Rubrics. I took an entire semester on assessment and rubric construction while earning my Masters degree. It was a memorable class. I learned a lot and have used many of the nuances that create a powerful rubric to assess my students. When constructing rubrics I have always used suggestions from the students. It is common practice in my classroom to have students grade themselves on the rubric and turn it in with their final drafts.
At the start of the school year I saw a social media post from someone (forgive me, I cannot remember who) about a single point rubric. I did a little research and found references to this revolutionary way of grading as far back as 2015. Surprisingly, I had never heard of it! I was intrigued enough that I decided to give it a go to determine if it was a good fit for my classroom. It was... and it can work in your classroom too!
For the explanation and samples in this posting, I used the single point rubric to grade writing pieces. My district and state use 2-point and 4-point scoring goals for written responses. A 2-point response is usually one in which students need to answer a question about the text using details from the passage to support their response. It can be described as a "short response". A 4-point response typically involves pulling evidence from more than one text, multiple paragraphs, and more eloquent sentence structure. 4-point responses are often referred to as "extended response".
I started with a 2-point question. I had been using the tried and true R.A.D.D. (Restate. Answer. Detail. Detail.) but students would still struggle with simple things such as "enough details" or an appropriate conclusion. For those students who would follow the rubric literally, they sometimes would give two drab text details without context, explanation, or an inference.
INTRODUCING A NEW RUBRIC AND EARNING 2 POINTS
To begin, I introduced the rubric and spent approximately 20 minutes going over each bullet; demonstrating examples and non-examples. We also discussed how a student could be missing a bullet point (ex: conclusion) and still earn 2 points. It was a wonderful way for students to dissect good writing and the merits of a "strong" 2 compared to a "weak" 2.
My rubric coding is as follows:
- star = the student completed that bullet well
- circled bullet = need more for this category
- arrow to the left = need to improve the response in that bullet category
- arrow to the right = exceeded the expectations for that bullet category
One of the challenges of using a single-point rubric for a 2-point response is that the max points are 2. Once students have met the requirements in the center column, they have maxed out the credit. However, the right column helps students aim for writing that exceeds the expectations; even if they are unable to earn arrows to the right for each bullet point, they most likely have earned 2 points.
The 2-point rubric helped prepare my students for meeting expectations when we moved to a 4-point rubric. Once the students understood the concept moving through the center column and meeting the requirements, it was an easy segue into the 4-point response.
THE NEXT LEVEL: EARNING 4 POINTS
After working with the single point I moved my students to working with a 4-point single-point rubric. With having the previous experience with the 2-point rubric, they understood the minimum requirements are listed in the middle. However, with a 4-point response, when a students completes the middle column they have MET the expectation. If a student earns arrows to the right, they are now working beyond the minimum requirements and have EXCEEDED the expectation. Using a single-point rubric to explain the difference between meeting and exceeding expectations helped clarify a lot of the misinformation about scoring 4 points. The rubrics were especially helpful when conferencing with families and discussing what is proficient compared to exceeding. It also helped to shift the discussion to other parts of the report card where students can earn up to 4 points for each of the standards. For some families, they were able to grasp that a 3 doesn't mean 75% and that 3's are the goal. 4's are a celebration and rare.
Students have been presented with a bulleted list of requirements for over a decade. Yet, I would still get written responses handed in with some of the bullets not completed. The frustration! Have you ever wondered how a student could completely ignore the bullet point "details from BOTH stories"? I will not claim that students no longer ignore/miss/forget bullet points. But at least now the rubric matches the prompt. It is more cohesive and there are fewer bullets being missed.
I use single point rubrics to organize and explain the minimum requirements of a writing assignment. The ease and flexibility of the rubric lends itself to adaptation for any assignment and any content area.
A single-point rubric has eliminated a lot of the "clutter" that comes with the big grids. It also does away with the "always, sometimes, rarely, never" nonsense that has wiggled its way into rubrics for lack of anything better. The single-point rubric streamlines the minimum expectations for students and families and clarifies the difference between meeting and exceeding expectations.