ABSTRACT
Institutions are urged to use rubrics to evaluate classroom work. Grades, however, are viewed by accreditors with suspicion, despite the fact that both grading and rubric-based assessment can be defined as the use of a set of criteria to assign a number, or a letter that can be expressed as a number, to student work. This chapter explores how practitioners can address the differences between grading and rubric-driven assessment of student work. It discusses the limited ways in which grades themselves may be used for assessment, and the challenges of doing so. The chapter then focuses on using the grading process, rather than grades themselves. It analyzes the benefits and limitations of various pathways by which rubric-based scoring can be conducted and can inform decisions and budgeting. When using rubrics for program and general-education assessment, however, once again, it is important to address the differences between using rubrics for grading and using them for program and general-education assessment.
