Need Assessment Rubric

	Needs Improvement 1 point	Developing 2 points	Satisfactory 3	Excellent 4 points	Points
Literature Review/Background	The assessment does not review relevant academic literature to describe the history of the problem.	The definition of the problem is not clear and/or the assessment gives some background information but it is vague, incomplete, or not clear where the author found the information.	The assessment defines the problem and known risk factors. The assessment describes the history of the problem including relevant social, legal and political background.	The assessment defines the problem and known risk factors. The assessment describes the history of the problem including relevant social, legal and political history. The assessment describes how the history of the problem creates the context for the problem to exist today.
Description of Population and Community	The assessment does not mention the history of the community or the demographics of the population most impacted.	The assessment defines a community/population but does not give adequate historical or demographic information.	The assessment defines and describes a community/ population and gives adequate demographics and relevant history.	The assessment defines the community/ population and uses a variety of sources to describe demographics and relevant history. It is clear how the history creates the context for the problem today.
Current Status/Indicators of the Problem	The assessment does not clearly identify data indicators of the problem.	The assessment identifies data indicators but does not clearly communicate the extent or severity of the problem; or, there is no clear link between the social problem and the data indicators chosen to represent the problem.	The assessment clearly describes the social justice issue or problem using adequate data indicators that show the extent and severity of the problem.	The assessment clearly describes data indicators that show the extent and severity of the problem. The assessment uses multiple source of data to fully develop the reader’s understanding of the problem.
Citations	Assessment has missing or no citations. The sources of the data is not clear.	Assessment adequately cites data but is missing citations for other ideas described in the assessment.	Assessment is adequately cited.	Assessment uses multiple sources for single ideas; uses difficult to find sources; cites older sources for older ideas; or otherwise shows an exceptional integration of outside sources with new ideas.
Analysis of Community Assets and Barriers	Assessment does not describe the resistance to solving the problem or does not acknowledge community strengths that can be used to solve the problem	Assessment gives an overly simplistic or confusing explanation of barriers or strengths related to the problem.	Assessment gives an adequate explanation of barriers and strengths.	Assessment gives more than one explanation of barriers and strengths. The assessment evaluates the relative contribution of each.
Style and Technical Writing	The assessment has an unacceptable number of typos, grammatical errors, or confusing sentence and paragraph structures. Paper is less than 3 full pages or more than 5 full pages.	The assessment has some typos and grammatical errors. There are some sentences or paragraphs that are not structured or worded well.	The assessment has almost no typos and only a few grammatical errors. Most of the paper is structured and worded well and avoid unnecessarily complicated words, wording, or sentence structures.	The assessment has almost no typos or grammatical errors. Sentences and paragraphs are structured well and avoid unnecessarily complicated words or sentence structures. Transitions between ideas and topics are smooth. The entire paper makes one cohesive point. Paper is approximately 4 pages long.

Grade					Total Points/24

Literature Review/Background Information

Define the problem.
Describe major historical events that have contributed to the problem as it existed in the past or exists today.
Cite and summarize major legislation and/or other efforts to combat the problem.

Description of Population and Community

Define a specific geographic region and provide a description of the community.
Describe the demographics of the people including socio-economic information.
If your problem specifically impacts one demographic, define the demographic.
Describe any relevant history of the population (in the community or on a larger scale) that contributes to the current status of the problem.
Describe any relevant cultural values or beliefs (in the community or on a larger scale) that contribute to the current status of the problem.

Current Status/Indicators

Define and describe commonly used indicators of the problem.
Risk factors of the problem
Describe the scope of the problem (How many people are affected?).
Describe the severity of the problem (How does it impact people?).
If relevant, describe the financial impact of the problem.
If available, share data on local indicators. If local data is not available, extrapolate from larger-scale data to estimate the impact on the chosen community.

Analysis of Barriers and Strengths

Describe community-level barriers that contribute to the current status of the problem.
If available, provide information about the status of those barriers in the chosen community.
Describe community-level strengths that can be used to address the problem.
If available, provide information about the status of those strengths in the chosen community.

Conclusion

Complete Answer: