In the world of education jargon, the word rubric is indicative of an assessment tool for communicating expectations of quality. Rubrics were developed as a way to support student self-reflection and self-assessment. They are designed to serve as a pathway of communication between an assessor, often a teacher, and those being assessed, who are usually students. In a teaching environment, a rubric
. is an established set of criteria and standards which are typically linked to learning objectives. Rubrics are most commonly used to assess or communicate specifics about product, performance, or process tasks.A rubric is a scoring tool that teachers often use for the purpose of rendering subjective assessments when grading student papers, projects and essays. It is commonly used as an attempt to communicate expectations of quality between a teacher or professor and a student body. In the schools that utilize them, rubrics are used to define the expected criteria prior to completion of an assignment and as preparation for grading.Because content is public, a rubric allows teachers and students to work together to evaluate criteria, and to help define potential individual issues. A rubric is also a good tool for self-evaluation, reflection, and peer review. It is aimed at accurate and fair assessment, fostering understanding, and indicating a way to proceed with subsequent learning or teaching. This integration of performance and feedback is known as an ongoing assessment or a formative assessment.Scoring rubrics for any subject, including social studies, generally include one or more aspects on which performance is rated, definitions and clear examples which illustrate the attribute or performance marked for grading or assessment, and a rating scale for each of the criteria.For more information on creating a rubric for social studies, or for examples of working rubrics used by others, follow the links provided with this article. These links are specifically targeted for social studies classes, but the pages they connect to have links for other subjects as well. More reference links: http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/socialstudies/ http://www.rubrician.com/socialstudies.htm
