Why Use Rubrics?

Teachers use rubrics to support learning. They make assessing the students' work efficient, consistent, objective, and quick. Teachers evaluating an assignment know implicitly what makes that assignment excellent, mediocre, or in need of improvement. Rubrics enable teachers to evaluate students' performance in situations that more closely replicate real life than an isolated test. Rubrics also help teachers to focus their own attention to the key concepts and standards that the students must obtain. By developing a working guide (rubric) for students to use as a tool throughout the assignment, teachers provide the scaffolding necessary to improve the quality of their students' work and to increase the knowledge that the students acquire. Teachers have the flexibility to reuse the same rubric for various class assignments. Rubrics allow teachers to accommodate and differentiate for heterogeneous classes by offering a range of quality levels (they can be used with gifted and learning support students).