A rubric is an assessment tool that is simple for both teachers and students to use. One type of rubric, the holistic rubric, focuses on providing a fast and easy way to grade students' work. It provides a list of important criteria to be assessed in the assignment and the maximum value each criterion is worth in the final grade.
When compared to the analytical rubric, the holistic rubric is easier to learn how to create and quicker to use to produce a traditional letter or percentage grade. The grade this rubric produces is more accurate when being used to evaluate one category of criteria, but does not provide as much feedback as to skill assessment.
Assessment Criteria
The criteria for a holistic rubric are typically generic and related. A rubric for a well written paragraph might have criteria such as accurate spelling, correct sentence structure, strong topic sentence and number of supporting sentences. Each of these would then have a maximum point value associated with it, allowing the teacher flexibility to remove points for less than perfect work.
Each criterion should be written in a positive tone and on the student’s level of understanding. The focus should be on what the student should do for success, and not what constitutes failure. The holistic rubric can then be given to each student prior to starting the assignment so he or she knows specifically what defines success, provided as a self-assessment tool part way through the assignment, and also used by the teacher as a grading tool.
Determining the Final Grade
When used as a grading tool, holistic rubrics are quick and easy to use. The teacher can easily go through each assignment and choose a score based on each criterion. The points are then summed to provide a final point value, or divided by the total possible for a percentage that can then be converted to a letter grade.
The more a teacher uses holistic rubrics, especially if the same or similar rubric is used for multiple or different assignments, the easier it gets. After some time, the point assigned to each criterion or changed due to student mistakes becomes more consistently applied. Students also become comfortable with knowing what is being emphasized by each assignment, which removes some of the student anxiety since they know how the assignment will be graded.
Holistic rubrics are basically an extension of the way many teachers already grade. The primary difference is that it specifies the criteria in advance in a way that students can also use the rubric as a self-assessment tool.
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