How many levels should a rubric have?
For most K–8 work, three or four levels is plenty. Three short levels suit kindergarten to 2nd grade, where a child needs to hear the difference read aloud. Four levels suit grades 3 to 8, because an even number has no middle box to settle into.
Asked by teachers, answered by Peabody's editors. Checked .
Every level you add is one more line you have to tell apart from its neighbors, for every criterion. With five or six levels, the cells start to say the same thing in slightly different words, and two teachers scoring the same piece can land a level apart without either being wrong.
With three levels, the middle one often becomes the safe answer. Four levels make you decide whether the work is on the meeting side or the not-yet side of the line. That is why the premade rubrics on Peabody Teach use four levels for grades 3–5 and 6–8: Exceeds, Meets, Approaching and Beginning.
Young children are different. For kindergarten to 2nd grade the premade rubrics use three levels, Wow!, Yes and Not yet, in short sentences you can read to the class. A child can point to one and tell you why.
In the rubric maker
- Pick three, four or five levels. Each level has a name and a number of points you can change.
- The "K–2 levels" button sets Wow!, Yes and Not yet in one tap and turns the points off.
- If a cell gets so long that it prints in small type, the maker tells you, so you can shorten it or use fewer levels.
Tools that help
- Rubric maker: Three to five levels, from one to eight criteria, printed or copied as a table.
- Premade rubrics: Every rubric in three grade bands: three levels for K–2, four for 3–5 and 6–8.
- Kindergarten writing rubric: What three levels look like for the youngest writers.