how to do a rubric assignment

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.

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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.

How to Use Rubrics

A rubric is a document that describes the criteria by which students’ assignments are graded. Rubrics can be helpful for:

• Making grading faster and more consistent (reducing potential bias). 
• Communicating your expectations for an assignment to students before they begin. 

Moreover, for assignments whose criteria are more subjective, the process of creating a rubric and articulating what it looks like to succeed at an assignment provides an opportunity to check for alignment with the intended learning outcomes and modify the assignment prompt, as needed.

Why rubrics?

Rubrics are best for assignments or projects that require evaluation on multiple dimensions. Creating a rubric makes the instructor’s standards explicit to both students and other teaching staff for the class, showing students how to meet expectations.

Additionally, the more comprehensive a rubric is, the more it allows for grading to be streamlined—students will get informative feedback about their performance from the rubric, even if they don’t have as many individualized comments. Grading can be more standardized and efficient across graders.

Finally, rubrics allow for reflection, as the instructor has to think about their standards and outcomes for the students. Using rubrics can help with self-directed learning in students as well, especially if rubrics are used to review students’ own work or their peers’, or if students are involved in creating the rubric.

How to design a rubric

1. consider the desired learning outcomes.

What learning outcomes is this assignment reinforcing and assessing? If the learning outcome seems “fuzzy,” iterate on the outcome by thinking about the expected student work product. This may help you more clearly articulate the learning outcome in a way that is measurable.  

2. Define criteria

What does a successful assignment submission look like? As described by Allen and Tanner (2006), it can help develop an initial list of categories that the student should demonstrate proficiency in by completing the assignment. These categories should correlate with the intended learning outcomes you identified in Step 1, although they may be more granular in some cases. For example, if the task assesses students’ ability to formulate an effective communication strategy, what components of their communication strategy will you be looking for? Talking with colleagues or looking at existing rubrics for similar tasks may give you ideas for categories to consider for evaluation.

If you have assigned this task to students before and have samples of student work, it can help create a qualitative observation guide. This is described in Linda Suskie’s book Assessing Student Learning , where she suggests thinking about what made you decide to give one assignment an A and another a C, as well as taking notes when grading assignments and looking for common patterns. The often repeated themes that you comment on may show what your goals and expectations for students are. An example of an observation guide used to take notes on predetermined areas of an assignment is shown here .

In summary, consider the following list of questions when defining criteria for a rubric (O’Reilly and Cyr, 2006):

• What do you want students to learn from the task?
• How will students demonstrate that they have learned?
• What knowledge, skills, and behaviors are required for the task?
• What steps are required for the task?
• What are the characteristics of the final product?

After developing an initial list of criteria, prioritize the most important skills you want to target and eliminate unessential criteria or combine similar skills into one group. Most rubrics have between 3 and 8 criteria. Rubrics that are too lengthy make it difficult to grade and challenging for students to understand the key skills they need to achieve for the given assignment. 

3. Create the rating scale

According to Suskie, you will want at least 3 performance levels: for adequate and inadequate performance, at the minimum, and an exemplary level to motivate students to strive for even better work. Rubrics often contain 5 levels, with an additional level between adequate and exemplary and a level between adequate and inadequate. Usually, no more than 5 levels are needed, as having too many rating levels can make it hard to consistently distinguish which rating to give an assignment (such as between a 6 or 7 out of 10). Suskie also suggests labeling each level with names to clarify which level represents the minimum acceptable performance. Labels will vary by assignment and subject, but some examples are: 

• Exceeds standard, meets standard, approaching standard, below standard
• Complete evidence, partial evidence, minimal evidence, no evidence

4. Fill in descriptors

Fill in descriptors for each criterion at each performance level. Expand on the list of criteria you developed in Step 2. Begin to write full descriptions, thinking about what an exemplary example would look like for students to strive towards. Avoid vague terms like “good” and make sure to use explicit, concrete terms to describe what would make a criterion good. For instance, a criterion called “organization and structure” would be more descriptive than “writing quality.” Describe measurable behavior and use parallel language for clarity; the wording for each criterion should be very similar, except for the degree to which standards are met. For example, in a sample rubric from Chapter 9 of Suskie’s book, the criterion of “persuasiveness” has the following descriptors:

• Well Done (5): Motivating questions and advance organizers convey the main idea. Information is accurate.
• Satisfactory (3-4): Includes persuasive information.
• Needs Improvement (1-2): Include persuasive information with few facts.
• Incomplete (0): Information is incomplete, out of date, or incorrect.

These sample descriptors generally have the same sentence structure that provides consistent language across performance levels and shows the degree to which each standard is met.

5. Test your rubric

Test your rubric using a range of student work to see if the rubric is realistic. You may also consider leaving room for aspects of the assignment, such as effort, originality, and creativity, to encourage students to go beyond the rubric. If there will be multiple instructors grading, it is important to calibrate the scoring by having all graders use the rubric to grade a selected set of student work and then discuss any differences in the scores. This process helps develop consistency in grading and making the grading more valid and reliable.

Types of Rubrics

If you would like to dive deeper into rubric terminology, this section is dedicated to discussing some of the different types of rubrics. However, regardless of the type of rubric you use, it’s still most important to focus first on your learning goals and think about how the rubric will help clarify students’ expectations and measure student progress towards those learning goals.

Depending on the nature of the assignment, rubrics can come in several varieties (Suskie, 2009):

Checklist Rubric

This is the simplest kind of rubric, which lists specific features or aspects of the assignment which may be present or absent. A checklist rubric does not involve the creation of a rating scale with descriptors. See example from 18.821 project-based math class .

Rating Scale Rubric

This is like a checklist rubric, but instead of merely noting the presence or absence of a feature or aspect of the assignment, the grader also rates quality (often on a graded or Likert-style scale). See example from 6.811 assistive technology class .

Descriptive Rubric

A descriptive rubric is like a rating scale, but including descriptions of what performing to a certain level on each scale looks like. Descriptive rubrics are particularly useful in communicating instructors’ expectations of performance to students and in creating consistency with multiple graders on an assignment. This kind of rubric is probably what most people think of when they imagine a rubric. See example from 15.279 communications class .

Holistic Scoring Guide

Unlike the first 3 types of rubrics, a holistic scoring guide describes performance at different levels (e.g., A-level performance, B-level performance) holistically without analyzing the assignment into several different scales. This kind of rubric is particularly useful when there are many assignments to grade and a moderate to a high degree of subjectivity in the assessment of quality. It can be difficult to have consistency across scores, and holistic scoring guides are most helpful when making decisions quickly rather than providing detailed feedback to students. See example from 11.229 advanced writing seminar .

The kind of rubric that is most appropriate will depend on the assignment in question.

Implementation tips

Rubrics are also available to use for Canvas assignments. See this resource from Boston College for more details and guides from Canvas Instructure.

Allen, D., & Tanner, K. (2006). Rubrics: Tools for Making Learning Goals and Evaluation Criteria Explicit for Both Teachers and Learners. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 5 (3), 197-203. doi:10.1187/cbe.06-06-0168

Cherie Miot Abbanat. 11.229 Advanced Writing Seminar. Spring 2004. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu . License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA .

Haynes Miller, Nat Stapleton, Saul Glasman, and Susan Ruff. 18.821 Project Laboratory in Mathematics. Spring 2013. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu . License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA .

Lori Breslow, and Terence Heagney. 15.279 Management Communication for Undergraduates. Fall 2012. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu . License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA .

O’Reilly, L., & Cyr, T. (2006). Creating a Rubric: An Online Tutorial for Faculty. Retrieved from https://www.ucdenver.edu/faculty_staff/faculty/center-for-faculty-development/Documents/Tutorials/Rubrics/index.htm

Suskie, L. (2009). Using a scoring guide or rubric to plan and evaluate an assessment. In Assessing student learning: A common sense guide (2nd edition, pp. 137-154 ) . Jossey-Bass.

William Li, Grace Teo, and Robert Miller. 6.811 Principles and Practice of Assistive Technology. Fall 2014. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu . License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA .

How to Create a Rubric in Five Steps (With Examples)

by Amanda Melsby — February 2, 2024

OK, Confession Time

As a new teacher in the early 2000s, I avoided rubrics like the proverbial plague.  I had my reasons!  Rubrics always felt generic and vague.  I wasn’t even sure how to create a rubric.  And when I did try my hand at a rubric, it took forever to make.

What did I do before using a rubric, you ask?

I’d simply write a score and brief comment on the student’s work.  I apologize to any of my former students who may recognize the following teacher comment:

45/50  Great job on this!  Excellent artwork to go with your ideas!

No categories. No criteria.  No real feedback.  Best practice it was NOT.

What I needed was a rubric.

Many years later, I am here to tell you that rubrics are your friend.

Rubrics can be wonderful tools that streamline grading for the teacher.  For students, a rubric communicates the criteria for grading and encourages self-reflection on the quality of their work.  

If you are just starting with rubrics, here are key questions to think through to make your rubric work for you.  Once you have these components, consider using a rubric generator to begin the process or, for no work involved, start with one of ours and then determine what tweaks you would like to make for future assignments.  

How to Create a Rubric in Five Steps

Step 1: identify 4-5 elements you want to grade..

Rubrics work best when there are four to five categories–any more and it becomes cumbersome for both you and the students.  The more you can fully define what you want to assess, the better you will be able to choose rubric criteria that will assist your grading.  

Yes, there are many more categories that you could grade.  Rubrics force you to be very clear about what is most important for the assignment and award points only to those categories.

To download this Oral Presentation rubric, click here .

For a Persuasive Essay rubric click here .

For a Group Work rubric, click here .

Step 2: Clarify the criteria within those categories to differentiate each level.

Once you have your categories, consider the criteria that differentiate a “meets standards” from an “exceeds standards” and so on.  If you use a rubric generator, the criteria will populate itself.  That is helpful.  Carefully read through it to determine if the AI-generated descriptors work for you.  If not, tweak the criteria so it is more in line with your students’ work.  

The more specific you are with the criteria, the easier it will make your grading and the clearer your grading will be to the students.  

Step 3: Determine if the rubric’s grading scale fits your assignment.

Generally, the auto-generated rubric will be on a four- or five-point scale. You might see levels classified like the examples below.

Other options include letters (A-F) or numbers (1-4).  Take a moment to make sure that whether you are using a four- or five-point level scale, it fits with your assignment.  

The main question to ask yourself is if the scale gives you enough flexibility to accurately identify the category that the work falls into.  If you find yourself constantly wanting to circle the middle, you may need an additional level in your rubric.

Step 4: Use the rubric to add objectivity to a subjective grading task.

Rubrics are generally used for writing, presentations, and projects.  Often these can be some of the most difficult assignments to grade because they are more subjective than a quiz or exam.  

The rubric is there to help you grade more consistently and accurately.  

Begin by marking rubrics — simply circling the descriptors that match the student’s work is fine. It’s helpful to practice with 3 to 5 pieces of work (preferably from students of varying abilities) and compare them to the categories and criteria.  

Once you start to see patterns in the work, your scoring will become more accurate, consistent, and timely.  Practicing with a few first will give you a sense of the quality of the work you are receiving and how they fit into the criteria you have on your rubric. 

Step 5: Decide how those circles on a rubric translate into a grade in your grade book.

Chances are, each student has a variety of levels circled throughout the rubric, which will need to be translated into a score.  

The easiest way is to decide on the overall point value (say 50 points) and decide on the number of maximum points per category (20 points for analysis of evidence, 20 points for quality of evidence, and 10 points for mechanics).  

From there you will need to decide the point value for each level (20 points for a 4, 16 points for a 3, 14 points for a 2, and 10 points for a 1).  You then add up the points from each category for the overall grade.  

One note of caution: stick to one point value per level.  If you try to have a range within each level, it will cause more headaches than not using a rubric at all.

Choose an assignment or two this year to experiment with these time-saving tools.

Building a rubric after having built your assignment may seem like an added step that you do not have time for.  However, it can be a great time-saver.  

Choose a couple of assignments this year (presentations or group work are great places to start) and jump in.  It may feel clunky at first, but once you get into the groove of working with and using rubrics, you’ll be glad you did.

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About Amanda

Amanda Melsby has been a professional educator for 20 years.  She taught English before working as an assistant principal and later as a high school principal.  Amanda holds an Ed.D. in Educational Practice and Leadership and is currently a dean of teaching and learning.

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Eberly Center

Teaching excellence & educational innovation, creating and using rubrics.

A rubric is a scoring tool that explicitly describes the instructor’s performance expectations for an assignment or piece of work. A rubric identifies:

• criteria: the aspects of performance (e.g., argument, evidence, clarity) that will be assessed
• descriptors: the characteristics associated with each dimension (e.g., argument is demonstrable and original, evidence is diverse and compelling)
• performance levels: a rating scale that identifies students’ level of mastery within each criterion  

Rubrics can be used to provide feedback to students on diverse types of assignments, from papers, projects, and oral presentations to artistic performances and group projects.

