Communicating clearly with students about their strengths and areas where they can improve can be one of the most challenging parts of grading. Effective rubrics convey the standards for success on an assignment, promote consistency in grading, and allow you to provide actionable feedback to students.
What is a rubric?
A rubric is both a communication tool that lays out the expectations for an assignment and a scoring instrument that conveys feedback to students on their work. As Dannelle Stevens and Antonia Levi define them in their book, Introduction to Rubrics (available as an eBook through Gelman Library), “rubrics divide an assignment into its component parts and provide a detailed description of what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable levels of performance for each of those parts.”
Developing a rubric for an assignment does not require changing the assignment or changing your expectations for student performance. Rubrics convey the standards that you already have for students and do so in a format that is often familiar to students.
What does a rubric look like?
There are several types of rubrics, each of which can be useful in different settings and for different types of assignments. They are:
- analytic
- holistic
- checklist
- single-point
We will look at each in turn, with a simple sample for grading the introduction of a paper to illustrate how each works, before examining how to decide which type is best for your situation.
Analytic rubrics
When people hear the word “rubric,” they often think of a table-style or analytic rubric. In this type of rubric, different criteria are laid out as rows and levels of performance are described in columns. The descriptions are parallel across levels of performance, so that the only changes are in the number, kind, or degree of performance. An analytic rubric provides clear information to students about exactly where their work was stronger or weaker, but requires a substantial investment of time to create.
A simple example with only two criteria might look as follows:
| Exceeds expectations | Meets expectations | Does not meet expectations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | The introduction skillfully balances drawing the reader in and providing necessary background information. It makes the reader eager to continue reading. The thesis statement is included in the introduction. | The introduction may lean too heavily towards drawing the reader in or providing necessary background information. The reader may not have all the background they need. The thesis statement is included in the introduction. | The introduction either tries to draw the reader in or to provide necessary background information, but not both. The reader is missing crucial pieces of background information. The thesis statement is not included in the introduction. |
| Thesis statement | The thesis statement lays out an original argument clearly and concisely. The reader knows exactly what the paper will argue and how that argument will unfold. | The thesis statement lays out an argument, but the statement may not be fully clear. The reader may not be fully clear on how the argument will unfold. | The thesis statement fails to lay out an argument or is not present. |
Holistic rubrics
A holistic rubric describes what overall performance looks like at each level without differentiating between individual criteria. Holistic rubrics can be useful in situations where granular feedback is less necessary, such as on a final project where students have already received detailed feedback on intermediate stages. Using the example from above, it might look as follows in a holistic rubric:
| Exceeds expectations | Introduction draws the reader in and provides all necessary background information. The reader is eager to continue. Thesis statement clearly and concisely lays out an original argument.
|
|---|---|
| Meets expectations | Introduction may lean too heavily towards drawing the reader in or providing necessary background information. The reader may not have all the background information needed. Thesis statement is argumentative. |
| Does not meet expectations | Introduction lacks key pieces. Thesis statement is not argumentative or not present. |
Checklist rubrics
The checklist is exactly that: a list of yes-or-no decisions about what an assignment contains or does not contain. For certain types of assignments, like those where students are executing a particular set of steps or presentations that you assess as they happen, a checklist can make grading especially speedy. A checklist rubric can also be combined with an analytic or single-point rubric in a case where students must meet some minimum criteria (e.g., inclusion of headers and 2–3 graphs) before you will grade the remainder of the assignment according to more detailed criteria. Although our example assignment is likely not a good candidate for a checklist rubric, here is what it might look like:
- Introduction balances providing background information and drawing the reader in
- Introduction provides all necessary background information
- Reader is eager to continue reading
- Thesis statement is included in the introduction
- Thesis statement is clear and concise
- Thesis statement is argumentative
- Thesis statement is original
- Thesis statement acts as a “road map” for the rest of the paper
Single-point rubrics
Single-point rubrics offer a useful middle ground between the analytic and holistic forms. Like analytic rubrics, single-point rubrics divide out different criteria. Unlike analytic rubrics, however, single-point rubrics only describe the “meeting expectations” or middle level of performance. An example of a single-point rubric version of the sample rubric might look like this:
Note: Blank spaces are left for the instructor to describe in writing areas where the work has exceeded expectations or where it is not yet meeting expectations.
| Exceeds expectations | Meets expectations | Does not meet expectations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | The introduction may lean too heavily towards drawing the reader in or providing necessary background information. The reader may not have all the background they need. The thesis statement is included in the introduction. | ||
| Thesis statement | The thesis statement lays out an argument, but the statement may not be fully clear. The reader may not be fully clear on how the argument will unfold. |
How do I choose which type to use?
As you think about an assignment in your course, three categories might help you decide what type of rubric will work best and how much specificity it needs.
- Levels of performance: How many different levels of performance are needed to differentiate between strong work and work that is not yet meeting standards? A checklist or single-point rubric might be more appropriate if work can be easily classified as “proficient” or “not there yet.” Analytic and holistic rubrics provide more levels of differentiation.
