How should teachers use rubrics for both assessment and feedback?

• A. Score all responses without referencing criteria.
• B. Share criteria beforehand, score consistently, and use results to guide revising and improvement.
• C. Use rubrics only for final grades.
• D. Change criteria after each student.

Answer: (B)

Using rubrics as both assessment and feedback hinges on making expectations transparent and turning scores into actionable guidance. When teachers share criteria in advance, students understand what quality looks like for each component, which reduces confusion and helps focus their effort. Scoring consistently against those criteria ensures fairness and reliability across students. Using the results to guide revising and improvement closes the loop: students see where they meet or miss the criteria and then revise to raise their performance.

Other approaches don’t fit as well because scoring without criteria hides expectations and reduces learning value; using rubrics only for final grades misses the ongoing feedback that supports growth; and changing criteria after each student destroys consistency and makes fair comparison impossible.