Rubrics

For years there has been outcry which states, "We should run schools like a business."  In publicly held business, the CEO is charged with maximizing shareholder profits. Many times to maximize what shareholders earn, businesses do the minimum to accomplish the task they were hired to do. When was the last time anyone was wowed by a  burger at McDonalds? The story of dealing with business today is defined by the fine print found in any dealings with business be it an advertisement, instruction manual or on some other paper which was to be found somewhere. For the consumer, the fine print does not enhance the experience of dealing with the business. It is a list of excuses why the business cannot help but decline to dazzle the consumer with their customer service along with the quality of their product.

In schools, rubrics are the equivalent of the fine print in dealings with businesses. Rubrics cause students to do the minimum to get a grade.   They allow a kid to say through the assignment they turn in,  "We've entered into an agreement. I've done each of the parts  you said must be done for a(n) _______, so give me my ______ (fill desired  letter grade in the blank)." 

Teachers use them as a way of saying to the district and the state, "I am supposed to teach these kids certain things asked for in the standards and benchmarks so, look, here are the standards and benchmarks we've covered with this assignment." Rubrics make grading papers not an activity performed by a professional, but more like repetitive assembly line work in a factory where no thought or experience is required to accomplish the task. In neither example does the fine print of the rubric encourage or expect the maximum from either student or teacher. 

What the rubric cannot assess is what the student is truly capable of doing if they were encouraged to make the project as creative, deep, fun and worthwhile as possible. Rubrics discourage kids from taking an area of interest to a deeper level or to learn or do more just to learn it. This statement is not a knock on students. It is my perception in a given situation, whether it is in athletics, academics or in another realm, 99% of all people, adults and children alike, will do enough of the activity to make it look good to others but not be totally invested in the activity.  Rubrics and fine print perpetuate the keeping up of appearances with no buy in and no soul to back it up. 

For the teacher, rubrics appear to make grading objective, which makes it easier to justify why a grade was given and to match what was taught to a standard or benchmark. For the student, rubrics appear to inform the student on what they will be graded and what they are expected to do. Sounds great, except rubrics are not good for either students or teachers.