grading methods, both should be on a teacher's grading repertoire and available for use when needed.
Task-specific rubrics are intended for grading purposes.
In comparison, general rubrics are much more flexible and serve both learning and grading purposes.
Above all, the author places greater value on general rubrics than on task-specific rubrics because general rubrics can be used with students.
General rubrics are especially valuable when schools and teachers adopt a standards-based grading policy that demonstrates proficiency levels and align all rubrics accordingly.
---From “5 Task-Specific Rubrics and Grading Systems for Specific Purposes”

Let's think about the correct counting method and percentage scale that have traditionally been used in grading.
The percentage is just a number that shows what percentage of the test content you got right, and it does not directly indicate the achievement standard.
If a teacher grades a student based on achievement criteria when he or she gets 100% on a test, he or she might be tempted to label the student as “proficient.”
But what if the test questions only measured basic comprehension, as required by the achievement standards, and did not ask questions requiring higher-order thinking skills? This 100% accuracy rate simply indicates that the student is "proficient."
---From “6 Achievement-Based Grading with Proficiency-Based Rubrics”

Quality rating scales skip steps and lead to hasty judgments.
In other words, it means making a judgment without explaining the evidence.
In reality, the quality assessment scale is very definitive, saying things like “it is excellent because the evaluator rated it as excellent,” and although there is a “performance level,” there is no explanation of the level.
You'll see many examples of what are called "rubrics" in schools and on the internet, but they're actually quality rating scales based on "criteria" for the task rather than the learning itself.
---From "7 Checklists and Rating Scales: Not Rubrics, but Related Assessment Tools"

We hope that teachers will be able to inductively generalize the characteristics of desirable rubrics through numerous examples.
Let's put the characteristics of a desirable rubric mentioned in this book side by side with the conclusions we've drawn ourselves and see how well they match up.
If the two are similar, you have a clear idea of ​​what an effective rubric is.
---From “8 Examples of Rubrics on Various Topics and Types”

If the rubric says, “Understand the author’s intent and support this judgment using details from the text,” highlight the statement in the rubric and then highlight the parts of the example that demonstrate the author’s intent and the supporting evidence.
Students learn what the evaluation elements and performance skills at each level mean by finding and reviewing relevant parts of examples of performance outcomes like this.
This activity can also be used directly in students' assignments for formative assessment.
Before beginning their assignments, students can work through this activity using examples of their work and discuss with their partners, groups, or the entire class where they highlighted and why.
---From "9 Rubrics and Formative Assessment: Sharing Learning Goals with Students"

Peer feedback works best in classroom cultures that believe constructive criticism is an important part of learning.
However, in classrooms characterized by a grade-centric culture that emphasizes grades (“What grade did you get?”), peer feedback is less effective.
In such classrooms, students may be hesitant to criticize their peers for fear of implying that something is “wrong.”
So, you should only attempt peer feedback when you are confident that students value the opportunity to learn.
If peer feedback isn't working well despite careful preparation, consider whether students are more concerned about getting good grades than improving their work.
---From "10 Rubrics and Formative Assessment: Feedback and Student Self-Assessment"

I was once asked by a teacher at a grading workshop about a rubric that awarded a 1 point for the lowest performance level.
Typically, the lowest level of a rubric will say something like “The answer is difficult to determine” or “No answer was given.”
The teacher expressed concern about whether it was okay to “get points” for doing virtually nothing.
This interesting question is based on the premise that students can only earn points when they perform something.
Grades are supposed to show how much students have accomplished, but they are ultimately measured by arbitrary scales created by teachers.
---From "11 Grading Methods Using Rubrics"

Rubrics have become very common these days.
But in my experience, it's far more often than not used properly.
Too often, rubrics are used in the same way as other point-based grading systems, either by finding assessment factors based on trivial facts or lists, such as “there are four adjectives in the paragraph,” or by completely neglecting the formative and student-centered assessment opportunities that are the greatest strengths of rubrics.

---From “Conclusion: Hoping for more effective rubric-based classes and assessments”