Benefitting from Rubrics

• reduce the time spent grading by allowing instructors to refer to a substantive description without writing long comments
• help instructors more clearly identify strengths and weaknesses across an entire class and adjust their instruction appropriately
• help to ensure consistency across time and across graders
• reduce the uncertainty which can accompany grading
• discourage complaints about grades
• understand instructors’ expectations and standards
• use instructor feedback to improve their performance
• monitor and assess their progress as they work towards clearly indicated goals
• recognize their strengths and weaknesses and direct their efforts accordingly

Examples of Rubrics

Here we are providing a sample set of rubrics designed by faculty at Carnegie Mellon and other institutions. Although your particular field of study or type of assessment may not be represented, viewing a rubric that is designed for a similar assessment may give you ideas for the kinds of criteria, descriptions, and performance levels you use on your own rubric.

• Example 1: Philosophy Paper This rubric was designed for student papers in a range of courses in philosophy (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 2: Psychology Assignment Short, concept application homework assignment in cognitive psychology (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 3: Anthropology Writing Assignments This rubric was designed for a series of short writing assignments in anthropology (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 4: History Research Paper . This rubric was designed for essays and research papers in history (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 1: Capstone Project in Design This rubric describes the components and standards of performance from the research phase to the final presentation for a senior capstone project in design (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 2: Engineering Design Project This rubric describes performance standards for 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 course in history (Carnegie Mellon).
• Example 2: Oral Communication This rubric is adapted from Huba and Freed, 2000.
• Example 3: Group Presentations This rubric describes a set of components and standards for assessing group presentations in history (Carnegie Mellon).

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 (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.

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Assessment Rubrics

A rubric is commonly defined as a tool that articulates the expectations for an assignment by listing criteria, and for each criteria, describing levels of quality (Andrade, 2000; Arter & Chappuis, 2007; Stiggins, 2001). Criteria are used in determining the level at which student work meets expectations. Markers of quality give students a clear idea about what must be done to demonstrate a certain level of mastery, understanding, or proficiency (i.e., "Exceeds Expectations" does xyz, "Meets Expectations" does only xy or yz, "Developing" does only x or y or z). Rubrics can be used for any assignment in a course, or for any way in which students are asked to demonstrate what they've learned. They can also be used to facilitate self and peer-reviews of student work.

Rubrics aren't just for summative evaluation. They can be used as a teaching tool as well. When used as part of a formative assessment, they can help students understand both the holistic nature and/or specific analytics of learning expected, the level of learning expected, and then make decisions about their current level of learning to inform revision and improvement (Reddy & Andrade, 2010). 

Why use rubrics?

Rubrics help instructors:

Provide students with feedback that is clear, directed and focused on ways to improve learning.

Demystify assignment expectations so students can focus on the work instead of guessing "what the instructor wants."

Reduce time spent on grading and develop consistency in how you evaluate student learning across students and throughout a class.

Rubrics help students:

Focus their efforts on completing assignments in line with clearly set expectations.

Self and Peer-reflect on their learning, making informed changes to achieve the desired learning level.

Developing a Rubric

During the process of developing a rubric, instructors might:

Select an assignment for your course - ideally one you identify as time intensive to grade, or students report as having unclear expectations.

Decide what you want students to demonstrate about their learning through that assignment. These are your criteria.

Identify the markers of quality on which you feel comfortable evaluating students’ level of learning - often along with a numerical scale (i.e., "Accomplished," "Emerging," "Beginning" for a developmental approach).

Give students the rubric ahead of time. Advise them to use it in guiding their completion of the assignment.

It can be overwhelming to create a rubric for every assignment in a class at once, so start by creating one rubric for one assignment. See how it goes and develop more from there! Also, do not reinvent the wheel. Rubric templates and examples exist all over the Internet, or consider asking colleagues if they have developed rubrics for similar assignments. 

Sample Rubrics

Examples of holistic and analytic rubrics : see Tables 2 & 3 in “Rubrics: Tools for Making Learning Goals and Evaluation Criteria Explicit for Both Teachers and Learners” (Allen & Tanner, 2006)

Examples across assessment types : see “Creating and Using Rubrics,” Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and & Educational Innovation

“VALUE Rubrics” : see the Association of American Colleges and Universities set of free, downloadable rubrics, with foci including creative thinking, problem solving, and information literacy. 

Andrade, H. 2000. Using rubrics to promote thinking and learning. Educational Leadership 57, no. 5: 13–18. Arter, J., and J. Chappuis. 2007. Creating and recognizing quality rubrics. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall. Stiggins, R.J. 2001. Student-involved classroom assessment. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Reddy, Y., & Andrade, H. (2010). A review of rubric use in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 35(4), 435-448.

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Whenever we give feedback, it inevitably reflects our priorities and expectations about the assignment. In other words, we're using a rubric to choose which elements (e.g., right/wrong answer, work shown, thesis analysis, style, etc.) receive more or less feedback and what counts as a "good thesis" or a "less good thesis." When we evaluate student work, that is, we always have a rubric. The question is how consciously we’re applying it, whether we’re transparent with students about what it is, whether it’s aligned with what students are learning in our course, and whether we’re applying it consistently. The more we’re doing all of the following, the more consistent and equitable our feedback and grading will be:

Being conscious of your rubric ideally means having one written out, with explicit criteria and concrete features that describe more/less successful versions of each criterion. If you don't have a rubric written out, you can use this assignment prompt decoder for TFs & TAs to determine which elements and criteria should be the focus of your rubric.

Being transparent with students about your rubric means sharing it with them ahead of time and making sure they understand it. This assignment prompt decoder for students is designed to facilitate this discussion between students and instructors.

Aligning your rubric with your course means articulating the relationship between “this” assignment and the ones that scaffold up and build from it, which ideally involves giving students the chance to practice different elements of the assignment and get formative feedback before they’re asked to submit material that will be graded. For more ideas and advice on how this looks, see the " Formative Assignments " page at Gen Ed Writes.

Applying your rubric consistently means using a stable vocabulary when making your comments and keeping your feedback focused on the criteria in your rubric.

How to Build a Rubric

Rubrics and assignment prompts are two sides of a coin. If you’ve already created a prompt, you should have all of the information you need to make a rubric. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way, and that itself turns out to be an advantage of making rubrics: it’s a great way to test whether your prompt is in fact communicating to students everything they need to know about the assignment they’ll be doing.

So what do students need to know? In general, assignment prompts boil down to a small number of common elements :

• Evidence and Analysis
• Style and Conventions
• Specific Guidelines
• Advice on Process

If an assignment prompt is clearly addressing each of these elements, then students know what they’re doing, why they’re doing it, and when/how/for whom they’re doing it. From the standpoint of a rubric, we can see how these elements correspond to the criteria for feedback:

All of these criteria can be weighed and given feedback, and they’re all things that students can be taught and given opportunities to practice. That makes them good criteria for a rubric, and that in turn is why they belong in every assignment prompt.

Which leaves “purpose” and “advice on process.” These elements are, in a sense, the heart and engine of any assignment, but their role in a rubric will differ from assignment to assignment. Here are a couple of ways to think about each.

On the one hand, “purpose” is the rationale for how the other elements are working in an assignment, and so feedback on them adds up to feedback on the skills students are learning vis-a-vis the overall purpose. In that sense, separately grading whether students have achieved an assignment’s “purpose” can be tricky.

On the other hand, metacognitive components such as journals or cover letters or artist statements are a great way for students to tie work on their assignment to the broader (often future-oriented) reasons why they’ve been doing the assignment. Making this kind of component a small part of the overall grade, e.g., 5% and/or part of “specific guidelines,” can allow it to be a nudge toward a meaningful self-reflection for students on what they’ve been learning and how it might build toward other assignments or experiences.

Advice on process

As with “purpose,” “advice on process” often amounts to helping students break down an assignment into the elements they’ll get feedback on. In that sense, feedback on those steps is often more informal or aimed at giving students practice with skills or components that will be parts of the bigger assignment.

For those reasons, though, the kind of feedback we give students on smaller steps has its own (even if ungraded) rubric. For example, if a prompt asks students to  propose a research question as part of the bigger project, they might get feedback on whether it can be answered by evidence, or whether it has a feasible scope, or who the audience for its findings might be. All of those criteria, in turn, could—and ideally would—later be part of the rubric for the graded project itself. Or perhaps students are submitting earlier, smaller components of an assignment for separate grades; or are expected to submit separate components all together at the end as a portfolio, perhaps together with a cover letter or artist statement .

Using Rubrics Effectively

In the same way that rubrics can facilitate the design phase of assignment, they can also facilitate the teaching and feedback phases, including of course grading. Here are a few ways this can work in a course:

Discuss the rubric ahead of time with your teaching team. Getting on the same page about what students will be doing and how different parts of the assignment fit together is, in effect, laying out what needs to happen in class and in section, both in terms of what students need to learn and practice, and how the coming days or weeks should be sequenced.

Share the rubric with your students ahead of time. For the same reason it's ideal for course heads to discuss rubrics with their teaching team, it’s ideal for the teaching team to discuss the rubric with students. Not only does the rubric lay out the different skills students will learn during an assignment and which skills are more or less important for that assignment,  it means that the formative feedback they get along the way is more legible as getting practice on elements of the “bigger assignment.” To be sure, this can’t always happen. Rubrics aren’t always up and running at the beginning of an assignment, and sometimes they emerge more inductively during the feedback and grading process, as instructors take stock of what students have actually submitted. In both cases, later is better than never—there’s no need to make the perfect the enemy of the good. Circulating a rubric at the time you return student work can still be a valuable tool to help students see the relationship between the learning objectives and goals of the assignment and the feedback and grade they’ve received.

Discuss the rubric with your teaching team during the grading process. If your assignment has a rubric, it’s important to make sure that everyone who will be grading is able to use the rubric consistently. Most rubrics aren’t exhaustive—see the note above on rubrics that are “too specific”—and a great way to see how different graders are handling “real-life” scenarios for an assignment is to have the entire team grade a few samples (including examples that seem more representative of an “A” or a “B”) and compare everyone’s approaches. We suggest scheduling a grade-norming session for your teaching staff.

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Creating and Using Rubrics

Rubrics are both assessment tools for faculty and learning tools for students that can ease anxiety about the grading process for both parties. Rubrics lay out specific criteria and performance expectations for an assignment. They help students and instructors stay focused on those expectations and to be more confident in their work as a result. Creating rubrics does require a substantial time investment up front, but this process will result in reduced time spent grading or explaining assignment criteria down the road.  

Reasons for Using Rubrics

Research indicates that rubrics:

• Rubrics can help normalize the work of multiple graders, e.g., across different sections of a single course or in large lecture courses where TAs manage labs or discussion groups.
• Well-crafted rubrics can reduce the time that faculty spend grading assignments.
• Timely feedback has a positive impact on the learning process.
• When coupled with other forms of feedback (e.g., brief, individualized comments) rubrics show students how to improve.
• By giving students a clear sense of what constitutes different levels of performance, rubrics can make self- and peer-assessments more meaningful and effective.
• If students complete an assignment with a rubric as a guide, then students are better equipped to think critically about their work and to improve it.
• Rubrics establish, in great detail, what different levels of student work look like. If students have seen an assignment rubric in advance and know that they will be held accountable to it, defending grade decisions can be much easier.

Tips for Creating Effective Rubrics

• To create performance descriptions for a new rubric, first rank student responses to an assignment from best to mediocre to worst. Read back through the assignments in that order. Record the characteristics that define student work at each of the three levels. Use your notes to craft the performance descriptions for each criteria category of your new rubric.
• Alternately, start by drafting your high and low performance descriptions for each criteria category, then fill in the mid-range descriptions.
• Use the language of your assignment prompt in your rubric.
• Consider rubric language carefully—how do you encapsulate the range of student responses that could realistically fall in a given cell? Lots of “and/or” statements.
• E.g., “Introduction and/or conclusion handled well but may leave some points unaddressed;” “Sources may be improperly cited or may be missing”
• Completely Effective, Reasonably Effective, Ineffective
• Superb, Strong, Acceptable, Weak
• Compelling, Reasonable, Basic
• Advanced, Intermediate, Novice
• Proficient, Not Yet Proficient, Beginning
• Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Basic, Unsatisfactory
• Exemplary, Proficient, Competent, Developing, Beginning

Tips for Testing and Revising Rubrics

• Score sample assignments without a rubric and then with one. Compare the results. Ask a colleague to use your rubric to do the same.
• Ask a colleague to use your rubric to score student work you've already scored with the rubric and then compare results.
• Get your colleagues' feedback on the alignment of your rubric's grading criteria with your assignment and course-level learning objectives.
• Discuss your rubrics with your students and determine what they do and do not like or understand about them.

Tips for Using Rubrics

• Create a generic rubric template that you can modify for specific assignments.
• Keep the rubric to one page if at all possible. Give the rubric a descriptive title that clearly links it to the assignment prompt and/or digital grade book.
• Give the rubric to students in advance (i.e., with the related assignment prompt) and discuss it with them. Explain the purpose of the rubric, and require students to use the rubric for self-assessment and to reflect on process.
• Allow students to score example work with the rubric before attempting actual peer- or self-review. Discuss with the students how the example work correlates to the competency levels on the rubric.
• Consider engaging in active-learning, rubric development exercises with your students. Have your students help you identify relevant assignment components or develop drafts of your performance descriptions, etc.
• When returning work to students, only highlight those portions of the rubric text that are relevant.
• Couple rubrics with other measures or forms of feedback. Giving  brief additional feedback that responds holistically and/or subjectively to student work is a good way to support formative assessment.
• Include relevant learning objectives on your rubrics and/or related assignment prompts.
• To document trends in your teaching, keep copies of rubrics that you return to students and review them later on. Analyzing groups of graded rubrics over time can give you a sense of what might be weak in your teaching and what you need to focus on in the future.
• Canvas has a built-in rubric tool .
• iRubric  can be used create be used to create rubrics in Canvas as well (availability varies by department). 

Online Resources

• Rubrics resource page from the Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University (includes several discipline-specific examples):
• Sample Rubrics from the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education
• Association of American Colleges and Universities VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) Rubrics
• Holistic Essay-Grading Rubrics at the University of Georgia, Athens
• Quality Matters Rubric for Assessing University-Level Online and Blended Courses  (Seventh Edition)
• iRubric Tool and Samples
• Canvas Guides on Rubrics:
• Creating a rubric
• Editing a rubric
• Managing course rubrics
• Rubrics in Speedgrader

Barkley, E.F., Cross, P.K., and Major, C.H. (2005). Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college faculty . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Barney, Sebastian, et al . “Improving Students with Rubric-Based Self-Assessment and Oral Feedback.” IEEE Transaction on Education 55, no. 3 (August 2012): 319-25.

Besterfield-Sacre, Mary, et al . “Scoring Concept Maps: An Integrated Rubric for Assessing Engineering Education.” Journal of Engineering Education 93, no. 2 (2004): 105-15.

Broad, Brian. What we Really Value: Beyond Rubrics in Teaching and Writing Assessment . Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 2003.

Hout, Brian. Rearticulating Writing Assessment for Teaching and Learning . Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 2002.

Howell, Rebecca J. “Exploring the Impact of Grading Rubrics on Academic Performance: Findings from a Quasi-Experimental, Pre-Post Evaluation.” Journal on Excellence in College Teaching 22, no. 2 (2011): 31-49.

Jonsson, Anders and Gunilla Svingby. “The Use of Scoring Rubrics: Reliability, Validity, and Educational Consequences.” Educational Research Review 2 (2007): 130-44.

Kishbaugh, Tara L.S., et al . “Measuring Beyond Content: A Rubric Bank for Assessing Skills in Authentic Research Assignments in the Sciences.” Chemistry Education Research and Practice 13 (2012): 268-76.

Leist, Cathy, et al . “The Effects of Using a Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric to Assess Undergraduate Students’ Reading Skills.” Journal of College Reading and Learning 43, no. 1 (Fall 2012): 31-58.

Livingston, Michael and Lisa Storm Fink. “The Infamy of Grading Rubrics.” English Journal, High School Edition 102, no. 2 (Nov. 2012): 108-13.

Stevens, Dannelle D. and Antonia J. Levi. Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save GradingTime, Convey Effective Feedback and Promote Student Learning . (Sterling, VA: Stylus Press, 2005).

Wilson, Maja. Rethinking Rubrics in Writing Assessment . (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2006).

Authored by James Gregory (September, 2014)

Updated by James Gregory (September, 2015)

Updated by James Gregory (February, 2016)

Updated by Andi Rehak (February, 2017)

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• 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. 

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Creating and using rubrics.

A rubric describes the criteria that will be used to evaluate a specific task, such as a student writing assignment, poster, oral presentation, or other project. Rubrics allow instructors to communicate expectations to students, allow students to check in on their progress mid-assignment, and can increase the reliability of scores. Research suggests that when rubrics are used on an instructional basis (for instance, included with an assignment prompt for reference), students tend to utilize and appreciate them (Reddy and Andrade, 2010).

Rubrics generally exist in tabular form and are composed of:

• A description of the task that is being evaluated,
• The criteria that is being evaluated (row headings),
• A rating scale that demonstrates different levels of performance (column headings), and
• A description of each level of performance for each criterion (within each box of the table).

When multiple individuals are grading, rubrics also help improve the consistency of scoring across all graders. Instructors should insure that the structure, presentation, consistency, and use of their rubrics pass rigorous standards of validity , reliability , and fairness (Andrade, 2005).

Major Types of Rubrics

There are two major categories of rubrics:

• Holistic : In this type of rubric, a single score is provided based on raters’ overall perception of the quality of the performance. Holistic rubrics are useful when only one attribute is being evaluated, as they detail different levels of performance within a single attribute. This category of rubric is designed for quick scoring but does not provide detailed feedback. For these rubrics, the criteria may be the same as the description of the task.
• Analytic : In this type of rubric, scores are provided for several different criteria that are being evaluated. Analytic rubrics provide more detailed feedback to students and instructors about their performance. Scoring is usually more consistent across students and graders with analytic rubrics.

Rubrics utilize a scale that denotes level of success with a particular assignment, usually a 3-, 4-, or 5- category grid:

Figure 1: Grading Rubrics: Sample Scales (Brown Sheridan Center)

Sample Rubrics

Instructors can consider a sample holistic rubric developed for an English Writing Seminar course at Yale.

The Association of American Colleges and Universities also has a number of free (non-invasive free account required) analytic rubrics that can be downloaded and modified by instructors. These 16 VALUE rubrics enable instructors to measure items such as inquiry and analysis, critical thinking, written communication, oral communication, quantitative literacy, teamwork, problem-solving, and more.

Recommendations

The following provides a procedure for developing a rubric, adapted from Brown’s Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning :

• Define the goal and purpose of the task that is being evaluated - Before constructing a rubric, instructors should review their learning outcomes associated with a given assignment. Are skills, content, and deeper conceptual knowledge clearly defined in the syllabus , and do class activities and assignments work towards intended outcomes? The rubric can only function effectively if goals are clear and student work progresses towards them.
• Decide what kind of rubric to use - The kind of rubric used may depend on the nature of the assignment, intended learning outcomes (for instance, does the task require the demonstration of several different skills?), and the amount and kind of feedback students will receive (for instance, is the task a formative or a summative assessment ?). Instructors can read the above, or consider “Additional Resources” for kinds of rubrics.
• Define the criteria - Instructors can review their learning outcomes and assessment parameters to determine specific criteria for the rubric to cover. Instructors should consider what knowledge and skills are required for successful completion, and create a list of criteria that assess outcomes across different vectors (comprehensiveness, maturity of thought, revisions, presentation, timeliness, etc). Criteria should be distinct and clearly described, and ideally, not surpass seven in number.
• Define the rating scale to measure levels of performance - Whatever rating scale instructors choose, they should insure that it is clear, and review it in-class to field student question and concerns. Instructors can consider if the scale will include descriptors or only be numerical, and might include prompts on the rubric for achieving higher achievement levels. Rubrics typically include 3-5 levels in their rating scales (see Figure 1 above).
• Write descriptions for each performance level of the rating scale - Each level should be accompanied by a descriptive paragraph that outlines ideals for each level, lists or names all performance expectations within the level, and if possible, provides a detail or example of ideal performance within each level. Across the rubric, descriptions should be parallel, observable, and measurable.
• Test and revise the rubric - The rubric can be tested before implementation, by arranging for writing or testing conditions with several graders or TFs who can use the rubric together. After grading with the rubric, graders might grade a similar set of materials without the rubric to assure consistency. Instructors can consider discrepancies, share the rubric and results with faculty colleagues for further opinions, and revise the rubric for use in class. Instructors might also seek out colleagues’ rubrics as well, for comparison. Regarding course implementation, instructors might consider passing rubrics out during the first class, in order to make grading expectations clear as early as possible. Rubrics should fit on one page, so that descriptions and criteria are viewable quickly and simultaneously. During and after a class or course, instructors can collect feedback on the rubric’s clarity and effectiveness from TFs and even students through anonymous surveys. Comparing scores and quality of assignments with parallel or previous assignments that did not include a rubric can reveal effectiveness as well. Instructors should feel free to revise a rubric following a course too, based on student performance and areas of confusion.

Additional Resources

Cox, G. C., Brathwaite, B. H., & Morrison, J. (2015). The Rubric: An assessment tool to guide students and markers. Advances in Higher Education, 149-163.

Creating and Using Rubrics - Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and & Educational Innovation

Creating a Rubric - UC Denver Center for Faculty Development

Grading Rubric Design - Brown University Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning

Moskal, B. M. (2000). Scoring rubrics: What, when and how? Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation 7(3).

Quinlan A. M., (2011) A Complete Guide to Rubrics: Assessment Made Easy for Teachers of K-college 2nd edition, Rowman & Littlefield Education.

Andrade, H. (2005). Teaching with Rubrics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. College Teaching 53(1):27-30.

Reddy, Y. M., & Andrade, H. (2010). A review of rubric use in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(4), 435-448.

Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning , Brown University

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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.

Rubric Design

Main navigation, articulating your assessment values.

Reading, commenting on, and then assigning a grade to a piece of student writing requires intense attention and difficult judgment calls. Some faculty dread “the stack.” Students may share the faculty’s dim view of writing assessment, perceiving it as highly subjective. They wonder why one faculty member values evidence and correctness before all else, while another seeks a vaguely defined originality.

Writing rubrics can help address the concerns of both faculty and students by making writing assessment more efficient, consistent, and public. Whether it is called a grading rubric, a grading sheet, or a scoring guide, a writing assignment rubric lists criteria by which the writing is graded.

Why create a writing rubric?

• It makes your tacit rhetorical knowledge explicit
• It articulates community- and discipline-specific standards of excellence
• It links the grade you give the assignment to the criteria
• It can make your grading more efficient, consistent, and fair as you can read and comment with your criteria in mind
• It can help you reverse engineer your course: once you have the rubrics created, you can align your readings, activities, and lectures with the rubrics to set your students up for success
• It can help your students produce writing that you look forward to reading

How to create a writing rubric

Create a rubric at the same time you create the assignment. It will help you explain to the students what your goals are for the assignment.

• Consider your purpose: do you need a rubric that addresses the standards for all the writing in the course? Or do you need to address the writing requirements and standards for just one assignment?  Task-specific rubrics are written to help teachers assess individual assignments or genres, whereas generic rubrics are written to help teachers assess multiple assignments.
• Begin by listing the important qualities of the writing that will be produced in response to a particular assignment. It may be helpful to have several examples of excellent versions of the assignment in front of you: what writing elements do they all have in common? Among other things, these may include features of the argument, such as a main claim or thesis; use and presentation of sources, including visuals; and formatting guidelines such as the requirement of a works cited.
• Then consider how the criteria will be weighted in grading. Perhaps all criteria are equally important, or perhaps there are two or three that all students must achieve to earn a passing grade. Decide what best fits the class and requirements of the assignment.

Consider involving students in Steps 2 and 3. A class session devoted to developing a rubric can provoke many important discussions about the ways the features of the language serve the purpose of the writing. And when students themselves work to describe the writing they are expected to produce, they are more likely to achieve it.

At this point, you will need to decide if you want to create a holistic or an analytic rubric. There is much debate about these two approaches to assessment.

Comparing Holistic and Analytic Rubrics

Holistic scoring .

Holistic scoring aims to rate overall proficiency in a given student writing sample. It is often used in large-scale writing program assessment and impromptu classroom writing for diagnostic purposes.

General tenets to holistic scoring:

• Responding to drafts is part of evaluation
• Responses do not focus on grammar and mechanics during drafting and there is little correction
• Marginal comments are kept to 2-3 per page with summative comments at end
• End commentary attends to students’ overall performance across learning objectives as articulated in the assignment
• Response language aims to foster students’ self-assessment

Holistic rubrics emphasize what students do well and generally increase efficiency; they may also be more valid because scoring includes authentic, personal reaction of the reader. But holistic sores won’t tell a student how they’ve progressed relative to previous assignments and may be rater-dependent, reducing reliability. (For a summary of advantages and disadvantages of holistic scoring, see Becker, 2011, p. 116.)

Here is an example of a partial holistic rubric:

Summary meets all the criteria. The writer understands the article thoroughly. The main points in the article appear in the summary with all main points proportionately developed. The summary should be as comprehensive as possible and should be as comprehensive as possible and should read smoothly, with appropriate transitions between ideas. Sentences should be clear, without vagueness or ambiguity and without grammatical or mechanical errors.

A complete holistic rubric for a research paper (authored by Jonah Willihnganz) can be  downloaded here.

Analytic Scoring

Analytic scoring makes explicit the contribution to the final grade of each element of writing. For example, an instructor may choose to give 30 points for an essay whose ideas are sufficiently complex, that marshals good reasons in support of a thesis, and whose argument is logical; and 20 points for well-constructed sentences and careful copy editing.

General tenets to analytic scoring:

• Reflect emphases in your teaching and communicate the learning goals for the course
• Emphasize student performance across criterion, which are established as central to the assignment in advance, usually on an assignment sheet
• Typically take a quantitative approach, providing a scaled set of points for each criterion
• Make the analytic framework available to students before they write  

Advantages of an analytic rubric include ease of training raters and improved reliability. Meanwhile, writers often can more easily diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of their work. But analytic rubrics can be time-consuming to produce, and raters may judge the writing holistically anyway. Moreover, many readers believe that writing traits cannot be separated. (For a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of analytic scoring, see Becker, 2011, p. 115.)

For example, a partial analytic rubric for a single trait, “addresses a significant issue”:

• Excellent: Elegantly establishes the current problem, why it matters, to whom
• Above Average: Identifies the problem; explains why it matters and to whom
• Competent: Describes topic but relevance unclear or cursory
• Developing: Unclear issue and relevance

A  complete analytic rubric for a research paper can be downloaded here.  In WIM courses, this language should be revised to name specific disciplinary conventions.

Whichever type of rubric you write, your goal is to avoid pushing students into prescriptive formulas and limiting thinking (e.g., “each paragraph has five sentences”). By carefully describing the writing you want to read, you give students a clear target, and, as Ed White puts it, “describe the ongoing work of the class” (75).

Writing rubrics contribute meaningfully to the teaching of writing. Think of them as a coaching aide. In class and in conferences, you can use the language of the rubric to help you move past generic statements about what makes good writing good to statements about what constitutes success on the assignment and in the genre or discourse community. The rubric articulates what you are asking students to produce on the page; once that work is accomplished, you can turn your attention to explaining how students can achieve it.

Works Cited

Becker, Anthony.  “Examining Rubrics Used to Measure Writing Performance in U.S. Intensive English Programs.”   The CATESOL Journal  22.1 (2010/2011):113-30. Web.

White, Edward M.  Teaching and Assessing Writing . Proquest Info and Learning, 1985. Print.

Further Resources

CCCC Committee on Assessment. “Writing Assessment: A Position Statement.” November 2006 (Revised March 2009). Conference on College Composition and Communication. Web.

Gallagher, Chris W. “Assess Locally, Validate Globally: Heuristics for Validating Local Writing Assessments.” Writing Program Administration 34.1 (2010): 10-32. Web.

Huot, Brian.  (Re)Articulating Writing Assessment for Teaching and Learning.  Logan: Utah State UP, 2002. Print.

Kelly-Reilly, Diane, and Peggy O’Neil, eds. Journal of Writing Assessment. Web.

McKee, Heidi A., and Dànielle Nicole DeVoss DeVoss, Eds. Digital Writing Assessment & Evaluation. Logan, UT: Computers and Composition Digital Press/Utah State University Press, 2013. Web.

O’Neill, Peggy, Cindy Moore, and Brian Huot.  A Guide to College Writing Assessment . Logan: Utah State UP, 2009. Print.

Sommers, Nancy.  Responding to Student Writers . Macmillan Higher Education, 2013.

Straub, Richard. “Responding, Really Responding to Other Students’ Writing.” The Subject is Writing: Essays by Teachers and Students. Ed. Wendy Bishop. Boynton/Cook, 1999. Web.

White, Edward M., and Cassie A. Wright.  Assigning, Responding, Evaluating: A Writing Teacher’s Guide . 5th ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015. Print.

• Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
• Instructional Guide
• Rubrics for Assessment

A rubric is an explicit set of criteria used for assessing a particular type of work or performance (TLT Group, n.d.) and provides more details than a single grade or mark. Rubrics, therefore, will help you grade more objectively.

Have your students ever asked, “Why did you grade me that way?” or stated, “You never told us that we would be graded on grammar!” As a grading tool, rubrics can address these and other issues related to assessment: they reduce grading time; they increase objectivity and reduce subjectivity; they convey timely feedback to students and they improve students’ ability to include required elements of an assignment (Stevens & Levi, 2005). Grading rubrics can be used to assess a range of activities in any subject area

Elements of a Rubric

Typically designed as a grid-type structure, a grading rubric includes criteria, levels of performance, scores, and descriptors which become unique assessment tools for any given assignment. The table below illustrates a simple grading rubric with each of the four elements for a history research paper. 

Criteria identify the trait, feature or dimension which is to be measured and include a definition and example to clarify the meaning of each trait being assessed. Each assignment or performance will determine the number of criteria to be scored. Criteria are derived from assignments, checklists, grading sheets or colleagues.

Examples of Criteria for a term paper rubric

• Introduction
• Arguments/analysis
• Grammar and punctuation
• Internal citations

Levels of performance

Levels of performance are often labeled as adjectives which describe the performance levels. Levels of performance determine the degree of performance which has been met and will provide for consistent and objective assessment and better feedback to students. These levels tell students what they are expected to do. Levels of performance can be used without descriptors but descriptors help in achieving objectivity. Words used for levels of performance could influence a student’s interpretation of performance level (such as superior, moderate, poor or above or below average).

Examples to describe levels of performance

• Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor
• Master, Apprentice, Beginner
• Exemplary, Accomplished, Developing, Beginning, Undeveloped
• Complete, Incomplete

Levels of performance determine the degree of performance which has been met and will provide for consistent and objective assessment and better feedback to students.

Scores make up the system of numbers or values used to rate each criterion and often are combined with levels of performance. Begin by asking how many points are needed to adequately describe the range of performance you expect to see in students’ work. Consider the range of possible performance level.

Example of scores for a rubric

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 2, 4, 6, 8

Descriptors

Descriptors are explicit descriptions of the performance and show how the score is derived and what is expected of the students. Descriptors spell out each level (gradation) of performance for each criterion and describe what performance at a particular level looks like. Descriptors describe how well students’ work is distinguished from the work of their peers and will help you to distinguish between each student’s work. Descriptors should be detailed enough to differentiate between the different level and increase the objectivity of the rater.

Descriptors...describe what performance at a particular level looks like.

Developing a Grading Rubric

First, consider using any of a number of existing rubrics available online. Many rubrics can be used “as is.” Or, you could modify a rubric by adding or deleting elements or combining others for one that will suit your needs. Finally, you could create a completely customized rubric using specifically designed rubric software or just by creating a table with the rubric elements. The following steps will help you develop a rubric no matter which option you choose.

• Select a performance/assignment to be assessed. Begin with a performance or assignment which may be difficult to grade and where you want to reduce subjectivity. Is the performance/assignment an authentic task related to learning goals and/or objectives? Are students replicating meaningful tasks found in the real world? Are you encouraging students to problem solve and apply knowledge? Answer these questions as you begin to develop the criteria for your rubric.

Begin with a performance or assignment which may be difficult to grade and where you want to reduce subjectivity.

• List criteria. Begin by brainstorming a list of all criteria, traits or dimensions associated task. Reduce the list by chunking similar criteria and eliminating others until you produce a range of appropriate criteria. A rubric designed for formative and diagnostic assessments might have more criteria than those rubrics rating summative performances (Dodge, 2001). Keep the list of criteria manageable and reasonable.
• Write criteria descriptions. Keep criteria descriptions brief, understandable, and in a logical order for students to follow as they work on the task.
• Determine level of performance adjectives.  Select words or phrases that will explain what performance looks like at each level, making sure they are discrete enough to show real differences. Levels of performance should match the related criterion.
• Develop scores. The scores will determine the ranges of performance in numerical value. Make sure the values make sense in terms of the total points possible: What is the difference between getting 10 points versus 100 points versus 1,000 points? The best and worst performance scores are placed at the ends of the continuum and the other scores are placed appropriately in between. It is suggested to start with fewer levels and to distinguish between work that does not meet the criteria. Also, it is difficult to make fine distinctions using qualitative levels such as never, sometimes, usually or limited acceptance, proficient or NA, poor, fair, good, very good, excellent. How will you make the distinctions?

It is suggested to start with fewer [score] levels and to distinguish between work that does not meet the criteria.

• Write the descriptors. As a student is judged to move up the performance continuum, previous level descriptions are considered achieved in subsequent description levels. Therefore, it is not necessary to include “beginning level” descriptors in the same box where new skills are introduced.
• Evaluate the rubric. As with any instructional tool, evaluate the rubric each time it is used to ensure it matches instructional goals and objectives. Be sure students understand each criterion and how they can use the rubric to their advantage. Consider providing more details about each of the rubric’s areas to further clarify these sections to students. Pilot test new rubrics if possible, review the rubric with a colleague, and solicit students’ feedback for further refinements.

Types of Rubrics

Determining which type of rubric to use depends on what and how you plan to evaluate. There are several types of rubrics including holistic, analytical, general, and task-specific. Each of these will be described below.

All criteria are assessed as a single score. Holistic rubrics are good for evaluating overall performance on a task. Because only one score is given, holistic rubrics tend to be easier to score. However, holistic rubrics do not provide detailed information on student performance for each criterion; the levels of performance are treated as a whole.

• “Use for simple tasks and performances such as reading fluency or response to an essay question . . .
• Getting a quick snapshot of overall quality or achievement
• Judging the impact of a product or performance” (Arter & McTighe, 2001, p 21)

Each criterion is assessed separately, using different descriptive ratings. Each criterion receives a separate score. Analytical rubrics take more time to score but provide more detailed feedback.

• “Judging complex performances . . . involving several significant [criteria] . . .
• Providing more specific information or feedback to students . . .” (Arter & McTighe, 2001, p 22)

A generic rubric contains criteria that are general across tasks and can be used for similar tasks or performances. Criteria are assessed separately, as in an analytical rubric.

• “[Use] when students will not all be doing exactly the same task; when students have a choice as to what evidence will be chosen to show competence on a particular skill or product.
• [Use] when instructors are trying to judge consistently in different course sections” (Arter & McTighe, 2001, p 30)

Task-specific

Assesses a specific task. Unique criteria are assessed separately. However, it may not be possible to account for each and every criterion involved in a particular task which could overlook a student’s unique solution (Arter & McTighe, 2001).

• “It’s easier and faster to get consistent scoring
• [Use] in large-scale and “high-stakes” contexts, such as state-level accountability assessments
• [Use when] you want to know whether students know particular facts, equations, methods, or procedures” (Arter & McTighe, 2001, p 28) 

Grading rubrics are effective and efficient tools which allow for objective and consistent assessment of a range of performances, assignments, and activities. Rubrics can help clarify your expectations and will show students how to meet them, making students accountable for their performance in an easy-to-follow format. The feedback that students receive through a grading rubric can help them improve their performance on revised or subsequent work. Rubrics can help to rationalize grades when students ask about your method of assessment. Rubrics also allow for consistency in grading for those who team teach the same course, for TAs assigned to the task of grading, and serve as good documentation for accreditation purposes. Several online sources exist which can be used in the creation of customized grading rubrics; a few of these are listed below.

Arter, J., & McTighe, J. (2001). Scoring rubrics in the classroom: Using performance criteria for assessing and improving student performance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.

Stevens, D. D., & Levi, A. J. (2005). Introduction to rubrics: An assessment tool to save grading time, convey effective feedback, and promote student learning. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

The Teaching, Learning, and Technology Group (n.d.). Rubrics: Definition, tools, examples, references. http://www.tltgroup.org/resources/flashlight/rubrics.htm

Selected Resources

Dodge, B. (2001). Creating a rubric on a given task. http://webquest.sdsu.edu/rubrics/rubrics.html

Wilson, M. (2006). Rethinking rubrics in writing assessment. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Rubric Builders and Generators

eMints.org (2011). Rubric/scoring guide. http://www.emints.org/webquest/rubric.shtml

General Rubric Generator. http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/general/

RubiStar (2008). Create rubrics for your project-based learning activities. http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

Suggested citation

Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2012). Rubrics for assessment. In Instructional guide for university faculty and teaching assistants. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide

• Active Learning Activities
• Assessing Student Learning
• Direct vs. Indirect Assessment
• Examples of Classroom Assessment Techniques
• Formative and Summative Assessment
• Peer and Self-Assessment
• Reflective Journals and Learning Logs
• The Process of Grading

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How to Create a Rubric in 6 Steps

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• B.A., English, University of Michigan

How to Create a Rubric: Introduction

Perhaps you have never even thought about the care it takes to create a rubric. Perhaps you have never even heard  of a rubric and its usage in education, in which case, you should take a peek at this article: "What is a rubric?" Basically, this tool that teachers and professors use to help them communicate expectations, provide focused feedback, and grade products, can be invaluable when the correct answer is not as cut and dried as Choice A on a multiple choice test. But creating a great rubric is more than just slapping some expectations on a paper, assigning some percentage points, and calling it a day. A good rubric needs to be designed with care and precision in order to truly help teachers distribute and receive the expected work. 

Steps to Create a Rubric

The following six steps will help you when you decide to use a rubric for assessing an essay, a project, group work, or any other task that does not have a clear right or wrong answer. 

Step 1: Define Your Goal

Before you can create a rubric, you need to decide the type of rubric you'd like to use, and that will largely be determined by your goals for the assessment.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• How detailed do I want my feedback to be? 
• How will I break down my expectations for this project?
• Are all of the tasks equally important?
• How do I want to assess performance?
• What standards must the students hit in order to achieve acceptable or exceptional performance?
• Do I want to give one final grade on the project or a cluster of smaller grades based on several criteria?
• Am I grading based on the work or on participation? Am I grading on both?

Once you've figured out how detailed you'd like the rubric to be and the goals you are trying to reach, you can choose a type of rubric.

Step 2: Choose a Rubric Type

Although there are many variations of rubrics, it can be helpful to at least have a standard set to help you decide where to start. Here are two that are widely used in teaching as defined by DePaul University's Graduate Educational department:

• Analytic Rubric : This is the standard grid rubric that many teachers routinely use to assess students' work. This is the optimal rubric for providing clear, detailed feedback. With an analytic rubric, criteria for the students' work is listed in the left column and performance levels are listed across the top. The squares inside the grid will typically contain the specs for each level. A rubric for an essay, for example, might contain criteria like "Organization, Support, and Focus," and may contain performance levels like "(4) Exceptional, (3) Satisfactory, (2) Developing, and (1) Unsatisfactory."​ The performance levels are typically given percentage points or letter grades and a final grade is typically calculated at the end. The scoring rubrics for the ACT and SAT are designed this way, although when students take them, they will receive a holistic score. 
• Holistic Rubric:  This is the type of rubric that is much easier to create, but much more difficult to use accurately. Typically, a teacher provides a series of letter grades or a range of numbers (1-4 or 1-6, for example) and then assigns expectations for each of those scores. When grading, the teacher matches the student work in its entirety to a single description on the scale. This is useful for grading multiple essays, but it does not leave room for detailed feedback on student work. 

Step 3: Determine Your Criteria

This is where the learning objectives for your unit or course come into play. Here, you'll need to brainstorm a list of knowledge and skills you would like to assess for the project. Group them according to similarities and get rid of anything that is not absolutely critical. A rubric with too much criteria is difficult to use! Try to stick with 4-7 specific subjects for which you'll be able to create unambiguous, measurable expectations in the performance levels. You'll want to be able to spot the criteria quickly while grading and be able to explain them quickly when instructing your students. In an analytic rubric, the criteria are typically listed along the left column. 

Step 4: Create Your Performance Levels

Once you have determined the broad levels you would like students to demonstrate mastery of, you will need to figure out what type of scores you will assign based on each level of mastery. Most ratings scales include between three and five levels. Some teachers use a combination of numbers and descriptive labels like "(4) Exceptional, (3) Satisfactory, etc." while other teachers simply assign numbers, percentages, letter grades or any combination of the three for each level. You can arrange them from highest to lowest or lowest to highest as long as your levels are organized and easy to understand. 

Step 5: Write Descriptors for Each Level of Your Rubric

This is probably your most difficult step in creating a rubric.Here, you will need to write short statements of your expectations underneath each performance level for every single criteria. The descriptions should be specific and measurable. The language should be parallel to help with student comprehension and the degree to which the standards are met should be explained.

Again, to use an analytic essay rubric as an example, if your criteria was "Organization" and you used the (4) Exceptional, (3) Satisfactory, (2) Developing, and (1) Unsatisfactory scale, you would need to write the specific content a student would need to produce to meet each level. It could look something like this:

A holistic rubric would not break down the essay's grading criteria with such precision. The top two tiers of a holistic essay rubric would look more like this:

• 6 = Essay demonstrates excellent composition skills including a clear and thought-provoking thesis, appropriate and effective organization, lively and convincing supporting materials, effective diction and sentence skills, and perfect or near perfect mechanics including spelling and punctuation. The writing perfectly accomplishes the objectives of the assignment.
• 5 = Essay contains strong composition skills including a clear and thought-provoking thesis, but development, diction, and sentence style may suffer minor flaws. The essay shows careful and acceptable use of mechanics. The writing effectively accomplishes the goals of the assignment.

Step 6: Revise Your Rubric

After creating the descriptive language for all of the levels (making sure it is parallel, specific and measurable), you need to go back through and limit your rubric to a single page. Too many parameters will be difficult to assess at once, and may be an ineffective way to assess students' mastery of a specific standard. Consider the effectiveness of the rubric, asking for student understanding and co-teacher feedback before moving forward. Do not be afraid to revise as necessary. It may even be helpful to grade a sample project in order to gauge the effectiveness of your rubric. You can always adjust the rubric if need be before handing it out, but once it's distributed, it will be difficult to retract. 

Teacher Resources:

• Creative Writing Prompts for High School Students
• 14 Ways to Write Better in High School
• The Top Reading Skills to Teach Your Students
• Great Books to Recommend To Teens
• Create Rubrics for Student Assessment - Step by Step
• Questions for Each Level of Bloom's Taxonomy
• Rubrics - Quick Guide for all Content Areas
• Writing Rubrics
• What Is a Rubric?
• How to Make a Rubric for Differentiation
• Holistic Grading (Composition)
• Creating and Scoring Essay Tests
• Rubric Template Samples for Teachers
• Sample Essay Rubric for Elementary Teachers
• A Simple Guide to Grading Elementary Students
• How to Calculate a Percentage and Letter Grade
• Scoring Rubric for Students
• Assignment Biography: Student Criteria and Rubric for Writing
• Grading for Proficiency in the World of 4.0 GPAs
• Authentic Ways to Develop Performance-Based Activities

• Our Mission
• How Do Rubrics Help?

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

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

Course Design & Development Tutorial

CUNY School of Professional Studies, Office of Faculty Development and Instructional Technology

Home » Writing Up an Assignment and Using Rubrics

• Tutorial Introduction
• 1. Overview of Online Course Design and Development
• 2. Analysis for Design and Understanding Learning Outcomes
• 3. Backward Design
• 4. Planning Out Your Course
• 5. Readability, Pacing, and Accessibility
• 6. Writing Up an Assignment and Using Rubrics
• 7. Constructing Effective Online Discussions
• 8. Designing with Multimedia in Mind
• 9. Building Out in Blackboard
• 10. Redesign and Revision

Writing Up an Assignment and Using Rubrics

This module covers how to write up an assignment so that students can most clearly understand the tasks they need to do to successfully complete an assignment and explains the role that rubrics can play in setting expectations and providing feedback on Assignments.

Writing Up an Assignment

• The essential building blocks of an assignment you need to include
• Diagram—anatomy of an assignment
• Points to keep in mind

A common student complaint is that students have difficulty understanding the instructions or the implications of a class assignment. Writing clear and coherent instructions for assignments is a surprisingly challenging task for any faculty member. Faculty already know what they are looking for but need to find a way to communicate to students who may or may not have experience with the type of assignment, know which elements might be expected, or understand the best way and order in which to proceed with tackling an assignment.

Before faculty write up the instructions for an assignment, they need to:

• Be able to anticipate how their students will understand the assignment and actions they are asked to take.
• Be able to reproduce the steps and logical sequence and grouping of tasks associated with the assignment.

While writing the instructions for an assignment, instructors should consider the following, although some categories might be combined:

Descriptive, Introductory, and Contextual Portion

Provides the details that students need to know before they embark on an assignment and sets out the situation or main job that students are expected to accomplish. For example, “Having read chapter 10 and engaged in discussion on the early American history, you are being asked to write a research paper on a major event of the period 1789-1812 so as to further explore the implications of the issues covered in your text.” It may or may not include details that could be included in the main instructions. For example, “You will select a topic from the list posted below.” Or, “Due April 10th, this paper is worth 20% of your grade and will be evaluated using the rubric posted with the syllabus and other course documents.”

Instructions–main tasks or elements

Lays out the assignment and explains the elements or tasks that must be completed and how/where the assignment is to be submitted, along with a due date(s).

In cases where multiple tasks are involved or when tasks must be completed in a particular order, a numbered list is helpful. Bulleted points often serve to clarify elements and tasks, and indented sections or notes can provide more information about an element or task. You might also use indents to differentiate additional info from the main instructions.

For example, here’s a list of elements that are not dependent on order of tasks:

• Paper length must be 1000-1500 words, not including your reference list
• Include at least 10 sources, with 7 of those being from peer-reviewed articles. Please review the definition of a peer-reviewed article at this website _ _ before conducting your research.
• Use APA citation and documentation throughout. Refer to the APA guide at __ if you need to refresh your knowledge of APA.

The following is a task list that needs to be done in a certain order. Your assignment might include both types of tasks:

Your paper is divided into a series of smaller assignments, due as indicated: 1. Select a paper topic and email the instructor by week 2; 2. Write an outline of your paper and submit it by week 4; 3. Submit a reference list of your 10 sources by week 6, using APA format; 4. Submit the final paper by week 8 via the Blackboard Assignments area.

Students need to know how and where to submit the assignment and the due date or dates (for incremental assignments). For example, “Due _ _ by submitting to the Assignment area in Blackboard, this paper is worth 20% of your grade and will be evaluated using the rubric posted with the syllabus and other course documents.” If the assignment is submitted online but not through an assignment link, you will need to be more explicit. For example, “Submit by posting to the ‘Debate Prep’ discussion forum, creating a new thread and placing your topic name in the subject line.”

Assessment criteria

This can be, at its simplest, a list of required elements, or if some elements are worth more than others, that can be stated or provided via a fully formed rubric. The total number of grade points or percentage of the grade should be stated as well and any late policy. It may be that you have already included some of this information in your syllabus but you should either repeat it or refer students to the more detailed version.

For example, “The essay is worth 25 points of your total grade and will be graded on the following elements:

• Clarity and organization of essay or video presentation—4 pts
• Persuasive and logical argument—7 pts
• Selection of reliable sources—5 pts
• Evidence of research into the issues—5 pts
• Quality of comments on classmates’ essays or presentations—4 pts

Late papers will be docked total points at the rate of 1 point for every day late. No papers or presentations will be accepted after the end of week 5.”

Discussion, notes, or cautionaries

Underscores the importance of something, or warns of a typical shortcoming. These can be included in the most appropriate area of the assignment description or instructions, or might be offered at the end. For example:

• Make sure you receive the instructor’s approval before embarking on your topic.
• Spell check and proofread your final paper before submitting.
• Note that the topics are very specific and focused—make sure that you adhere to the topics as described and not venture into more generalized and broader subjects.

Faculty need to provide information at the right juncture so that students do not get off on the wrong foot. For example, the following note should appear early on in the assignment: “Non-peer reviewed sources must be from a reliable source. Wikipedia is not permitted as one of your ten required sources.”

Concerning multiple options for an assignment

This is a case in which students are provided with a choice in how they will achieve the assignment’s learning objective. Including multiple options for an assignment works well when:

• Options represent a range of different perspectives or approaches from which to choose
• Options present different levels of challenges although all result in meeting the learning outcomes
• Options are all doable with the pacing and time limits for the assignment
• Criteria for fulfilling each option are clearly communicated
• Options that are vastly different in scale or degree of difficulty are provided with different evaluation schema or even different number of grade points—i.e., as in “extra credit. “

Anatomy of a Sample Assignment Write-up

See an annotated version of a sample essay prompt: Anatomy of a Sample Assignment

Points to Consider for a New or Revised Assignment Write-up

Student learning outcome(s) for assignment.

• Can you identify which program and/or course student learning outcome(s) this assignment fulfills? Are there any additional learning outcomes for the assignment?
• What words are used to convey this information to your student? Can just be a statement of the SLOs.

Title for Assignment

• Does the assignment have a title?
• Does the title closely correlate to the actual assignment type? Examples: Research paper, Reflective essay, Video interview project, Review of the literature, Group project, Case study response, etc.
• Does the title also describe the assignment specifically? Example: “Research Paper on Super PACs”
• What words are used to convey this information to your students?
• Does this section contain everything you would want to tell students about the context of the assignment, what the assignment is about, what it is based on, etc.?
• For scaffolded/incremental assignments, is there an overview or summary listing of all related parts and/or the connections between these explained before each is individually detailed?
• If you are creating a short audio or video to provide the introduction or the context for an assignment, do you also provide a text version?
• What words (and/or media) convey this information to your students?

Instructions

• Are the directions or steps for how students should proceed laid out in a logical, easy to follow manner?
• Are the resources (any written, web, or media sources) students are required or permitted to use listed?
• Is where and how to submit the assignment stated clearly? If there are options for other types of delivery such as video presentation or Prezi, are the options for delivery stipulated?
• Are due dates stated clearly?
• Is there a second step for submitting the assignment such as posting to share with the class? If so, state how and where and by when this will take place.
• What words are used to convey this information to your students:

Assessment Criteria or Required Elements

• Are assessment criteria and required elements clearly stated in bulleted format, or is the rubric for the assignment attached?
• If different elements are graded proportionately (percentage, points, etc.), is that explained?
• Is your policy on late assignments explained? (Even if it’s stated elsewhere, as on the syllabus, you may want to include a reference to that with the individual assignment write-up.)

Remedial Plan, If Any

• If there is a remedial plan for the assignment (example: if students are able to retake a quiz or resubmit after feedback on a draft), is it explained clearly?

What is a rubric?

Why should i use a rubric, creating an effective rubric.

• Best practices for using the Rubrics tool on Blackboard
• Samples/additional resources?

Rubrics are useful pedagogical and evaluative tools that list the criteria and point distribution you use to evaluate student work. While you probably have a mental set of guidelines and criteria that guide your assessment of student work, creating and posting a rubric makes these internal criteria more explicit and thus the grading process more transparent, benefiting both you and your students. The student knows what to expect and uses the rubric as a guide in completing assignments, while you will be able to grade more efficiently and consistently and will also find fewer questions from and challenges by students.

It is possible to create a rubric for almost any sort of online course activity. That said, you don’t need a formal rubric for every assignment; adequately detailed, clearly stated criteria can be sufficient. But a rubric is often helpful in communicating more detailed assignment expectations, as well as expectations about what a quality submission may include.

An effective rubric should be detailed enough to cover the complexity of an assignment, as well as its requirements, but simple enough that an instructor can easily distinguish between the higher and lower parts of the grading range. We recommend keeping rubrics to no more than five or six different scoring categories. This will help ensure that you have an efficient process that avoids unnecessary hair-splitting and time-consuming deliberations. You may overlay a late policy onto your rubric (for example, deduct one or a partial point from the total score when postings are made within specific number of days after the due date) or build your late policy into the rubric itself.

In writing rubrics for assignments, you should also address some general expectations about what constitutes quality work for undergraduate or graduate students, including coherent and largely error-free writing, adequate documentation, and the policy on plagiarism. Although writing a good rubric requires some initial investment of time, you may find that the process of constructing one, by requiring thoroughness and attention to each aspect of the assignment, helps produce a more carefully considered and effective assessment of student work.

Best practices for using a rubric on Blackboard

You can create your own rubric from scratch, but there are many educational websites that offer rubrics you can use as a template for developing your own rubrics (see the Find and Create Rubrics section below). Ask your Academic Director if there are standard rubrics recommended by your program for particular assignments, or if they have any effective examples used by other instructors of your course or courses like yours. For more specific step-by-step information on the Rubrics tool in Blackboard, please see “Creating & Using Rubrics in Blackboard.”

• Create your rubric as a table first in Word. This allows you to cut and paste the content into the Rubrics tool on Blackboard. You can also post the original document (as a .pdf or, preferably for accessibility purposes, as a Word document) on your course site as a reference for students. It’s a good idea to create a Rubrics folder on your course site—Course Information, for example—to collect all rubrics so that students can have easy access to them at any time.
• Link your rubrics with its respective assignment(s) on your course site. Once created, associating your rubric with the appropriate assessment will allow you to use the rubric for grading. Once a rubric is created, it can be reused by multiple assignments. So, for example, a rubric for discussion boards
• Make your linked rubrics visible for students. This is optional, but is highly recommended as it permits students to view the rubrics associated with each assessment before they embark on it. Also, when reviewing grading feedback reference to the rubric allows them to understand how they were graded for each assignment and in what areas they may need to improve.

For examples of rubrics, please see the “Resources > Sample Rubrics & Rubrics in Bb” area of the PTO site.

SPS Resources

• Creating & Using Rubrics in Blackboard (SPS)
• Grading with Rubrics (SPS video)

Other Resources on Understanding the Types of Rubrics and Evaluating Rubrics

• Designing scoring rubrics for your classroom
• What’s Still Wrong with Rubrics?
• Evaluating Rubrics
• Types of Rubrics

Find and Create Rubrics

• Association of American Colleges & Universities
• Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education
• “Teachology” Rubric Maker
• Rubric Examples from PSU

Things to Think About

• Do you have an assignment that students often seem to misunderstand? What particular points seem to trip them up or where do they often go astray?
• What concerns, if any, do you have about using a rubric as a primary grading tool?

Things to Do

• Following up upon #1 in “Things to Think About,” identify a problem assignment—one in which students do not perform to standards—and compare it to the “Anatomy of an Assignment” structure or see which questions in “Points to Consider for a New or Revised Assignment Write Up” seem to apply.
• Take a look at some of the rubric resources provided here. Identify a general category or specific example that might be useful for one of your own assignments.
• Practice building out a rubric in Blackboard. (You do not have to associate it with an assignment at this point.)

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Create or reuse a rubric for an assignment

This article is for teachers.

In Classroom, you can create, reuse, and grade with rubrics for individual assignments. You can also export rubrics to share them with other teachers. 

You can give feedback with scored or unscored rubrics. If a rubric is scored, students see their scores when you return their assignments.

Add or view a rubric

Rubric overview.

Create a rubric

You can create up to 50 criteria per rubric and up to 10 performance levels per criterion. 

Note : Before you can create a rubric, the assignment must have a title.

• On a computer, go to classroom.google.com .

• (Optional) If you use scoring, next to Sort the order of points by , select  Descending or Ascending . Note : With scoring, you can add performance levels in any order. The levels automatically arrange by point value. 
• Under Criterion title , enter a criterion, such as  Grammar , Teamwork , or Citations .
• (Optional) To add a criterion description, under  Criterion description , enter the description. 
• Under Points , enter the number of points awarded for the performance level. Note : The rubric's total score automatically updates as you add points.
• Under Level title , enter a title for the performance level, such as  Excellent , Full mastery , or Level A .
• Under Description , enter the expectations for the level.

• To add a blank criterion, in the lower-left corner, click Add a criterion and repeat steps 6–11.

• Click Save .

Reuse a rubric

You can reuse rubrics you previously created. You can preview the rubric you want to reuse, and then edit it in your new assignment. Your edits don’t affect the original rubric. To reuse a rubric, your new assignment needs a title.

• To use a rubric from the same class, under Select rubric , click a title.

• Click Select .

Add a rubric to an existing assignment

• Create rubric
• Reuse rubric
• Import from Sheets

See an assignment’s rubric

Tip: If you don't see a rubric, your teacher hasn't added one to the assignment yet.

Export a rubric to share it:

Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  [email protected] or [email protected] .  Learn more .

• At the bottom of the assignment, click the rubric.

• To share your entire folder, right-click the Rubrics Exports folder.
• Select Share and enter the teacher's name or email address.
• Click Send .

Import a shared rubric:

• (Optional) Make any edits to the rubric.
• Click Save . Note: If the rubric doesn't save, export and import it again. Edits made to the Sheets file could cause the import to fail.

Edit or delete a rubric

Edit an assignment’s rubric.

Before you start grading:

• You can edit and delete an assignment's rubric.
• You can't "lock" the rubric so that it isn't editable.

If you edit a rubric, the changes apply only to the assignment you're in. After you start grading, you can't edit or delete the assignment's rubric.

Delete an assignment’s rubric

This option isn’t available after you start grading with the rubric.

• To confirm, click  Delete .

Related topics

• Grade with a rubric
• View or update your gradebook
• Open your Google Drive folder as a teacher
• Share files from Google Drive
• Share folders in Google Drive

Was this helpful?

Need more help, try these next steps:.

• Create a Rubric

Tips to Writing a Strong Rubric

Many teachers shy away from rubrics because they are time-consuming to compose. This is true, rubrics CAN take a while to make, but rubrics will save time on the grading end. Quick Rubric makes it easy to set up your rubrics.

Many rubrics can be used again for similar assignments or can serve as templates for new rubrics. Developing rubrics for assignments and assessments helps focus teaching and learning on the most important aspects of content and skills.

To help you write the best rubrics, here are a few tips to get you started.

Decide what you want to grade for this assignment or activity

Before jumping into creating a rubric, think carefully about the performance objectives of the assignment. Keep these objectives specific and clear.

List the most relevant objectives of the assignment. There are likely many aims you have for the assignment (presentation, correctness, organization, vocabulary, etc.), but make sure you are using the criteria that relate to the assignment. What are you trying to assess with THIS assignment? You may want students’ work to be neat, or follow a certain format, but do they need to be graded on it? (Sometimes: yes!)

Choose three to seven criteria that satisfy the objectives. More than seven criteria can be overwhelming for students and teachers alike. Criteria need to be measurable: there needs to be evidence of whether or not students have achieved them. “Understanding” or “knowing” is not easily measured, but what students DO to show their understanding or knowledge can be. Sometimes one criterion will satisfy a Common Core standard, and sometimes there will be several criteria on a rubric that all satisfy the same standard.

Criteria vary greatly on the subject matter and scope of the assignment, but here is a short list of ideas to help.

Decide on a Type of Rubric: Analytical or Holistic?

There are two main types of rubrics: analytical and holistic.

For many of us, we think of analytic rubrics when we hear the word “rubric.” Analytic rubrics list the criteria for an assignment and describe these criteria in varying levels of quality. Most often an analytic rubric is in a grid or table format. The criteria are listed along one side and the performance ratings along the adjacent side. In the example below, the criteria are “Factual Information,” “Use of a Visual,” and “Speaking for a Presentation.”

Different students will perform at varying levels, so it is important to have a range of possibilities for grading, and not simply yes or no, or good or bad. The performance ratings can be either numerical, descriptive, or both. A rubric might divide quality of performance into three parts: 3 - Excellent, 2 - Satisfactory, and 1 - Needs Work. Each criterion needs to be described for each of these performance ratings. What makes the use of a visual “satisfactory” versus “excellent”? The interior of the rubric matches the criteria with the performance ratings for the different shades of merit.

Holistic rubrics are slightly different from a rubric that is set up as an extended grid. A holistic rubric describes the attributes of each grade or level. This type of rubric gives an overall score, taking the entire piece into account, which is particularly useful for essay questions on paper and pencil tests. Most student work will likely fit into more than one category for different criteria. The scorer must choose the grade that best fits the student performance. A holistic rubric scores more quickly than an analytic, and often judges the overall understanding of content or quality of performance. They do not give as detailed feedback on what aspect of the work needs to be improved, so these types of rubrics are less useful for assignments with many components. Math problems for high stakes testing will often use a holistic rubric.

Analytic Rubric Example

Holistic rubric example, determine a reasonable number of performance levels.

Performance levels can be numerical, descriptive, or both. Numerical performance levels lend themselves to easy scoring, just add up the numbers, or let Quick Rubric do it for you! Sometimes, numerical grades do not matter as much, as in a self assessment. Descriptive ratings may be more informative for students to see how well they are performing, and not necessarily what final numerical grade they are receiving.

Three to five performance levels is usually best, but use what works for your assignment. More levels might make it difficult to parse out differences between each. Fewer ratings might not account for enough variance in the quality of the assignments; different quality of work may receive the same rating because there are not enough categories to separate them out. Do you want to have a very variable grading structure, such as 1-5, or are there only a few categories, like advanced, proficient, needs improvement?

Write Explicit Outcomes that Match each Criterion with each Performance Level

What makes for a good answer? Look at each criterion separately. First, write what would satisfy that criterion the best. Then fill in the cell that would get the worst score. After you have your two bookends, go back and fill in the middle. The best part of a rubric is that it shows all the different levels, but the difference between each level needs to be clear, like steps on a ladder, so it is evident why a student received the score he did.

• Use numbers where appropriate
• Use consistent leveling throughout; do not make big jumps between each box for one criterion, and then do incremental steps between others.
• Use descriptive adjectives to differentiate each level
• Include what the performance/product is missing in the middle levels

Finally, Make sure your rubric works. Are you using the correct criteria? Do the best assignments get the best grades? If you have previous student work on the same assignment, test your rubric on a few samples. If that isn’t an option, see how well your rubric stacks up against the student work you receive and revise for future assignments.

Good luck and good assessing!

University Center for Teaching and Learning

How to create and use rubrics for assessment in canvas.

• Quick Start
• Instructor Help
• Student Help

What is a Rubric?

Rubrics are used as grading criteria for students and can be added to assignments , quizzes, and graded discussions. If you are importing your rubrics from Blackboard, please note that the ratings will be flipped as Blackboard has rubrics criteria from lowest to highest points, left to right, whereas Canvas has rubrics criteria go from highest to lowest, left to right. Unfortunately there is no quick way to switch the criteria to go the other way, so you may need to edit the rubric manually to reflect the assessment accurately.

Notes: Rubrics cannot be edited once they have been added to more than one assignment. When you delete a rubric it will remove the rubric from all associated assignments in the course and delete any existing associated assessments.

How to Create a Rubric

1) Click on Rubrics in your Course Navigation Menu.

2) To add a rubric, click Add Rubric . To edit an existing rubric, click on it as it appears under Course Rubrics.

• Title – can be anything, but should usually be something associated with the assignment so you can easily find it later.
• Criteria – Criteria are the things that you will be determining your students’ grades on. For example, if the rubric were for an art project, criteria could include creativity, use of art materials, or relevancy to the prompt.

• Points – Rubric ratings default to 5 points. To adjust the total point value, enter the number of points in the Points field. The first rating (full marks) updates to the new total point value and the rest of the ratings adjust appropriately.
• +Criterion – Adds another criterium
• Find Outcome – Allows you to use a rubric that you have created before. If you want to use the criterion for scoring, click on the checkbox next to Use this criterion for scoring. If the checkbox is not selected, the point value will not be factored into the rubric and will not be displayed after the rubric is updated. Click the Import button and then click the OK button in the popup window to confirm.

4) Click Create Rubric .

How to Add a Rubric to an Assignment, Quizzes, and Discussion Boards

For the sake of this guide, the screenshots shown are using Assignments as the example. Please note that after Step 2, the process is the same for adding a rubric to assignments, quizzes, and discussions.

1) Click on Assignments, Quizzes, or Discussions in your Course menu.

2) Click on the name of the assignment, quiz, or discussion board to open it.

3) Click the Add Rubric button if adding to Assignments (left).

4) To choose an existing rubric, click on Find a Rubric .

In the first column, select the course or account. In the second column, locate and click the name of the rubric.

5) Click on Use This Rubric button.

6) To edit the rubric, click the pencil icon. To find a new rubric, click the magnifying glass icon. To remove the rubric from the current assignment, click the trash can icon.

Creating a New Rubric:

This is very similar to creating a rubric from scratch, however when attaching it to an assessment there are more options available.

