how do you create a good rubric?

[Brit]

I've been using rubrics for 2 years, and I have to admit that mine kinda suck.

do y'all have any guidelines for developing rubrics that really work? and I'm not talking about web-generated ones -- I'm talking about writing them yourself and customizing them. what rules of thumb do you follow?

[Clearly Canadian]

When I create rubrics (the typed ones) I always have me project/assignment in front of me. Ideally, the rubric would be created along with the creation of the project if not even before. I usually assign a score out of 4 or 5, and include things like mechanics, presentation, organization of the material. Depending on the assignment, I may weight other categories more heavily, like evidence or support for ideas.

I include the rubric with the assignment so students know what they are being graded on. In some cases, students have created the rubric or at least had a hand in contributing to it. They are usually much tougher on themselves as far as what constitutes 4/4 or whatever.

Damien Cooper has a really interesting book "Talk about Assessment" that has a number of rubric ideas and ready made rubrics to use.