Rubrics: Holistic vs. Analytic

When creating the elementary writing assignment for class Tuesday, I found difficulty in developing a quality rubric. I had an idea in mind for the activity and was proud of the assignment I created. Any teacher hopes that upon completing the assigned writing task, all students will have a concrete understanding of the assignment’s concepts and objectives; however, this can be a rarity in the classroom.

Rubrics, both holistic and analytical, help convey to the student whether or not they have mastered the important ideas and concepts within the assignment. In order to create a rubric that delivers this crucial information, a teacher must first identify the purpose and objectives of the assignment. If an assessment of the overall product is preferred, a holistic rubric is more appropriate. Holistic rubrics are used when “performance tasks require students to create some sort of response and where there is no definitive correct answer” (Mertler). Comparatively, analytical rubrics are used when the assignment requires a focused response in performance tasks where there may be one or two acceptable responses (Mertler). This type of rubric also involves many scores accumulated to one total sum, representing assessment on a multidimensional level (Mertler).

As a student, I have always appreciated rubrics. Rubrics present a system of guidelines that help me direct my written work, almost serving as a checklist. Rubrics also help me determine what the teacher is looking for. I feel an analytic grading style is more effective in upper elementary and secondary grade levels; a holistic grading style is more effective for lower elementary. In the lower elementary grades, students are learning basic concepts that serve as the foundation of their knowledge. Students in the upper elementary grades have the ability to focus on more details, and teachers can view their work in a more analytic manner.

That is not to say that either type of rubric should be specifically dedicated to one grade level. However, I’m interested to see which of the two rubrics mentioned appear to be more effective in the classroom?