analysis essay rubric high school

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15 Helpful Scoring Rubric Examples for All Grades and Subjects

In the end, they actually make grading easier.

When it comes to student assessment and evaluation, there are a lot of methods to consider. In some cases, testing is the best way to assess a student’s knowledge, and the answers are either right or wrong. But often, assessing a student’s performance is much less clear-cut. In these situations, a scoring rubric is often the way to go, especially if you’re using standards-based grading . Here’s what you need to know about this useful tool, along with lots of rubric examples to get you started.

What is a scoring rubric?

In the United States, a rubric is a guide that lays out the performance expectations for an assignment. It helps students understand what’s required of them, and guides teachers through the evaluation process. (Note that in other countries, the term “rubric” may instead refer to the set of instructions at the beginning of an exam. To avoid confusion, some people use the term “scoring rubric” instead.)

A rubric generally has three parts:

• Performance criteria: These are the various aspects on which the assignment will be evaluated. They should align with the desired learning outcomes for the assignment.
• Rating scale: This could be a number system (often 1 to 4) or words like “exceeds expectations, meets expectations, below expectations,” etc.
• Indicators: These describe the qualities needed to earn a specific rating for each of the performance criteria. The level of detail may vary depending on the assignment and the purpose of the rubric itself.

Rubrics take more time to develop up front, but they help ensure more consistent assessment, especially when the skills being assessed are more subjective. A well-developed rubric can actually save teachers a lot of time when it comes to grading. What’s more, sharing your scoring rubric with students in advance often helps improve performance . This way, students have a clear picture of what’s expected of them and what they need to do to achieve a specific grade or performance rating.

Learn more about why and how to use a rubric here.

Types of Rubric

There are three basic rubric categories, each with its own purpose.

Holistic Rubric

Source: Cambrian College

This type of rubric combines all the scoring criteria in a single scale. They’re quick to create and use, but they have drawbacks. If a student’s work spans different levels, it can be difficult to decide which score to assign. They also make it harder to provide feedback on specific aspects.

Traditional letter grades are a type of holistic rubric. So are the popular “hamburger rubric” and “ cupcake rubric ” examples. Learn more about holistic rubrics here.

Analytic Rubric

Source: University of Nebraska

Analytic rubrics are much more complex and generally take a great deal more time up front to design. They include specific details of the expected learning outcomes, and descriptions of what criteria are required to meet various performance ratings in each. Each rating is assigned a point value, and the total number of points earned determines the overall grade for the assignment.

Though they’re more time-intensive to create, analytic rubrics actually save time while grading. Teachers can simply circle or highlight any relevant phrases in each rating, and add a comment or two if needed. They also help ensure consistency in grading, and make it much easier for students to understand what’s expected of them.

Learn more about analytic rubrics here.

Developmental Rubric

Source: Deb’s Data Digest

A developmental rubric is a type of analytic rubric, but it’s used to assess progress along the way rather than determining a final score on an assignment. The details in these rubrics help students understand their achievements, as well as highlight the specific skills they still need to improve.

Developmental rubrics are essentially a subset of analytic rubrics. They leave off the point values, though, and focus instead on giving feedback using the criteria and indicators of performance.

Learn how to use developmental rubrics here.

Ready to create your own rubrics? Find general tips on designing rubrics here. Then, check out these examples across all grades and subjects to inspire you.

Elementary School Rubric Examples

These elementary school rubric examples come from real teachers who use them with their students. Adapt them to fit your needs and grade level.

Reading Fluency Rubric

You can use this one as an analytic rubric by counting up points to earn a final score, or just to provide developmental feedback. There’s a second rubric page available specifically to assess prosody (reading with expression).

Learn more: Teacher Thrive

Reading Comprehension Rubric

The nice thing about this rubric is that you can use it at any grade level, for any text. If you like this style, you can get a reading fluency rubric here too.

Learn more: Pawprints Resource Center

Written Response Rubric

Rubrics aren’t just for huge projects. They can also help kids work on very specific skills, like this one for improving written responses on assessments.

Learn more: Dianna Radcliffe: Teaching Upper Elementary and More

Interactive Notebook Rubric

If you use interactive notebooks as a learning tool , this rubric can help kids stay on track and meet your expectations.

Learn more: Classroom Nook

Project Rubric

Use this simple rubric as it is, or tweak it to include more specific indicators for the project you have in mind.

Learn more: Tales of a Title One Teacher

Behavior Rubric

Developmental rubrics are perfect for assessing behavior and helping students identify opportunities for improvement. Send these home regularly to keep parents in the loop.

