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one way. Finally, while rubrics do not eliminate all disparities in an evaluation, they are suited to provide consistency and validity to many current processes. As Barb Walvoord, professor emerita at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, notes, “You are trying to construct a rubric that will allow professionals in your field to evaluate student work in reasonably similar ways. Of course, professionals will disagree somewhat in their evaluation of the same piece of student work, just as they disagree somewhat on their evaluation of their colleagues’ work in the field. However rubrics make explicit the criteria that are being applied to this work at this time, and it brings judgments closer together.”

rubrics offer the ability to collect quantitative results such as the percentage of RA candidates who were rated “above average” or “excellent” when responding to a case study. Additionally, RA candidates are able to demonstrate – either in writing or verbally – what they know or can do. Use of a rubric, if shared with the RAs before they begin work on an assignment, will allow them to know the criteria on which they will be evaluated, learn the qualities of good work in the field, and consciously strive for those qualities. In this way, rubrics provide structure and, if used correctly, can assist students in understanding the standards to which they can aspire. Rubrics also deliver benefits through the review of high and low scores from the evaluation of students, allowing one to surmise strengths and areas for improvement for housing programs and services in order to best support and reinforce learning in the future. At the same time, they allow for more communication with colleagues about program goals, standards of practice, and hoped-for outcomes. The development and implementation of rubrics can provide genuine opportunities for collaboration. Finally, use of a rubric enables housing staff members to have a clear understanding of and guidance about the range of evaluation ratings and the criteria for evaluation ratings. There is less room for subjective judgment with a rubric. The RAs and the professional housing staff have a much better opportunity to come to agreement about the criteria for categories in which to rate and the criteria for “above standard,” “standard,” and “below standard.”

Using Rubrics in Housing and Residence Life
Why should residence life departments consider integrating rubrics into existing assessment programs? First, it is important to understand how a rubric operates. There are two types of rubrics: analytic and holistic. Analytic rubrics are arranged in a way that scale points are indicated based on individual or unique descriptions per dimension, with a number of dimensions present. Holistic rubrics are arranged in a way that scale points are indicated based on one main dimension with several descriptive phrases. Both types of rubrics are useful, effective, and capable of containing the same overall amount of information. The different types are just better suited given the subject matter, assessment process, or the preference of the evaluator. Rubrics are well suited for use within residence life as they combine qualitative and quantitative results, communicate expectations to students, provide feedback, promote collaboration, and provide consistent evaluation. Consider the application of rubrics to a resident assistant training program. Initially,
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Collecting Data
As previously mentioned, rubrics are used most often with observation and document analysis. Examples of uses for observation include presentations,

Talking Stick - January 2012

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