rubrics for essay discussion

Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the different criteria relevant to an assignment, assessment, or learning outcome and states the possible levels of achievement in a specific, clear, and objective way. Use rubrics to assess project-based student work including essays, group projects, creative endeavors, and oral presentations.

Rubrics can help instructors communicate expectations to students and assess student work fairly, consistently and efficiently. Rubrics can provide students with informative feedback on their strengths and weaknesses so that they can reflect on their performance and work on areas that need improvement.

How to Get Started

Best practices, moodle how-to guides.

• Workshop Recording (Spring 2024)
• Workshop Registration

Step 1: Analyze the assignment

The first step in the rubric creation process is to analyze the assignment or assessment for which you are creating a rubric. To do this, consider the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the assignment and your feedback? What do you want students to demonstrate through the completion of this assignment (i.e. what are the learning objectives measured by it)? Is it a summative assessment, or will students use the feedback to create an improved product?
• Does the assignment break down into different or smaller tasks? Are these tasks equally important as the main assignment?
• What would an “excellent” assignment look like? An “acceptable” assignment? One that still needs major work?
• How detailed do you want the feedback you give students to be? Do you want/need to give them a grade?

Step 2: Decide what kind of rubric you will use

Types of rubrics: holistic, analytic/descriptive, single-point

Holistic Rubric. A holistic rubric includes all the criteria (such as clarity, organization, mechanics, etc.) to be considered together and included in a single evaluation. With a holistic rubric, the rater or grader assigns a single score based on an overall judgment of the student’s work, using descriptions of each performance level to assign the score.

Advantages of holistic rubrics:

• Can p lace an emphasis on what learners can demonstrate rather than what they cannot
• Save grader time by minimizing the number of evaluations to be made for each student
• Can be used consistently across raters, provided they have all been trained

Disadvantages of holistic rubrics:

• Provide less specific feedback than analytic/descriptive rubrics
• Can be difficult to choose a score when a student’s work is at varying levels across the criteria
• Any weighting of c riteria cannot be indicated in the rubric

Analytic/Descriptive Rubric . An analytic or descriptive rubric often takes the form of a table with the criteria listed in the left column and with levels of performance listed across the top row. Each cell contains a description of what the specified criterion looks like at a given level of performance. Each of the criteria is scored individually.

Advantages of analytic rubrics:

• Provide detailed feedback on areas of strength or weakness
• Each criterion can be weighted to reflect its relative importance

Disadvantages of analytic rubrics:

• More time-consuming to create and use than a holistic rubric
• May not be used consistently across raters unless the cells are well defined
• May result in giving less personalized feedback

Single-Point Rubric . A single-point rubric is breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria, but instead of describing different levels of performance, only the “proficient” level is described. Feedback space is provided for instructors to give individualized comments to help students improve and/or show where they excelled beyond the proficiency descriptors.

Advantages of single-point rubrics:

• Easier to create than an analytic/descriptive rubric
• Perhaps more likely that students will read the descriptors
• Areas of concern and excellence are open-ended
• May removes a focus on the grade/points
• May increase student creativity in project-based assignments

Disadvantage of analytic rubrics: Requires more work for instructors writing feedback

Step 3 (Optional): Look for templates and examples.

You might Google, “Rubric for persuasive essay at the college level” and see if there are any publicly available examples to start from. Ask your colleagues if they have used a rubric for a similar assignment. Some examples are also available at the end of this article. These rubrics can be a great starting point for you, but consider steps 3, 4, and 5 below to ensure that the rubric matches your assignment description, learning objectives and expectations.

Step 4: Define the assignment criteria

Make a list of the knowledge and skills are you measuring with the assignment/assessment Refer to your stated learning objectives, the assignment instructions, past examples of student work, etc. for help.

  Helpful strategies for defining grading criteria:

• Collaborate with co-instructors, teaching assistants, and other colleagues
• Brainstorm and discuss with students
• Can they be observed and measured?
• Are they important and essential?
• Are they distinct from other criteria?
• Are they phrased in precise, unambiguous language?
• Revise the criteria as needed
• Consider whether some are more important than others, and how you will weight them.

Step 5: Design the rating scale

Most ratings scales include between 3 and 5 levels. Consider the following questions when designing your rating scale:

• Given what students are able to demonstrate in this assignment/assessment, what are the possible levels of achievement?
• How many levels would you like to include (more levels means more detailed descriptions)
• Will you use numbers and/or descriptive labels for each level of performance? (for example 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and/or Exceeds expectations, Accomplished, Proficient, Developing, Beginning, etc.)
• Don’t use too many columns, and recognize that some criteria can have more columns that others . The rubric needs to be comprehensible and organized. Pick the right amount of columns so that the criteria flow logically and naturally across levels.

Step 6: Write descriptions for each level of the rating scale

Artificial Intelligence tools like Chat GPT have proven to be useful tools for creating a rubric. You will want to engineer your prompt that you provide the AI assistant to ensure you get what you want. For example, you might provide the assignment description, the criteria you feel are important, and the number of levels of performance you want in your prompt. Use the results as a starting point, and adjust the descriptions as needed.

Building a rubric from scratch

For a single-point rubric , describe what would be considered “proficient,” i.e. B-level work, and provide that description. You might also include suggestions for students outside of the actual rubric about how they might surpass proficient-level work.

For analytic and holistic rubrics , c reate statements of expected performance at each level of the rubric.

• Consider what descriptor is appropriate for each criteria, e.g., presence vs absence, complete vs incomplete, many vs none, major vs minor, consistent vs inconsistent, always vs never. If you have an indicator described in one level, it will need to be described in each level.
• You might start with the top/exemplary level. What does it look like when a student has achieved excellence for each/every criterion? Then, look at the “bottom” level. What does it look like when a student has not achieved the learning goals in any way? Then, complete the in-between levels.
• For an analytic rubric , do this for each particular criterion of the rubric so that every cell in the table is filled. These descriptions help students understand your expectations and their performance in regard to those expectations.

Well-written descriptions:

• Describe observable and measurable behavior
• Use parallel language across the scale
• Indicate the degree to which the standards are met

Step 7: Create your rubric

Create your rubric in a table or spreadsheet in Word, Google Docs, Sheets, etc., and then transfer it by typing it into Moodle. You can also use online tools to create the rubric, but you will still have to type the criteria, indicators, levels, etc., into Moodle. Rubric creators: Rubistar , iRubric

Step 8: Pilot-test your rubric

Prior to implementing your rubric on a live course, obtain feedback from:

• Teacher assistants

Try out your new rubric on a sample of student work. After you pilot-test your rubric, analyze the results to consider its effectiveness and revise accordingly.

• Limit the rubric to a single page for reading and grading ease
• Use parallel language . Use similar language and syntax/wording from column to column. Make sure that the rubric can be easily read from left to right or vice versa.
• Use student-friendly language . Make sure the language is learning-level appropriate. If you use academic language or concepts, you will need to teach those concepts.
• Share and discuss the rubric with your students . Students should understand that the rubric is there to help them learn, reflect, and self-assess. If students use a rubric, they will understand the expectations and their relevance to learning.
• Consider scalability and reusability of rubrics. Create rubric templates that you can alter as needed for multiple assignments.
• Maximize the descriptiveness of your language. Avoid words like “good” and “excellent.” For example, instead of saying, “uses excellent sources,” you might describe what makes a resource excellent so that students will know. You might also consider reducing the reliance on quantity, such as a number of allowable misspelled words. Focus instead, for example, on how distracting any spelling errors are.

Example of an analytic rubric for a final paper

Example of a holistic rubric for a final paper

Single-Point Rubric

More examples:

• Single Point Rubric Template ( variation )
• Analytic Rubric Template make a copy to edit
• A Rubric for Rubrics
• Bank of Online Discussion Rubrics in different formats
• Mathematical Presentations Descriptive Rubric
• Math Proof Assessment Rubric
• Kansas State Sample Rubrics
• Design Single Point Rubric

Technology Tools: Rubrics in Moodle

• Moodle Docs: Rubrics
• Moodle Docs: Grading Guide (use for single-point rubrics)

Tools with rubrics (other than Moodle)

• Google Assignments
• Turnitin Assignments: Rubric or Grading Form

Other resources

• DePaul University (n.d.). Rubrics .
• Gonzalez, J. (2014). Know your terms: Holistic, Analytic, and Single-Point Rubrics . Cult of Pedagogy.
• Goodrich, H. (1996). Understanding rubrics . Teaching for Authentic Student Performance, 54 (4), 14-17. Retrieved from   
• Miller, A. (2012). Tame the beast: tips for designing and using rubrics.
• Ragupathi, K., Lee, A. (2020). Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education. In: Sanger, C., Gleason, N. (eds) Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.

Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, grading and performance rubrics, what are rubrics.

A rubric is a scoring tool that explicitly represents the performance expectations for an assignment or piece of work. A rubric divides the assigned work into component parts and provides clear descriptions of the characteristics of the work associated with each component, at varying levels of mastery. Rubrics can be used for a wide array of assignments: papers, projects, oral presentations, artistic performances, group projects, etc. Rubrics can be used as scoring or grading guides, to provide formative feedback to support and guide ongoing learning efforts, or both.

Advantages of Using Rubrics

Using a rubric provides several advantages to both instructors and students. Grading according to an explicit and descriptive set of criteria that is designed to reflect the weighted importance of the objectives of the assignment helps ensure that the instructor’s grading standards don’t change over time. Grading consistency is difficult to maintain over time because of fatigue, shifting standards based on prior experience, or intrusion of other criteria. Furthermore, rubrics can reduce the time spent grading by reducing uncertainty and by allowing instructors to refer to the rubric description associated with a score rather than having to write long comments. Finally, grading rubrics are invaluable in large courses that have multiple graders (other instructors, teaching assistants, etc.) because they can help ensure consistency across graders and reduce the systematic bias that can be introduced between graders.

Used more formatively, rubrics can help instructors get a clearer picture of the strengths and weaknesses of their class. By recording the component scores and tallying up the number of students scoring below an acceptable level on each component, instructors can identify those skills or concepts that need more instructional time and student effort.

Grading rubrics are also valuable to students. A rubric can help instructors communicate to students the specific requirements and acceptable performance standards of an assignment. When rubrics are given to students with the assignment description, they can help students monitor and assess their progress as they work toward clearly indicated goals. When assignments are scored and returned with the rubric, students can more easily recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their work and direct their efforts accordingly.

Examples of Rubrics

Here are links to a diverse set of rubrics designed by Carnegie Mellon faculty and faculty at other institutions. Although your particular field of study and type of assessment activity may not be represented currently, viewing a rubric that is designed for a similar activity may provide you with ideas on how to divide your task into components and how to describe the varying levels of mastery.

Paper Assignments

• Example 1: Philosophy Paper This rubric was designed for student papers in a range of philosophy courses, CMU.
• Example 2: Psychology Assignment Short, concept application homework assignment in cognitive psychology, CMU.
• Example 3: Anthropology Writing Assignments This rubric was designed for a series of short writing assignments in anthropology, CMU.
• Example 4: History Research Paper . This rubric was designed for essays and research papers in history, CMU.
• Example 1: Capstone Project in Design This rubric describes the components and standard of performance from the research phase to the final presentation for a senior capstone project in the School of Design, CMU.
• Example 2: Engineering Design Project This rubric describes performance standards on three aspects of a team project: Research and Design, Communication, and Team Work.

Oral Presentations

• Example 1: Oral Exam This rubric describes a set of components and standards for assessing performance on an oral exam in an upper-division history course, CMU.
• Example 2: Oral Communication
• Example 3: Group Presentations This rubric describes a set of components and standards for assessing group presentations in a history course, CMU.

Class Participation/Contributions

• Example 1: Discussion Class This rubric assesses the quality of student contributions to class discussions. This is appropriate for an undergraduate-level course, CMU.
• Example 2: Advanced Seminar This rubric is designed for assessing discussion performance in an advanced undergraduate or graduate seminar. 

• Faculty and Staff

Assessment and Curriculum Support Center

Creating and using rubrics.

Last Updated: 4 March 2024. Click here to view archived versions of this page.

On this page:

• What is a rubric?
• Why use a rubric?
• What are the parts of a rubric?
• Developing a rubric
• Sample rubrics
• Scoring rubric group orientation and calibration
• Suggestions for using rubrics in courses
• Equity-minded considerations for rubric development
• Tips for developing a rubric
• Additional resources & sources consulted

Note:  The information and resources contained here serve only as a primers to the exciting and diverse perspectives in the field today. This page will be continually updated to reflect shared understandings of equity-minded theory and practice in learning assessment.

1. What is a rubric?

A rubric is an assessment tool often shaped like a matrix, which describes levels of achievement in a specific area of performance, understanding, or behavior.

There are two main types of rubrics:

Analytic Rubric : An analytic rubric specifies at least two characteristics to be assessed at each performance level and provides a separate score for each characteristic (e.g., a score on “formatting” and a score on “content development”).

• Advantages: provides more detailed feedback on student performance; promotes consistent scoring across students and between raters
• Disadvantages: more time consuming than applying a holistic rubric
• You want to see strengths and weaknesses.
• You want detailed feedback about student performance.

Holistic Rubric: A holistic rubrics provide a single score based on an overall impression of a student’s performance on a task.

• Advantages: quick scoring; provides an overview of student achievement; efficient for large group scoring
• Disadvantages: does not provided detailed information; not diagnostic; may be difficult for scorers to decide on one overall score
• You want a quick snapshot of achievement.
• A single dimension is adequate to define quality.

2. Why use a rubric?

• A rubric creates a common framework and language for assessment.
• Complex products or behaviors can be examined efficiently.
• Well-trained reviewers apply the same criteria and standards.
• Rubrics are criterion-referenced, rather than norm-referenced. Raters ask, “Did the student meet the criteria for level 5 of the rubric?” rather than “How well did this student do compared to other students?”
• Using rubrics can lead to substantive conversations among faculty.
• When faculty members collaborate to develop a rubric, it promotes shared expectations and grading practices.

Faculty members can use rubrics for program assessment. Examples:

The English Department collected essays from students in all sections of English 100. A random sample of essays was selected. A team of faculty members evaluated the essays by applying an analytic scoring rubric. Before applying the rubric, they “normed”–that is, they agreed on how to apply the rubric by scoring the same set of essays and discussing them until consensus was reached (see below: “6. Scoring rubric group orientation and calibration”). Biology laboratory instructors agreed to use a “Biology Lab Report Rubric” to grade students’ lab reports in all Biology lab sections, from 100- to 400-level. At the beginning of each semester, instructors met and discussed sample lab reports. They agreed on how to apply the rubric and their expectations for an “A,” “B,” “C,” etc., report in 100-level, 200-level, and 300- and 400-level lab sections. Every other year, a random sample of students’ lab reports are selected from 300- and 400-level sections. Each of those reports are then scored by a Biology professor. The score given by the course instructor is compared to the score given by the Biology professor. In addition, the scores are reported as part of the program’s assessment report. In this way, the program determines how well it is meeting its outcome, “Students will be able to write biology laboratory reports.”

3. What are the parts of a rubric?

Rubrics are composed of four basic parts. In its simplest form, the rubric includes:

• A task description . The outcome being assessed or instructions students received for an assignment.
• The characteristics to be rated (rows) . The skills, knowledge, and/or behavior to be demonstrated.
• Beginning, approaching, meeting, exceeding
• Emerging, developing, proficient, exemplary 
• Novice, intermediate, intermediate high, advanced 
• Beginning, striving, succeeding, soaring
• Also called a “performance description.” Explains what a student will have done to demonstrate they are at a given level of mastery for a given characteristic.

4. Developing a rubric

Step 1: Identify what you want to assess

Step 2: Identify the characteristics to be rated (rows). These are also called “dimensions.”

• Specify the skills, knowledge, and/or behaviors that you will be looking for.
• Limit the characteristics to those that are most important to the assessment.

Step 3: Identify the levels of mastery/scale (columns).

Tip: Aim for an even number (4 or 6) because when an odd number is used, the middle tends to become the “catch-all” category.

Step 4: Describe each level of mastery for each characteristic/dimension (cells).

• Describe the best work you could expect using these characteristics. This describes the top category.
• Describe an unacceptable product. This describes the lowest category.
• Develop descriptions of intermediate-level products for intermediate categories.

Important: Each description and each characteristic should be mutually exclusive.

Step 5: Test rubric.

• Apply the rubric to an assignment.
• Share with colleagues.

Tip: Faculty members often find it useful to establish the minimum score needed for the student work to be deemed passable. For example, faculty members may decided that a “1” or “2” on a 4-point scale (4=exemplary, 3=proficient, 2=marginal, 1=unacceptable), does not meet the minimum quality expectations. We encourage a standard setting session to set the score needed to meet expectations (also called a “cutscore”). Monica has posted materials from standard setting workshops, one offered on campus and the other at a national conference (includes speaker notes with the presentation slides). They may set their criteria for success as 90% of the students must score 3 or higher. If assessment study results fall short, action will need to be taken.

Step 6: Discuss with colleagues. Review feedback and revise.

