Rubrics are well-established tools used in a variety of educational settings, such as student assessment, teacher performance, and curriculum review. This study investigates the extent to which and how rubrics are being used in program evaluation. After exploring the background, or etymology, of the word rubric, a review of literature is conducted. Results reveal that rubric use in program evaluation is relatively rare, although increasing. Rubrics are predominately used in education and health program evaluation to transform data from one form to another, to characterize organizational functioning, and to derive explicitly evaluative conclusions. Program evaluators use rubrics during data collection and data analysis study phases, and to synthesizing findings into conclusions. This paper is the first systematic study of the use of rubrics in program evaluation. It presents a picture of how program evaluation practitioners and scholars are using or discussing rubrics.
*AdamsJ.DickinsonP. (2010). Evaluation training to build capability in the community and public health workforce. American Journal of Evaluation, 31, 421–433.
2.
AllenD.TannerK. (2006). Rubrics: Tools for making learning goals and evaluation criteria explicit for both teachers and learners. Cell Biology Education–Life Sciences Education, 5, 197–203.
ArensS. A. (2005). A study of evaluative reasoning in evaluative studies judged “outstanding” (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.
5.
BleikastenA. (1982). William Faulkner’s The sound and the fury: A critical casebook. New York, NY: Garland.
6.
*BrandonP. R.SmithN. L.OfirZ.NoordeloosM. (2014). Monitoring and evaluation of African women in agricultural research and development (AWARD): An exemplar of managing for impact in development evaluation. American Journal of Evaluation, 35, 128–143.
7.
*BravermanM. T. (2013). Negotiating measurement: Methodological and interpersonal considerations in the choice and interpretation of instruments. American Journal of Evaluation, 34, 99–114.
8.
ChomskyN. (1959). A review of B. F. Skinner’sVerbal Behavior in Language, 35, 26–58.
9.
*ClementsP. (2012). Evaluating the cost effectiveness of Heifer International country programs. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 8, 16–28.
10.
*ClintonJ. (2014). The true impact of evaluation: Motivation for ECB. American Journal of Evaluation, 35, 120–127.
11.
*CorynC. L. S.GugiuP. C.DavidsonE. J.SchröterD. C. (2007). Needs assessment in hidden populations using respondent-driven sampling. Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 7(2), 3–11.
12.
*DaveyJ. W.GugiuP. C.CorynC. L. S. (2010). Quantitative methods for estimating the reliability of qualitative data. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 6, 140–162.
13.
DavidsonE. J. (2005). Evaluation methodology basics: The nuts and bolts of sound evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
14.
DavidsonE. J. (2013). Actionable evaluation basics: Getting succinct answers to the most important questions. Auckland, New Zealand: Real Evaluation.
15.
*DickinsonP.AdamsJ. (2012). Building evaluation capability in the public health workforce: Are evaluation training workshops effective and what else is needed?Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 12(2), 28–39.
DirlamD.ByrneM. (1978, March). Standardized developmental ratings. Paper presented at the Annual 62nd Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
EdwardsV.SailorsK. (2014). Creating new media rubrics: Quality student products for the 21st century. In JacobsH. H. (Ed.), Mastering media literacy (pp. 49–66). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
20.
FournierD. (1995). Editor’s notes. New Directions for Evaluation, 1995(68), 1–4.
21.
*GajdaR. (2004). Utilizing collaboration theory to evaluate strategic alliances. American Journal of Evaluation, 25, 65–77.
22.
*GajdaR.KolibaC. (2007). Evaluating the imperative of intraorganizational collaboration: A school improvement perspective. American Journal of Evaluation, 28(1), 26–44.
23.
GrubbM. (1981). Using holistic evaluation. Glencoe Publishers.
24.
*KingJ.McKeggK.OakdenJ.WehipeihanaN. (2013). Evaluative rubrics: A method for surfacing values and improving the credibility of evaluation. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 9(21), 11–20.
MartensK. S. R. (Photographer). (2015). Sacrae scriptureae veteris novaeque omnia [Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament; The Bible in Greek] [photograph]. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: The Dalton McCaughey Library.
27.
MorganN.PanayotovaS. (Eds.). (2009). A catalogue of western book illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge colleges, part I: The Frankish kingdoms, Northern Netherlands, Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Austria, the Meuse region and Southern Netherlands. London, England: Harvey Miller.
28.
MoskalB. M. (2000). Scoring rubrics: What, when and how?Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation, 7(3), n.p.
29.
*PetersenD. M. (2002). The potential of social capital measures in the evaluation of comprehensive community-based health initiatives. American Journal of Evaluation, 23, 55–64.
30.
*PiperD.Stein-SeroussiA.FlewellingR.OrwinR. G.BuchananR. (2012). Assessing state substance abuse prevention infrastructure through the lens of CSAP’s strategic prevention framework. Evaluation and Program Planning, 35, 66–77.
SaganC. E. (author presenter). (1980). Episode 2: One voice in the cosmic fugue [Television series episode]. In A. Malone (Producer), Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service.
37.
SauvagesF. B. L. (1763). Nosologia methodica. Fratrum de Tournes.
38.
*SchuhR. G.EichelbergerR. T.StebbinsS.PomerB.DuranL.MahoneyJ. F.PotterM. A. (2012). Developing a measure of local agency adaptation to emergencies: A metric. Evaluation and Program Planning, 35, 473–480.
39.
*SchuhR. G.LevitonL. C. (2006). A framework to assess the development and capacity of non-profit agencies. Evaluation and Program Planning, 29, 171–179.
*StemlerS. E. (2004). A comparison of consensus, consistency, and measurement approaches to estimating interrater reliability. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 9(4), 1–19.
47.
*SupovitzJ. A.TaylorB. S. (2005). Systemic education evaluation: Evaluating the impact of system-wide reform in education. American Journal of Evaluation, 26, 204–230.
*WoodlandR. H.HuttonM. S. (2012). Evaluating organizational collaborations: Suggested entry points and strategies. American Journal of Evaluation, 33, 366–383.