Learn more: Teachers.net Gazette

Middle School Rubric Examples

In middle school, use rubrics to offer detailed feedback on projects, presentations, and more. Be sure to share them with students in advance, and encourage them to use them as they work so they’ll know if they’re meeting expectations.

Argumentative Writing Rubric

Argumentative writing is a part of language arts, social studies, science, and more. That makes this rubric especially useful.

Learn more: Dr. Caitlyn Tucker

Role-Play Rubric

Role-plays can be really useful when teaching social and critical thinking skills, but it’s hard to assess them. Try a rubric like this one to evaluate and provide useful feedback.

Learn more: A Question of Influence

Art Project Rubric

Art is one of those subjects where grading can feel very subjective. Bring some objectivity to the process with a rubric like this.

Source: Art Ed Guru

Diorama Project Rubric

You can use diorama projects in almost any subject, and they’re a great chance to encourage creativity. Simplify the grading process and help kids know how to make their projects shine with this scoring rubric.

Learn more: Historyourstory.com

Oral Presentation Rubric

Rubrics are terrific for grading presentations, since you can include a variety of skills and other criteria. Consider letting students use a rubric like this to offer peer feedback too.

Learn more: Bright Hub Education

High School Rubric Examples

In high school, it’s important to include your grading rubrics when you give assignments like presentations, research projects, or essays. Kids who go on to college will definitely encounter rubrics, so helping them become familiar with them now will help in the future.

Presentation Rubric

Analyze a student’s presentation both for content and communication skills with a rubric like this one. If needed, create a separate one for content knowledge with even more criteria and indicators.

Learn more: Michael A. Pena Jr.

Debate Rubric

Debate is a valuable learning tool that encourages critical thinking and oral communication skills. This rubric can help you assess those skills objectively.

Learn more: Education World

Project-Based Learning Rubric

Implementing project-based learning can be time-intensive, but the payoffs are worth it. Try this rubric to make student expectations clear and end-of-project assessment easier.

Learn more: Free Technology for Teachers

100-Point Essay Rubric

Need an easy way to convert a scoring rubric to a letter grade? This example for essay writing earns students a final score out of 100 points.

Learn more: Learn for Your Life

Drama Performance Rubric

If you’re unsure how to grade a student’s participation and performance in drama class, consider this example. It offers lots of objective criteria and indicators to evaluate.

Learn more: Chase March

How do you use rubrics in your classroom? Come share your thoughts and exchange ideas in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, 25 of the best alternative assessment ideas ..

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What Is Project-Based Learning and How Can I Use It With My Students?

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9th-12th grade analytical writing rubric

Offer 9th-12th Grade students a structure for analytical writing with this standards-aligned rubric developed by educators for Feedback Studio.

Rubric suitable for formative and summative assignments with tasks involving the rigorous analysis of a text or texts. Use this rubric when asking students to analyze an author's use of rhetorical strategies, to analyze the impact of a literary element in a story, etc. Consider using the 9th-12th Grade Analysis QuickMark set with this rubric. These drag-and-drop comments were tailor-made by veteran educators to give actionable, formative feedback directly to students. While they were explicitly aligned to this particular rubric, you can edit or add your own content to any QuickMark. This rubric is available and ready to use in your Feedback Studio account. However, if you would like to customize its criteria, you can "Duplicate this rubric" in your Feedback Studio account and then edit the rubric as needed. Or, download this .rbc file and then import to your account to begin editing the content.

Interactive Writing Rubric

High School

Element: Argument

Strand: Position

Criteria: Thesis

Criteria: Justification

Strand: Ideas

Criteria: Quality

Criteria: Substantiation

Strand: Organization

Criteria: Structure

Criteria: Flow

Element: Evidence

Strand: Contextualization

Criteria: Framing

Criteria: Context

Strand: Selection

Criteria: Choice

Criteria: Presentation

Strand: Interpretation

Criteria: Analysis

Element: Language

Strand: Style

Criteria: Register

Criteria: Craft

Strand: Sentence Fluency

Criteria: Fluency

Criteria: Concision

Strand: Word Choice

Criteria: Diction

Criteria: Range

Strand: Conventions

Criteria: Spelling

Criteria: Grammar

Element: Process

Strand: Process

Strand: Publishing

Criteria: Professionalism

Criteria: MLA Formatting

Criteria: Document

Position 

This strand encompasses the argument in the essay—the four or five key sentences that state what you are proving and how you are proving it.

Thesis: The sentence(s) explicitly or implicitly stated early in the paper that outline the argument being made in the paper.

Assertions: The assertion is the sentence at the paragraph level that is the written articulation of the subargument. This sentence is sometimes called the topic sentence.

Ideas 

This strand evaluates at the holistic and synthesis level. The Ideas strand seeks to evaluate how well the Position is proven (substantiation) and how well the ideas are synthesized and interwoven. This strand is broader than the Interpretation strand—it encompasses the essay as a whole.

Quality: Quality evaluates the correctness of ideas, the complexity of ideas, and the integration of ideas across a full spectrum.

Substantiation: Substantiation addresses the level of proof that supports the position. When scoring at levels 5-8, it is important to think about the substantiation of both the position’s depth and breadth.

Organization 

Organization is a crucial aspect of argumentation. This strand addresses the overall structure of a paper. Does the organization support and encourage logical order? Do ideas flow smoothly?

Structure: This criterion addresses the overall architecture of the essay—is the paper ordered (chronologically, compare and contrast, logically, cause and effect, etc) in a way that supports the position?

Flow: Do ideas flow smoothly within sentences and paragraph and between sentences and paragraphs?

Contextualization 

There are two primary criteria that make up Contextualization:

Framing: The framing criterion is the broader umbrella within contextualization. Framing occurs often occurs within the introduction, thesis statement, and around evidence. Does the author include only the basic frame (novel, historical event) or is their argument framed within the greater discourse of historical ideas and movements?

Content: Context is more specific and concrete than framing; it refers to the background information around the evidence chunks. Does the author set up the reader with enough background information for the paragraphs to be read smoothly and cohesively?

Selection 

Selection primarily evaluates evidence selection—relevance, persuasiveness, and concision. Included in this strand is evidence presentation—how smoothly is argument incorporated into the paragraph.

Choice: When we evaluate choice, we are analyzing the type of evidence selected—is it pertinent, is it relevant, is it authoritative?

Presentation: Evidence must be presented clearly within an essay; this criterion addresses the blending, chunking, and overall weaving of evidence into an argument.

Interpretation 

Interpretation deals with logic, analysis, and reasoning. The Ideas strand within Argument is comprehensive and evaluates the synthesis of ideas. The interpretation strand is much more specific to the paragraph level.

Analysis: Analysis evaluates the discussion of evidence. At the lower level, is the interpretation accurate and focused? At higher level, students are expected to analyze thoughtfully, including subtle nuances while retaining clarity.

Justification: Justification evaluates a student’s ability to develop a link from evidence to assertion. As readers and teachers, we often find that students almost prove their argument but fail to fully land on their point: this criterion addresses that logic gap.

Style 

Formal essay writing style is more limited than its creative counterparts. The style strand evaluates the formal register, or formal style, of the author’s writing as well as their craft.

Register: Addresses the appropriateness of style/language for the task/audience. For academic writing pieces assessed using this rubric, we strive for formal register.

Craft: Craft refers to the specific writer’s moves in expository writing.

Sentence Fluency 

Sentence Fluency focuses on the type, fluidity, and effect of sentences within the essay. Strong sentence fluency leads to natural, active, and concise writing.

Fluency:  Fluency is the ability to expertly deliver information quickly, naturally, and correctly.

Concision: Concision is marked by effective and efficient communication: it is free of superfluous information and requires a strong command of language and a dedication to revision.

Word Choice 

This strand evaluates one’s ability to select the best word to communicate an idea and utilize a broad range of dynamic, striking, and sophisticated words.

Diction: Selecting the best word to most clearly and powerfully communicate an idea.

Range: The breadth of words used correctly; an author’s vocabulary.

Conventions 

Authors need to understand and apply grammatical rules; they also need to spell correctly.

Grammar: These are Standard English rules of communication.

Spelling: This criterion evaluates spelling in an essay.

Process 

David Conley clearly articulates that “self-management behaviors” are one of the four key levers to ensure college and career readiness. Revision evaluates the changes made from the rough draft to final draft, including the depth of those changes, the independence of the author, and the effect of the changes on the essay. In this way, we require students learn self-management behaviors (reflection, time management, advocating for themselves, professional meetings, etc.) in order to revise their paper.

Quality: “As the lone criterion for Revising, quality evaluates all aspects of revision.”

Publishing 

This strand encompasses the final product, from completion, timeliness, and presentation to MLA formatting guidelines.

Professionalism: Includes completion, timeliness, attention to the details of the assignment, and final product presentation.

MLA Formatting: Follows MLA formatting guidelines.

Document: Formatting of the document, from headers and title to spacing.

Click Numbers to View Standard Bearers

Justification

Substantiation

• 0 Ideas 0 
• 2 Ideas 2 
• 3 Ideas 3 

4 Ideas 4 (Set 1) Ideas 4 (Set 2)

5 Ideas 5 (Set 1) Ideas 5 (Set 2)

• 8 Ideas 8 
• Most ideas and content are plausible
• Basic interpretation
• Almost all ideas/content are reasonable
• Accurate interpretation
• Almost all ideas/content are logically, accurately interpreted
• Slight nuances introduced
• Overall, depth of understanding
• Overall, strong depth of understanding
• A few key nuances introduced
• Overall, insightful depth of understanding
• A few key nuances slightly incorporated into argument
• Overall, insightful depth of understanding/ analysis
• Key nuances incorporated into argument
• Position is controlling idea
• Overall, position mostly substantiated
• Opposing viewpoints are anticipated and addressed when necessary
• Overall, position strongly substantiated
• Overall, position compellingly substantiated

0 Contextualization 0 (Set 1) Contextualization 0 (Set 2)

• 3 Contextualization 3 

4 Contextualization 4 (Set 1) Contextualization 4 (Set 2) Contextualization 4 (Set 3)

• 5 Contextualization 5 
• 6 Contextualization 6 
• Mostly reasonable, basic background of text/ content
• Mostly reasonable background of text/ content
• Primarily accurate, general background of text/ content
• Clear, sufficient background of text/ content
• Presents larger frame of argument
• Precisely, articulately frames larger argument and, when appropriate, larger discourse
• Mostly plausible basic background about most evidence
• Primarily accurate basic background about almost all evidence
• Primarily accurate background when necessary
• Most context appropriately incorporated into paragraph – is not clunky
• Clear, sufficient evidence background when necessary
• Sometimes previews/ hints at interpretation
• Precise, clear, sufficient evidence background when necessary
• Most context smoothly incorporated into paragraph
• Generally previews/ hints at interpretation
• Concise, precise, sufficient evidence background when necessary
• Almost all context smoothly incorporated into paragraph
• Effectively previews/ hints at interpretation

Presentation

1 Interpretation 1 (Set 1) Interpretation 1 (Set 2)

2 Interpretation 2 (Set 1) Interpretation 2 (Set 2)

• 3 Interpretation 3 
• 5 Interpretation 5 
• 6 Interpretation 6 
• 8 Interpretation 8 
• Connected to assertion
• Adequate in amount
• Some basic analysis
• Generally plausible analysis
• Some adequate analysis
• Mostly plausible analysis
• Roughly incorporates some key words
• Almost all adequate analysis
• Generally focused, logical, accurate
• Roughly incorporates key words
• Some thoughtful analysis
• Mostly focused, logical, clear analysis
• Appropriately incorporates key words when appropriate
• Mostly thoughtful, articulate analysis
• Largely focused, logical, clear analysis
• Effective key word analysis incorporated when appropriate
• Almost all thoughtful, articulate analysis
• Largely focused, clear, nuanced analysis
• Effective key word analysis incorporated when appropriate to substantiate assertion
• Comprehensive analysis demonstrates thorough, critical thought while retaining clarity
• Effective key word analysis substantiates position
• Generally understandable interpretation/ reasoning
• Most explanation related to assertion
• Mostly understandable interpretation/ reasoning
• Some rough word glue , some rough logic glue
• Connects evidence to assertion
• Mostly understandable, sound interpretation/ reasoning
• Generally effective word glue, rough logic glue
• Links evidence to assertion
• Primarily understandable, sound, generally thoughtful interpretation/ reasoning
• Generally effective word glue/ logic glue
• Logically develops link from evidence to assertion
• Primarily effective word glue/ logic glue
• Logically, mostly develops link from evidence to assertion
• Primarily effective word glue/ logic glue when necessary
• Largely convincing, thoughtful justification
• Logically, fully develops link from evidence to assertion
• Smooth, primarily effective word glue/ logic glue when necessary
• Largely focused, convincing, thoughtful justification
• Articulately, fully substantiates assertion
• Smooth, masterful use of word glue/ logic glue when necessary
• Primarily focused, compelling, thoughtful justification
• Articulately, fully substantiates position
• 2 Word Choice 2 

