Create your Rubric in 5 Simple Steps: Design made easy

When it comes to grading project-based assessments, rubrics are matchless. A rubric guarantees fairness in assessments, and also provide learners an opportunity to work with an expectation in mind.

There are two basic types of rubrics: Holistic and Analytic rubric.

Holistic rubric is a one-dimensional rubric that focuses on the performance criteria with a score assigned to each criterion.

For example:

Meanwhile, an analytic rubric is a a two-dimensional rubric that breaks down the performance criteria (skills) into different levels of performance. It is the most widely used rubric in most school systems. It can be divided into three parts:

1. Performce criteria (PC)
2. Performance level (PL)
3. Performance descriptors(PD)

The acronym PCLD can help you remember faster.

Steps to building a rubric

Let’s get started!

1. Define your goal

What knowledge or skill do you want your learners to acquire at the end of the project? For example: By the end of this project, learners should be able to count from 1-20.

2. Decide on the project-based activity to evaluate the learners.

You may choose from the list below.

3. Set the performance criteria

Once you have your overall objective in mind, break it down into different learning outcomes. This should include all the skills and knowledge you would want your learners to acquire. Make a list of skills or knowledge required to achieve your desired goal, group and label them.

For example:

Overall goal: Learners should be able to count from 1-20

Learning outcomes/ Skills

1. Order number in the correct sequence
2. Identify numbers
3. Relate numbers to quantities
4. Skip count

4. Decide on the performance level to use

You could decide to list the level of performance moving from a low level of achievment to a higher level of achievement, or do it otherwise. Some examples to describe perfromance levels include:

Master                       Apprentice              Beginner

Emerging                  developing              proficient

Proficient       Competent       Developing

Needs improvement        Developing       Average      Above average

Above expectation  Meets expectation  Approaching expectation  Below expectation 

Exemplary, Accomplished, Developing , Beginning, Underdeveloped

5. Insert the PC, PL and PD into your table

Using MS Word or Google Docs, create a table with columns and rows corresponding to the number of performance levels and criteria respectively.

Use specific and measurable words to fill in the performance levels based on the outlined performance criteria. For example:

Conclusion

It doesn’t take much time to make your own rubric. Although you can use an online template to build one, it’s better to generate your own rubric so as to asses the specific skills you want your learners to develop.

Start creating your own rubrics to assess learners.

Author: Jini, is a prolific author and founder of Teachersletters Publishing Services. As an award winning teacher with a Cambridge International School in Doaula, he has 13+ years of teaching experience in writing, student-centered learning, bible teachers training and educational leadership. He is consider as one of the best keynote speakers of his time.