Types of rubrics

Holistic Rubrics 

 Single criterion rubrics (one-dimensional) used to assess participants' overall

achievement on an activity or item based on predefined achievement levels.
 Holistic rubrics may use a percentage or text only scoring method.
 Holistic Rubrics describe characteristics of each level of performance for an
assignment or activity overall (e.g., characteristics of an excellent research
paper).
 Holistic rubrics are best to use when there is no single correct answer or
response and the focus is on overall quality, proficiency, or understanding of a
specific content or skills.
 Analytic Rubrics  

 Two-dimensional rubrics with levels of achievement as columns and

assessment criteria as rows.
 Allows you to assess participants' achievements based on multiple criteria
using a single rubric. You can assign different weights (value) to different
criteria and include an overall achievement by totalling the criteria.
 With analytic rubrics, levels of achievement display in columns and your
assessment criteria display in rows.
 Analytic rubrics may use a points, custom points, or text only scoring method.
Points and custom points analytic rubrics may use both text and points to
assess performance; with custom points, each criterion may be worth a
different number of points.
 For both points and custom points an overall score is provided based on the
total number of points achieved.
 The overall score determines whether the activity is achieved.
 Analytic Rubrics feature a grid of “criteria” (columns) and “levels” of
achievement (rows). The instructor assigns points or weights to particular
criteria, and then evaluates student performance in each area.
 Useful in providing feedback on areas of strength and weakness.
 Analytic rubrics take more time to develop than a holistic rubric.
 Analytic rubrics are particularly useful for problem-solving or application
assessments because a rubric can list a different category for each component
of the assessment that needs to be included, thereby accounting for the
complexity of the task.
What is the difference between analytic and holistic rubrics?

 Analytic rubrics identify and assess components of a finished product.

 Holistic rubrics assess student work as a whole.

Which one is better?

 Neither rubric is better than the other.

 Both have a place in authentic assessment, depending on the following:
 Who is being taught? Because there is less detail to analyse in the
holistic rubric, younger students may be able to integrate it into their
schema better than the analytic rubric.
 How many teachers are scoring the product? How many teachers are
scoring the product? Different teachers have different ideas about what
constitutes acceptable criteria. The extra detail in the analytic rubric will
help multiple grades emphasize the same criteria.