Rubrics

This page contains some sample rubrics used for a variety of assessments. Feel free to use and modify to help your students learn.

For more about rubrics, see Sophie Sparrow, "Describing the Ball: Improve Teaching by Using Rubrics - Explicit Grading Criteria," 2004 Michigan State Law Review 1. [Read the article.]

See below for sample rubrics.

A rubric is a set of detailed written criteria used to assess student performance. Some rubrics are very detailed and used to score student performance, others are more generic and can be given to students in advance to show how their work will be evaluated. Rubrics can be used for almost any variety of assessment, including papers, exams, portfolios, clinics, documents, group work, graphics, and presentations. They can be used for formative (ungraded) assessments, as well as summative (graded) assessments and self-assessments.

Feel free to use and modify the sample rubrics below to help your students learn.

Share Your Rubrics!

We would also love to have your rubrics. If you have any you are willing to share - with attribution - please send them to Sophie.sparrow@law.unh.edu.

5 Advantages to Using Rubrics

  1. They provide guidance for students about what skills, knowledge and values are important for them to be learning, as these are the ones they will be graded on.This avoids the problem of a student not doing well because the student focused on a different task. For example, a student works really hard on an assignment thinking that the most important aspect of the document was describing the law, when applying the facts to the law was worth at least 50% of the assignment. Giving criteria in advance will not ensure students perform better, but it does direct their efforts more effectively.
  2. They provide students with valuable feedback. Instead of getting a "B" students learn where their strengths and weaknesses are.
  3. They support teachers' focusing on important learning objectives. By naming explicit criteria used to judge student performance, teachers are more likely to focus their teaching on the knowledge, skills and values they find important enough to assess.
  4. They greatly improve consistency in grading - teachers who use a detailed rubric are more likely to be consistent with each new student performance they assess.
  5. They are efficient. Rubrics may take time to develop, but once created, they make the grading and feedback process much more efficient.

Sample Rubrics

Items designated as PDF require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Civil Complaint

Client Letter

Clinic

Legal Skills I

Legal Skills II

Legal Writing

Oral Argument

Property

Remedies

Torts

Writing for Law Practive