Making each point count: Revising a local adaptation of the Jacobs et al. (1981) ESL COMPOSITION PROFILE rubric

Abstract

In this Brief Report, we describe an evaluation of and revisions to a rubric adapted from the Jacobs et al. (1981) ESL COMPOSITION PROFILE, with four rubric categories and 20-point rating scales, in the context of an intensive English program writing placement test. Analysis of 4 years of rating data (2016–2021, including 434 essays) using many-facet Rasch measurement demonstrated that the 20-point rating scales of the Jacobs et al. rubric functioned poorly due to (a) questionably small distinctions in writing quality between successive score categories and (b) the presence of several disordered categories. We reanalyzed the score data after collapsing the 20-point scales into 4-point scales to simulate a revision to the rubric. This reanalysis appeared promising, with well-ordered and distinct score categories, and only a trivial decrease in person separation reliability. After implementing this revision to the rubric, we examined data from recent administrations (2022–2023, including 93 essays) to evaluate scale functioning. As in the simulation, scale categories were well-ordered and distinct in operational rating. Moreover, no raters demonstrated exceedingly poor fit using the revised rubric. Findings hold implications for other programs adopting/adapting the PROFILE or a similar rubric.