Rubrics

On this page, you will learn how to create and manage Schoolbox Rubrics.

On this page, you will find the following information:

Infographic - Introduction to Rubrics

Introduction to Schoolbox Rubrics

Creating Rubrics 

Marking a Rubric

Reusing Rubrics

Using Mark Per Capability and Mark Ranges

Deleting Capabilities and Indicators

Using Rubric Reports

Define Rubric Capabilities + Indicators

1. Pre-prepare a Rubric to utilise for your Course or Unit. 

This could be taken directly from the ACARA or prepared in a document of your choice.

2. Navigate to either your Course Homepage or your Unit Page.

3. Either drag and drop a Rubric Capabilities and Indicators component onto the page or click the '3 dot menu' and select 'manage Rubric Capabilities'.

4. Once inside the component or on the 'Define Rubric Capabilities and Indicators' page;  paste or type in the Capabilities and Indicators you need to use.

5. When you are finished 'Save the Changes'. 

An Overview 

Capabilities are the areas that you are assessing.

Indicators are the key skills that you will be assessing in the task.

Descriptors are statements that explain what a student has achieved or demonstrated at each level.

Levels are overarching statements to describe students' achievement. 

There are a number of ways you can assign a grade to a student using the rubric. You can assign a unique mark, a range of marks, or no marks at all, to each descriptor. If you leave a descriptor blank, a blank space will appear on the rubric. The rubric can automatically tally the marks that you have selected to determine an overall grade for the student. However, as a teacher you still determine the overall grade, so you can override the automatically calculated grade to assign one of your own.

Rubrics are set up when you are creating or modifying a piece of due work. So, you first need to navigate to create or modify a piece of due work.

1. Toggle 'Use Rubric?' to 'ON'.

2. Select if you would like a Mark Range

3. Select Capability Mark Type. 

Note that the overall mark type for the task does not have to match the Capability Mark Type. For example, you may want the overall mark type for this Due Work to be percentage, whilst using a letter grade for the capabilities.

4. Add level names at the top of the rubric by typing into the level name field. 

To add more levels, click '+Level'.

5. Add a new capability by typing into the '+ Type to add new capability' field. 

The capability refers to sections within the rubric that you are assessing.

6. Add new indicators by typing into the '+ Type to add new indicator' field. 

The indicators are the key skills you will be assessing in this task. 

7. Add descriptors by selecting the check box next to the indicator and then writing your descriptor.

8. Assign a point value, by typing into the 'Maximum points' field beneath the descriptor. If you are using the mark range, this will be the upper point value available for that particular descriptor.

NOTE: If you choose to leave a descriptor field blank, this will appear blank on the rubric.

9. Continue to add levels, capabilities and indicators by repeating any of the steps above.

10. Select 'Create' or 'Modify'.

The following glossary can be used to add text elements to your rubrics:

If Due Work has a rubric, you can mark the rubric by simply clicking on the descriptor that matches the student's level of achievement. If the rubric allows mark ranges, a drop down box will appear at the bottom of the descriptor. You can use this box to assign a mark within the range to the student.

If the rubric allows you to assign a mark per capability, the system will automatically scale the grades from the descriptors you have chosen to create a mark for that capability. If you choose, you may overrule the mark given for the capability.

Once you finished marking the rubric, you can choose to assign a grade from the rubric by selecting the drop down menu beneath the ‘Grade’ drop down.

If you need to override the grade that has been generated by the rubric, you can enter a grade directly into the box.

You can reuse rubrics by downloading them from one Due Work item and uploading them to other Due Work items. To do this:

1. Navigate to the modify screen for the Due Work that contains the rubric you wish to reuse/copy.

2. Scroll to beneath the rubric and select 'Download Rubric as CSV'. 

This will download a copy of the rubric in a csv format.

3. Navigate to the modify due work screen of the Due Work item for which you would like to reuse the rubric.

4. Toggle on 'Use Rubric?'

5. Upload the rubric you downloaded by dragging it into the drop zone.

NOTE: You can only upload rubrics that have been previously created in Schoolbox. You cannot upload rubrics from other programs or rubrics you've created outside of Schoolbox, even if they are in a csv format.

Mark per capability

If you choose to mark per capability, you will be able to use a subtotal mark for each capability you are assessing. The points, percentage or grade for that capability can be specified independently from the points for each descriptor, even if there are no points allocated to a descriptor. This means you can use teacher discretion to modify the grade for the capability, just as you can for a due work’s overall grade.

To use the mark per capability function, simply choose either percentage, total mark or letter grade from the Capability Mark Type drop down list. Keeping this at None, means you are choosing to not mark per capability.

By default, the maximum points for the capability is the sum of the highest descriptor values available in each indicator within that capability. If you choose to enter a different total for the capability, the system will automatically scale the capability mark based on the indicators you choose when you are grading.

Mark Range

If you choose to use a mark range, you will be able to choose from a range of points for each written descriptor when you are assessing the Due Work. To use the mark range, switch on the toggle, then enter the maximum points available for each descriptor that needs points.

When you use this rubric to grade a student’s work, you will be able to use a drop-down box to choose any number between the upper limit of that descriptor, and the upper limit of the previous descriptor that has points attached. The mark range automatically provides range options starting from 1. So if your first descriptor is 3 points, you will be able to select from 1-3 via the mark range function.

Capabilities and indicators can be removed when they are not in use. Removing capabilities and indicators can be useful in managing the long lists that appear when creating or modifying a rubric for a due work .

How to delete rubric indicators and capabilities

1. Navigate to the Unit page which holds the due work with the indicators and/or capabilities you want to delete.

2. On the Course Builder component, select the three-dot menu next to the due work you are targeting and select ‘Modify’.

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3. Untick the indicators you wish to delete.

NOTE: If your intention is to remove a capability, you will need to untick all indicators associated with that capability.

4. Select 'Update' to save your changes.

NOTE: You need to repeat this process with all due work items in the Course Builder that are currently using the capabilities or indicators you wish to remove.

5. Add the ‘Rubric Capabilities and Indicators’ component to the Unit page.

The Rubric Capabilities and Indicators component will display a list of all capabilities and indicators that are associated with the selected unit or course.

6. Select 'Manage Rubric Capabilities'.

7. Select the three-dot menu next to the indicators you want to delete. Then select ‘Delete Indicator’. If you want to remove a capability, you need to delete all indicators associated with a capability.

NOTE: If the delete function is not available, an 'i' will display. When you hover over the 'i', the activities that contain the indicators on that page. If you do wish to delete the indicator, you will need to go through each due work in the Course Builder or Course Outline on that page and check that the indicators are not in use.

8. Select 'Save Changes'.

When using a rubric on a Due Work item, you can access and view a Rubric Report.

1. Navigate to the Rubric Report by locating a Due Work item with a Rubric. 

You can do this by either: 
Navigating to the Course Outline on a class page, selecting the 3-dot menu and Rubric Report 

or, navigating to a Due Work Item’s Status page, selecting the 3-dot menu and Rubric Report.  

2. View the Rubric Report. 

The report will display the capabilities, indicators and overall marks for each student. You can use the Draft checkbox to display any rubric marks that have not yet been published.

3. To Download the Rubric Report as a CSV, select the Download icon on the right of the screen. 

NOTE: If drafts are included in the download, the word ‘Draft’ will be prepended to the file name. Draft points and descriptors within the spreadsheet will have ‘(draft)’ amended to them.