Important: When developing a rubric for program assessment, enlist the help of colleagues. Rubrics promote shared expectations and consistent grading practices which benefit faculty members and students in the program.

5. Sample rubrics

Rubrics are on our Rubric Bank page and in our Rubric Repository (Graduate Degree Programs) . More are available at the Assessment and Curriculum Support Center in Crawford Hall (hard copy).

These open as Word documents and are examples from outside UH.

• Group Participation (analytic rubric)
• Participation (holistic rubric)
• Design Project (analytic rubric)
• Critical Thinking (analytic rubric)
• Media and Design Elements (analytic rubric; portfolio)
• Writing (holistic rubric; portfolio)

6. Scoring rubric group orientation and calibration

When using a rubric for program assessment purposes, faculty members apply the rubric to pieces of student work (e.g., reports, oral presentations, design projects). To produce dependable scores, each faculty member needs to interpret the rubric in the same way. The process of training faculty members to apply the rubric is called “norming.” It’s a way to calibrate the faculty members so that scores are accurate and consistent across the faculty. Below are directions for an assessment coordinator carrying out this process.

Suggested materials for a scoring session:

• Copies of the rubric
• Copies of the “anchors”: pieces of student work that illustrate each level of mastery. Suggestion: have 6 anchor pieces (2 low, 2 middle, 2 high)
• Score sheets
• Extra pens, tape, post-its, paper clips, stapler, rubber bands, etc.

Hold the scoring session in a room that:

• Allows the scorers to spread out as they rate the student pieces
• Has a chalk or white board, smart board, or flip chart
• Describe the purpose of the activity, stressing how it fits into program assessment plans. Explain that the purpose is to assess the program, not individual students or faculty, and describe ethical guidelines, including respect for confidentiality and privacy.
• Describe the nature of the products that will be reviewed, briefly summarizing how they were obtained.
• Describe the scoring rubric and its categories. Explain how it was developed.
• Analytic: Explain that readers should rate each dimension of an analytic rubric separately, and they should apply the criteria without concern for how often each score (level of mastery) is used. Holistic: Explain that readers should assign the score or level of mastery that best describes the whole piece; some aspects of the piece may not appear in that score and that is okay. They should apply the criteria without concern for how often each score is used.
• Give each scorer a copy of several student products that are exemplars of different levels of performance. Ask each scorer to independently apply the rubric to each of these products, writing their ratings on a scrap sheet of paper.
• Once everyone is done, collect everyone’s ratings and display them so everyone can see the degree of agreement. This is often done on a blackboard, with each person in turn announcing his/her ratings as they are entered on the board. Alternatively, the facilitator could ask raters to raise their hands when their rating category is announced, making the extent of agreement very clear to everyone and making it very easy to identify raters who routinely give unusually high or low ratings.
• Guide the group in a discussion of their ratings. There will be differences. This discussion is important to establish standards. Attempt to reach consensus on the most appropriate rating for each of the products being examined by inviting people who gave different ratings to explain their judgments. Raters should be encouraged to explain by making explicit references to the rubric. Usually consensus is possible, but sometimes a split decision is developed, e.g., the group may agree that a product is a “3-4” split because it has elements of both categories. This is usually not a problem. You might allow the group to revise the rubric to clarify its use but avoid allowing the group to drift away from the rubric and learning outcome(s) being assessed.
• Once the group is comfortable with how the rubric is applied, the rating begins. Explain how to record ratings using the score sheet and explain the procedures. Reviewers begin scoring.
• Are results sufficiently reliable?
• What do the results mean? Are we satisfied with the extent of students’ learning?
• Who needs to know the results?
• What are the implications of the results for curriculum, pedagogy, or student support services?
• How might the assessment process, itself, be improved?

7. Suggestions for using rubrics in courses

• Use the rubric to grade student work. Hand out the rubric with the assignment so students will know your expectations and how they’ll be graded. This should help students master your learning outcomes by guiding their work in appropriate directions.
• Use a rubric for grading student work and return the rubric with the grading on it. Faculty save time writing extensive comments; they just circle or highlight relevant segments of the rubric. Some faculty members include room for additional comments on the rubric page, either within each section or at the end.
• Develop a rubric with your students for an assignment or group project. Students can the monitor themselves and their peers using agreed-upon criteria that they helped develop. Many faculty members find that students will create higher standards for themselves than faculty members would impose on them.
• Have students apply your rubric to sample products before they create their own. Faculty members report that students are quite accurate when doing this, and this process should help them evaluate their own projects as they are being developed. The ability to evaluate, edit, and improve draft documents is an important skill.
• Have students exchange paper drafts and give peer feedback using the rubric. Then, give students a few days to revise before submitting the final draft to you. You might also require that they turn in the draft and peer-scored rubric with their final paper.
• Have students self-assess their products using the rubric and hand in their self-assessment with the product; then, faculty members and students can compare self- and faculty-generated evaluations.

8. Equity-minded considerations for rubric development

Ensure transparency by making rubric criteria public, explicit, and accessible

Transparency is a core tenet of equity-minded assessment practice. Students should know and understand how they are being evaluated as early as possible.

• Ensure the rubric is publicly available & easily accessible. We recommend publishing on your program or department website.
• Have course instructors introduce and use the program rubric in their own courses. Instructors should explain to students connections between the rubric criteria and the course and program SLOs.
• Write rubric criteria using student-focused and culturally-relevant language to ensure students understand the rubric’s purpose, the expectations it sets, and how criteria will be applied in assessing their work.
• For example, instructors can provide annotated examples of student work using the rubric language as a resource for students.

Meaningfully involve students and engage multiple perspectives

Rubrics created by faculty alone risk perpetuating unseen biases as the evaluation criteria used will inherently reflect faculty perspectives, values, and assumptions. Including students and other stakeholders in developing criteria helps to ensure performance expectations are aligned between faculty, students, and community members. Additional perspectives to be engaged might include community members, alumni, co-curricular faculty/staff, field supervisors, potential employers, or current professionals. Consider the following strategies to meaningfully involve students and engage multiple perspectives:

• Have students read each evaluation criteria and talk out loud about what they think it means. This will allow you to identify what language is clear and where there is still confusion.
• Ask students to use their language to interpret the rubric and provide a student version of the rubric.
• If you use this strategy, it is essential to create an inclusive environment where students and faculty have equal opportunity to provide input.
• Be sure to incorporate feedback from faculty and instructors who teach diverse courses, levels, and in different sub-disciplinary topics. Faculty and instructors who teach introductory courses have valuable experiences and perspectives that may differ from those who teach higher-level courses.
• Engage multiple perspectives including co-curricular faculty/staff, alumni, potential employers, and community members for feedback on evaluation criteria and rubric language. This will ensure evaluation criteria reflect what is important for all stakeholders.
• Elevate historically silenced voices in discussions on rubric development. Ensure stakeholders from historically underrepresented communities have their voices heard and valued.

Honor students’ strengths in performance descriptions

When describing students’ performance at different levels of mastery, use language that describes what students can do rather than what they cannot do. For example:

• Instead of: Students cannot make coherent arguments consistently.
• Use: Students can make coherent arguments occasionally.

9. Tips for developing a rubric

• Find and adapt an existing rubric! It is rare to find a rubric that is exactly right for your situation, but you can adapt an already existing rubric that has worked well for others and save a great deal of time. A faculty member in your program may already have a good one.
• Evaluate the rubric . Ask yourself: A) Does the rubric relate to the outcome(s) being assessed? (If yes, success!) B) Does it address anything extraneous? (If yes, delete.) C) Is the rubric useful, feasible, manageable, and practical? (If yes, find multiple ways to use the rubric: program assessment, assignment grading, peer review, student self assessment.)
• Collect samples of student work that exemplify each point on the scale or level. A rubric will not be meaningful to students or colleagues until the anchors/benchmarks/exemplars are available.
• Expect to revise.
• When you have a good rubric, SHARE IT!

10. Additional resources & sources consulted:

Rubric examples:

• Rubrics primarily for undergraduate outcomes and programs
• Rubric repository for graduate degree programs

Workshop presentation slides and handouts:

• Workshop handout (Word document)
• How to Use a Rubric for Program Assessment (2010)
• Techniques for Using Rubrics in Program Assessment by guest speaker Dannelle Stevens (2010)
• Rubrics: Save Grading Time & Engage Students in Learning by guest speaker Dannelle Stevens (2009)
• Rubric Library , Institutional Research, Assessment & Planning, California State University-Fresno
• The Basics of Rubrics [PDF], Schreyer Institute, Penn State
• Creating Rubrics , Teaching Methods and Management, TeacherVision
• Allen, Mary – University of Hawai’i at Manoa Spring 2008 Assessment Workshops, May 13-14, 2008 [available at the Assessment and Curriculum Support Center]
• Mertler, Craig A. (2001). Designing scoring rubrics for your classroom. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation , 7(25).
• NPEC Sourcebook on Assessment: Definitions and Assessment Methods for Communication, Leadership, Information Literacy, Quantitative Reasoning, and Quantitative Skills . [PDF] (June 2005)

Contributors: Monica Stitt-Bergh, Ph.D., TJ Buckley, Yao Z. Hill Ph.D.

