Instructional rubrics: Effects of presentation options on writing quality

•Conditions were examined for presenting instructional rubrics for writing assessment.•Students were taught rubric elements, provided with the rubric, and simply scored using the rubric.•Writing quality improved when students were exposed to the instructional rubric.

Using rubrics for writing instruction has become a common practice for evaluating the expressive writing of secondary students. However, students do not always receive explicit instruction on rubric elements. When students are explicitly taught elements of writing rubrics, they have a clearer perspective of the expectations for their compositions. This study examined high school student writing under three conditions using instructional rubrics in which students were taught rubric elements, provided with a copy of the rubric, and simply scored using the rubric. Results indicated that when students have access to an instructional rubric either through explicit teaching or by receiving a copy, their writing quality improved.