The aim of this study was to develop a rubric for assessing the story writing skills of middle school students. Valid and reliable assessment of story writing skills is important for monitoring students’ development in written expression and for planning the instructional process more effectively. Accordingly, the study aimed to develop a qualified assessment instrument that could be used effectively in educational settings. The study group consisted of 20 students enrolled in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grades at a public school in Kütahya, Türkiye. Statistical analyses were systematically conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the rubric developed to assess story writing skills. First, the content validity of the rubric was examined based on expert opinions using Lawshe’s Content Validity Ratio (CVR) method. Subsequently, principal component analysis was conducted to determine the construct validity of the rubric. The analysis revealed that the sub-criteria were grouped under three factors. These factors were named “Content and Meaning Coherence,” “Language and Expression,” and “Formal Organization,” and the rubric was structured under these three main dimensions. In addition, the reliability of the developed assessment instrument was examined using different analyses. Reliability analyses were conducted using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, and the coefficients ranged from .79 to .94. Fleiss’ kappa coefficients, calculated to determine the agreement among raters, ranged from .73 to .85. Overall, the findings indicated that the developed rubric was a valid, reliable, and objectively applicable assessment instrument for evaluating middle school students’ story writing skills. As a result of all analyses, a valid and reliable three-point Likert-type rubric consisting of three main criteria and 16 sub-criteria was developed to assess students’ story writing skills.

Story writing skills, analytic rubric, scoring rubric, validity, reliability.