Creating Columns or Breaking Down Barriers: A Self-Study into Exploring Rubrics

This was an action research based self-study project. This study explored three different types of rubrics developed to assess student learning and their use in my instruction. It consisted of a two-part exploratory cycle. Within each of the two cycles, I designed and implemented three different types of rubrics; holistic, analytic descriptor, and single point. Throughout this three-month project, I documented changes in my thoughts and in my actions and instruction. During this time, I journaled about the process, and within that, four themes emerged: changes over time, theory to practice, rubric expectations and outcomes, and flaws and rules. On finding that, I realized that initial expectations and outcomes rarely align. Even though I had planned to avoid flaws identified in the literature for building rubrics, I avoided them only partially. I also discovered that the theories embedded in my research framework, constructivism and differentiation, were deeply integrated into my research and practice.