Distinguished - Thoroughly and clearly describes the philosophy about children and how they learn. Includes a clear explanation of how the philosophy connects to one or more theories regarding learning and development.

Proficient - Describes the philosophy about children and how they learn. Includes an explanation of how the philosophy connects to one or more theories regarding learning and development. Minor details are unclear.

Basic - Partially describes philosophy about children and how they learn. Includes a limited explanation of how the philosophy connects to one or more theories regarding learning and development. Relevant details are unclear.

Below Expectations - Attempts to describe philosophy about children and how they learn; however, does not include an explanation of how the philosophy connects to one or more theories regarding learning and development and/or significant details are unclear.

Non-Performance - The description of a philosophy about children and how they learn is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Thoroughly addresses the key components of classroom design, including: a description of the climate, logistics, transitions; creation of a classroom map; explanation of rationale for furniture placement; and a discussion of how the design matches the philosophy.

Proficient - Addresses the key components of classroom design, including: a description of the climate, logistics, transitions; creation of a classroom map; explanation of rationale for furniture placement; and a discussion of how the design matches the philosophy. Minor details are missing.

Basic - Partially addresses the key components of classroom design, including: a description of the climate, logistics, transitions; creation of a classroom map; explanation of rationale for furniture placement; and a discussion of how the design matches the philosophy. Relevant details are missing.

Below Expectations - Attempts to address the key components of classroom design, including: a description of the climate, logistics, transitions; creation of a classroom map; explanation of rationale for furniture placement; and a discussion of how the design matches the philosophy; however, significant details are missing.

Non-Performance - The discussion of the design of the classroom is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Creates a thorough safety plan that includes: justification of classroom expectations compared to children’s development level; creation of a behavior plan with at least three strategies to be implemented; and a description of how to share the plan with students, parents, and other school staff. All required components are fully addressed.

Proficient - Creates a safety plan that includes: justification of classroom expectations compared to children’s development level; creation of a behavior plan with at least three strategies to be implemented; and a description of how to share the plan with students, parents, and other school staff. All required components are addressed, but minor details are missing.

Basic - Creates a limited safety plan that includes: justification of classroom expectations compared to children’s development level; creation of a behavior plan with at least three strategies to be implemented; and a description of how to share the plan with students, parents, and other school staff. The required components are partially addressed or relevant details are missing.

Below Expectations - Attempts to create a safety plan that includes: justification of classroom expectations compared to children’s development level; creation of a behavior plan with at least three strategies to be implemented; and a description of how to share the plan with students, parents, and other school staff; however, not all required components are addressed and/or significant details are missing.

Non-Performance - The creation of a safety plan is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Thoroughly describes a curriculum model or approach including three relevant examples of the typical content and interest areas for this model and comprehensively relates the approach to curriculum planning to the values and goals expressed in the philosophy and room design.

Proficient - Describes a curriculum model or approach including three relevant examples of the typical content and interest areas for this model and relates the approach to curriculum planning to the values and goals expressed in the philosophy and room design. Minor details are missing.

Basic - Partially describes a curriculum model or approach including three relevant examples of the typical content and interest areas for this model and minimally relates the approach to curriculum planning to the values and goals expressed in the philosophy and room design. Relevant details are missing.

Below Expectations - Attempts to describe a curriculum model or approach including three relevant examples of the typical content and interest areas for this model and relate the approach to curriculum planning to the values and goals expressed in the philosophy and room design; however, significant details are missing.

Non-Performance - The description of a curriculum model is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Clearly constructs a statement and rationale for the main pedagogical strategies to use to bring the curriculum to life, and thoroughly describes at least five examples of specific teaching strategies connected to the stated philosophy.

Proficient - Constructs a statement and rationale for the main pedagogical strategies to use to bring the curriculum to life, and describes at least five examples of specific teaching strategies connected to the stated philosophy. Minor details are underdeveloped.

Basic - Partially constructs a statement and rationale for the main pedagogical strategies to use to bring the curriculum to life, and minimally describes some examples of specific teaching strategies connected to the stated philosophy. Relevant details are underdeveloped.

Below Expectations - Attempts to construct a statement and rationale for the main pedagogical strategies to use to bring the curriculum to life, and describe a few examples of specific teaching strategies connected to the stated philosophy; however, significant details are underdeveloped.

Non-Performance - The statement and rationale for the main pedagogical strategies are either nonexistent or lack the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Fully creates a plan to account for culture inclusivity for all children in the program.

Proficient - Creates a plan to account for culture inclusivity for all children in the program. Some minor details are missing.

Basic - Partially creates a plan to account for culture inclusivity for all children in the program; however, there are some important details missing.

Below Expectations - Attempts to create a plan to account for culture inclusivity for all children in the program; however, significant details are missing.

Non-Performance - The creation of a plan for considering culture inclusivity is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Demonstrates methodical application of organization and presentation of content. The purpose of the writing is evident and easy to understand. Summaries, quotes, and/or paraphrases fit naturally into the sentences and paragraphs. Paper flows smoothly.

Proficient - Demonstrates sufficient application of organization and presentation of content. The purpose of the writing is, for the most part, clear and easy to understand. There are some problems with the blending of summaries, paraphrases, and quotes. Paper flows somewhat smoothly.

Basic - Demonstrates a limited understanding of organization and presentation of content in written work. The purpose of the writing is somewhat evident but may not be integrated throughout the assignment. There are many problems with the blending of summaries, paraphrases, and quotes. Paper does not flow smoothly in all sections.

Below Expectations - Organization and presentation of content are extremely limited. The purpose of the writing is unclear. There is little or no blending of summaries, paraphrases, and quotes. Paper does not flow smoothly when read.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Demonstrates consistent use of reliable, appropriate sources and/or evidence to support ideas that are situated within the discipline and genre of the writing.

Proficient - Demonstrates mostly consistent use of reliable sources that are appropriate to the discipline and genre of the writing. Sources offer some support to the ideas in the writing. 

Basic - Demonstrates somewhat inconsistent use of sources that are mostly reliable to the discipline and genre of the writing. Sources offer little support to the ideas in the writing.

Below Expectations - Inconsistently utilizes sources and/or evidence that may be unrelated and offer little support to the ideas in the writing. 

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains no errors and is very easy to understand.

Proficient - Displays comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains only a few minor errors and is mostly easy to understand.

Basic - Displays basic comprehension of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains a few errors which may slightly distract the reader.

Below Expectations - Fails to display basic comprehension of syntax or mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains major errors which distract the reader.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Accurately uses APA formatting consistently throughout the paper, title page, and reference page.

Proficient - Exhibits APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout contains a few minor errors. 

Basic - Exhibits limited knowledge of APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout does not meet all APA requirements. 

Below Expectations - Fails to exhibit basic knowledge of APA formatting. There are frequent errors, making the layout difficult to distinguish as APA.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - The length of the paper is equivalent to the required number of correctly formatted pages. 

Proficient - The length of the paper is nearly equivalent to the required number of correctly formatted pages. 

Basic - The length of the paper is equivalent to at least three quarters of the required number of correctly formatted pages.

Below Expectations - The length of the paper is equivalent to at least one half of the required number of correctly formatted pages.   

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Uses more than the required number of scholarly sources, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Proficient - Uses the required number of scholarly sources to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Basic - Uses less than the required number of sources to support ideas. Some sources may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are used within the body of the assignment. Citations may not be formatted correctly.

Below Expectations - Uses an inadequate number of sources that provide little or no support for ideas. Sources used may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are not used within the body of the assignment. Citations are not formatted correctly.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.