A Study On The Use Of Rubrics To Guide Writing And Self-Assessment In The L2 Elementary Classroom

The use of rubrics in the classroom to guide writing or as a means of self-assessment are not new concepts but ones that have received little study at the primary level. This study took the form of a classroom-based action research project, over a seven-week period, in a fourth- grade elementary school classroom, at an international school in Ecuador. Data was collected through responses to narrative writing prompts scored by the teacher and self-assessed by the students using the 6-Traits Writing Rubric. The students received direct instruction on writing traits as well as training on how to use the rubric. The findings were noteworthy in that they clearly indicated the overall quality of the students’ writing improved during the course of the study. They also showed that students had improved in their ability to self- assess, scoring themselves consistently in line with that of the teacher by the end of the study