Why Use Rubrics?
Our classroom will often use rubrics to support learning. Rubrics make assessing the students' work efficient, consistent, objective, and quick. As Mrs. Wolf evaluates a science assessment, she will know implicitly what makes that test response exceptional, average, or in need of improvement. Rubrics enable her to evaluate students' performance in situations that more closely replicate real life than an isolated test. Rubrics also help Mrs. Wolf to focus her own attention on the key concepts and standards that the students must obtain. The rubrics that are used will accommodate and differentiate for heterogeneous classes by offering a range of quality levels.
The rubrics provide students with a clear understanding of what is expected of them. Students have concrete directions about what makes a good science written response, a good informative writing piece, etc.. Many studies have proven that rubrics improve students' end products and thus increase the students' overall learning. They provide students with valuable information about the degree of which a specific learning outcome has been achieved. They provide students with concrete feedback that displays areas of strength and areas in need of improvement. Students can use this feedback as a tool to further develop and improve their abilities.
Rubrics encourage students to think about their own thinking and possibly about their own criteria for what is "good": to analyze their own work and process to see how it matches up with the standard explained in the rubric. By using rubrics, teachers give students experience in their higher-level thinking processes.
Parents appreciate the use of rubrics because they justify why a certain grade was assigned to his/her child. Rubrics are easy to understand at a quick glance. They provide parents with a digestible, concise, and well-structured assessment. Parents appreciate the detailed feedback that a rubric provides.​