University Writing Program

• Collaborative Writing
• Writing for Metacognition
• Supporting Multilingual Writers
• Alternatives to Grading
• Making Feedback Matter
• Peer Review
• Responding to Multilingual Writers’ Texts
• Model Library

Written by Arthur Russell

Just about every discussion of rubrics begins with a caveat: writing rubrics are not a substitute for writing instruction. Rubrics are tools for communicating grading criteria and assessing student progress. Rubrics take a variety of forms, from grids to checklists , and measure a range of writing tasks, from conceptual design to sentence-level considerations.  

As with any assessment tool, a rubric’s effectiveness is entirely dependent upon its design and its deployment in the classroom. Whatever form rubrics take, the criteria for assessment must be legible to all students—if students cannot decipher our rubrics, they are not useful.  

When effectively integrated with writing instruction, rubrics can help instructors clarify their own expectations for written work, isolate specific elements as targets of instruction, and provide meaningful feedback and coaching to students. Well-designed rubrics will draw program learning outcomes, assignment prompts, course instruction and assessment into alignment. 

Starting Points

Course rubrics vs. assignment rubrics.

Instructors may choose to use a standard rubric for evaluating all written work completed in a course. Course rubrics provide instructors and students a shared language for communicating the values and expectations of written work over the course of an entire semester. Best practices suggest that establishing grading criteria with students well in advance helps instructors compose focused, revision-oriented feedback on drafts and final papers and better coach student writers. When deploying course rubrics in writing-intensive courses, consider using them to guide peer review and self-evaluation processes with students. The more often students work with established criteria, the more likely they are to respond to and incorporate feedback in future projects.

At the same time, not every assignment needs to assess every aspect of the writing process every time. Particularly early in the semester, instructors may develop assignment-specific rubrics that target one or two standards. Prioritizing a specific learning objective or writing process in an assignment rubric allows instructors to concentrate time spent on in-class writing instruction and encourages students to develop targeted aspects of their writing processes.  

Developing Evaluation Criteria

• Establish clear categories. What specific learning objectives (i.e. critical and creative thinking, inquiry and analysis) and writing processes (i.e. summary, synthesis, source analysis, argument and response) are most critical to success for each assignment? 
• Establish observable and measurable criteria of success. For example, consider what counts for “clarity” in written work. For a research paper, clarity might attend to purpose: a successful paper will have a well-defined purpose (thesis, takeaway), integrate and explain evidence to support all claims, and pay careful attention to purpose, context, and audience. 
• Adopt student-friendly language. When using academic terminology and discipline-specific concepts, be sure to define and discuss these concepts with students. When in doubt , VALUE rubrics are excellent models of clearly defined learning objective and distinguishing criteria.  

Sticking Points: Writing Rubrics in the Disciplines  

Even the most carefully planned rubrics are not self-evident. The language we have adopted for writing assessment is itself a potential obstacle to student learning and success . What we count for “clarity” or “accuracy” or “insight” in academic writing, for instance, is likely shaped by our disciplinary expectations and measured by the standards of our respective fields. What counts for “good writing” is more subjective than our rubrics may suggest. Similarly, students arrive in our courses with their own understanding and experiences of academic writing that may or may not be reflected in our assignment prompts. 

Defining the terms for success with students in class and in conference will go a long way  toward bridging these gaps. We might even use rubrics as conversation starters, not only as an occasion to communicate our expectations for written work, but also as an opportunity to demystify the rhetorical contexts of discipline-specific writing with students.

Helpful Resources  

For a short introduction to rubric design, the Creating Rubrics guide developed by Louise Pasternack (2014) for the  Center for Teaching  Excellence and Innovation is an excellent resource.  The step-by-step tutorials developed by North Carolina State University and DePaul Teaching Commons are especially useful for instructors preparing rubrics from scratch.  On the use of rubrics for writing instruction and assignments in particular, Heidi Andrade’s “Teaching with Rubrics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” provides an instructive overview of the benefits and drawbacks of using rubrics.  For a more in-depth introduction (with sample rubrics), Melzer and Bean’s “Using Rubrics to Develop and Apply Grading Criteria” in  Engaging Ideas  is essential reading. 

Cited and Recommended Sources

• Andrade, Heidi Goodrich. “Teaching with Rubrics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” College Teaching , vol. 53, no. 1, 2005, pp. 27–30, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27559213  
• Athon, Amanda. “Designing Rubrics to Foster Students’ Diverse Language Backgrounds.” Journal of Basic Writing , vol. 38, No.1, 2019, pp. 78–103, https://doi.org/10.37514/JBW-J.2019.38.1.05  
• Bennett, Cary. “Assessment Rubrics: Thinking inside the Boxes.” Learning and Teaching: The International Journal of Higher Education in the Social Sciences , vol. 9, no. 1, 2016, pp. 50–72,  http://www.jstor.org/stable/24718020  
• Broad, Bob. What We Really Value: Beyond Rubrics in Teaching and Assessing Writing . University Press of Colorado, 2003. https://doi-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/10.2307/j.ctt46nxvm  
• Melzer, Dan, and John C. Bean. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom . 3rd ed., Jossey-Bass, 2021 (esp. pp. 253-277), https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/lib/jhu/detail.action?docID=6632622  
• Pasternack, Louise. “Creating Rubrics,” The Innovative Instructor Blog , Center for Teaching Excellence and Innovation, Johns Hopkins University, 21 Nov. 2014.  
• Reynders, G., et al. “Rubrics to assess critical thinking and information processing in undergraduate STEM courses.” International Journal of STEM Education vol. 7, no. 9, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00208-5  
• Turley, Eric D., and Chris W. Gallagher. “On the ‘Uses’ of Rubrics: Reframing the Great Rubric Debate.” The English Journal , vol. 97, no. 4, 2008, pp. 87–92, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30047253  
• Wiggins, Grant. “The Constant Danger of Sacrificing Validity to Reliability: Making Writing Assessment Serve Writers.” Assessing Writing , vol. 1, no. 1, 1994, pp. 129-139, https://doi.org/10.1016/1075-2935(94)90008-6  

Search Teaching Support and Innovation

Teaching support and innovation menu, teaching support and innovation.

• Request Services
• Individual Consultation
• Media Support
• Online Exam Center Proctoring
• Technology Assistance
• Unit-level Training, Facilitation and Support
• Graduate Employee Teaching Support
• Browse Resources
• Engage Community
• Upcoming Events
• Teaching Core Education
• Reading Groups
• Improve Curricula
• Annual Program Assessment
• Closing the Loop
• Program Learning Outcomes
• Core Education Assessment
• Core Education Assessment Plan
• Core Education Learning Outcomes
• Research & Assessment Projects
• TEP Staff Directory
• UO Online Staff Directory
• News & Events

Rubrics for Discussions

Rubrics are a tool that can help faculty grade faster and more objectively. Rubrics also show students what criteria they will be graded on. We recommend using rubrics to grade Assignments and Discussions .

To add a Discussion   Rubric , you will need to create a graded discussion first. Once the Discussion is published, select the More Options icon [︙] [1]  next to the Edit button. Select the Add Rubric link [2]  in the dropdown menu.

When you create your Rubric for either an Assignment or Discussion , a Rubric table will appear. Rubrics are typically comprised of rows and columns. Rows are used to define the various criteria being used to assess an assignment. Columns are used to define levels of performance for each criterion.

For further assistance, UO Online & Canvas Support are available.

• In-Person: Room 68 PLC
• By phone: (541) 346-1942
• By email:  [email protected]
• Submit a  Service Portal Ticket  ( opens in a new tab) . This form can also be accessed in Canvas from the  Help  button at the bottom of the  Global Navigation Menu . 

Center for Teaching Innovation

Resource library.

• AACU VALUE Rubrics

Using rubrics

A rubric is a type of scoring guide that assesses and articulates specific components and expectations for an assignment. Rubrics can be used for a variety of assignments: research papers, group projects, portfolios, and presentations.  

Why use rubrics? 

Rubrics help instructors: 

• Assess assignments consistently from student-to-student. 
• Save time in grading, both short-term and long-term. 
• Give timely, effective feedback and promote student learning in a sustainable way. 
• Clarify expectations and components of an assignment for both students and course teaching assistants (TAs). 
• Refine teaching methods by evaluating rubric results. 