• I’ll write free-form comments – If this option is selected, no ratings are used to assess the student and criterion values are assigned manually.
• Remove points from rubric – If this option is selected, no points are associated with the rubric, but students can still be rated using the rubric criterion.
• Don’t post Outcomes results – students will be able to see rubric and outcome results in the Grades and submission details pages, but results will not be posted to the Learning Mastery Gradebook.
• Use this rubric for assignment grading – if this option is selected, you can use the rubric for grading in SpeedGrader. ONLY appears for assignments and discussion boards – NOT quizzes.
• Hide score total for assessment results – students can still see the point values for each criterion, but the total score will not be shown at the bottom of the rubric. This option is only available if the rubric is not used for grading.

*Note: You can only reach these options if you create the assessment first and then add the rubric after.

Rubrics Help for Instructors

• How do I align an outcome with a rubric in a course?
• How do I add a rubric in a course?
• How do I add a rubric to a quiz?
• How do I manage rubrics in a course?
• How do I add a rubric to a graded discussion?
• How do I add a rubric to an assignment?

Rubrics Help for Students

• How do I view the rubric for a quiz?
• How do I view the rubric for my assignment?
• How do I view the rubric for my external tool assignment?
• How do I view rubric results for my assignment?
• How do I view the rubric for my graded discussion?
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Using Rubrics to Assess Learning

The assessments students complete in your courses (e.g., projects, papers, presentations, performances, exams) provide a way for students to demonstrate how well they have achieved the student learning outcomes . Designing rubrics that clearly convey your assessment criteria to students will help them understand how you will be grading their work and provide them with meaningful feedback they can use to self-assess their strengths and areas for improvement. This resource offers guidance for understanding, creating, and using rubrics effectively.

What is a rubric?

Rubrics are guidelines, criteria, or expectations used to assess student work and provide feedback. Most people think of rubrics as a tool that lays out the criteria to evaluate (grade) written student work after it is submitted or presented. However, rubrics can also be used to provide feedback on other demonstrations of learning like class participation or contributions to a specific discussion.

Rubrics support student learning by providing a structured and consistent way to assess student work, promoting transparency and fairness in assessment.

How do I create a rubric?

Components of a rubric.

Rubrics typically contain several components, which may include:

• Criteria: These are the specific aspects or dimensions of the task or performance that you’re assessing (e.g., content, organization, clarity, argumentation, use of sources). Criteria should be clear, specific, and relevant to the learning outcomes or purpose of the assignment.
• Performance Levels & Scoring Scale: Each criterion is typically broken into different levels of performance, ranging from exceeds expectations to does not meet expectations . The scoring scale corresponds with the levels of performance and can be numerical (e.g., 1-4) or descriptive (e.g., excellent, good, fair, poor).
• Descriptors: Each criterion is accompanied by a description or a set of descriptors that outline the different levels of performance.
• Weighting: In some cases, criteria may be weighted differently to reflect their relative importance.
• Feedback Space: Rubrics may include space for providing written feedback or comments on each criterion or overall performance. This feedback helps students understand their personal strengths and areas for improvement.
• Overall Score: Rubrics typically provide a mechanism for calculating an overall score based on the scores assigned to each criterion. The score can be used to summarize the students’ performance on task. Students can also use the rubric to score themselves and self-assess their performance before submitting an assignment.

Different Types of Rubrics

Checklist rubric.

The simplest type of rubric is a checklist rubric, which is a list of criteria and descriptors with only two performance levels possible (e.g., yes/no, present/not present, meets/does not meet). These types of rubrics can include written feedback for each criterion. One benefit is that they are quicker to use; however, they only assess for proficiency or completion in a binary way.

Checklist rubrics are great for smaller assignments or formative assessments, such as an online discussion board post, an in-class reflection, or drafts of an upcoming larger project.

Example: Online Discussion Checklist Rubric

Single-Point Rubric

The single-point rubric is similar to the checklist rubric, in that there is one single column of criteria; however, it makes space for written feedback for each criterion. Like the checklist, single-point rubrics are quicker to create and easy for students to read since the only descriptors are the target expectations. Another benefit is that they allow for higher-quality, more individualized feedback because teachers specify areas of growth and strengths for that particular student.

Single-point rubrics are very useful to provide formative feedback and support students’ growth. Thus, you could use the rubric without assigning any points, or you could assign points for completion but use the rubric to provide feedback that the student can apply to future work.

Example: Online Discussion Single-Point Rubric

Holistic Rubric

Another simple type of rubric is a holistic rubric, which consists of a single scoring scale where all criteria are considered together. For each level of performance, there is a detailed description that allows for an overall assessment. Thus, the students’ performance is matched to a single description on the scale. However, the feedback is more general than specific, and it may be difficult to determine which level of performance is most fitting.

Like checklists, holistic rubrics are useful for smaller assignments and formative assessments or behaviors like in-class participation. They can even be used for learning activities that are not formally graded by providing a summary of expectations.

Example: In-Class Participation Holistic Rubric

Analytic Rubric

The analytic rubric is what people typically imagine when thinking of a rubric. It resembles a grid or a table with the criteria listed in the leftmost column and the levels of performance listed across the top row. When scoring with an analytic rubric, each criterion is scored individually.

Analytic rubrics provide the most detailed and useful feedback on areas of strengths and weaknesses. They tend to provide more consistent grading. The one drawback is that they may take longer to create.

Example: Reflection Journal Analytic Rubric

Steps to Create a Rubric

• Determine the purpose of the assessment. Identify what is most important for students to demonstrate with the assignment based on the course learning outcomes and how the assignment aligns with those outcomes.
• Decide what type of rubric is most relevant. Based on the descriptions of checklist, holistic, and analytic above, determine which is best fit for the assessment.
• Identify criteria and performance levels. Determine the specific aspects that you are assessing and, if you are creating a holistic or analytic rubric, a scale of performance for those criteria.
• Write clear descriptions for each level of performance. If you are creating an analytic rubric, be sure to use parallel language between the different levels of performance for each criterion so that the distinctions between them are clear. For instance, if full marks for “background information” in a research report is, “The brief overview of the concept provides accurate and thorough connections to course concepts and cites at least 3 peer-reviewed sources,” then the next level down might be, “The brief overview of the concept provides some connections to course concepts and cites at least 1 peer-reviewed source,” and the lowest level might be, “The overview of the concept does not include connections to course concepts or any peer-reviewed sources.”
• Determine relative weight of each criterion. Consider if certain criteria are more important than others and should be worth a larger percentage of the grade. For instance, for a research project, evidence and analysis might be more important than organization and presentation of the information.
• Consider the format and layout of the rubric. We recommend inputting the rubric into Canvas so that it is accessible for students to review in conjunction with the assignment and so that students will have access to the rubric-based feedback.
• Test and revise the rubric. Before deploying to assess student work, test your rubric on a hypothetical or actual example of student work to ensure it works in the way you intended.

Using Rubrics in an Equitable Way

Rubrics are very beneficial for learning if implemented in an equitable way. Here are some additional considerations to help ensure fairness and consistency in assessing diversity in student performance.

• Use rubrics consistently and fairly. If working with teaching assistants or using the same rubric across instructors, practice applying the rubric together.
• Keep rubrics clear, concise, and aligned with learning outcomes.
• Review and revise rubrics periodically to ensure relevance and accuracy.
• Communicate rubric expectations to students. Go through the rubric when introducing the assignment. You could even look at an example together and have students practice using the rubric to assess that example. Ask students if they have any clarifying questions about the rubric or potential changes.
• Provide written comments as feedback in addition to ranking student work based on rubric criteria.
• Encourage self-assessment and reflection using rubrics. You could also ask students to peer review each other’s work using the rubric.

Additional Examples of Rubrics

We highly recommend you draw upon existing examples when creating a rubric. The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has developed Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) rubrics for 16 broad, cross-cutting learning outcomes, including ethical reasoning, global learning, intercultural knowledge and competence, and teamwork.

The EMRN rubric is a four-level rubric framework that uses a simple flowchart to categorize student work/learning into one of four categories: Excellent, Meets expectations, Revision needed, and Not assessable. You might use EMRN as your levels of performance for a holistic or analytical rubric.

Generative AI can also help you to create a rubric. For instance, when prompted with, “Create a rubric for an undergraduate research project,” and, “Create a rubric for an undergraduate research presentation,” ChatGPT provided a list of criteria with detailed descriptions for the highest level of performance. You could present this rubric as a checklist rubric or use this information as a start to build a full analytical rubric.

Example: ChatGPT Rubric for Undergraduate Research Project

• Clear articulation of research question(s) and objectives.
• Relevance of the research question to the field of study.
• Alignment between research question(s) and objectives.
• Comprehensive review of relevant literature.
• Critical analysis and synthesis of existing research.
• Identification of gaps or areas for further investigation.
• Clarity and appropriateness of research design.
• Rigor in data collection methods.
• Justification for chosen methodology and data analysis techniques.
• Presentation of empirical evidence or findings.
• Depth of analysis and interpretation of results.
• Use of appropriate statistical or analytical tools.
• Coherent discussion of findings in relation to research question(s).
• Consideration of implications and significance of results.
• Reflection on limitations and potential areas for future research.
• Structure and organization of the research project.
• Clarity and coherence of writing style.
• Use of appropriate citations and references.
• Originality and creativity in approach or perspective.
• Innovative solutions to research problems.
• Contribution to advancing knowledge in the field.
• Adherence to ethical guidelines in research conduct.
• Professionalism in communication and collaboration.
• Proper acknowledgment of sources and contributions.
• Overall impact of the research project.
• Contribution to the field of study.
• Potential for dissemination or further development.

Each criterion can be scored on a scale (e.g., 1-5) with corresponding descriptors to provide detailed feedback to students on their research projects.

Example: ChatGPT Rubric for Undergraduate Research Presentation

• Clarity and coherence of presentation structure.
• Clear articulation of research question(s), objectives, and significance.
• Logical flow of ideas and transitions between sections.
• Engaging introduction that captures the audience’s attention.
• Clear statement of the research problem and objectives.
• Background information provided to contextualize the research.
• Description of research design and methodology.
• Explanation of data collection procedures.
• Justification for chosen methodology and techniques.
• Clear presentation of research findings.
• Use of appropriate visual aids (e.g., graphs, charts) to illustrate data.
• Interpretation of results and connections to research objectives.
• Interpretation of findings in relation to research question(s).
• Consideration of limitations and potential sources of error.
• Exploration of implications and significance of results.
• Summary of key findings and their implications.
• Restatement of research objectives and contributions.
• Suggestions for future research directions.
• Confidence and clarity in oral delivery.
• Eye contact and engagement with the audience.
• Use of appropriate vocal tone and gestures to enhance communication.
• Clarity and effectiveness of visual aids.
• Consistency in design and formatting.
• Integration of visual aids to support key points.
• Adherence to allocated presentation time.
• Ability to cover key points within the time limit.
• Effective use of time for each section of the presentation.
• Ability to respond to audience questions or comments.
• Engagement with audience feedback and discussion.
• Demonstration of knowledge and expertise during Q&A session.

Each criterion can be scored on a scale (e.g., 1-5) with corresponding descriptors to provide comprehensive feedback to students on their research presentations.

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How to Add a Line in Word [For Teachers]

Do you find yourself to be in a constant state of frustration as a teacher, especially when you are required to create multiple-choice questions and fill-in-the-blank exercises? It's a common annoyance for teachers at all levels and across various subjects. Creating clear and properly formatted questions takes time and precision, ensuring students can easily comprehend them. As a writer, I understand the intricacies that go into creating a perfect document by getting the lengths and placement just right. So in this article, I'll show you how to add lines in your Word documents as a teacher, making quiz preparation easier and more efficient.

How Teachers Can Use the Techniques of Adding a Line in Word

I completely empathize with teachers when I say that teachers have a lot on their plate, and finding a simple, cost-effective way to add lines to documents can make a world of difference. Instead of investing in expensive tools for a single task, WPS Office offers a free, versatile solution. This software works seamlessly across mobile, Windows, and Mac, letting you add lines, format documents, and even convert them to PDF without losing any formatting. If you're a teacher looking to reduce stress and increase efficiency, WPS Office is the tool you need.

1.Essay Outline Assignments

Teachers can help students who are just starting out by teaching them how to write an essay effectively. They can offer guidance on choosing topics, structuring their essays, and providing examples of good essays for inspiration. By giving clear instructions and breaking down the essay-writing process into manageable steps, teachers can build their students' confidence and encourage them to develop their own writing styles.

2.Worksheet

Worksheets come in all types, and whether it's for English or Math, it's crucial to provide students with structured spaces to write. Without clear guidelines, students might not know how much to write or where to start. By including lines or designated areas for writing, you can help guide students, making the learning process clearer and more effective.

3.Filling in Sentences

Filling in sentence sheets can help students learn sentence structure and improve their writing skills. By providing lines, students have a clear visual guide, indicating where to write and how much space they have. This structure not only promotes neatness but also helps students practice writing within a defined boundary, aiding in better sentence formation and improved legibility.

Basic Steps to Add Lines in Word

As a writer, I know how important it is to have user-friendly tools. For teachers juggling many tasks, finding an easy way to add lines to documents without extra costs can be a lifesaver. WPS Office, a free software compatible with mobile, Windows, and Mac, offers just that. It simplifies tasks like adding lines and even converts assignments to PDF without messing up the formatting. If you're looking for a convenient solution to streamline your workload, this is it.

