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Today, we're going to take a look at a holistic rubrics. And for today's lesson, I've chosen a quote by Theodore Roosevelt, which states, "It is not the critic who counts, the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena."
By the time you are done with our lesson today, you are going to be able to, first, explain the features of holistic rubrics. You'll be able to review some of the advantages and disadvantages of holistic rubrics. And you'll be able to understand really the process of creating a holistic rubric.
In a holistic rubric, you are going to find all of the criteria are included on one single evaluation. So within a holistic rubric, we're really bringing together all of the elements that one could be graded on-- clarity, organization, all of them mechanics. And they're all combined together within one large general area. So they're all solidified together.
Then, a grade is given out on, usually, a one to four or one to five, or even sometimes a one to six, point scale, based on how the teacher reviews the student's work in an overall judgment. Then, what you'll notice is that oftentimes there are descriptive terms that could indicate each level of performance. Sometimes these descriptive terms could be above average, average, needs improvement. Maybe they are proficient, exemplary, or insufficient. Either way, usually a term is given along with those point values that are listed.
Also, the work tends to be graded on that overall impression. So when you use a holistic guide, rather than matching up a student's work to individual elements of that, we're looking at it as an overall impression of their performance or the product that they've given and then matching that overall product to the best placement that we can based on that scale. So within a holistic rubric, each number tends to describe the overall performance, rather than the individual criteria. It's an aggregate of all of that criteria.
So now that I've described that, what I'd like to go ahead and do is show you just a couple of examples of what a holistic rubric would look like so that you get the feel for what we're talking about here. So if we start down here at one, you will see that it consistently does all or most of the following. Unfortunately, all of those are not good things. So to be consistent in biased interpretations, that's not really where we want to be. So the one here is definitely the lowest end of the score.
Then, as you go up, you'll notice the two does most or many of the following negative elements, but not quite as much as one does. As we move up to three, we now start to see does most or many of the following, and now we start to see some positive elements that one could include. And then, finally, you'll notice the four is consistently following all of these elements that the teacher has deemed to be the most important elements within this assignment.
So you'll notice everything is together. We're not separating out the graphic elements and interpretations from the results that they're justifying. The other rubric that I want you to take a look at is this one is for a reading journal. If we zoom in really close, what you'll be able to see here, if we go all the way down to the very bottom, a zero is that it's either incomplete or non-compliant.
So all of the expectations that we have listed here are very similar as we go through, but you'll notice that there are some just language changes as we go from one to three, to a four to five, all the way up to that eight and nine. So you'll notice this looks just a little bit different. The nice thing about holistic rubrics is that they all can look just a little bit different.
Now what I'd like to do is focus in on some of the advantages and disadvantages that we find when we use holistic rubrics. So, first, let's take a look at some of the advantages. The first advantage to using a holistic rubric is that they can be used for many different tasks. They tend to be written pretty broadly, so that minimizes the number of decisions that you have to make. And you can definitely use them for multiple tasks.
Also, holistic rubrics tend to be very easy to use. They minimize the number of decisions that you have to make so that you have the opportunity to kind of grade something fairly quickly. Also, they tend to be consistent and reliable. Especially if you, as the assessor, have received training in using a holistic rubric, you tend to be able to be much more consistent with your grades amongst many different students, because you don't have to make quite as many choices. You can do it quicker, and then when you get from A to Z a lot quicker, then you tend to be more consistent as you are using them.
Finally, those holistic rubrics tend to be much more appropriate for summative assessments. So here, we're looking at something that students are doing at the very end, because it helps us to really place an overall judgment on the performance or the product that the student has created.
Now let's take a look at some of the disadvantages when we use holistic rubrics. In using holistic rubrics, they tend to be difficult, because the feedback isn't always specific, and it doesn't always indicate where a student's area of strength or weakness is. Another major disadvantage to a holistic rubric is that it's not useful if that summative assessment that you are grading using this rubric requires specific feedback, because holistic rubrics don't provide specific feedback on the rubric themselves.
Now I want to go ahead and take a look at the ways in which one would create a holistic rubric, so the steps that you would need to follow. The first step you want to take is to really identify that scoring criteria for the assessment. So what are you going to base the score on for this assessment? And then we're going to make sure that we label that with terms or with numbers so that we are really including everything that we need within. Remember, you don't separate out specific criteria. It's all kind of jumbled together.
Next, you're going to define the quality of work that would produce a one or a two or a three or a four, based on that criteria that you have established for the holistic rubric. Then, the best thing you can do is to really test that rubric on a few assignments and see, am I able to really express degree that I feel like this student deserves based on how well they've met the standards while using this rubric?
After you've tested it and you feel positive with it, I recommend exemplars at each various score level or grade level so that you can share those with students as they begin their work so that they can really see what's a good example in my mind, based on this rubric, of what a four looks like as opposed to a one. Or, even more important, what does a three look like as opposed to a two.
Next, let's talk about some of the ideal uses for holistic rubrics. So, given all of this information, it's important to note that holistic rubrics are really most useful when your goal is to provide overarching feedback rather than specific key areas where students can draw improvement, as well as they tend to be most useful for creative or subjective projects, areas in which there isn't necessarily one right way to execute the project. So many difficult components are all combined together, and that offers you the opportunity to use that to help grade many different types of assessments.
Also, it's good to know that holistic rubrics tend to be really useful when your goal is speed and consistency, when it's important for you to get through those very quickly. So let's talk about some examples where holistic rubrics would be beneficial in providing that kind of feedback.
So one example might be if I'm offering a creative project in which my mass media class, students are able to choose any major area of mass media we've identified and present to me a creative representation of that area. So some students might create a blog. Others might create a presentation up in front of the class. Others might create a video.
Or if I were to do a project that I use in creative writing, where students maybe are writing a poem and another student is writing a short story and another student is writing a play. Another really good situation for a holistic rubric would be looking at an end portfolio that a student is establishing for a certain class, so where the goal is for students to pick from a number of different pieces of work. And I'm not requiring them to make specific choices about those pieces, so everyone's work is going to look just a little bit differently. But I still want to make sure that they're all meeting the major criteria that I've set out for them.
That's the real beneficial elements of using that holistic rubric as opposed to an analytic rubric. Analytic rubrics are the ones that really break down those specific skills that we need students to be able to meet and where we grade students based on each individual criteria.
Now that we've reached the end of the lesson, you have been able to explain the features of a holistic rubric. You've been able to review the advantages and disadvantages of holistic rubrics, and you've been able to understand the process of creating a holistic rubric.
Now I'd like you to take just a moment and think about, what do you think would be the first step you would have to take to start using holistic rubrics in your class? As you reflect on how the new information can be applied, you may want to explore the Additional Resources section. This is where you'll find links to resources that are chosen to help you really deepen that learning and explore new ways that you can apply your newly acquired skill set.
(00:00-00:14) Intro
(00:15-00:31) Objectives
(00:32-02:18) Holistic Rubric Overview
(02:19-03:50) Sample Rubrics
(03:51-05:43) Holistic Rubric Advantages & Disadvantages
(05:44-09:20) Holistic Rubric Creation Process
(09:21-09:55) Review & Reflection
Teaching Commons: Types of Rubrics
This is a DePaul University site on the different types of rubrics available, how to develop them, and how to use them in scoring student work. This site offers clear steps and exemplars for teachers to follow when developing and using rubrics.
http://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/Feedback_Grading/rubrics/types-of-rubrics.html
Authentic Assessment Toolbox
This toolbox provides directions and examples on how to create a holistic rubric. The steps are clear and easy to follow.
http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/howstep4.htm#holistic