Analytic Rubric Builder

Build an analytic rubric that evaluates student work across multiple criteria with distinct performance levels, giving students specific, actionable feedback on exactly what they did well and what to improve.

All SubjectsMiddle School (6–8)High School (9–12)

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When to use this template

  • Assessing complex tasks that have multiple distinct skill components
  • When you want to give students specific, actionable feedback on what to improve
  • Research papers, projects, presentations, science labs, and problem-based tasks
  • When multiple teachers will assess the same work and consistency is important
  • Any summative task where you want students to self-assess before submitting

Template sections

Describe the task this rubric will assess and the purpose of the assessment.

Task description:

Grade level and subject:

Learning standards addressed:

Is this formative or summative?

Will students see the rubric before completing the task?

Identify the 3–5 criteria you will evaluate. Each criterion should assess a distinct, observable skill.

Criterion 1 (name and brief description):

Criterion 2:

Criterion 3:

Criterion 4 (optional):

Criterion 5 (optional):

Weight of each criterion (if not equal):

Define your performance levels and what each represents in terms of mastery.

Level 4 (name): What does this represent? (e.g., "Exceeds standard")

Level 3 (name): (e.g., "Meets standard")

Level 2 (name): (e.g., "Approaching standard")

Level 1 (name): (e.g., "Beginning")

Point values for each level:

Write specific, observable descriptors for each criterion at each performance level.

Criterion 1:

Level 4: [what this looks like]

Level 3: [what this looks like]

Level 2: [what this looks like]

Level 1: [what this looks like]

Criterion 2:

(repeat)

...

Calculate the total score range and define cut scores for grades or performance categories.

Total possible score:

Cut scores for each grade or performance category:

How partial credit is handled:

How to handle work that falls between levels:

Rater calibration plan (if multiple raters):

The Flip Perspective

Rubrics work best when students can read them before the task and self-assess with them before submission. A rubric that is only used for grading is a missed learning opportunity. This builder helps you design criteria that are specific and observable, so students know exactly what "meeting the standard" looks like.

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Adapting this Template

For All Subjects

Apply Analytic Rubric by adapting the phase timings and prompts to fit All Subjects's unique content demands.

About the Analytic Rubric framework

An analytic rubric is the most versatile assessment tool in a teacher's kit. Unlike holistic rubrics that give a single overall rating, analytic rubrics evaluate each criterion separately, giving teachers detailed diagnostic data and giving students specific, actionable feedback.

When analytic rubrics work best: Analytic rubrics are most useful for complex, multi-component tasks: research papers, projects, presentations, science experiments, and math problem-solving. Any task where feedback on individual components is more useful than a single overall score.

Designing good criteria: The most common mistake in rubric design is creating criteria that overlap or that assess effort and attitude rather than skill and quality. Strong rubric criteria are: specific (what exactly is being assessed?), observable (what would a rater see in the work?), and skill-focused (not "student tried hard" but "student constructed a claim supported by three pieces of evidence").

Writing performance-level descriptors: Each performance level should describe what the work actually looks like at that level, not just say "excellent," "good," "fair," or "poor." A descriptor like "The claim is clearly stated and supported by three pieces of specific evidence from the text" is far more useful than "Claim and evidence are excellent."

Number of performance levels: Three to four levels is usually sufficient. Five levels create too much ambiguity between adjacent levels. The highest level should represent genuine mastery, not perfection: something a typical high-performing student can reach with effort.

Sharing rubrics with students: A rubric is most effective as a learning tool, not just an evaluation tool, when students see it before they begin the task. Students who use the rubric to self-assess their work before submission consistently produce better work than students who receive it only with their grade.

This rubric builder guides you through identifying the right criteria for your task, writing meaningful descriptors at each performance level, and creating scoring guidance that is consistent across raters.

Holistic Rubric

Design a holistic rubric that evaluates student work as a whole, giving a single overall rating based on a comprehensive description of quality at each level. Faster to score, ideal for lower-stakes work.

Single-Point Rubric

Build a single-point rubric that defines only the "meets standard" level, leaving space for teachers to document what exceeded and what fell short. Simple to create, easy for students to understand.

Self-Assessment Rubric

Design rubrics students use to assess their own work and learning, building metacognitive skills, encouraging honest reflection, and creating a genuine feedback loop between student self-perception and teacher assessment.

Backward Design

Backward Design (Understanding by Design) starts with the end in mind: you define what students should understand, then design assessments, and finally plan learning activities that build toward those goals.

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Frequently asked questions

Three to five criteria is the sweet spot for most tasks. Fewer than three may not capture the important dimensions of the task. More than five can make the rubric unwieldy for both the teacher grading and the student trying to use it.
Not necessarily. If some skills are more central to the learning goals than others, weight them accordingly. A writing rubric for an argument essay might weight "claim and evidence" more heavily than "conventions" if the primary focus is argumentation.
Anchor each descriptor in the actual work. Instead of "claim is strong," write "claim takes a clear position that addresses the prompt and can be supported with specific evidence from the text." The test is whether two independent raters would score the same work the same way using your descriptor.
Before the task begins, not after. Students who receive the rubric at the start of an assignment consistently produce better work than students who see it only on their returned assessment. The rubric should function as a goal-setting and self-assessment tool, not just a grading form.
Writing descriptors that describe effort and attitude ("student demonstrated clear understanding and worked hard") rather than observable qualities of the work ("the explanation includes at least three specific pieces of evidence and a reasoning sentence connecting each to the claim"). Grade the work, not the student.
Analytic rubrics break performance into distinct criteria with separate scores for each, making them ideal for active learning where multiple skills are in play at once. In a Flip mission (a debate, mock trial, or group investigation), students demonstrate content knowledge, collaboration, and communication simultaneously. An analytic rubric lets you score each dimension independently, giving clearer feedback than a single grade ever could.
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