I am a professor at a Career College and I am a HUGE proponent of using rubrics in the classroom. In fact, I refuse to teach a class unless the class is properly equipped and outlined with rubrics to help keep the students on track. I look to these documents and actually refer to them to my students as my 'contract' with them for every assignment. I try to impress on them that the rubric should be used as a checklist for them to complete before turning in an assignment. It usually takes one set of project grading and feedback for them to become familiar with my style of grading and offering feedback on their projects, but I have found that the rubrics have played a significant role in the success of students in my classroom.