Rubrics help students: 

• Understand expectations and components of an assignment. 
• Become more aware of their learning process and progress. 
• Improve work through timely and detailed feedback. 

Considerations for using rubrics 

When developing rubrics consider the following:

• Although it takes time to build a rubric, time will be saved in the long run as grading and providing feedback on student work will become more streamlined.  
• A rubric can be a fillable pdf that can easily be emailed to students. 
• They can be used for oral presentations. 
• They are a great tool to evaluate teamwork and individual contribution to group tasks. 
• Rubrics facilitate peer-review by setting evaluation standards. Have students use the rubric to provide peer assessment on various drafts. 
• Students can use them for self-assessment to improve personal performance and learning. Encourage students to use the rubrics to assess their own work. 
• Motivate students to improve their work by using rubric feedback to resubmit their work incorporating the feedback. 

Getting Started with Rubrics 

• Start small by creating one rubric for one assignment in a semester.  
• Ask colleagues if they have developed rubrics for similar assignments or adapt rubrics that are available online. For example, the  AACU has rubrics  for topics such as written and oral communication, critical thinking, and creative thinking. RubiStar helps you to develop your rubric based on templates.  
• Examine an assignment for your course. Outline the elements or critical attributes to be evaluated (these attributes must be objectively measurable). 
• Create an evaluative range for performance quality under each element; for instance, “excellent,” “good,” “unsatisfactory.” 
• Avoid using subjective or vague criteria such as “interesting” or “creative.” Instead, outline objective indicators that would fall under these categories. 
• The criteria must clearly differentiate one performance level from another. 
• Assign a numerical scale to each level. 
• Give a draft of the rubric to your colleagues and/or TAs for feedback. 
• Train students to use your rubric and solicit feedback. This will help you judge whether the rubric is clear to them and will identify any weaknesses. 
• Rework the rubric based on the feedback. 

• Generating Ideas
• Drafting and Revision
• Sources and Evidence
• Style and Grammar
• Specific to Creative Arts
• Specific to Humanities
• Specific to Sciences
• Specific to Social Sciences
• CVs, Résumés and Cover Letters
• Graduate School Applications
• Other Resources
• Hiatt Career Center
• University Writing Center
• Classroom Materials
• Course and Assignment Design
• UWP Instructor Resources
• Writing Intensive Requirement
• Criteria and Learning Goals
• Course Application for Instructors
• FAQ for Instructors
• FAQ for Students
• Journals on Writing Research and Pedagogy
• University Writing Program
• Degree Programs
• Graduate Programs
• Brandeis Online
• Summer Programs
• Undergraduate Admissions
• Graduate Admissions
• Financial Aid
• Summer School
• Centers and Institutes
• Funding Resources
• Housing/Community Living
• Clubs and Organizations
• Community Service
• Brandeis Arts Engagement
• Rose Art Museum
• Our Jewish Roots
• Mission and Diversity Statements
• Administration
• Faculty & Staff
• Alumni & Friends
• Parents & Families
• Campus Calendar
• Directories
• New Students
• Shuttle Schedules
• Support at Brandeis

Writing Resources

Using rubrics: tips and examples.

Rubrics are a tool for effective assessment of student work. A rubric identifies specific expectations from a given assignment, as well as how the successful completion of these elements contributes to a grade.

For instructors, rubrics :

• Help the grading / feedback reflect the assignment / class goals
• Remove bias from grading (including across graders / TAs)

For students, rubrics :

• Ensure students know the expectations of an assignment(s) rubrics should be shared with students in advance
• Clearly justify grades for students

Rubrics can be used to evaluate progress, as well as to assess final products and assign grades. There are different types of rubrics, depending on the needs of the assignment:

Checklist Rubrics

Checklist rubrics assess completion of the parts of an assignment. The student is not assessed on how well each element is executed, but just on completion. Checklists can be done by the instructor, but can also be done by students themselves to self-assess their progress/product.An instructor can choose to give partial credit if an element of the assignment is partially completed. For example, for the UWS proposal assignment, a checklist rubric may look like this:

Proposal Element (completed/not completed):

• Introduction (1 paragraph)
• Literature Review (~2 pages)
• Library Research Plan (~1 page)
• Motive (1 paragraph)
• Weekly Timeline
• Annotated Bibliography (minimum of 3 sources)

An instructor can choose to give partial credit if an element of the assignment is partially completed.

Narrative / Holistic Rubrics

Narrative/holistic rubrics provide overall descriptions of [ insert text here ]

For example, this rubric refers to an assignment where students contributed to an online discussion board. As you can see, the assessment can be indicated in various ways—as a letter grade, as a descriptive word or phrase, or as a numerical rating. The rubric then shows a description of the expectations for that grade. To create this for a specific assignment, the instructor would consider what a submission that earned an A should look like, versus one that earned a B, C, etc. The instructor would then write detailed descriptions of what qualities a student would have to demonstrate in order to earn an A, B, C, etc.

A — Outstanding — (90-100) . Student created an original post that was highly insightful and which responded thoroughly to all parts of the prompt. The response effectively utilized a variety of evidence from the literary readings for the week, directly referencing the texts at least three times. Additionally, the student responded to peers' posts with a high degree of professionalism in interaction, grammar/mechanics, and spelling. 

B — Very Good — (81-99) . Student created an original post that was insightful and responded to all or most parts of the prompt. The response utilized a variety of evidence from the text as well, though there may have been room for more and/or further explanation. Additionally, the student responded to peers' posts with a good degree of professionalism in interaction, grammar/mechanics, and spelling. 

C — Average — (71-79) . Student created an original post that was at times insightful, though lacking in substantial well-explained evidence and/or which was at times off-topic from the prompt. Responses to peers were attempted, though these responses were lacking in insightful observation and/or had errors/lapses in professional interaction, grammar/mechanics, and spelling. 

  D — Needs Improvement — (60-69) . Student created an original post which did not effectively address the prompt and/or which was lacking in substantial evidence from the text. Responses to peers were incomplete or insubstantial with numerous errors/lapses in professional interaction, grammar/mechanics, and spelling. 

F — Does not Meet Expectations — (59 and below) . Student created an original post which was too brief, did not respond to the prompt, and was lacking in substantial evidence from the text. Missing or overly brief responses to peers with errors/lapses in professional interaction, grammar/mechanics, and spelling.  

Source: Virginia Commonwealth University

Narrative/Holistic Rubrics can be easier for instructors to create and use. However, for students, these sorts of rubrics often provide less specific feedback. A student may not know where exactly their writing fails to meet expectations. Narrative/holistic rubrics thus should be used in tandem with specific comments that articulate where the student needs improvement. Often, when an instructor is using a narrative/holistic rubric, there is a sort of analytical rubric (see below) going on behind the scenes, which helps inform the final grade. This behind-the-scenes thinking should be communicated to students.  

Analytical / Developmental Rubrics

Similar to holistic rubrics but they break down the elements of the assignment into pieces. The benefit of this approach is that students see exactly where they are and are not succeeding with their writing. These rubrics can be time consuming to produce, but are effective in both communicating expectations and justifying grades. Some instructors opt to return each writing assignment with the rubric attached, highlighted or otherwise marked to show progress. Other instructors may opt to use detailed marginal and block comments to refer to the elements of the rubric.

Assignment Elements

THESIS A (Exceeding Standard) :  The major claim of the essay is complex, insightful, and unexpected. B (Proficient) : The major claim is clear and arguable but lacks complexity or is too narrow in scope. C (Progressing) : The major claim of the essay is weak, i.e., vague, simple, or obvious. D (Not meeting standard) : The major claim is missing or unclear.

EVIDENCE A : Strong evidence is used in supportive and creative ways. B : Most ideas are supported by evidence, but not the best evidence. C : Evidence may be lacking or irrelevant. D : There is little to no appropriate evidence.

STRUCTURE A : Ideas develop over the course of the essay. B : The argument is mostly logical and structured. C : The argument does not develop over the course of the essay. D : Argument shows no clear structure.

REVISION A : Extensive & effective revision beyond instructor’s comments. B : Extensive revision. C : Some evidence of revision. D : Little evidence of revision.

 Some instructors opt to return each writing assignment with the rubric attached, highlighted or otherwise marked to show progress. Other instructors may opt to use detailed marginal and block comments to refer to the elements of the rubric.

