Peel back the curtain
Students need to clearly and succinctly understand what the expectations for assessment will be well before they embark on meeting the standard for the unit and any personal learning targets. Only when teachers "peel back the curtain" will the clear directives for meeting the standard be visible to students. It is our job to demystify the proficient levels for students so they can achieve the standard in an orderly fashion. The rubric is the essential tool that facilitates high levels of student learning. Through use of a rubric, the teacher sets clear benchmarks for proficiency enabling students to clearly understand what needs to be demonstrated for a good "grade". The 12 Touchstones of Good Teaching specifically discusses how a rubric can deepen student analysis of text by saying that "a rubric helps focus student attention on what they need to be doing in their analyses. It can encourage deep thinking about the difference between selecting the most important or obvious quotations and selecting those that actually support the author's argument in the analysis" (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013).
Need help creating a rubric? The following resources are incredibly useful:
Need help creating a rubric? The following resources are incredibly useful: