Assessing student work

Rubrics provide teachers with a systematic framework for grading student work. The role of the rubric is to take the guesswork out of grading and give the teacher a clear-cut view of the criteria for an “A” paper. Unfortunately this system for grading does not promote creativity and risk taking because students know what they will be graded on specifically. Alfie Kohn’s article “The trouble with rubrics” outlines the reasons that rubrics are ineffective.

            Kohn writes that when students are graded in this manner they “tend to think less deeply, avoid taking risks, and lose interest in the learning itself.” He goes on saying “rubrics actually help to [legitimize] grades by offering a new way to derive them. They do nothing to address the terrible reality of students who have been led to focus on getting A’s rather than on making sense of ideas.” Sadly this style of assessment is very common in our education system.

            Perhaps an alternate approach to grading could be used that would promote student creativity and still make the teacher’s job easier. Robert Duke’s concept of assessment is a more holistic approach and still uses a “rubric.” I put the term rubric in quotations because Duke’s format is basically a checklist of things that the student either does or does not do. An example that he gives in his book Intelligent Music Teaching is a checklist rubric for students performing a guitar piece with an ensemble. The things on the list include:

Guitarist: Sat up straight, began immediately when called upon (no nervous mannerisms), Smiled, Gave correct starting pitch, and maintained steady pulse with right hand.

            This form of assessment grades students on a yes or no basis so there is no grey area when it comes to grading. There are also twenty bullet points on this rubric so missing a few of them doesn’t mean that the student will fail. This allows the students to be more relaxed, not so nervous about their grade, and more willing to take risks. Perhaps the most important aspect of Duke’s assessment concept is that he grades students on their actions. Everything on his list of criteria is an action verb; “Smiled, Sat up straight, maintained a steady beat, etc.” These are the qualities that we look for in good musicians. We should be grading our students on the most important aspects of musicianship in this yes or no format instead of using the typical rubric system.