Writing assessment rubric: an instructional approach with struggling writers
Teaching Exceptional Children, pp. 52-58.Schirmer, B.R. & Bailey, J. Sept/Oct 2000,

This article suggests that teachers of writing make explicit for students the component elements of writing through incorporating a particular assessment practice referred to as ‘Assessment Rubrics’ into the teaching process. There is nothing terribly unusual about this process of closely linking teaching and assessment. But the innovation here lies in the linking of assessment and assisting students to forms goals for their writing.

The components of writing referred to as rubrics are typically presented as scales so that students so that students can see unambiguously what is required for a 1, 2, 3, 4, for example. A universal rubric might focus on Response to Prompt/Sequences, Story Development, Organization, Word Choice, Details, Sentence Structures, Mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, and spelling).

It is suggested that a rubric be introduced to students for each genre being studied. For example, rubrics might be developed for the genres of writing mystery stories or for research report writing.