6 Reasons to Try a Single-Point Rubric

A format that provides students with personalized feedback and works to have them from focusing solely on their grade.

As educators, we understand the power of a rubric that is good. Well-crafted rubrics facilitate clear and communication that is meaningful our students and help keep us accountable and consistent inside our grading. They’re important and meaningful classroom tools.

Usually as soon as we talk about rubrics, we’re referring to either a holistic or an analytic rubric, even if we aren’t entirely acquainted with those terms. A rubric that is holistic an assignment on to general levels from which a student can do, assigning an overall grade for each level. For instance, a holistic rubric might describe an A essay with the following criteria: “The essay has a clear, creative thesis statement and a frequent overall argument. The essay is 2–3 pages long, demonstrates correct MLA formatting and grammar, and offers a complete works cited page.” Then it can list the criteria for a B, a C, etc.

An rubric that is analytic break each of those general levels down even further to include multiple categories, each using its own scale of success—so, to keep the example above, the analytic rubric might have four grades levels, with corresponding descriptions, for each associated with following criteria points: thesis, argument, length, and grammar and formatting.

Both styles have their advantages and possess served many classrooms well.

However, there’s a third option that introduces some exciting and game-changing possibility of us and our students.

The single-point rubric offers a different method of systematic grading in the classroom. Like holistic and analytic rubrics, it breaks the aspects of an assignment down into categories, clarifying to students what types of things you expect of those within their work. The single-point rubric includes only guidance on and descriptions of successful work—without listing a grade, it might look like the description of an A essay in the holistic rubric above unlike those rubrics. Into the example below, you can see that the rubric describes what success looks like in four categories, with space for the trained teacher to spell out the way the student has met the criteria or how they are able to still improve.

A rubric that is single-point the standards a student has to meet to accomplish the assignment; however, it leaves the categories outlining success or shortcoming open-ended. This approach that is relatively new a host of advantages of teachers and students. Implementing new ideas inside our curricula is never easy, but permit me to suggest six reasoned explanations why you really need to give the rubric that is single-point try.

1. It offers space to think on both strengths and weaknesses in student work. Each category invites teachers to meaningfully share with students whatever they did really well and where they might want to consider making some adjustments.

2. It does not place boundaries on student performance. The rubric that is single-pointn’t attempt to cover all the areas of a project that could go well or poorly. It provides guidance after which allows students to approach the project in creative and unique ways. It will help steer students far from relying an excessive amount of on teacher direction and encourages them to produce their own ideas.

3. It works against students’ tendency to rank themselves and also to compare themselves to or take on one another. Each student receives feedback that is unique is specific in their mind and their work, but that can’t be easily quantified.

4. It can help take student attention from the grade. The design of this rubric emphasizes descriptive, individualized feedback over the grade. In the place of centering on teacher instruction to be able to shoot for a grade that is particular students can immerse themselves in the experience of the assignment.

5. It generates more flexibility without sacrificing clarity. Students will always be given clear explanations when it comes to grades they earned, but there is however a whole lot more room to account fully for a student taking a project in a direction that a holistic or rubric that is analyticn’t or couldn’t account fully for.

6. It’s simple! The single-point rubric has not as text than other rubric styles. The odds that our students will actually browse the rubric that is whole reflect on given feedback, and don’t forget both are much higher.

You’ll notice that the recurring theme in my list involves placing our students in the center of write my paper our grading mentalities. The ideology behind the single-point rubric inherently moves classroom grading away from quantifying and streamlining student work, shifting student and teacher focus in the direction of celebrating creativity and intellectual risk-taking.

If you or your administrators are worried in regards to the not enough specificity involved with grading with a single-point rubric, Jennifer Gonzales of Cult of Pedagogy has established an adaptation that incorporates specific scores or point values while still keeping the main focus on personalized feedback and descriptions of successful work. She offers a short description associated with scored version along with an extremely template that is user-friendly.

Although the single-point rubric might need that we as educators give a little a lot more of our time and energy to reflect on each student’s unique work when grading, it creates space for our students to develop as scholars and individuals who take ownership of these learning. It tangibly demonstrates to them that we rely on and value their educational experiences over their grades. The dwelling of the single-point rubric allows us as educators to focus toward returning grades and teacher feedback to their proper roles: supporting and fostering real learning inside our students.