Criteria
Rubric for Performance Task: Oral Presentation and Visual Display
Mastery
Proficient
Developing
Content
Knowledge
Demonstrates a superior
understanding of one’s topic;
content is accurate, focused, and
relevant; balances well between
breadth and depth of content; the
data presented is important to
understand the topic; responds
directly and accurately to
student questions
Organization
Presentation has a clear
beginning, middle, and end with
clear transitions; clearly
articulated and appropriate
goals; student has a wellorganized set of note-cards and
shows clear evidence of prior
preparation and practice
Clarity
Demonstrates a high degree of
clarity both in terms of content
and elocution; uses a clear and
loud voice and clearly generates
understanding; pronounces all
words clearly and accurately
Demonstrates solid
understanding of one’s topic;
content is fairly accurate,
focused, and relevant, but there
may be tangential points raised;
balances fairly well between
breadth and depth of content,
but may misappropriate that
balance somewhat; data is
mostly important to understand
the topic; responds comfortably
to student questions but may be
imprecise or avoidant in the
response
Presentation has a logical
sequence but transitions may
need to be smoother or clearer;
goals are articulated but may not
be optimally appropriate;
student has note-cards but they
may not be particularly wellorganized; shows some evidence
of prior preparation and practice
Demonstrates a significant
degree of clarity both in terms of
content and elocution; uses a
fairly clear and loud voice and
generates understanding with
only a few questions;
pronounces most words clearly
and accurately, but may repeat
some words or phrases, or ideas
Demonstrates basic
understanding of one’s topic;
makes limited content errors;
content is sometimes inaccurate,
unfocused, or irrelevant;
attempts to balance between
breadth and depth of content,
but includes too much of one at
the expense of the other; data
presented includes much that is
irrelevant or insignificant; is
unable to respond directly or
accurately to many students
questions
Presentation lacks a coherent
organizational structure and has
choppy transitions; no evidence
that sequence of data presented
has been thought out; goals are
not articulated or are largely
inappropriate; student has few
note-cards and shows little
evidence of prior
preparation/practice
Demonstrates a fair degree of
clarity both in terms of content
and elocution; uses too soft of a
voice which makes student
understanding difficult; students
have many questions and ask to
repeat or re-explain certain
elements of the presentation; has
several errors pronouncing
words and/or some mumbling;
repeats several words, phrases,
or ideas and uses words like
“you know,” “like,” “um,” etc.
Limited
Demonstrates limited
understanding of one’s topic,
often raising more questions
than it answers; makes frequent
content errors; content is largely
inaccurate, unfocused, or
irrelevant; little attempt to
balance between breadth and
depth of content or significantly
misappropriated balance; data
presented is confusing or
unclear and largely insignificant;
generally cannot respond to
student questions
Presentation lacks any
recognizable organizational
structure; jumps from one topic
to the next with little if any
transition; no attempt to
articulate and/or develop goals
for the presentation; student has
few or no note-cards and shows
no evidence of prior
preparation/practice
Demonstrates little clarity both
in terms of content and
elocution; hard for students to
hear or therefore understand
presentation content; as a result,
students have many questions;
mispronounces many words or
demonstrates a lack of
understanding of several or
more words and/or mumbles;
repeats many words, phrases, or
ideas and often uses words like
“you know,” “like,” “um,” etc.
Attitude toward
Learners
Demonstrates a high degree of
respect for classroom learners;
“teaches” at a level appropriate
to target audience; engages
audience
Demonstrates basic respect for
classroom learners; “teaches” at
a level broadly appropriate to
target audience; engages most
members of the audience
Delivery/Eye
Contact
Maintains excellent eye contact
with all members of the
audience, uses note-cards as an
unobtrusive guide
Timing
6-10 minutes in length
(excluding Q & A period)
Maintains good eye contact with
all members of the audience,
using note-cards primarily as a
guide but may sometimes serve
to interfere with effective eye
contact
5-6 or 11-12 minutes in length
(excluding Q & A period)
Pace
Pace is fluent and rhythmic and
easy for students to follow; uses
pauses at the right moments
Poise/Posture
Professional poise/posture:
standing straight, speaking
confidently, using body
language effectively
Visual Display
Visual display has been superbly
thought out, designed, and
created to support the topic; it is
incorporated smoothly into the
presentation and significantly
enhances the opportunity for
students to learn; creative;
professional appearance;
provides further evidence for
clear understanding of topic
Pace is fairly fluent and
rhythmic; students might
occasionally ask to repeat
something or seem less than
optimally engaged due to the
pace
Good poise/posture: standing
fairly straight, maintaining
control, using body language
fairly effectively
Visual has been well thought
out, designed, and created to
support the topic; serves to
enhance the opportunity to
learn; creative; polished
appearance; provides further
evidence for basic understanding
of topic
Demonstrates some respect for
classroom learners; “teaches” at
a level that is too easy or too
difficult for the target audience;
engages few members of the
audience
Has difficulty maintaining good
eye contact with all members of
the audience; depends heavily
on note-cards which detracts
significantly from effective eye
contact
3-5 or 12-14 minutes in length
(excluding Q & A period)
Pace is rushed or slow, making
it difficult for students to follow;
students make repeated requests
to slow down or repeat
information or are largely
unengaged due to the pace
Poise/posture seems
unprofessional: slouching,
pacing or similar body language
and movement may detract from
presentation
Visual does not clearly relate to
topic, and serves to enhance the
opportunity to learn in only a
limited way; unimpressive
appearance (use of pencil, freehand instead of straight-edges,
sloppy, lacks descriptions, poor
use of space, etc.)
Demonstrates disrespect for
classroom learners; “teaches” at
a level that is significantly
different from the audience
level; does not seem to engage
the audience at all
Maintains poor eye contact with
most members of the audience;
overly dependent on notes;
looks at wall, floor, watch, etc.
Less than 3 or more than 14
minutes in length (excluding Q
& A period)
Pace is unmanageable, either
extremely fast or extremely
slow; information presented is
lost in the pace of the
presentation
Poise/posture is poor: slouching,
pacing, or similar body language
and movement clearly detracts
from presentation
No use of visual or poor
relationship between visual and
topic; no evidence of effort or
design; poor appearance
Reflection
Provides clear and logical
justification for choices made in
terms of presentation content,
method, organization, visual
display, etc; notes all criteria for
inclusion of information and
provides examples of excluded
information; reflection is open,
honest, and direct; includes
justifiable self-assessment based
on this rubric; demonstrates
insightful awareness of strengths
and weaknesses
Provides solid justification for
choices made in terms of
presentation content, method,
organization, visual display, etc;
notes some criteria for inclusion
of information and provides an
example of excluded
information; reflection is fairly
open, honest, and direct;
includes self-assessment based
largely on this rubric;
demonstrates basic awareness of
strengths and weaknesses
Provides little justification for
choices made in terms of
presentation content, method,
organization, visual display, etc;
fails to note criteria for inclusion
of information and provides no
examples of excluded
information; reflection is
nonetheless fairly open, honest,
and direct; includes selfassessment, but only loosely
based on this rubric;
demonstrates limited or
inaccurate awareness of
strengths and weaknesses
Provides little if any justification
for choices made in terms of
presentation content, method,
organization, visual display,
etc.; fails to note criteria for
inclusion of information and
provides no examples of
excluded information; reflection
seems dishonest or incomplete;
fails to include a self-assessment
or includes one that is
unrealistic; fails to demonstrate
awareness of strengths and
weaknesses