Rubrics are simply assessment tools that foster student learning, while at the same time helping teachers evaluate student progress more effectively. These tools are essentially qualitative and criterion-referenced in nature, and are frequently developed by teachers or other evaluators to guide the assessment of student products and performances.

More specifically, rubrics are descriptive scoring schemes that allow educators to assess a product or performance according to varying levels of quality. They typically consist of a set of guidelines that state the dimensions to be assessed, accompanied by a set of specific criteria that spell out the required characteristics for each achievement level and then assign corresponding values to these levels. In essence, these proficiency levels clearly define for both student and teacher the continuum from excellent to unacceptable (or vice versa) in reference to the product or performance being evaluated.