Here's an example of a rubric or performance standard developed for writing. It is connected to a content standard. You may think that the rubric or performance standard is really a more detailed explanation of the content standard, and you're probably right.

Content standard: Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and for diverse audiences; students write and speak using conventional grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling.

Performance standard or rubric:

To get a score of 4 (the highest on this scale), student work:

• is an effective response to the specific writing task. The writing is skillfully adapted to its audience, purpose, and subject. It is coherent, and it holds the reader's attention. An appropriate tone is established and the language is precise. Ideas are supported with facts and examples, moving from the particular to the general and vice versa. The conventions of language use -- grammar, punctuation, capitalization, usage, and spelling -- are implemented without errors.

• is an effective response to the specific writing task, and demonstrates an understanding of audience, purpose, and subject. An appropriate tone is established engaging the reader's attention. Ideas are supported with facts or examples, and the writing is coherent. There is good use of the conventions of language.

• is an inconsistent response to the demands of the writing task. All parts of the task are addressed, but the writing reveals little awareness of the reader or of the purpose of the writing. While the writing may contain some insights, it may be confused, superficial, or illogical. Repetitive sentence structures are typical, as are unfocused generalizations. Noticeable errors in language conventions may divert the reader's attention or cause confusion, and the tone may be inappropriately colloquial.

• does not respond to the demands of the writing task. The writing reveals no awareness of the reader or the purpose, and may only touch on the topic assigned. Typically, the writing is so short that it is difficult to understand the point. Errors in language conventions may be pervasive, and the vocabulary may be more suitable for speaking than for writing.

• These descriptions can be applied to a wide range of topics and they are not grade specific. They can be applied to writing at all grade levels, 1 through 12, making allowances for the increasing sophistication of the topics assigned. You can (working with a group of teachers) make defensible judgments about students' work, and justify the scores to the students. Standards make everything public in education. Rubrics tell students why their work is scored as it is.

Performance standards or rubrics are most often used to score tests or assessments at a level above that of the classroom. For example, a school district may ask all students at a certain grade level to write a persuasive piece and then all the teachers will meet together to score the papers. That's how a rubric or performance standard can be used.