Method 1: Add a Line in Word Using Design Option

As a teacher, creating tests, worksheets, or homework can be stressful. It involves crafting new questions while ensuring that the difficulty level matches and proper assessment is conducted. Frustration sets in when students write their answers all over the document because there are no clear sections. Therefore, it's important to learn how to add or insert lines in Word in your assessments, so that your hard work in designing them isn't wasted. Let's get to the steps right away on how we can insert horizontal lines in our assessments using WPS Writer.

Step 1 : Let's start by opening WPS Office on our computer and then opening the test or worksheet we want to edit.

Step 2 : Now that we have our worksheet open, which lacks visible sections, let's enhance its appearance by adding a horizontal line.

Step 3 : To insert a horizontal line, go to the Home tab and click on the "Outside Borders" icon in the ribbon.

Step 4 : From the drop-down menu for Outside Borders, choose the "Inside Horizontal Border" option.

Step 5 : Finally, simply press "Enter" to move to the next line, and a horizontal line will be inserted to divide sections in your worksheet.

Method 2: Add a Line in Word by Drawing

If you are still struggling on how to make a line in Word, consider opting for this method on adding a line by drawing. It’s one of the easiest methods out there and with WPS Office it is even more intuitive as the interface is relatively easier to figure out.

Step 1 : Alright, let's open the assessment where we want to add lines in WPS Writer.

Step 2 : To add a line, go to the "Insert" tab and click on the "Shapes" button to see various shapes available.

Step 3 : Now, from the shapes drop-down menu, WPS Writer offers different types of lines. We'll select the first option, which is a straight line.

Step 4 : Then, on your document, use the mouse to draw the line where it's needed.

Step 5 : After that, teachers can adjust the line's width, color, or style using the options in the "Drawing Tools" tab.

Method 3: Shortcuts for Adding a Line

The way you do how to draw a line in Word is very similar to how you do it on WPS Writer as well. The shortcut technique is really easy and is practically the least time-consuming two-step solution to achieving lines of any kind.

To add lines, type the following characters on WPS Writer and then press Enter to execute the shortcut:

Type three hyphens (—), to create a plain single line

Type three equal signs (===), to create a plain double line

Type three asterisks (***), to create a dotted line

Type three underlines (___), to create a bold single line

Type three tildes (~~~), to create a wavy line

Type three number signs or hashtags (###), to create a triple line

As a writer, I get how much easier life is when you have the right tools, and WPS Office's Design option is perfect for adding lines to documents. This feature is a lifesaver for teachers who need to multitask and create engaging worksheets. It takes the stress out of formatting so you can focus on the content, not on fiddling with the layout.

When I'm writing, I often need to add lines or borders to my documents, and that's where WPS Office shines. For teachers, this means creating worksheets that are visually appealing without spending hours trying to get it right. The drawing feature is fantastic for custom line creation, which is super useful when you're working with younger students. I can adjust line lengths to suit my needs, which is great for creating interactive activities or fill-in-the-blank exercises.

The keyboard shortcuts are another great aspect of WPS Office. Instead of clicking through endless menus, I can add lines with just a few keystrokes. This makes it so much easier to create educational content efficiently. If you're a teacher looking to streamline your workflow, WPS Office is definitely worth a try. It frees you up to focus on teaching and helping students, instead of getting bogged down in formatting headaches.

Optimizing Homework/Test Designing with WPS Office

WPS Office provides plenty of features that ultimately help teachers by automating the tedious part of their job, so they focus more on providing valuable feedback to their students, encouraging them to perform better. Here's an overview of some key functionalities and how they can benefit educators:

Template Usage for Consistent Feedback Formats

Templates are such a savior for you to be able to create consistent formats across multiple assignments or projects. WPS Office offers a variety of templates that can be used to create uniform feedback forms, rubrics, or grading sheets. By using a consistent template, teachers can ensure that their feedback follows the same structure, making it easier for students to understand and for teachers to maintain a standardized approach across different assignments.

Collaboration Tools for Shared Designing

Collaboration is crucial in education, especially when teachers need to work together on designing materials or grading assignments. WPS Office's collaboration tools allow teachers and teaching assistants to work on the same document simultaneously, providing a seamless way to share ideas, design quizzes, and provide feedback. This feature can save time and foster a more collaborative environment among educators.

Drawing Tools for Non-Text Elements

Sometimes, words aren't enough to convey feedback effectively, especially when you're grading assignments that involve diagrams, graphs, or visual elements. WPS Office's drawing tools allow teachers to add non-text elements like check marks , symbols, or shapes to their documents. These tools can help speed up the correction process by allowing teachers to quickly mark errors or highlight important points without relying solely on text.

WPS AI for Grammar Checks

WPS Office's AI capabilities extend to checking for grammatical errors in assignments. Teachers can use WPS AI to scan their designs for grammar and syntax issues, ensuring that their feedback is clear and error-free. This feature can be especially helpful when preparing materials for a broader audience or when English isn't the first language of the teacher or students.

FAQs About How to Add a Line in Word for Teachers

1. what should i do if lines in the document shift when i add text or feedback.

To prevent lines from shifting when adding text or feedback in Word 2010, follow these steps:

Step 1 : Click the "Insert" option located on the status bar to switch to Overtype mode.

Step 2 : Press “Ctrl+U” to activate Underline formatting for the text you're typing into the underlined area.

While these actions can help maintain line alignment, it's worth noting that the underlined text may not always precisely match the original line, depending on how the lines were initially created.

2. Is it possible to use different colored lines for different types of feedback? How can this help?

Yes, it is possible to utilize color coding, including highlighting with different colored lines, for various types of feedback in a Word document. This method of color coding aids in visually separating and categorizing feedback, including corrections, suggestions, or praise. By assigning specific colors to each type of feedback, recipients can swiftly identify and understand the nature of the feedback provided. This visual distinction through color-coding enhances clarity and effectiveness in the feedback process, making it more engaging and easier to comprehend.

3. How can adding lines in Word benefit teachers?

Adding lines in Word offers teachers a versatile tool for designing various educational materials. For instance, they can create structured homework assignments, interactive writing exercises, and well-organized test papers. By utilizing lines effectively, teachers ensure that their materials are visually appealing, easy to navigate, and conducive to effective learning experiences for students.

WPS Office for Teachers: Manage Workload, Streamline Tasks, and Boost Efficiency

Teachers already carry a tremendous responsibility in guiding students and shaping their futures. WPS Office is an invaluable tool that can act as a virtual assistant, helping teachers manage many of the tedious tasks that come with the job. Whether it's creating quizzes, preparing presentations, or organizing course materials, WPS Office simplifies the process, allowing teachers to focus more on teaching and less on administrative work. If you're a teacher looking to reduce stress and increase efficiency, WPS Office is a must-have. Download WPS Office today and experience how it can ease your workload and streamline your daily teaching tasks.

• 1. How to add line numbers in WPS Writer
• 2. How to Add a Line in Word [For Students]
• 3. How to add a line in excel cell on Mac
• 4. How to add line numbers in Word 2022 easily
• 5. How to Create a Fillable Form in Word [For Teachers]
• 6. 10 Professional Teaching Presentation Examples for Teachers Teach with Ease and Style!

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How to Manage a Cross-Functional Team

• David Burkus

Start by getting clear on how you’ll communicate.

Cross-functional teams — those with people from different departments who have varied expertise — are becoming more common, as is the rise of project-based work arrangements.  Early in your career, you may even find that your first “real” leadership role is managing a newly formed, cross-functional team for a specific and short-term project. There are a few key actions new leaders can take to get their team off to a great start.

• Establish goals and roles. Each member has different knowledge, skills, abilities, and past experiences. As the team leader, it’s important to establish the scope of the project quickly, deliberate on the tasks required, and facilitate a discussion around who on the team would be best suited for different tasks. Resist the urge to assign tasks to whomever volunteers first, instead think who fits the task best.
• Set communication norms. Just as your team members will bring different knowledge, skills, and abilities, they’ll also bring their own unique work and communication preferences. Take some time during the initial project kickoff to discuss those work and communication preferences. Failure to establish collaboration norms tells teammates they can work and communicate however they want, making it more likely for messages to get missed.
• Build safety and candor. To generate ideas and solve problems, we need to lower inhibitions and create a culture where each member can be more honest and less guarded. To encourage this openness, new leaders often call for candor in meetings, but doing so before building psychological safety is a mistake. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to establish that level of safety. You can do this by signaling your own openness to feedback or expressing doubt in your own ideas.
• Celebrate milestones and small wins. Milestones don’t just track progress; they serve as an early warning signal that a pivot might need to be made. These milestones will also give the team early wins to celebrate and help them feel a sense of accomplishment. Celebrating small wins can boost morale and foster a sense of collective appreciation

A couple years into your career, you’ll find a few different opportunities to step up and practice your leadership skills. Sometimes it will be preparing and running a team meeting. Other times it may be volunteering for a new task the team requires.

• David Burkus is an organizational psychologist and best-selling author of five books, including Best Team Ever . For more information, visit his website .

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Man or bear? Hypothetical question sparks conversation about women's safety

Women explain why they would feel safer encountering a bear in the forest than a man they didn't know. the hypothetical has sparked a broader discussion about why women fear men..

If you were alone in the woods, would you rather encounter a bear or a man? Answers to that hypothetical question have sparked a debate about why the vast majority say they would feel more comfortable choosing a bear.

The topic has been hotly discussed for weeks as men and women chimed in with their thoughts all over social media.

Screenshot HQ , a TikTok account, started the conversation, asking a group of women whether they would rather run into a man they didn't know or a bear in the forest. Out of the seven women interviewed for the piece, only one picked a man.

"Bear. Man is scary," one of the women responds.

A number of women echoed the responses given in the original video, writing in the comments that they, too, would pick a bear over a man. The hypothetical has people split, with some expressing their sadness over the state of the world and others cracking jokes. Some men were flabbergasted.

Here's what we know.

A bear is the safer choice, no doubt about it, many say

There were a lot of responses, more than 65,000, under the original post. Many wrote that they understood why the women would choose a bear.

"No one’s gonna ask me if I led the bear on or give me a pamphlet on bear attack prevention tips," @celestiallystunning wrote.

@Brennduhh wrote: "When I die leave my body in the woods, the wolves will be gentler than any man."

"I know a bear's intentions," another woman wrote. "I don't know a man's intentions. no matter how nice they are."

Other TikTok users took it one step further, posing the hypothetical question to loved ones. Meredith Steele, who goes by @babiesofsteele , asked her husband last week whether he would rather have their daughter encounter a bear or a man in the woods. Her husband said he "didn't like either option" but said he was leaning toward the bear.

"Maybe it's a friendly bear," he says.

Diana, another TikTok user , asked her sister-in-law what she would choose and was left speechless.

"I asked her the question, you know, just for giggles. She was like, 'You know, I would rather it be a bear because if the bear attacks me, and I make it out of the woods, everybody’s gonna believe me and have sympathy for me," she said. "But if a man attacks me and I make it out, I’m gonna spend my whole life trying to get people to believe me and have sympathy for me.'"

Bear vs. man debate stirs the pot, woman and some men at odds

The hypothetical has caused some tension, with some women arguing that men will never truly understand what it's like to be a woman or the inherent dangers at play.

Social media users answered this question for themselves, producing memes, spoken word poetry and skits in the days and weeks since.

So, what would you choose?

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Nationals Designate Hurler For Assignment After Spending First Nine Seasons In Boston

Scott neville | may 7, 2024.

• Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have made some notable changes to the pitching staff since chief baseball officer Craig Breslow took the reigns of baseball operations over the offseason.

The majority of those changes came to the bullpen, including the additions of Chase Anderson, Isaiah Campbell, Cooper Criswell, -- who has since moved into more of a spot starter role -- Liam Hendriks (injured), Justin Slaten, Naoyuki Uwasawa, Greg Weissert as well as some depth outside the 40-man roster.

Breslow's predecessor made similarly drastic changes over his last couple of years, leaving former staples of the Red Sox's pitching staff scattered across Major League Baseball. One of the more notable departures was right-hander Matt Barnes, who was traded to the Miami Marlins for Richard Bleier two offseasons ago.

Barnes has since joined the Washington Nationals, intending to get his career back on track. Unfortunately, the right-hander received some bad news on Tuesday.

"The Nationals have returned left-handed pitcher Robert Garcia from rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 15-day injured list," the team announced. "The Nationals have designated right-handed pitcher Matt Barnes for assignment."

Barnes posted a 6.75 ERA with a 10-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .291 batting average against and a 1.50 WHIP in 13 1/3 innings for Washington.

The 33-year-old's peak average fastball velocity came in 2016 when he settled in at 97.4 mph that season. He's currently averaging 91.4 mph, well below his last season in Boston -- 95 mph in 2022.

Bloom was said to have been concerned with Barnes' 2022 underlying analytics before dealing him and has been proven right since.

The veteran hurler's 429 appearances with the Red Sox are the third-most in team history, trailing only Bob Stanley and Tim Wakefield -- posting a 4.07 ERA (112 ERA+) in that span.

More MLB: Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Looking For Another Opportunity Around Trade Deadline

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: [email protected]

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