How do I Create a Grading Rubric?

Grading Rubrics are easy to create and often there are plenty of templated tools to help you.  You must identify:

• The type of rubric. Do you want to group the headings (holistic) or just list the criteria separately (analytic)?
• The rubric’s criteria. These are the aspects of performance to be assessed.  These will define the rows and the descriptors (cells) in each.
• The performance levels: that will rate the students’ level of mastery (the columns).
• Describe each level of mastery for each descriptor (the cells)

Once you have these, you are ready to make a rubric.  There are plenty of free online tools that can assist you such as:  Rubric maker or Rubistar.

There are even grading rubric tools in Learning Management Systems, such as Blackboard.  These are easy to use and sync to the grade center.

What are the Best Practices when Creating a Grading Rubric?

There are a few things to keep in mind when making your rubrics. Be sure to:

• Keep your language consistent
• Use language that is accessible to the students.
• Keeping it simple. Not having a plethora of columns helps students focus on the criteria.
• Choose an even number on the mastery scale and keep is small (such as 4).  When there is an odd number, instructors gravitate to the middle.
• Focus your descriptions on the presence of the quantity and quality that you expect. This is more positive.
• Share your rubric with the students in advance to clarify what is expected
• While the rubric may seem rigid, be sure to accommodate and promote creativity.  Grading rubrics should not hamstring the creative process required by such assessments as art projects.

 Remember, your rubric should look to Blooms taxonomy to promote high levels of learning in students. Luckily there are online tools that can help such as the Differentiator: (http://byrdseed.com/differentiator/)

Finally, test your rubric.  This helps to ‘calibrate’ the rubric to ensure that it accomplishes what you want as an instructor.

There are a lot of resources available to help.  Be sure to check our collection of resources for more information on how to create an effective grading rubric:  https://www.diigo.com/outliner/fkra8t/Grading-Rubrics?key=31rk9x6l4y