The What Works Clearinghouse™ is a federally funded source of scientific evidence for what works in education. The What Works Clearinghouse aims to disseminate findings from rigorous education research to the education community. One mechanism for accomplishing this aim is the production of practice guides. Panels of national content experts, including both researchers and practitioners, create practice guides by systematically reviewing existing research on a topic and making recommendations based on both the best available research and their expertise. The practice guides contain evidence-based recommendations for instructional practices. The rubric in this document--the Phonological Awareness and Phonics Instruction Rubric--focuses on two of the four recommendations (recommendations 2 and 3) from the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide, "Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade." [For the practice guide, see ED566956.]