Rubrics let you break a grade down into structured criteria, each with clear performance levels. Instead of assigning one overall score, you can rate each criterion separately and have the total score auto-calculate from your selections. This article covers how to build a rubric for an assignment.

Where Rubrics Are Managed

Rubrics are built and attached to assignments from the assignment edit screen. There is no separate Rubrics page; each assignment can have its own rubric, and rubrics are assignment-specific (not a shared library).

Building a Rubric

1. Navigate to Assignments > Assignments and open the assignment you want to add a rubric to.
2. Scroll to the Grading section.
3. Click Use rubric for grading.
4. Add Criteria — the skills or aspects you’re evaluating (e.g., “Thesis Statement”, “Evidence and Support”, “Grammar and Mechanics”). Each criterion has its own name, description, and maximum points.
5. For each criterion, add optional Performance Levels — the ratings a student can earn (e.g., Excellent, Proficient, Developing, Beginning). Each level has a label, a description, and a point value. If you disable Use performance levels, enter the maximum points for the criterion instead.
6. Click Save Rubric.

The assignment’s Maximum Points field locks to the rubric total and auto-calculates from the sum of each criterion’s maximum points.

Criteria

Each criterion represents a distinct thing you’re evaluating. Good criteria are specific enough that a student can understand what each level means. Keep each description short — a sentence or two is usually enough.

• Name: A short label (e.g., “Thesis Statement”)
• Description: A brief explanation of what this criterion measures
• Maximum Points: The most points this criterion can contribute to the total score

Performance Levels (optional)

Performance levels are the graded options for each criterion. Most rubrics use 3 to 5 levels. Each level has:

• Label: A short name (e.g., “Excellent”, “Proficient”, “Developing”, “Beginning”)
• Description: What this level of performance looks like for this criterion
• Points: The point value awarded for this level. Must be between 0 and the criterion’s maximum points.

A consistent set of level labels across all criteria makes the rubric easier for students and graders to read.

Duplicating a Rubric

To reuse a rubric on another assignment, duplicate the entire assignment. The copy includes the rubric, which you can then modify as needed. Because rubrics are assignment-specific, there is no shared template library.

Editing or Removing a Rubric

Open the assignment edit screen and make your changes in the rubric builder, then click Save Rubric. To remove a rubric entirely, click Remove Rubric on the assignment edit screen.

Important: Edits to a rubric do not affect submissions that have already been graded. Graded submissions keep the levels selected at the time they were graded, even if the rubric has since been modified.