Establishing default performance levels for all rubrics is the first step in ensuring that you will be comparing ‘apples to apples’ in your reporting. There are tools in Chalk & Wire to help administrators quickly locate variances in the way assessment instruments are set up. (see CWReporter 3.0 Manual: Rubric Reconciliation). There are also tools to reconcile these variances statistically without confronting the authors to request they change their assessment practices .
Determine the number of performance levels that will enable you to identify variability in performance. The highest level should be reserved for performance that surpasses expectations. Use positive language when creating labels, especially for the lower skill levels: "PreSkill" "Emerging" or "Novice" are preferable to "Poor" or "Unacceptable".
Use 'Not Applicable' as one level only if the majority of your rubrics will need this choice. If only a few rubrics will need 'N/A' consider leaving it out of the default settings. When a new rubric is created the number of performance levels and corresponding labels will be created by default. The rubric author can override the default levels when creating the individual rubric, by adjusting the performance levels at the bottom on the 'Edit Assessment Instrument' screen.
Editing the default performance levels - Click the 'Edit Default Performance Labels' link in the 'Performance Levels' section of the 'Assessment Instruments' screen. On the Performance labels screen, edit the labels and scores. Click 'Save'. This action will set the Default Performance Levels for the entire site. When any new rubric is created, it will be auto-populated with the default performance levels. Rubrics that do not use the default levels display a red warning label on the 'Assessment Instruments' screen.