How to Use Grading Rubrics to Save You Time

teaching time management

A simple grading rubric system that will save you time.

Have you ever looked at your teaching standards and thought...

This tells me what it looks like when the student masters the standard, but I don't know how to where the student is at in the learning progression if they're not yet meeting the standard.

Learning standards are a great description of what students need to do. But how can we grade our little ones fairly across the board?

The answer: A Grading Rubric System.

In this blog post, we're breaking down exactly how to set up and use grading rubrics so you can save yourself time!

CLEARLY DEFINE AND UNDERSTAND STUDENT MASTERY

Before we can decide what it looks like to exceed or be progressing toward meeting a standard, we need to know what the expectation is!

What will it look like when the student meets the standard? Review this part of the grading rubric to understand the key things students need to do to demonstrate proficiency.

IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEETING, EXCEEDING, AND PROGRESSING ON THE GRADING RUBRIC

Once we know what mastery should look like, we can think about how student understanding will look different if they are developing toward meeting a skill.

Read the different levels of understanding on the rubric to familiarize yourself with them.

Most likely, the difference will be in whether students need teacher support or prompting, versus whether they can demonstrate a skill independently. Or, it could be that they are able to apply 1-2 parts needed to master a skill instead of all parts (example below).

CHECK OFF WHAT STUDENTS CAN DO

As you're assessing students, have the rubric handy. Mark what students CAN do. For this part, use a pencil to make a little check next to demonstrated tasks, or to jot down notes.

For example, if you are assessing oral counting skills, and a student is able to count by tens to 100 independently, but needs support to count to 100 by ones, you would make a quick mark next to those parts of the rubric.

CIRCLE STUDENT LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING

Once you're done assessing the student - mark where they are in the learning progression on the rubric.

Recommendation - to keep using the same rubric all year, use a different colored pen each quarter. This will help you keep track of student progress, noting how their understanding changes throughout the year.

KINDERGARTEN TEACHERS:

Do you need a grading rubric that has all of the levels of understanding laid out for you? These grading rubrics will:

give clear expectations for all levels of learning
make grading each and every kindergarten standard a breeze
give you the tools you need to simplify grading all year long

Not only do these rubrics help you clearly see how to grade your students, but they also help with writing report card comments too! You'll love keeping these handy as you're writing comments so you can quickly explain student progress.

Click here to grab the Kindergarten Grading Rubrics!

Happy Grading!