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Rating: 
Summary: From Maps to Rubrics:
Review: When writing rubrics were first introduced to the teaching of composition, instructors thought that we had finally created the ideal tool for assessing student writing. It seemed that writing rubrics were all that we would ever need to formalize and guide our assessments. Bob Broad challenges the idea that traditional rubrics can effectively chart each of the criteria by which we really assess writing in our classrooms. The dominant metaphor Broad employs to demonstrate the inadequacy of writing rubrics involves early attempts at creating geographical maps. Such an attempt to map various landmasses adorns the cover of the book. The result of is what looks, by today's standards, to be a distorted and rudimentary sketch of what the continents "really" look like. In short, these maps were both inaccurate and useful. Similarly, Broad argues that rubrics, while extremely useful, are also highly inaccurate in charting the things that we "really value" in assessing writing. Broad also outlines a method of assessing writing which abandons the concept of rubric and embraces a more comprehensive mapping of the things we value in writing. This book is both revolutionary and inspiring. Years of using rubrics have convinced writing teachers that the scope of criteria by which they can assess student writing is quite limited. Instructors often assess writing by examining and commenting only upon grammar and mechanics; Broad's argument opens new avenues for instructors to look critically at many other important criteria. The best thing about the book, however, is that Broad creates practical and useful methods for assessing those seemingly intangible criteria we really value yet rarely assess. Broad's "What We Really Value" only begins the process of "mapping" writing assessment. Much like ancient maps, the rubrics we currently use to assess writing fail to adequately represent the things we really value in writing. Broad's book makes it clear that this is the time to acknowledge the terrain that rubrics fail to chart and develop ways of exploring those uncharted areas.
Rating:
Summary: From Maps to Rubrics:
Review: When writing rubrics were first introduced to the teaching of composition, instructors thought that we had finally created the ideal tool for assessing student writing. It seemed that writing rubrics were all that we would ever need to formalize and guide our assessments. Bob Broad challenges the idea that traditional rubrics can effectively chart each of the criteria by which we really assess writing in our classrooms. The dominant metaphor Broad employs to demonstrate the inadequacy of writing rubrics involves early attempts at creating geographical maps. Such an attempt to map various landmasses adorns the cover of the book. The result of is what looks, by today's standards, to be a distorted and rudimentary sketch of what the continents "really" look like. In short, these maps were both inaccurate and useful. Similarly, Broad argues that rubrics, while extremely useful, are also highly inaccurate in charting the things that we "really value" in assessing writing. Broad also outlines a method of assessing writing which abandons the concept of rubric and embraces a more comprehensive mapping of the things we value in writing. This book is both revolutionary and inspiring. Years of using rubrics have convinced writing teachers that the scope of criteria by which they can assess student writing is quite limited. Instructors often assess writing by examining and commenting only upon grammar and mechanics; Broad's argument opens new avenues for instructors to look critically at many other important criteria. The best thing about the book, however, is that Broad creates practical and useful methods for assessing those seemingly intangible criteria we really value yet rarely assess. Broad's "What We Really Value" only begins the process of "mapping" writing assessment. Much like ancient maps, the rubrics we currently use to assess writing fail to adequately represent the things we really value in writing. Broad's book makes it clear that this is the time to acknowledge the terrain that rubrics fail to chart and develop ways of exploring those uncharted areas.
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