PositionPaperontheUseofRubrics

YuMiao

Introduction

In the beginning of this paper，we need to clarify the definition of “rubric”.According to Schmoker （2006），“a rubric simply means a rule or guide… by which students performance or product is judged.It nails down the criteria，making them available to schools，teachers，parents，and students and providing clear direction and focus” （pp.70-71，cited in Cooper，& Gargan，2009，p.54）.When it comes to the question whether we should use rubrics for assessing students performance，there has never been a commonly agreed upon answer.Some researchers，teachers and students believe there are certain benefits in using rubrics，while others oppose the use of rubrics by questioning its potential problems.The paper will take a position that the use of rubrics in foreign language assessment has certain benefits which worth the efforts to solve those potential problems so the use of rubrics should be supported.

Supporting Arguments for Rubrics

Many people agree with the use of rubrics because using rubrics have some certain benefits for the process of teaching and learning.

First of all，the use of rubrics can benefit the process of assessing students performance.For one thing，according to Silvestri and Oescher （2006），developing and using rubrics can “ensure[and increase]the reliability of assessments” （p.25）.Callison （2000） also expressed the similar perspective that the objectivity and consistency of assessments can be increased with the use of rubrics （pp.34-36，42）.For another，Alexander and Praegers research （2009） examined that the use of rubrics can help promote justice and fairness in assessments in that rubrics can clearly explain the tasks requirements to different types of students so as to guide them towards better understanding of how they can accomplish the task （pp.1-11）.

In addition，the use of rubrics can benefit teaching.First of all，according to Cooper and Gargan （2009），“a rubric can help teachers think carefully and critically what they are teaching and what students need to learn” （p.55）.That is，rubrics can provide useful guidelines for teachers to set teaching objectives，determine or adjust content and strategies，reflect on their own teaching，and take account of students current and potential levels of performance.In this way，rubrics also enable teachers to “focus on critical elements of the curriculum thus ensuring alignment of curriculum content，instruction and assessment” （Alexander，& Praeger，2009，p.4）.

Moreover，the use of rubrics can also benefit learning.First of all，with the help of rubrics，students can have a better and clearer understanding of the expectations and requirements of a task before and during the process of completing it （Cooper，& Gargan，2009，p.55）.Besides，rubrics can provide “resources to facilitate self-assessment leading to self-correction prior to submission” （Alexander，& Praeger，2009，p.4）.In this way，rubrics not only create the opportunities for students to take more responsibility for learning，but also allow them to recognize their own progress in study.Whats more，“rubrics provide opportunities for reflection … and continued learning” （Cooper，& Gargan，2009，p.55）.As is known to us，the scores as well as feedback provided by rubrics can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of students，thus enabling students to improve their performance and demonstrating how they can do that.

Opposing Arguments against Rubrics

Others oppose the use of rubrics because using rubrics may cause some potential problems in the process of teaching and learning.

As for the process of assessing students performance，the increase of assessments reliability is not necessarily as obvious as assumed.Firstly，although assessments objectivity can be increased by the use of rubrics，“rubrics can still be subjective” （Cooper，& Gargan，2009，p.55）.That is，the ways of using the same rubric might be different among a group of scorers，since the training or calibration is not able to eliminate the influences of scorers personal traits，experiences and values.Secondly，Callison （2000） argued that “although consistency can be provided within a lesson，the more teachers，grade levels，and subjects[become]involved，the wider the range and definitions of acceptable performance criteria[emerge]，and evaluation suddenly becomes very complex and confusing” （pp.34-36，42）.Under such more complex contexts，the use of rubrics might not be able to ensure assessments reliability.

Besides，many researchers have noticed the difficulty of creating，developing and using rubrics.Cooper and Gargan （2009） believed that “rubrics can make more work[for teachers]…[including]creating and using rubrics” （p.55）.Callison （2000） stated that “construction of good rubric statements takes time and practice” （pp.34-36，42），indicating the difficulty of creating and developing rubrics，especially a “good rubric” which would be constructive，clear，comprehensive，and effective.Silvestri and Oescher （2006） also emphasized that considerable time and efforts would be needed to construct and develop a rubric （pp.28-29）.

