Rubrics: holistic and analytic

I had never really thought about how teachers actually designed rubrics. After reading from Williams and Mertler, grading writing assignments made since. I could relate this to my past writing assignments. I was able to analyze the two different types of rubrics, holistic and analytical. Do they both seem to be significant for the writing purposes they are used for?

In some instances, I liked receiving papers back with feedback on my performance. This allows a writer to see concepts they may have missed or even grammar corrections. This would be an example of an analytic style of grading, “where the teacher scores separate, individual parts of the product or performance first, then sums the individual scores to obtain a total score” (Mertler). This process is said to be time consuming, which I can understand. This requires a teacher to assess a student’s paper several times before placing a total score on it. Although this may be very time consuming for a teacher I believe it benefits a student.

Holistic style “requires the teacher to score the overall process or product as a whole, without judging the component parts separately” (Mertler). If a teacher gives a writing assignment where there is no correct answer, this rubric works perfectly. The grade is based off of the overall performance. The teacher only needs to read through a paper once to establish a grade, which is less time consuming than analytical. Time seems to be very important for a teacher, so to be able to spend less time grading and more time teaching is crucial.

However, even though both are different there is no correct way to grade. It gives teachers an option based on their assignment criteria. One is not better than the other; it just depends on the type of assignment you choose to create. One allows for more feedback than the other for students, analytical. Both rubrics do take time to create. They must be created a head of time providing samples for the students, so they can understand the grading policy. As a teacher being prepared is important. You want your students to understand your grading policy so they know how to write their paper; understand what they need to write about according to the rubric.

I like how there is choice when it comes to grading. Although many teachers have one style they like to use, it is nice to see the variations. It not only gives teachers variety but a chance to experience with students, to see what works best for them.