Proponents of rubrics champion them as a means of ensuring consistency in grading, not only between students within a class but also between instructors teaching the same class. Rubrics, they say, also clarify to students the standards of excellence on which they’re being assessed (Taylor et al., 2024). But rubrics also have their critics. For instance, Alfie Kohn (2006) believes that many teachers use rubrics mainly because they make grading simple and fast. Understanding the objections to rubrics can help teachers improve how they use them in their instruction.
