RUBRICS

What Is a Rubric?

The dictionary has quite a formal definition, but us teachers know that a rubric is a very useful tool. It is an easy way to set up a grading criteria for assignments. It is useful not only to the teacher, but also the student and parents. Then you do not have these parents notes coming in saying that their child spent 5 hours working on his/her project and they could not believe that the child got a failing mark.

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Why Are Rubrics so Important?

Rubrics help students and teacher define what quality work is. The student then can independently judge their own work and accept more responsibility of the final product. It helps the teacher to easily explain to the student why they got the grade that they received. Parents who work with their children also have a clear understanding of what is expected for a special project. It is helpful to send the rubric home with the project directions, so parents can easily see what needs to be done.

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Now Which Rubric Do We Use?

*Does the rubric address most of the important aspects of the student performance.
*Does the rubric address the instructional outcomes that need to be measured.
*It should include some technology skills.
*It should not make much of a difference whether the rubric states a grade or not as that can be converted easily.
*Look for rubrics from other areas that can be adopted to your area or product. There are many sites that have rubric in different areas.
*Be sure the rubric is clear. Try the rubric out on some sample work and have other teachers at your level also try it and see if you come out with similar scores on the same work.