Language of Rubrics

Language of the Taxonomy

One of the most difficult aspects of writing a rubric is finding the language to use. Most teachers are familiar with the gradations of Bloom's Taxonomy which move from describe to explain, analyse, evaluate. The Achievement Standards are written in this way. For rubrics, it is important to use clear language such as Blooms. However, it is important to teach students what analysis looks like and even to set your learning objectives for a lesson explicitly around higher order activities such as analysing.

The SOLO Taxonomy is also useful for developing criteria for writing rubrics, particularly for investigations, as students move from using one piece of information to combining and synthesising information.

The course handbook also has the common curriculum elements which is another list of helpful vocabulary that can be used when creating rubrics.

Language of the Learning Progression

Gonski 2.0 refers to Learning Progressions extensively and explains how these can show a student where they are in their learning. In a learning progression are the stages you go through when undertaking a skill moving from a novice to an expert. Where these learning progressions exist, they can help you with rubrics as they can show the progression that can be reflected on a rubric.

ACARA has developed Literacy and Numeracy Progressions which can be accessed HERE

ACARA have also developed advice about using these progressions in different subject areas: Literacy advice and Numeracy advice

These progressions may have language that could be helpful when writing a rubric but they are only written up to year 10.

Being Specific

Words like "sophisticated"are often seen in rubrics, but does that mean the same to a teacher and a student? It is the kind of word which needs unpacking in a rubric so that the meaning is clear to everyone. Some examples:

In English it could look like this: combining several techniques such as structure, language, character and setting to create a coherent and engaging narrative for an adult audience

In mathematics it could look like this: combining several mathematical problem solving strategies such as generalising, extending and symmetry to answer complex mathematical problems