Overview

Rubrics are used for benchmarking purposes and to ensure that students and parents are aware of the achievement standards required to be awarded a particular grade for a Learning Task.

Rubrics are stored within the School Resources module of Compass to be pushed to classes as needed, or they can be created in the class resources tab for a particular class so as to be available just for that specific class.

Compass recommends that rubrics which will be used for multiple classes and/or used across multiple academic years are created in the School Resources folder, then pushed to classes. For further information on the School Resources module please refer to the Knowledge Base article titled "School Resources and School Documentation".

Rubrics are visible to students and parents once they have been linked to a Learning Task in which the student is enrolled, and the task is made visible to the student ando/or parent. This rubric is available from the Feedback tab of the Learning Task.

Rubric Scores

Each school has the option to enable the Rubric Scores feature. This score can then be used as part of the feedback and with other calculated grading components within Learning Tasks.

To enable Rubric scores, please refer to the 'Learning Tasks Administration' article from our Knowledge Base.

Creating Rubrics as a School Resource

Creating rubrics in School Resources saves staff time and effort as they are able to use the rubric across multiple classes or academic years. To create a new rubric in the School Resources module, navigate to the Teaching and Learning menu (pencil icon), then select the School Resources option.

Staff do not need any special permission to access the School Resources module and create a new rubric.
However, depending on the permissions management of the sub-folders in School Resources at different schools, you may or may not be able to add a rubric to an existing folder. 

Create a new rubric by right-clicking on the folder into which you wish to add the rubric (e.g. Year 3 English), hovering over the 'Add Content' option, and then selecting 'Rubric'.

     

Once this option is selected, an editor window will open for you to create the rubric. An individualised name for the rubric (e.g. Year 3 English Reading Outcome) should be given to the rubric so that it can be easily distinguished from other rubrics.  If your school has the Rubric Scores feature enabled, you can adjust the visibility of the assigned scores in the 'Display Scores' field.
     

Once the rubric is named, clicking on the 'Add Criterion (Row)' button will allow you to add a row to your rubric. This would be the item you are grading the student on, like in the example below:
     

Once the Name and Description for the Criterion are added, click the 'Ok' button to save. Saving the Criterion enables the 'Add Grading Scale (Column)' button in the Rubric editor window. This should be a column of your rubric and based on your grading scheme you should create multiple columns to reflect the different levels that can be achieved for each criterion.
     

Please keep in mind when adding grading scales that the columns and rows can be rearranged. You can drag and drop rows or columns to reorder.

Again, clicking the 'Ok' button saves the Grading Scale and enables a Content Descriptor box:
     

Enter the description of what would qualify for this result on your grading scale, for this specific item. So in the example above entering what would qualify as 'Below the Standard' for the Persuasive Writing element of the rubric. You can add in multiple descriptions, just enter each one in the 'Add Content Descriptor' box, and then click the "+" icon to add it to the Scale.

Once all the components have been added, if you are using Rubric Scores, enter the score that will be assigned to this result.  Click the 'Ok' button to save and close.   

If you need to edit a descriptor or score, click the Content Descriptors box to reopen. Clicking the 'Ok' button will save your changes to the descriptor.

To edit the title of a Grading Scale or to remove it completely right click in the column header in question and select the appropriate option.



   
Once all of the criteria and grading scales are entered, click the 'Save' button to save the rubric. It will now appear in the list of contents for the folder in which it was created and can be pushed to the classes for which it will be used as per the detailed instructions in the Knowledge Base article titled "School Resources and School Documentation":

     

Adding Rubrics to Learning Tasks

Once a rubric is listed on the Resources tab of the class page, it can be included in the Learning Tasks for that class. Staff in charge of the class can also edit the rubric from the Resources tab. Please keep in mind that making edits to the rubric on the class page will not alter the rubric that exists in the School Resources - they are different items. So you can make the rubric specific to your class once it's available in the Resources tab of your class page.

To include the rubric in the Learning Task, search for the class in question using the Compass search bar, then navigate to the Learning Tasks tab. You will need to either edit an existing task or create a new one; both options will open the Learning Task Editor window where you will need to click on the 'Add Component' button:



The rubric(s) that have been created in, or pushed to, the class resources for that class will show in their own section of the grading components window. Clicking on the '+' button next to the name of the rubric you want to add will put it on the list of Components in the right-hand column of the window. Click the 'Ok' button to save.

Security

Within each Learning Task there is a security matrix at the top right corner. If you've included a rubric in your Learning Task the security grid will determine how the parent and student views the rubric.

If the task is visible to the parent or student and there is a rubric included they will be able to see the full rubric on the Feedback tab of the Learning Task. If you have made Grading Visible on the task and marked how the student scored on the criteria within the rubric then they will see how they scored on the rubric as the boxes you selected wil be coloured green on the Feedback tab. However if you've made the task visible but not the grading visible, then the rubric will still display on the Feedback tab but will not give any indication of how you've marked the student within the rubric, whether you've filled it out or not.