Formative assessment happens during learning and is low-stakes by design -- its purpose is to inform teaching, not to grade (a quick quiz, an exit ticket, a thumbs-up check). Summative assessment happens after learning is meant to be complete and measures the outcome, such as a final test or project, and typically carries a grade. A clear rubric -- a short table of specific, observable criteria at each performance level -- makes grading more consistent and more transparent to students than an unstated impression of quality, and it reduces a known problem: without one, teachers tend to grade the same work differently depending on unrelated factors like handwriting, how a student behaved that week, or grading fatigue late in a stack of papers.