Math Rubrics

Rubrics are a tool for evaluating student work. There are two main types of rubrics: holistic (a rubric that provides one overall score) and analytic (a rubric that provides scores for different categories). Most of the rubrics in the SFUSD Math Core Curriculum are 4-point holistic rubrics.

A rubric is often used in conjunction with an answer key. The rubric provides a broader picture about a student’s demonstration of understanding the standards and mathematical practices, and the answer key provides specific examples of how a student might answer parts of the task.

Why do I use rubrics?

The primary purpose of a rubric is to provide specific feedback on critical elements of the task and the student work. In addition, rubrics may be used to show students the expectations before they perform a task and to give students feedback and an opportunity for revision after they perform the task. Both of these uses strongly support student learning and achievement.

When do I use rubrics?

Rubrics are traditionally used to evaluate student work after students perform a task, especially a summative task. Rubrics are included for all the Milestone Tasks, as well as some other tasks, in the SFUSD Math Core Curriculum for this purpose. Rubrics can also be used before the task to communicate performance expectations to students and after the task to communicate feedback and provide structure for revision or re-engagement.

How do I use a rubric?

One way to give feedback to students is to make a copy of the rubric for each student, and then highlight or circle the parts of the rubric that apply to the student’s work. For example, you might highlight the first and third paragraph of column 3: Meets standards, and highlight the second paragraph in column 2: Approaching standards. This feedback is useful for students because it gives them an indication of the next steps they could take to improve their work.
If you are using a holistic rubric, you will sometimes need to decide whether to give only whole points or to sometimes give half points. For example, if student work shows some elements from a score of 3 but mostly elements from a score of 2, you will need to decide whether to give that work a score of 2.5 or a score of 2.

Using a rubric to assign grades

If you are using a rubric for an Entry, Apprentice, or Expert task, the rubric will be useful for informing your instruction and giving feedback to students, but it should not be used to give grades. Think about whether it is fair to expect mastery of the standards in the unit before you decide to assign grades for student work. ​
If you are using a rubric for a Milestone Task, and you want to use it to assign grades, think about the score descriptors instead of converting the numbers to percents proportionally. For example, you may want to use this guide to convert rubric scores to grades:

Many teachers require that students revise their work when they receive a score of 0, 1, or 2 so that they can show progress toward mastery of the standards.