A Rubric for Discussion Board Comments

Category	3 points Exceeds Expectations	2 points Meets Expectations	1 point Below Expectations
Content of posts	Response reflects student knowledge of the content and evidence of having completed the assigned tasks or reading as well as deeper reflection.	Response reflects student knowledge of the content and evidence of having completed the assigned tasks or reading	Response does not reflect any evidence of knowledge of the content nor any evidence of having completed the assigned tasks or reading
Quality of Posts	Provides at least one outside resource and clear reasoning to support their position or comments; includes personal perspective, integrating analysis, synthesis or evaluation	Provides clear reasoning to support their position or comments; includes  personal perspective, integrating comprehension and application	Provides a personal  position or comment but focuses only on the knowledge level of reasoning
Frequency and timing of posts	Initial response is posted on time, and responses to peers occur on time and on at least two separate dates	Initial response is posted on time, and responses to peers occur before the due date.	Initial post is late or response to peers is late.
Tone	The student response reflects respect towards other students and provides a thought provoking comment or question which furthers the conversation.	The student response reflects respect towards other students and continues the conversation.	The student response could be misinterpreted or taken as offensive and reflects no attempt to consider the feelings of other students
Focus on the task	Student stays focused on the task at hand and provides encouragement to  other students.	Student occasionally strays from the topic at hand and but does not require reminders to complete the work.	Student often strays from the topic at hand requires reminders or corrections from the teacher or other students to complete the work.
Effort	Regularly presents work that reflect strong effort given his/her particular abilities.	Occasionally presents work that reflect strong effort given his/her particular abilities.	Rarely presents work that reflect strong effort given his/her particular abilities.