Rubrics - Hazardous to Student Learning?

Coming from the corporate world, one thing I never quite understood in education was the rubric.  After all, I never had any of those when I was in school!  Throughout my four years of teaching, I have come to understand why they are a necessary evil, but I believe that they can be a detriment to student potential as well.

My big gripe with rubrics is that I feel many students will look at it and do the minimum, thus skirting some sections because they are only worth "X" amount of points.  While I believe that students should be informed of how they will be assessed, I never give a rubric to a student while they are working on a project.  Instead, I give them a project worksheet, which details each element that is required and what categories they will be graded on.  However, I do not reveal what point totals go with what section.  I feel this keeps students on their toes, thus motivating them to maximize each requirement.

Another thing I make sure to do with my rubrics is allow for flexibility.  My course projects are very visual in nature, thus I always leave a few subjective sections on the rubric.  I let the students know that two sections on each of my rubrics are "Improvement Shown" and "Creativity & Effort".  I give my students plenty of feedback on their projects, so I expect to see growth and improvement as we progress in the course.  To me, that is the essence learning.  I also want them to make sure I will always reward/penalize for effort.  Many times I have had a great looking project, but a student missed one or two requirements.  On the other hand, I will get a very poor looking project, but every requirement is met.  The Creativity & Effort section allows me to recognize a great effort or a lack of.

Another wrinkle I have found is that many times, the student lands in between the scoring category (did not earn all 10, but better than 5).  Again, in this case, I allow for flexibility and have no hesitation scoring in between the scale (it is my rubric after all).  Lastly, I always revisit my rubrics.  If I notice that the grades just don't look right or there are too many high or low grades, I will revise a rubric. 

My goal as an educator is to help students grow and learn from their mistakes.  If we are not careful, rubrics will be used by students as an easy way out.