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Creating and Using Rubrics

A guide on designing rubrics to assess student writing, presentations, and projects

At a Glance

  • Rubrics describe the criteria that will be used to evaluate a specific task, such as a writing assignment, presentation, or project.
  • The two major types of rubrics are holistic and analytic. The former provides a single score and is particularly useful when only one attribute is being evaluated, whereas the latter provides scores for several different criteria.
  • Instructors should define the purpose of the task, clear criteria for assessment, and rating scales to ensure that rubrics are valid, reliable, and fair.

What is a Rubric?

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 increase the reliability of scores. 

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).

Benefits

Types of Rubrics

Sample Rubrics

Recommendations

References

Benefits

When multiple individuals are grading, rubrics help improve the consistency of scoring across all graders. Instructors should ensure that the structure, presentation, consistency, and use of their rubrics pass rigorous standards of validity, reliability, and fairness (Andrade, 2005). Research suggests that students tend to utilize and appreciate rubrics (Reddy and Andrade, 2010).

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

Grading rubric table

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

 

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.

The type of rubric used may depend on the nature of the assignment, intended learning outcomes, the skills tested, whether the assessment is formative and summative, and the amount and kind of feedback students will receive. Instructors can read the above or consider “Additional Resources” for types of rubrics.

Instructors can review their learning goals, objectives and 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.

Instructors should ensure that rating scales are clear and review them in-class to field student questions and concerns. Instructors can consider if the scale will include descriptors or only be numerical, and might include prompts on the rubric for reaching higher achievement levels. Rubrics typically include 3-5 levels in their rating scales.

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.

The rubric can be tested before implementation by arranging for writing or testing conditions with several graders or Teaching Fellows who can use the rubric together. After grading with the rubric, graders might attempt to 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 students through anonymous surveys. Instructors should feel free to revise a rubric following a course, too, based on student performance and areas of confusion.

References and Resources

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.

  1. Brown University’s Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning has a digital resource on designing grading rubrics.
  2. North Carolina State University has a resource with rubric examples and templates.
  3. The Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation has a useful guide on creating and using rubrics.