ABSTRACT
This chapter describes an important component of evaluating student work: the effective use of assignment-specific rubrics. The chapter begins by considering what assignment-specific rubrics and considers how assignment-specific rubrics can benefit both students and teachers. Assignment-specific rubrics are evaluation tools that are based on the specific features of particular assignments. A criteria-referenced rubric could address other evaluation components than these, but wouldn't be specifically geared to the features and components of a particular assignment like the argument writing rubric. The use of assignment-specific rubrics allows for the maximum amount of nuance and detail in the evaluation of student work. This assessment method is important to effective instruction for two important, related reasons: it helps instruction and assessment align, and it accounts for differences in distinct genres and assignments. This benefit of assignment-specific rubrics extends from the previous: one reason these rubrics facilitate the alignment of instruction and assessment is that they reflect the differences in specific genres and assignments.
