Science content standards are broad statements that envision the concepts and processes students are expected to attain in the sciences. Standards explicate the knowledge base of a scientifcally literate populace. Targets are task-specific, curricular objectives and goal statements based on standards. Targets ground all of the decisions concerning the type of assessment, the task design, and the rubric used to score the task. Tasks allow students to effectively create a sample product or performance we can observe and judge.
Rubrics are the guides used to score performance assessments in a reliable, fair, and valid manner.
Rubrics are composed of a description of the dimensions for judging student performance, a scale of values for rating performances on each dimension, and standards of excellence for specified performance levels.