Elissa Jacobs and Paige Eggebrecht

• Resources for Students
• Research and Pedagogy

Create Discussion Rubrics

While faculty might hope that students can “just discuss” a topic online with little or no support, Beckett, Amaro‐Jiménez, and Beckett (2010) found that “even doctoral students may need explicit grading instructions, and therefore provide rubrics and sample responses while not stifling creativity” (p. 331). Rubrics provide clear expectations for students regarding how an activity that can otherwise be subjective will be graded. In addition to providing learner support, they can be especially helpful to instructors since they clearly state the goals for the discussion and facilitate a systematic way to assign grades. Some faculty members also employ the assistance of a teaching assistant and with multiple graders, the potential for inconsistent grading becomes high. Rubrics can help minimize that potential risk.

Baker (2011) notes that it is helpful for the instructor to be very clear in their rubric, using both quantitative and qualitative elements. Concerning discussions, instructors can advise students that higher quality comments will likely have certain features like referring to the text, lecture or other sources. A rubric can contain criteria about original posts, but also replies to other students (“to simply agree or disagree with other members is not sufficient”). He defines a ‘substantive post’ as well-constructed, thoughtful, independent comment of one paragraph or more. He recommends setting up a word limit as well; for him, a “C” grade level comment would consist of 125 words. It is not advised to always adopt a certain word count; the scope of the discussion will always depend on the learning objectives of the module and other activities.

Pelz (2004, in Cranney et al., 2011) recommend that students ask these questions to themselves as they post: (1) Is the information accurate? (2) Is your post relevant to the topic under discussion? (3) Does your post answer the questions required? (4) Does your post teach something new or apply a concept in a new way? (5) Have you added to the academic atmosphere of this course? These questions then serve as categories for a rubric.

Link to example artifact(s)

Simple rubric examples.

• Online Discussion Rubric – This rubric was used in a small group discussion activity in the faculty development program “IDL6543”, Instructional Design Team, Center for Distributed Learning, UCF.
• Online Discussion Board Rubric – This rubric was used in a debate discussion activity in a leadership course, Dr. Denise Lowe, Instructional Designer at UCF’s Center for Distributed Learning.

More elaborated rubric examples

• Online Discussion Rubric – This rubric was used in a series of small group discussion activities on related module topics in a world literature course, Farrah Cato, Instructor in UCF’s Department of English at the College of the Arts & Humanities.
• Online Discussions Participation Rubric – This rubric was used in discussion participation activities in an educational technology course, Dr. Kelvin Thompson, Adjunct Instructor in UCF’s College of Education and Human Performance.
• “Designing and Orchestrating Online Discussions” – D.L. Baker (2011) offers an example of a grading rubric for online discussions in his article on page 406. Critical criteria include “relative measures of quantitative minimums, qualitative evaluation, grammar, timeliness, netiquette, research, and connection to other postings.”

Link to scholarly reference(s)

Baker, D. L. (2011). Designing and orchestrating online discussions. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 7 (3), 401-411. https://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no3/baker_0911.pdf

Beckett, G., Amaro-Jiménez, C., & Beckett, K. (2010). Students’ use of asynchronous discussions for academic discourse socialization, Distance Education, 31 :3, 315-33. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2010.513956

Cranney, M., Alexander, J. L., Wallace, W., & Alfano, L. (2011). Instructor’s discussion forum effort: Is it worth it? MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 7( 3), 337-348. http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no3/cranney_0911.pdf

Chen, B.,  deNoyelles, A.,  Thompson, K.,  Sugar, A.,  & Vargas, J.  (2022). Create discussion rubrics. In A. deNoyelles, A. Albrecht, S. Bauer, & S. Wyatt (Eds.),  Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository . Orlando, FL: University of Central Florida Center for Distributed Learning.  https://topr.online.ucf.edu/discussion-rubrics/ .

Center for Excellence in Teaching

Home > Resources > Short essay question rubric

Short essay question rubric

Sample grading rubric an instructor can use to assess students’ work on short essay questions.

Download this file

Download this file [62.00 KB]

Back to Resources Page

• How Do Rubrics Help?

How students and teachers understand the standards against which work will be measured.

Your content has been saved!

Rubrics are multidimensional sets of scoring guidelines that can be used to provide consistency in evaluating student work. They spell out scoring criteria so that multiple teachers, using the same rubric for a student's essay, for example, would arrive at the same score or grade.

Rubrics are used from the initiation to the completion of a student project. They provide a measurement system for specific tasks and are tailored to each project, so as the projects become more complex, so do the rubrics.

Rubrics are great for students: they let students know what is expected of them, and demystify grades by clearly stating, in age-appropriate vocabulary, the expectations for a project. They also help students see that learning is about gaining specific skills (both in academic subjects and in problem-solving and life skills), and they give students the opportunity to do self-assessment to reflect on the learning process.

Rubrics also help teachers authentically monitor a student's learning process and develop and revise a lesson plan. They provide a way for a student and a teacher to measure the quality of a body of work. When a student's assessment of his or her work and a teacher's assessment don't agree, they can schedule a conference to let the student explain his or her understanding of the content and justify the method of presentation.

There are two common types of rubrics: team and project rubrics.

Team Rubrics

A team rubric is a guideline that lets each team member know what is expected of him or her. For example, a team rubric contains detailed descriptions for tasks that will be done while the students are working as a team, and states acceptable degrees of behavior. It also defines the consequences for a team member who is not participating, and lists actions or tasks required of each team member for the completion of a successful project, such as the following:

• Did the person participate in the planning process?
• How involved was each member?
• Was the team member's work to the best of his or her ability?
• Shows the quantitative value of the behaviors or actions.

"For as long as assessment is viewed as something we do 'after' teaching and learning are over, we will fail to greatly improve student performance, regardless of how well or how poorly students are currently taught or motivated." -Grant Wiggins, EdD., president and director of programs, Relearning by Design, Ewing, New Jersey

Project Rubrics

A project rubric lists the requirements for the completion of a project-based-learning lesson. It is usually some sort of presentation: a word-processed document, a poster, a model, a multimedia presentation, or a combination of presentations.

The teacher can create a project rubric, or students can collaborate, helping set goals for the project and suggest how their work should be evaluated. Together, the teacher and the students can answer the following questions:

• What is the quality of the work?
• How do you know the content is accurate?
• How well was the presentation delivered?
• How well was the presentation designed?
• What was the main idea?

Sample Rubrics

Look at these rubrics from several websites, which show team rubrics and project rubrics for various subjects and grade levels.

• Collaboration Rubric for Group Work from a high school science project, San Diego City Schools
• Oral Presentation Rubric from a middle school humanities project, Louisiana Voices
• Written Report Rubric from SCORE
• Math Problem-Solving Rubric from Utah Education Network
• Discussion Participation Rubric ( PDF download) from a ninth grade humanities project, School of the Future

After you've reviewed the sample rubrics, discuss the following:

• What do you think of the different styles?
• Do they meet your expectations of rubrics for the designated grade levels? Why, or why not?
• Which one most closely suits your vision of what you will need? Why?

A recent blog on Edutopia.org by Andrew Miller, "Tame the Beast: Tips for Designing and Using Rubrics," has some great advice for how to work with rubrics.

There are many websites that offer free tools to generate your own rubrics, such as Rubistar . For additional rubric ideas and samples, visit the Assessment & Rubric Information page in Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators . The rubric section of the Authentic Assessment Toolbox , by Dr. Jon Mueller of North Central College, is also very thorough, with lots of tools and resources.

You will find additional resources about rubrics in the Resources for Assessment section of this guide.

Continue to the next section of the guide, Workshop Activities .

  PDF files can be viewed on a wide variety of platforms -- both as a browser plug-in or a stand-alone application -- with Adobe's free Acrobat Reader program. Click here to download the latest version of Adobe Reader .

