Review your assignment. Determine what standards you are assessing and how the students will prove their mastery of the standards. For instance, if your assessment is a persuasive essay, you might grade them on their use of persuasive techniques, the quality of their research, the organization of their essays and their use of correct grammar and mechanics.
Determine what qualities unrelated to the standards would set an exemplary project apart from an average one. For instance, if you are having your students create a map or a collage, you would be well within your rights to grade on neatness even though neatness has nothing to do with their knowledge of the content area.
Write down the qualities of an exemplary paper based on the criteria you have determined. For instance, for the persuasive essay, you might write, "Has a clear point of view," "Uses at least three arguments," "Supports each argument with at least three facts," "Follows a clear and logical organizational pattern" and "Makes no more than two grammatical errors."
Rank your criteria from most to least important. The more important criteria will be worth more points than the less important criteria. In general, you should give more weight to the criteria that relate to the standards rather than criteria such as neatness, effort or grammar. It's fine if multiple criteria are equally important.
Assign each of your criteria a point value based on importance, with more important criteria earning more points. Your total number of points should add up to 100 unless you want your assessment to be worth more or fewer points.
Type your qualities for an exemplary assessment into a list. This list should only take up the left half of the paper. If a long descriptor crosses over into the right half, press "Enter" and continue typing on the next line.
Click on the end of the first line of your first criteria. Press "Tab" until your cursor is on the right half of the page. Underscore five times, press the slash key, and type the number of points the criterion is worth. For instance, if a criterion is worth 15 points, you would type "_____/15."
Create the right-hand column for each of your criteria.
Distribute the rubric when you assign your assessment. Explain that these are the criteria you will use to grade your students' assessments and ask them to turn in the rubric with their assignment.
Grade the assessments by writing the number of points the student earns for each criterion on the blank before the slash. For instance, if a student earns 12 points out of 15 for supporting arguments with facts, you would write "12" on the blank after "Supports each argument with at least three facts."
Create a spreadsheet with seven columns and one more row than your number of criteria. Leave the upper left cell of the spreadsheet blank. In the other cells on the top row, type "4 -- Exemplary," "3 -- Good," "2 -- Acceptable," "1 -- Needs Work," "Weight" and "Points Earned."
Write your criteria as one- to four-word phrases in the left column, still leaving the top cell blank. For instance, if your assessment is a timeline of important historical events with explanations of why the events are important and illustrations of the events, you might write "Accuracy," "Importance," "Explanation," "Neatness" and "Grammar and Mechanics."
Write your description of an exemplary project for each criterion in the "4" column. For example, if you were creating a rubric for a timeline, you might write "Lists and correctly illustrates at least 10 events leading to the fall of the Roman Empire and puts them in the correct order" in the "4" column for "Accuracy."
Write your description of a good project, one that would earn a "B," in the "3" column. For example, if you were creating a rubric for a timeline, you might write, "Lists and illustrates at least 10 events leading to the fall of the Roman Empire and puts them in the correct order. Minor but unimportant inaccuracies in the illustrations" in the "3" column for "Accuracy."
Write your description of an acceptable project, one that would earn a "C," in the "2" column. For example, if you were creating a rubric for a timeline, you might write, "Lists and illustrates at least 8 events leading to the fall of the Roman Empire. No more than three events are in the wrong place. There may be up to three major inaccuracies in the illustrations" in the "2" column for "Accuracy."
Write your description of an unacceptable or failing project in the "1" column. For example, if you were creating a rubric for a timeline, you might write, "Lists and illustrates fewer than 8 events leading to the fall of the Roman Empire. More than three events are in the wrong place. There are more than three major inaccuracies in the illustrations" in the "1" column for "Accuracy."
Write descriptions for the remaining criteria in the same manner.
Determine a weight for each of your criteria. Without weight, each of your criteria will be worth four points. This will not only make less important criteria such as "neatness" worth as many points as more important criteria, but will also make your assignment worth a small number of points. The weight is the number that you will multiply by the student's score. For instance, if you give a weight of "5" to a criterion, you will multiply its scores by five; a project that earns a "4" for that criterion will earn 20 points, while a project that earns a "2" will earn 10 points.
Add up the weights of your criteria to determine the total number of points for your assessment. Your assessment will be worth the sum of the numbers in the "weight" column times four, so you will want the numbers to add up to 25 for a 100-point assignment. If you are not satisfied with the total number of points, adjust the weight. You may have to use decimal weights, such as "2.5," to make the math work.
Determine how you will grade a project that falls somewhere between two numbers. For instance, in the timeline example, if a student only lists eight events but their placement and illustrations are perfect, will you award it a "2" for having only eight events, a "4" for being accurate, or a "3" for falling in the middle?
Distribute the rubric when you assign your assessment. Explain that these are the criteria you will use to grade your students' assessments and ask them to turn in the rubric with their assignment.
Grade the students' assignments by putting a check mark in the column describing their project for each criterion. For instance, if the student earns a "4" for "Accuracy," check off the "4" in the "Accuracy" row; if the same student earns a "2" for "Explanation," you would check off the "2" in the "Explanation" row. Multiply each number by the weight in its row and write the product in "Points Earned." Add together the number in "Points Earned" to obtain the student's score.