- Criteria: Each criterion can be a row in an analytic or single-point rubric, a descriptor in a holistic rubric, or an item on a checklist. Are criteria easily categorizable? If so, an analytic or single-point rubric may make most sense. If criteria are distinct, a checklist may work well.
- Relative weight: Is every criterion or category as important as every other one? If so, a holistic or checklist rubric may work best. An analytic or single-point rubric is often the best tool for assigning different levels of importance to different categories. One common example is the relative weight assigned to the grammar and mechanics of a paper versus its argument. Grammar and mechanics are important, but generally not the most important thing you are looking for as you grade a paper. On the other hand, making an argument in your discipline may be one of your overall learning objectives for the course, so you may want to weigh it more strongly.
Why should I use rubrics in my courses?
Rubrics are one of many tools that you can use to support an inclusive classroom environment. They:
- Provide transparency and promote communication
- Enable students to self-evaluate their work
- Promote consistency in grading
Transparency
The research-validated Transparent Assignment Design framework shows that being clear about an assignment’s purpose, the tasks involved in completing the assignment, and the criteria for success on the assignment are very valuable for supporting student success. A rubric is one clear way to convey the criteria for success on an assignment to students. Transparency is not about creating new standards or simplifying them, but rather about conveying the expectations you already have to your students.
Self-evaluation
By enabling students to understand the criteria for success on an assignment, rubrics support students’ critical thinking and self-evaluation. For example, if you are evaluating similar skills across a semester, a rubric allows students to see patterns of strength and weakness in a straightforward way on the rubrics, which can help them decide where to focus their efforts on subsequent assignments. Students can also use rubrics to self-evaluate prior to turning in an assignment or to peer-review in pairs or small groups. Self-evaluation is a learned skill, and an important one. Rubrics can help students learn this skill.
Consistency
Whether you are teaching alone, working with a group of faculty teaching the same course with common assignments, or supervising one or more teaching assistants, rubrics are valuable for promoting consistency in grading.
- Across assignments: Rubrics help ensure that a student will not receive a lower grade because you encountered their work earlier or later in the grading process.
- Across members of a teaching team: A process known as grade norming using a rubric helps to ensure that all members are applying the rubric in the same way. Individually, each member of the team grades 1–2 assignments using the rubric. Then, in a meeting, each person shares how they graded the assignment and the group discusses any discrepancies.
Consistency also helps mitigate bias. For instance, a study conducted by David Quinn from the University of Southern California found that teachers graded sample student writing lower when the author was signaled to be Black rather than white, but that using a rubric with clearly defined criteria removed evidence of racial bias.
How do I get started developing a rubric?
Once you have decided to use a rubric, it can be daunting to create one. One option is to adapt an existing rubric. Even if you ultimately choose to create your own rubric from scratch, looking at models can help you begin.
Adapt an existing rubric
Exploring sample rubrics that are available online can give you a sense of what makes a strong, useful rubric or what a rubric might look like for a specific type of assignment (e.g., a digital project or creative project). The following two websites are great places to dive in:
- AAC&U VALUE Rubrics cover sixteen broad areas, such as critical thinking, oral communication, creativity, and teamwork. If you have an assignment where criteria seem difficult to standardize—for instance, an assignment requiring creative work—the VALUE rubrics demonstrate possibilities for applying a rubric in these scenarios.
The Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University rubrics page includes samples for papers, projects, oral presentations, and class participation.
Create your own rubric
If you prefer to develop your own rubric, it can help to begin by taking a big-picture view of the assignment and its place in your course. Consider the following questions:
- What skills will students need to have or develop to complete the assignment successfully?
- What exactly is the task required by the assignment?
- What does a particularly satisfying, exemplary version of the assignment look like?
The next step is to brainstorm a list of all the things you want students to show their knowledge of or skill at doing through this assignment. As you brainstorm, do not think about “perfection,” but the “highest level of expected performance” for students in your class. A similar assignment might work well in both an introductory undergraduate course and a graduate-level seminar, but the “highest level of expected performance” will differ between those two groups of students.
Finally, group and label the items you brainstormed into rubric criteria (which are the rows of an analytic rubric) and create your rubric. At this point, you will decide how many levels of performance will be represented on your rubric and what form the rubric will take. Your original brainstormed list will represent the “exceeds expectations” (or similar) level of performance.
This exercise was adapted from a classic book by Dannelle D. Stevens and Antonia J. Levi, Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback, and Promote Student Learning, 2d ed. (Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, 2013). Available as an eBook through Gelman Library.
How can the Center for Teaching Excellence help with rubrics?
The Center for Teaching Excellence offers a number of ways to learn more about rubrics:
- Workshops
- We regularly offer a workshop on rubrics. Visit our workshop calendar to see if and when it is being offered this semester.
- We can also visit your department or program to present a customized workshop on rubrics. If you are interested in learning more about a custom workshop, contact the Center for Teaching Excellence. We will work with you to plan a session that fits your needs and available time.
- Consultations
- Use our contact form to request a one-on-one consultation. We can discuss ideas for developing a rubric for a particular assignment or review a rubric that is not working as well as you would like.
