Rubrics as catalysts for collaboration: a modest proposal

Abstract

Rubrics have received increased attention in recent years in assessment and accountability efforts in higher education as tools that provide faculty with rigorous frameworks for translating authentic examples of student work into high-quality, useable data. These same tools may represent powerful vehicles for prompting and facilitating collaboration between faculty and assessment professionals, and for crossing disciplinary, institutional, and national borders. This article makes the case for such collaboration using the AAC&U VALUE rubrics, a collection of 15 rubrics developed by faculty and higher education professionals from across the United States. Examples from institutional and state-wide collaborations with the VALUE rubrics will be discussed, as well as their potential for future national and international collaborations.

Keywords:

• rubrics
• authentic assessment
• faculty collaboration

Notes

1. ETS is the purveyor of the SAT, the primary college entrance test, in the US.

2. This test is now known as the ETS Proficiency Profile (PP).

3. I served as a member of the Inquiry and Analysis rubric team in the summer of 2009, and also participated in one of the reliability studies.