This guide is organized into six sections:

• Introduction
• Why Is Assessment Important?
• Types of Assessment
• Workshop Activities
• Resources for Assessment

— Follow us on . Online Discussion Rubric A discussion rubric guides students in writing original posts and replies to other students. To simply agree or disagree with other students is not sufficient.   Discussion postings show little or no evidence that readings were completed or understood. Postings are largely personal opinions or feelings, or "I agree" or "Great idea," without supporting  statements with concepts from the readings, outside resources, relevant research, or specific real-life application. Discussion postings repeat and summarize basic, correct information, but do not link readings to outside references, relevant research or specific real-life application and do not consider alternative perspectives or connections between ideas. Sources are not cited. Discussion postings display an understanding of the required readings and underlying concepts including correct use of terminology and proper citation. Discussion postings display an excellent understanding of the required readings and underlying concepts including correct use of terminology. Postings integrate an outside resource, or relevant research, or specific real-life application (work experience, prior coursework, etc.) to support important points. Well-edited quotes are cited appropriately.  No more than 10% of the posting is a direct quotation.     Discussion postings do not contribute to ongoing conversations or respond to peers' postings. There is no evidence of replies to questions.   Discussion postings sometimes contribute to ongoing conversations as evidenced by — affirming statements or references to relevant research or, — asking related questions or, — making an oppositional statement supported by any personal experience or related research. Discussion postings contribute to the class' ongoing conversations as evidenced by — affirming statements or references to relevant research or, — asking related questions or, — making an oppositional statement supported by any personal experience or related research. Discussion postings actively stimulate and sustain further discussion by building on peers'  responses including — building a focused argument around a specific issue or — asking a new related question or — making an oppositional statement supported by personal experience or related research.   Discussion postings are at midpoint or later in the module or contributions are only posted on the last day of the module. Discussion postings respond to most postings of peers several days after the initial discussion. Discussion postings respond to most postings of peers within a 48 hour period. Discussion postings are distributed throughout the module (not posted all on one day or only at the beginning or only on the last day of the module).     Written interactions on the discussion board show disrespect for the viewpoints of others. Some of the written interactions on the discussion board show respect and interest in the viewpoints of others. Written interactions on the discussion board show respect and interest in the viewpoints of others. Written interactions on the discussion board show respect and sensitivity to peers' gender, cultural and linguistic background, sexual orientation, political and religious beliefs.   Written responses contain numerous grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.  The style of writing does not facilitate effective communication. Written responses include some grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors that distract the reader.  Written responses are largely free of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.  The style of writing generally facilitates communication.  Written responses are free of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors.  The style of writing facilitates communication.     * Open class discussion is an important and significant part of an online course. While class discussion whether online or face to face, can be characterized by free flowing conversation, there are identifiable characteristics that distinguish exemplary contributions to class discussion from those of lesser quality.  The criteria found on the rubric above will be used to assess the quality of your initial postings and responses to the postings and comments of peers during class discussion. Note: Initial postings are your comments based on the discussion prompt posted by the instructor. Responses to others are your replies to your peers' initial postings. University of Wisconsin-Stout — Schedule of Online Courses, Online Certificate Programs, and Graduate Degree Readings on Authentic Assessment   Examples of Other Rubrics Applying to UW-Stout Academic Programs & Courses Dive Into Campus Life Elevate Your Business Our Polytechnic Advantage Creating and using rubrics for assessment, in this section, tools and ideas for creating your rubrics. Many of these rubrics grew out of a long-term commitment to building alternative assessments in our Instructional Design , and Math Specialist  and Teaching and Assessing Writing online courses. What's New? Video Conferencing Rubric Our Top Five Rubrics Online Discussion Video Project Middle School/High School Group Work Elementary Teamwork Quick Links to Rubrics Discussion, Teamwork, and Group Work Rubrics   ePortfolio and Web Page Rubrics   Concept Map and Graphic Organizer Rubric   Video and Multimedia Project Rubrics   Math and Science Rubrics   Virtual Simulations and Games Rubric   Research Process Rubrics   Writing Rubrics   Rubrics for Primary Grades   Presentation Rubrics   Tools for Creating Your Rubrics Presentation rubrics. Video Conferencing Rubric Maggie Rouman's rubric assesses real-time sessions to foster community, present topics, and enhance learning.   Podcast Rubric Ann Bell's rubric helps students assess what makes a good podcast.  PowerPoint Rubric 10 performance categories Oral Presentation Rubric  (Word doc) VoiceThread Participation Rubric  (pdf) Michelle Pacansky-Brock's general formative assessment is used when students view a mini video lecture/presentation. Contributions are rated on originality, comprehension, and clarity. Oral Presentation Checklist 4Teachers.org provides an online tool to customize the checklist for your grade level Effective Project Presentations Buck Institute for Education (BIE) rubric for high school presentations Poster Rubric Speaking and Writing Rubrics  bilingual education (English and Spanish) Spanish Partial-Immersion Program Rubrics for Writing and Speaking in English and Spanish for Grades 1-5 Social Media Project Rubrics Wiki Rubric Criteria for assessing individual and group Wiki contributions. Blog Rubric Assess individual blog entries, including comments on peers' blogs. Twitter Rubric Assess learning during social networking instructional assignments. Discussion, Teamwork, and Group Work Rubrics Online Discussion Board Rubric Criteria for assessing the ability to share perspectives, refine thoughts through the writing process, and participate in a meaningful discussion Primary Grade Self-Evaluation Teamwork Rubric  (PDF) Features of a sandwich to graphically show the criteria Upper Elementary Teamwork Rubric Karen Franker's rubric includes six defined criteria for assessing the team and individual responsibility Middle School/High School Collaboration Rubric Six defined criteria for collaboration with strong performance descriptors ePortfolio and Web Page Rubrics These rubrics are related to our Instructional Design courses. e-Portfolio Rubric Electronic portfolio rubric created by Joan Vandervelde includes 7 categories with 4 levels of achievement Web Page Rubric Joan Vandervelde's rubric details 9 categories for evaluating a web page CyberFair Peer Review Student Web Page Rubric Online feedback form for CyberFair Project. Concept Map and Graphic Organizer Rubric Graphic Organizer and Mind Map Rubric   Concept map diagram rubric to assess a visual storyboard of a final project or to chart a flow of work and ideas by Karen Franker Storyboard Rubric Concept map and/or storyboard specification of instructional sequencing and messaging details. Video and Multimedia Project Rubrics These rubrics are related to our Elearning and Online Teaching course and flipped classroom  course. Video Project Rubric   Joan Vandervelde lists criteria for video production and editing Multimedia Project Rubric   Rubric developed by Caroline McCullen, Jamie McKenzie, and Terrie Gray Virtual Simulations and Games Rubric Assessing Student Learning in Virtual Simulations and Serious Games A grading rubric created by Ann Bell with 6 performance criteria Research Process Rubrics Research Process Rubric - Elementary Karen Franker's rubric to assess planning, gathering, organizing and citing information in grades 3-5 Research Process Rubric - Middle School Karen Franker's rubric assesses performance with the research process Rubric for Research Process   Joyce Valenza's rubric assesses 5 research performance areas for high school students Research Process Reflection Joyce Valenza's Question Brainstormer encourages students to ask focus questions and reflect on the research process Academic Research Writing and APA Formatting Rubric Kay Lehmann's rubric for high school or college level Writing Rubrics These rubrics are related to our Teaching and Assessing Writing courses . Student-Friendly Writing Rubric Samples of Student Writing, Scored With a 6+1 Trait Rubric An extensive archive of assessment materials associated with the  6-Traits assessment  approach. NWREL's Six Traits of Writing Rubric English and Spanish versions of the 6-Traits of Writing Rubric and other rubrics for listening, public speaking, and reading Writing Rubrics K-12 - Opinion/Argument, Narrative, and Informative/Explanatory Research Paper Rubric   (Word doc) Rubric for Scoring Effective Writing  (Word doc) Persuasive Essay Rubric  (Word document) Reflective Writing Rubric  (PDF) Reflection Paper Rubric (PDF) Historical Fiction Essay Rubric  (pdf) Blake Green's history class rubric. Rubrics for Middle School Includes invention report, book talk, persuasive essay,  and autobiographical event essay Autobiographical Rubric (PDF) Math and Science Rubrics These rubrics are related to our Math Specialist courses . Math Rubrics 4 levels of math understanding with performance criteria NCTM Math Standard Rubric  (pdf) Performance criteria for problem-solving reasoning and proof communication connections representation Science Rubric  (pdf) Performance criteria for the use of scientific tools, science reasoning and strategies, science concepts and use of data and communication Scientific Report Rubric Easy to modify for any kind of high school research report Physics Project Rubric A good example of a performance rubric tuned a specific project. Easy to adapt to other subjects. Rubrics for Primary Grades Kindergarten Rubrics Assess literacy development Kindergarten Rubrics Evaluates communication, fine muscle development, emergent reading and writing, large muscle development, math development, creative arts, personal development, and work habits, play, and social skills. Primary Grade Self-Evaluation Teamwork Rubric  (PDF) Features a sandwich to graphically show when all criteria are met Third Grade Venn Diagram Rubric These tools are explored in our e-learning course . Rubistar Choose a topic and create a new rubric based on a template. Save and edit your rubric online. Rubric Template Insert the task and criteria into this template. Rubric Template  (Word doc) Word document template to download and modify to meet authentic assessment needs (University of West Florida). Quick Rubric iRubric  develop rubrics and access them from anywhere Single-Point Rubric  (Word doc) Rubric Generator Build your own grading rubrics online by filling out a form. You can include a graphic and print the rubric. Readings about Authentic Assessment Helpful background information about rubric design and implementation in the classroom. Essay Rubric About this printout This rubric delineates specific expectations about an essay assignment to students and provides a means of assessing completed student essays. Teaching with this printout More ideas to try. Grading rubrics can be of great benefit to both you and your students. For you, a rubric saves time and decreases subjectivity. Specific criteria are explicitly stated, facilitating the grading process and increasing your objectivity. For students, the use of grading rubrics helps them to meet or exceed expectations, to view the grading process as being “fair,” and to set goals for future learning. In order to help your students meet or exceed expectations of the assignment, be sure to discuss the rubric with your students when you assign an essay. It is helpful to show them examples of written pieces that meet and do not meet the expectations. As an added benefit, because the criteria are explicitly stated, the use of the rubric decreases the likelihood that students will argue about the grade they receive. The explicitness of the expectations helps students know exactly why they lost points on the assignment and aids them in setting goals for future improvement. Routinely have students score peers’ essays using the rubric as the assessment tool. This increases their level of awareness of the traits that distinguish successful essays from those that fail to meet the criteria. Have peer editors use the Reviewer’s Comments section to add any praise, constructive criticism, or questions. Alter some expectations or add additional traits on the rubric as needed. Students’ needs may necessitate making more rigorous criteria for advanced learners or less stringent guidelines for younger or special needs students. Furthermore, the content area for which the essay is written may require some alterations to the rubric. In social studies, for example, an essay about geographical landforms and their effect on the culture of a region might necessitate additional criteria about the use of specific terminology. After you and your students have used the rubric, have them work in groups to make suggested alterations to the rubric to more precisely match their needs or the parameters of a particular writing assignment. Print this resource Explore Resources by Grade Kindergarten K 303 IMAGES Sample Essay Rubric for Elementary Teachers Rubric Essay Rubric Rubrics-Essay 15 Helpful Scoring Rubric Examples for All Grades and Subjects Free Printable Writing Rubrics VIDEO Developing Rubrics For Group Discussion By Mrs Amandeep Kaur Blackboard Dissecting Writing Prompts & Rubrics EDU 605 June18 2024 BELLADONNA, OPIUM, STRAMONIUM discussion Grading test essay questions with rubrics COMMENTS PDF Discussion Rubric Examples For example, in your class you might ask students to analyze or evaluate ideas, concepts, theories, readings, etc. Your discussion guidelines could emphasize the important qualities of analysis and evaluation—in your field, related to the assigned work in your class, etc. Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the different criteria relevant to an assignment, assessment, or learning outcome and states the possible levels of achievement in a specific, clear, and objective way. Use rubrics to assess project-based student work including essays, group projects, creative endeavors, and oral presentations. PDF SAMPLE DISCUSSION RUBRICS initial discussion. Discussion postings contribute to the class' ongoing conversations as evidenced by affirming statements or references to relevant research or, asking related questions or, making an oppositional statement supported by any personal experience or related research. Discussion postings respond to most postings of peers within Creating and Using Rubrics This rubric was designed for essays and research papers in history (Carnegie Mellon). ... Example 2: Advanced Seminar This rubric is designed for assessing discussion performance in an advanced undergraduate or graduate seminar. See also "Examples and Tools" section of this site for more rubrics. Rubrics This rubric was designed for essays and research papers in history, CMU. Projects. ... Example 1: Discussion Class This rubric assesses the quality of student contributions to class discussions. This is appropriate for an undergraduate-level course, CMU. Example 2: ... Creating and Using Rubrics A rubric is an assessment tool often shaped like a matrix, which describes levels of achievement in a specific area of performance, understanding, or behavior. There are two main types of rubrics: Analytic Rubric: An analytic rubric specifies at least two characteristics to be assessed at each performance level and provides a separate score for ... Rubrics Written by Arthur Russell Just about every discussion of rubrics begins with a caveat: writing rubrics are not a substitute for writing instruction. Rubrics are tools for communicating grading criteria and assessing student progress. Rubrics take a variety of forms, from grids to checklists, and measure a range of writing tasks, from conceptual design to... Rubrics for Discussions Rubrics are a tool that can help faculty grade faster and more objectively. Rubrics also show students what criteria they will be graded on. We recommend using rubrics to grade Assignments and Discussions. To add a Discussion Rubric, you will need to create a graded discussion first. Once the Discussion is published, select the More Options ... Using rubrics Rubrics help instructors: Assess assignments consistently from student-to-student. Save time in grading, both short-term and long-term. Give timely, effective feedback and promote student learning in a sustainable way. Clarify expectations and components of an assignment for both students and course teaching assistants (TAs). Using Rubrics: Tips and Examples Using Rubrics: Tips and Examples. ... For example, this rubric refers to an assignment where students contributed to an online discussion board. As you can see, the assessment can be indicated in various ways—as a letter grade, as a descriptive word or phrase, or as a numerical rating. ... The major claim of the essay is weak, i.e., vague ... Create Discussion Rubrics Review real-life examples of online discussion rubrics. While faculty might hope that students can "just discuss" a topic online with little or no support, Beckett, Amaro‐Jiménez, and Beckett (2010) found that "even doctoral students may need explicit grading instructions, and therefore provide rubrics and sample responses while not stifling creativity" (p. 331). PDF Sample Online Discussion Guidelines and Rubric Credit: Discussion Rubric courtesy of Patrice Torcivia Prusko Sample Online Discussion Guidelines and Rubric . Discussion Guidelines In a completely online course the discussion board takes the place of in class discussion. In order for there to be meaningful and engaging dialogue it is important students know what is PDF Argumentative essay rubric ORGANIZATION. Logical, compelling progression of ideas in essay;clear structure which enhances and showcases the central idea or theme and moves the reader through the text. Organization flows so smoothly the reader hardly thinks about it. Effective, mature, graceful transitions exist throughout the essay. PDF Essay Rubric Essay Rubric Directions: Your essay will be graded based on this rubric. Consequently, use this rubric as a guide when writing your essay and check it again before you submit your essay. Traits 4 3 2 1 Focus & Details There is one clear, well-focused topic. Main ideas are clear and are well supported by detailed and accurate information. Short essay question rubric This is a grading rubric an instructor uses to assess students' work on this type of. assignment. It is a sample rubric that needs to be edited to reflect the specifics of a. particular assignment. Students can self-assess using the rubric as a checklist before. submitting their assignment. This sample rubric can also be found under the ... How Do Rubrics Help? July 15, 2008. Rubrics are multidimensional sets of scoring guidelines that can be used to provide consistency in evaluating student work. They spell out scoring criteria so that multiple teachers, using the same rubric for a student's essay, for example, would arrive at the same score or grade. Rubrics are used from the initiation to the ... PDF Writing Assessment and Evaluation Rubrics Holistic scoring is a quick method of evaluating a composition based on the reader's general impression of the overall quality of the writing—you can generally read a student's composition and assign a score to it in two or three minutes. Holistic scoring is usually based on a scale of 0-4, 0-5, or 0-6. Online Discussion Rubric A discussion rubric guides students in writing original posts and replies to other students. To simply agree or disagree with other students is not sufficient. Discussion postings show little or no evidence that readings were completed or understood. Creating and Using Rubrics for Assessment Online Discussion Board Rubric Criteria for assessing the ability to share perspectives, refine thoughts through the writing process, and participate in a meaningful discussion ... Historical Fiction Essay Rubric (pdf) Blake Green's history class rubric. Rubrics for Middle School Includes invention report, book talk, persuasive essay, and ... PDF Sample Rubrics for Discussion Individual messages and at least two responses posted before deadline (4 pts.) Individual message posted before deadline but at least one response is late (2 pts.) Posting is made after deadline or both responses late (1 pt.) Everything is late or not completed. (0) Discussion forum rubric #3. Essay Rubric Grading rubrics can be of great benefit to both you and your students. For you, a rubric saves time and decreases subjectivity. Specific criteria are explicitly stated, facilitating the grading process and increasing your objectivity. For students, the use of grading rubrics helps them to meet or exceed expectations, to view the grading process ... PDF Use Discussion Forum Rubrics Posts thoughtful questions or novel ideas to peers that generate new ideas and group discussion. Asks questions or posts thoughtful responses to generate a single peer's response. Posts minimal or vague responses to peers that do not motivate a response (e.g., "I agree with you, Sherry!"). Does not post a response and/or does not reply to ... PDF Integrated Writing Rubric Writing for an Academic Discussion Rubric. SCORE. DESCRIPTION. 5. A fully successful response. The response is a relevant and very clearly expressed contribution to the online discussion, and it demonstrates consistent facility in the use of language. A typical response displays the following: assignment essay homework phd report resume review speech thesis