What rubric principle is important for aligning to performance tasks?

• A. Rubrics should be general and not tied to the task.
• B. Rubrics should be created after grading.
• C. Rubrics should be reused across all tasks without modification.
• D. Rubrics should be aligned with task criteria and include levels of mastery from developing to proficient.

Answer: (D)

Performance tasks depend on students showing specific skills and knowledge in a real, observable way. To do that well, the rubric must line up with the exact criteria the task is designed to assess. When a rubric is aligned with task criteria, every level of the rubric reflects a meaningful aspect of the work, so students understand what counts as developing, approaching proficiency, and proficiency. Including clear levels of mastery provides a roadmap for improvement and gives teachers a reliable, consistent way to judge performance across students.

General rubrics that aren’t tied to the task miss the nuances of what the task requires, so they can’t accurately measure success on that particular assignment. Creating the rubric after grading isn’t fair or useful; it defeats the purpose of providing targeted feedback and consistent scoring. Reusing the same rubric for every task ignores differences in goals and evidence across tasks, leading to mismatches between expectations and demonstrations of skill.