This article argues that if multimodal and new literacies are to become common practices in schools, they have to be included in both school and provincial/state large-scale assessment programmes. Building on current criterion-referenced testing in Newfoundland and Labrador which assesses a range of literacies (viewing, reading, writing, representing, speaking and listening), the article suggests criteria which might be considered in developing holistic and analytic rubrics for assessing new literacies in ways that are productive for learners. The article describes an interactive website that may be used to familiarize teachers and education students with rubrics for assessing children's written and graphic responses to linguistic, graphic and spoken texts. (Contains 6 figures and 4 notes.)