A checklist is similar to a rubric in that it provide all the necessary criteria that the student must cover in an assignment. Unlike the rubric, it doesn't grade the level of performance for each criteria. Rubrics require teachers to score each criteria and offer a cumulative final score, while a checklist is used to simply verify that each criteria was included. Checklists can be useful in the classroom because they are easy for teachers to use and easy for students to understand. It does have the disadvantage of not being able to provide an assessment of the quality of an assignment. A completed checklist says that a student completed the assignment; it does not say how well he performed.
One assessment method that many teachers find useful is a personal interview of the students. This will allow a teacher to gauge the students' understanding of the material as well as allowing the teacher to provide constructive feedback and criticism to the students. This method can also be useful for teachers who wish to learn how to improve their teaching methods. The one drawback for teachers who wish to have more structured interviews is that they can take some time to set up. The teacher has to decide what questions to ask and schedule interview times with the students.
A peer assessment can also be useful in helping students learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Some students, especially younger students, may be more willing to listen to their classmates than a teacher, and constructive criticism may seem more valid coming from a friend. Performing an assessment on other assignments could even help a student improve his own project. A peer assessment can be given in any form, including a rubric. The only difference is that it is not given by the teacher. Naturally, this is not used to give a final grade, but to help students improve their work.
Self-evaluations work under the same principle as a peer evaluation. The difference is that the students are encouraged to assess their own work. Self-evaluations are most effective when they are combined with other assessment techniques, but they can be a good way to teach students to check and re-check all of their work. The only drawback to self-evaluations is that there is only one pair of eyes evaluating the work, and people are often their own worst critics. As with the peer evaluations, self-evaluations work best when the student wishes to improve his work, not as a final grading method.