The expectation is for accurate grading and reduced score discrepancies.
Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha, Deputy Director of the Quality Management Department, Ministry of Education and Training, and Head of the 2026 High School Graduation Exam Committee, stated that the application of rubrics is a step in the roadmap to improve the quality of assessment for essay-based subjects.
According to him, the unique characteristic of essay-based subjects is that the results are always influenced to a certain extent by the perspective and feelings of the examiner. This has led to the long-standing issue of "lenient grading - strict grading," and discrepancies in scores between examiners or between different localities.
"This year, the Ministry of Education and Training has begun applying the Rubric method to necessary parts of the grading process for the Literature exam. This is one of a series of activities aimed at ensuring that essay-based subjects can better differentiate and classify students," Mr. Ha said.
According to representatives from the Ministry of Education and Training, a rubric can be understood as a scoring system with specific criteria for different levels of completion. Instead of evaluating based on overall impression, examiners compare the work against pre-designed criteria to determine the corresponding score.
From a technical perspective, the Rubric helps transform qualitative assessments into observable and comparable indicators. For Literature, where personal thinking, emotions, and expression are always present, this is seen as an effort to increase objectivity without stifling creativity. "Simply put, the Rubric is like a more detailed answer key. Examiners base their scoring on each criterion instead of evaluating based on general feelings," Mr. Ha emphasized.
One of the major concerns when changing the grading method is the adaptability of the teaching staff. According to Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha, the Ministry of Education and Training had prepared in advance and did not implement it abruptly. The content on Rubric had been included in teacher training programs, and some localities had already conducted pilot implementations.
From a grading perspective, teachers don't create the rubric themselves; they use the tool that's already designed. The most important thing is to correctly understand the criteria and agree on how to apply them. This also means that the rubric doesn't automatically create fairness. Fairness only occurs when all graders understand the same assessment standard.
Along with the changes in grading, this year's Literature exam also sparked much debate due to its use of the story of Steve Jobs as material for the social commentary section. Explaining this issue, Professor Nguyen Ngoc Ha affirmed that the entire exam content underwent a thorough review process within the Exam Committee. According to him, when constructing the exam, regional factors, access to materials, and varying learning conditions of students were always prioritized. The representative of the Exam Committee also emphasized that this was a question designed to differentiate students, so the scoring structure was calculated to avoid disadvantaging candidates. Notably, the exam did not require students to know Steve Jobs' biography or detailed information. "What needs to be assessed is the ability to reason socially based on the provided material, not the ability to memorize information," Professor Ha stated.
Open-ended questions, open-ended answers, and the grader must also be "open-minded".
Many teachers also believe that the Rubric is not actually a completely new method, but rather a concretization of criteria already present in the Literature grading guidelines. The difference is that examiners are required to fully evaluate the content, form, structure, expression, and creative elements of the essay, instead of relying primarily on overall perception.
Professor Bui Manh Hung, the principal coordinator of the 2018 General Education Curriculum Development Board, once proposed building a rubric as a foundation for open-ended answers in Literature. According to him, for this tool to be effective, teachers need thorough training before participating in grading, and model grading sessions should be organized according to unified criteria to minimize discrepancies between localities and between examiners.
One of the notable aspects of the Rubric is that it expands the "space" for different approaches from students. Candidates are not required to write according to a sample answer to achieve a high score; instead, the essay is assessed based on the ability to correctly identify the problem, logically argue, provide appropriate evidence, and express ideas persuasively.
This approach aligns with the spirit of innovation in general education: shifting from rote learning to learning through comprehension, encouraging independent thinking, and fostering the ability to express one's own opinions.
However, the Rubric also places higher demands on the examiners. When evaluation criteria are specified at multiple levels, examiners must be given consistent guidance to avoid each person interpreting and applying them differently. Without consistency, the goal of reducing subjectivity may not be achieved.
Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Trong Truong, Head of the Literature Department for High School Students at Phenikaa Secondary and High School, believes that open-ended exam questions are only truly meaningful when the grading method also maintains an open spirit, meaning it doesn't confine students to a few fixed interpretations or modes of expression.
However, "openness" does not equate to subjectivity. According to Mr. Truong, grading must still be based on knowledge standards, required achievements, and a specific scoring scale. "Examiners shouldn't look for a sample essay to compare with, but rather focus on the quality of argumentation, depth of feeling, organizational ability, and the persuasiveness of the viewpoint," he said.
Some people are concerned that using a rubric will make essays "mechanical," reducing their artistic merit and emotional impact. From a parent's perspective, Ms. Thanh Binh ( Hanoi ) believes that applying a rubric has many advantages, such as greater transparency in grading, a clear basis for evaluation, and alignment with current reform directions in testing and assessment. However, she also expressed some concerns about its practical implementation.
According to her, when grading criteria are too specific, students may develop a tendency to write simply to "fill in the Rubric" instead of writing naturally and emotionally. Some students may even hesitate to offer new approaches for fear of deviating from the evaluation criteria. Meanwhile, emotion, depth of thought, and writing quality are difficult to quantify with specific scores. Many essays may not perfectly fit the "framework" but still demonstrate excellent thinking and feeling.
Based on that experience, Ms. Binh believes that the important thing is not only building a standardized rubric but also the examiner's ability to apply it. Examiners need to be flexible and respect students' emotions and creativity. "If the exam question is open-ended, the answer should also be open-ended, and the examiner must have sufficient expertise and confidence to recognize different ways of expressing ideas. Otherwise, it's easy to create a deviation from the standard and be unfair to students with independent and creative thinking," she shared.
From a professional perspective, many teachers believe that the application of rubrics could lead to significant changes in the way Literature is taught and learned. Teachers will find it difficult to continue teaching in a rote-learning style or encouraging students to write lengthy but shallow essays. Conversely, students will also have to change their learning approach towards careful reading, understanding the essence of the issues, and developing their reasoning skills.
When grades are more closely linked to actual competence, students who can analyze, express themselves clearly, and defend their viewpoints with persuasive arguments will have a greater chance of being recognized.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the Rubric still largely depends on the implementation process. Ensuring consistency among judges, maintaining objectivity in grading, and reducing pressure for achievement at the local level remain key challenges.
According to many teachers, the most important aspect of assessment reform is not about students learning more, but about understanding more deeply. Applying a rubric to grading Literature exams may begin with a change in grading techniques, but more fundamentally, it represents a shift in teaching and learning mindset: students need to read, understand, write, and take responsibility for their own perspectives instead of simply repeating what they have memorized.
What is a rubric?
A rubric is a commonly used assessment tool in education that specifically describes the criteria and level of achievement of learners for a given task.
For Literature, the Rubric helps examiners compare essays based on criteria such as problem identification, argumentation, evidence, expression, and persuasiveness, rather than primarily grading based on overall impression.
Rubrics typically come in two forms: Holistic Rubric: An overall assessment of the work according to different quality levels.
Analytical Rubric: Break down each criterion into smaller parts for more detailed scoring.
According to experts, the rubric does not replace intuition or creativity, but serves as a frame of reference to increase fairness and reduce discrepancies in grading.
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/cham-thi-ngu-van-bang-rubric-co-het-canh-cham-long-cham-chat.html
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