Evaluating Student Work: Item-Specific Scoring Rubrics

Evaluating student work is one of the most important tasks teachers must perform. Scoring rubrics are tools that help teachers award points to student responses. This lesson focuses on item-specific scoring rubrics, which describe the specific content of responses of varying quality to a question or task.

In this lesson you will be introduced to:

• the importance of scoring rubrics in promoting fairness, focus, and efficiency;
• four general principles associated with good item-specific scoring rubrics;
• examples of ineffective and effective rubrics using various approaches;
• suggestions for teachers and instructional leaders to improve the evaluation of student work using item-specific rubrics; and,
• recommended activities and resources to deepen your understanding and use of item-specific scoring rubrics.