What is an Analytic Rubric?

What is an analytic rubric? As teachers, we often ask ourselves – what is the best way to assess students?

In many cases, analytic rubrics are the most comprehensive way to assess students. While holistic rubrics and other informal assessments are great tools for smaller assignments,  when it comes to large projects – nothing beats an analytic rubric.

In this post, we are going to break down everything you need to know to answer other teachers when they ask: what is an analytic rubric?

What is an Analytic Rubric?

An analytic rubric is a style of assessment where the student is being assessed through individual criteria. That said, it’s best when these criteria work together.

For example, in an essay rubric, you might have four or five assessment criteria that are assessed independently. These independent criteria are then collectively tallied up at the end to create a comprehensive grade.

Analytic rubrics are very accurate and provide a detailed assessment that helps students to better understand their grades. 

Take for example our journal entry rubric. Here we have five different assessment criteria – each with its own weight and value for the task.

The five assessment criteria for our journal entry rubric are content and clarity, structure and organization, detail and voice, use of language and conventions, and word choice.

While on the surface it may seem like this is a lot for a simple journal entry, providing a rubric like this to students help them to better formulate ideas and understand how they are being assessed.

In fact, our case studies showed that students graded with our analytic rubrics scored on average 17% higher than those assessed without a rubric.

Benefits of Using Analytical Rubrics

Now that we have a better understanding of how to answer someone when they ask what an analytic rubric let’s take a closer look at the benefits of using analytic rubrics.

1. Saves Teachers Time

Using analytic rubrics save time because every student can be assessed based on their strength and needs. Using a pre-built analytic rubric like those in our library saves you time scouring the web for resources.

2. Makes Assessment Simple

Assessment can be very complicated, but with pre-built analytic rubrics – student assessment is simple again. Teach away knowing that your students have an accurate and reliable form of being graded.

3. Analytic Rubrics are Very Accurate

Due to the comprehensive nature of using multiple evaluation criteria, analytic rubrics are very accurate. The subjective nature of simply scoring a student out of 10 is absent in this process.

4. Students Better Understand the Grade

This is a big one. When students understand how they are being scored, it leaves more room for student growth. This means students are not just concerned with the final grade, but also the process of improving the grade in the future.

5. Analytic Rubrics are Great Tracking Tools

Whether you are planning a transition for a student into another course, or you are communicating grades to parents at a conference, having analytic rubrics saved for each student helps everyone to track ongoing progress.

Interesting in getting started using our SUPERRUBRIC builder? Get started for free using the link below.

 Student Assessment Made Simple