Moreover，rubrics have some negative impact on teaching and learning.“Rubrics may restrict education …[and]stifle students creativity as teachers measure student work strictly by the rubric” （Cooper，& Gargan，2009，p.55）.Although a rubric can guide students to understand the expectations and requirements of a particular task and encourage them to reach the expectations，there is potential danger that students thoughts and ways of thinking would be shaped in the same way，thus limiting students creativity.Silvestri and Oescher （2006） also mentioned that some teachers did not want to use rubrics since they wanted to protect students creativity and help maintain the students motivation for learning by allowing them to perform in their own ways （p.28）.

My Point of View

From my perspective，the use of rubrics should be supported.Although using rubrics does have some potential problems，it brings so many benefits which worth the efforts to overcome those difficulties.The following discussion will be based on using rubrics for assessment in foreign language instruction.

First of all，developing and using rubrics can “ensure[and increase]the reliability of assessments” （Silvestri，& Oescher，2006，p.25）.In Silvestri and Oeschers research （2006），they compared the scoring without using rubrics and scoring using rubrics with the so-called “true” score of four sample writings，and they realized that score with rubrics was much closer to “true” score and more consistent than score without rubrics （pp.25-30）.In my opinion，the reason why using rubrics can increase assessments reliability is that rubrics，especially analytic rubrics，guide scorers to grade students performance，such as their essays，by providing practical，standardized and detailed guidelines about the categorization of different levels of performance； and that if there is a group of scorers，they will receive training or calibration on how to use rubrics properly by practicing with writing samples before starting to grade students essays.Since all scorers are trained beforehand to grade students responses following the rubrics guidelines and there is also a double-check system （the third scorer），the reliability of the test is ensured.

In addition，the use of rubrics can benefit language teaching.According to Cooper and Gargan （2009），“a rubric can help teachers think carefully and critically what they are teaching and what students need to learn” （p.55）.That is，rubrics can provide useful guidelines for teachers to set teaching objectives，determine or adjust content and strategies，reflect on their own teaching，and take account of students current and potential levels of performance.

Furthermore，the use of rubrics can also benefit language learning.First of all，with the help of rubrics，especially analytic rubrics，students can have a better and clearer understanding of the expectations and requirements of a task （Cooper，& Gargan，2009，p.55）.Thus they can know how to achieve a particular level of performance in the task and work out a practical plan in order to reach the requirements.I can still recall the experience of taking the IELTS test last year.It was the rubric of the IELTS test that enabled me to reach my target level of performance.The rubric provided very detailed description of different levels of performance for reading，listening，speaking and writing，enabling me to identify my current level of ability at that time，set challenging but achievable objectives，work out a practical plan，and fulfill it step by step.Eventually，I achieved the score that I had wished to have.During this process，rubrics create the opportunity for me to take more responsibility for language learning.

Conclusion

To draw a conclusion，I support the use of rubrics in foreign language assessment.Firstly，the use of rubrics can increase assessments reliability.Secondly，the use of rubrics can benefit language teaching by providing helpful guidance for language instruction.Thirdly，the use of rubrics can also benefit language learning by helping students understand the expectations and requirements of a task，and interpret the underlying meaning of their scores and recognize their strengths and weaknesses of language learning so as to make improvements.

References：

[1]Alexander， C.， & Praeger， S.（2009）.Smoke gets in your eyes： Using rubrics as a tool for building justice into assessment practices.Paper presented at ‘Teacher education crossing borders： Cultures， contexts， communities and curriculum the annual conference of the Australian Teacher Education Association （ATEA）， Albury， 28 June – 1 July.（Cited in the format as requested）.

[2]Callison， D.（2000）.Rubrics.School Library Media Activities Monthly， 17（2）， 34-36， 42.

[3]Cooper， B.S.， & Gargan， A.（2009）.Rubrics in education： Old term， new meanings.Phi Delta Kappan， 91（1）， 54-55.

[4]Silvestri， L.， & Oescher， J.（2006）.Using rubrics to increase the reliability of assessment in health classes.International Electronic Journal of Health Education， 9， 25-30.