What is the difference between a single-point rubric and an analytic rubric?
An analytic rubric writes out every level for every criterion, so a student can see what each step looks like. A single-point rubric writes out only the goal, and leaves a column on each side for your notes on what still needs work and what went beyond. Use analytic when you need a score; use single-point when you want to write feedback.
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An analytic rubric is the familiar grid: criteria down the side, levels across the top and a description in every cell. It is quick to score and easy to turn into points. Its weakness is that students read the top column and skip the rest.
A single-point rubric has three columns. The middle one names each criterion and describes what meeting it looks like. The left column is for areas to grow and the right is for evidence of going beyond. It takes longer to fill in, because you write, but what you write is about this piece of work and not a general description.
Many teachers use both: a single-point rubric on a draft, for feedback the student can act on, then the analytic rubric on the final piece, for the grade.
On Peabody Teach
- The rubric maker switches between the two with one button, Levels or Single-point, and keeps your criteria when you switch.
- Every premade rubric has an "I can" line for each criterion. When you open one in the maker and switch to Single-point, those lines become the standard in the middle column.
- Each premade rubric page also prints the "I can" lines as a student checklist.
Tools that help
- Rubric maker: Switch between Levels and Single-point; print or copy as a table.
- Essay rubric: An analytic rubric in three grade bands, with its "I can" checklist.
- Premade rubrics: Open any of them in the maker to start a single-point version.