A genre-based rubric for assessing higher-order thinking skills in student essay writing

Higher-order thinking Skills (HOTS) play a crucial role in modern education, yet existing writing assessment tools often fail to adequately evaluate students' cognitive depth. This study addresses this gap by developing a genre-based rubric that integrates HOTS—analysis, evaluation, and creativity—into the assessment of student essay writing across four distinct genres: story, review, article, and report writing. Grounded in Bloom's Revised Taxonomy and genre-based writing theories, the rubric was systematically designed, validated by expert reviewers, and pilot-tested with students and educators. The research employed a design-based approach, incorporating quantitative measures such as inter-rater reliability (Cohen's Kappa = 0.85) and qualitative thematic analysis to refine the rubric's descriptors and applicability. Findings indicate that the rubric enhances assessment accuracy, providing educators with a structured yet adaptable tool to evaluate HOTS across different writing genres. This study contributes to writing pedagogy by bridging the gap between traditional assessment methods and the cognitive demands of 21st-century education, ultimately fostering analytical, evaluating, and creative thinking in student writing.