Creating and Using Rubrics to Support Student Learning

Rubrics are coherent sets of criteria for students’ work that include descriptions of levels of performance quality on the criteria. As such, they are an excellent means for connecting formative assessment (for learning) and summative assessment (grading).

The same criteria and performance quality that students aim for in a formative manner as they learn can become the basis for the students’ grades if students and teachers have a shared understanding of the criteria and performance descriptions. Rubrics are an excellent vehicle for involving students in their own assessment. This fosters student self-regulation of learning and helps develop students’ lifelong learning capabilities.

Rubrics are useful for teaching and assessing academic outcomes, especially those requiring authentic student performances, as well as thinking skills, creativity, collaboration, and approaches to learning.

Target Audience: All levels

Continuum Levels: 3, 4, 5

NESA's Learning Continuum:

Learn more about how NESA plans Professional Learning

Participants will learn. . .

• How to create or select effective criteria for rubrics;
• How to write performance level descriptions for rubrics;
• How to distinguish rubrics from checklists and rating scales;
• How to co-create rubrics with students;
• How to use rubrics to share learning targets with students;
• How to use rubrics for student self-assessment and goal setting;
• How to use rubrics to support student thinking skills, approaches to learning, creativity, collaboration, and other "21st century skills".

No prerequisites required. Participants who wish to bring rubrics they currently use or are developing, for the purpose of receiving feedback and revising them, are welcome to do so.

Save paper and effort where possible!

For your convenience, and to support our efforts in being "green", all handouts/files posted here have been notated with an A, B, C or D indicating the following:

(A) hardcopies needed at workshop
(B) electronic version on laptop is sufficient (for viewing during the workshop)
(C) required reading PRIOR to the workshop
(D) file not needed for workshop itself, but simply material of additional interest/reference

(A) Creating and Using Rubrics to Support Student Learning

(B) PowerPoint Presentation (3MB)

(B) Annotated Examples of Rubrics for Thinking Skills, Approaches to Learning, Creativity, Collaboration, and Other "21st Century Skills" (4MB)