Rubric for Evaluation

Outstanding

Tasks evaluated as outstanding represent work that exceeds expectations and goes beyond the scope of the described task. The student has demonstrated a high-level of critical and creative thinking through unique and creative choices. Clear explanations and justifications are provided for the choices and decisions made in completing the task and the student has provided new insight or new ideas related to the given task. The student has chosen to utilize unique, but relevant, information and resources.

The student has demonstrated that they have looked at alternative ways in which the task could have been completed by clearly articulating the pro and cons of the choices they have made.

There is a sense of pride and craftsmanship in how the task has been presented. The presentation of the task is aesthetically pleasing due to an exceptional use of the formatting tools available within the program or technology used to complete the task. The student has demonstrated effective and appropriate use of character formatting, tables, bullet lists, horizontal lines, headings, styles, etc.

Mechanically the written aspects of the task are near perfect. There are few if any errors in grammar, word usage, or spelling. This level of near perfection indicates a high level of care in the details and professionalism of their work. There is evidence that the student has taken the step to carefully proofread their work and/or find others to assist in the proofreading of their work.

These students show up on time for their appointments prepared with the tools necessary to complete their assigned tasks. If we were asked about these students by a potential employer or client (of any students who have chosen to start their own business), these students would receive our strongest and highest recommendation. These are also the students who come to mind first whenever we are contacted by employers looking to fill IT positions.

Good

Tasks evaluated as good represent work that meets expectations and fulfills the requirements of the described task. The student has demonstrated clear thought and purpose in completing the task. The ideas and creative choices related to the completion of the task demonstrate a combination of both independent and collaborative thought. The student is able to explain and justify their choices and indicate a general understanding of common or well known resources or processes.

This level of evaluation also demonstrates a sense of pride and craftsmanship in how the task has been presented. There is a definite sense of striving to produce outstanding work; however it lacks the elegance and mastery evident in tasks evaluated as outstanding.

In completing the tasks, the student has used the formatting tools available within the program or technology used to create the documents. The documents are formatted in a manner that is professional and acceptable in an actual work environment. The student has demonstrated use of character formatting, tables, bullet lists, horizontal lines, headings, styles, etc.

Mechanically, grammatically, structurally the written aspect of the task is good—a few errors—but they aren’t worth complaining about. As with the tasks evaluated as outstanding there is evidence that the student has taken the steps to carefully proof their work and/or find others to assist in the proof-reading of their work.

These students show up on time for their appointments and prepared with the tools necessary to complete their assigned tasks. If we were asked about these students by a potential employer or client (of any students who have chosen to start their own business), these students would receive a positive recommendation. We would be confident in saying that these students possess the skills, abilities to get the job done.

Marginal

Tasks evaluated as marginal demonstrate “technically” correct solutions to the described tasks, yet represent a shallow and lackluster performance. There is not much joy here, not much sense that the student has learned, understood, and appreciate...and is eager to show it.

The student has demonstrated very little critical thinking. The task has been fulfilled with very little creativity and original thought. However, there is evidence of some work and thought, just not very much of either. The student is able to demonstrate some ability to justify and explain the choices they have made in completing the tasks, but the justifications and explanations lack strength—justifications are often simply a repeat of what some “expert” has said without the process of thinking about or mentally challenging what was said.

Very little effort has been spent in formatting the documents that are evaluated as marginal. There is little pride in workmanship—it seems apparent that the only goal was to “technically” complete the described task.

Mechanically the document is suffering with clumsy sentences, imprecise words, awkwardness and error being too frequent to ignore. It is obvious that the student didn't take the steps to carefully proof their work and/or find others to assist in the proof-reading of their work. Often the excuse here will be that, “I’m just not good at writing or catching mistakes.”

Often these students possess the skills and abilities to complete the tasks at a level of good and their evaluation of marginal is more an indicator of effort rather than ability. These students will show up unprepared to successfully complete assigned tasks, and may have a tendency to show up late. These are the students in which it is not possible for us to provide a positive job reference to future employers or clients. If asked, we would describe these students as not paying attention to the details and someone who has not demonstrated an ability to work independently. They may have the skills to complete the job, but haven’t demonstrated the motivation to complete tasks with pride and professionalism.

Poor

Task evaluate as poor don’t meet expectations, represent work or skills that are not adequate and represent tasks that will need to be redone.

There is no evidence of critical thought or research in completing the task—in fact generally the task has only been partially completed. Often times the work that has been completed is either off topic or irrelevant to the completion of the task—evidence that the student has completely missed the point of the task. Another characteristics of a task that has been evaluated as poor is the “borrowing” other peoples work which may be accidental but which borders on plagiarism—one indicator of this is when the student is unable to justify or explain the choices and decisions they made in completing the task.

There has been no time or effort spent in formatting, which only magnifies that the task is incomplete.

The level of writing is poor with serious and numerous errors.