3 Word Choice 3 (Set 1) Word Choice 3 (Set 2)

• 4 Word Choice 4 

5 Word Choice 5 (Set 1) Word Choice 5 (Set 2)

• 6 Word Choice 6 
• Some active verbs
• Some accurate active verbs
• Functional diction
• Mostly accurate active verbs when appropriate – minimizes be/ have/ ~ing
• Strong, active verbs when appropriate – minimizes be/ have/ ~ing
• Words effectively convey intended message
• Effective diction
• Powerful, energizing active verbs when appropriate – minimizes be/ have/ ~ing
• Words precisely convey intended message
• Precise diction
• Some appropriate academic language
• Some appropriate basic content language
• Academic, task specific content language generally correct
• Attempts at sophisticated vocab
• Varied academic, content language mostly correct
• Broad range of academic language mostly correct
• Generally effective use of sophisticated, varied vocab
• Broad range of academic language overwhelmingly impactful, correct
• Overwhelmingly effective use of sophisticated, varied, powerful vocab
• 1 Conventions 1 
• 2 Conventions 2 
• 3 Conventions 3 

4 Conventions 4 (Set 1) Conventions 4 (Set 2) Conventions 4 (Set 3) Conventions 4 (Set 4)

• 5 Conventions 5 
• Most task/ content specific language correct
• Most general academic, task/ content specific language correct
• Almost all correct
• Several errors do not obstruct meaning
• Errors do not hinder reading
• Few or no mistakes
• Capitalization errors ≤ pages
• Capitalization/ end punctuation errors ≤ pages
• Capitalization/ punctuation (excluding commas) errors ≤ pages
• Grammar does not obstruct meaning
• Capitalization/ punctuation (no commas)/ subject-verb agreement errors ≤ pages
• Grammar does not hinder reading
• Capitalization/ punctuation (w/ commas)/ subject-verb agreement/ vague pronoun reference errors ≤ pages
• Grammar contributes to readability
• Capitalization/ punctuation (w/ commas)/ subject-verb agreement/ vague pronoun reference / misplaced modifier errors ≤ pages
• Strong grammar contributes to readability

Professionalism

MLA Formatting

• Almost all necessary documents turned in on time
• Follows guidelines of assignment
• All documents turned in on time
• Neat, complete
• Crisp, neat, complete
• Correctly cites using parentheses
• Correctly cites using parentheses, quotation marks, periods
• Correctly cites using parentheses, quotation marks, commas, periods
• Correctly uses in text citations, block quotes
• Correct citation punctuation
• Correctly uses in text citations, block quotes from multiple texts
• Mostly correct Works Cited
• Entirely correct Works Cited
• Header provides correct info
• Header is correctly formatted and provides correct info
• Centered title
• Properly formatted, spaced header, title, text

Read the job description and apply here !

ELA Common Core Lesson Plans

• Create Characters Lesson Plan
• Creative Writing Lesson Plan: Using Details
• How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay
• How to Write a Conclusion for an Essay Lesson Plan
• How to Write a Persuasive Essay
• How to Write a Reflective Essay
• How to Write an Article Critique and Review
• How to Write an Introduction to an Essay
• How to Write a Problem Solution Essay
• Lesson Plan: Effective Sentence Structure
• Lesson Plan: Improve Writing Style with Improved Sentence Structure
• Logical Fallacies Lesson Plan with Summary & Examples
• Teaching Active and Passive Voice
• Teaching How to Revise a Rough Draft
• Teaching Instructional Articles: How to Write Instructions
• Teaching Word Choice: Using Strong Verbs
• Using Imagery Lesson Plan
• Writing for Audience and Purpose
• Writing Transitions Lesson
• Analyzing Humor in Literature Lesson Plan
• Analyzing Shakespeare Strategies
• Fun Reading Lesson Plan
• How to Write a Literary Analysis.
• How to Annotate and Analyze a Poem
• Lesson Plan for Teaching Annotation
• Literary Terms Lesson Plan
• Literature Exemplars – Grades-9-10
• Teaching Short Story Elements
• Using Short Stories to Teach Elements of Literature
• Bill of Rights Lesson Plan
• Fun Ideas for Teaching Language
• Comma Rules: How to Use Commas
• Difference between Denotation and Connotation
• Effective Word Choice Lesson Plan
• Fun Grammar Review Game or Vocabulary & Language Arts
• Lesson Plans for Substitute Teachers and Busy English Teachers
• Lesson Plan: Creating the Perfect Title
• 4.08 – Lesson Plan: Using Semicolons Correctly
• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement Lesson Plan
• Sentence Combining Made Easy Lesson Plan
• Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary
• Using Tone Effectively Lesson Plan
• 4.12 – Word Choice Lesson Plan: Eliminate and Replace “To Be” Verbs
• Using Voice in Writing Effectively Lesson Plan
• Speaking & Listening
• Teacher Guide Central

Universal Rubric for Literary Analysis

Sometimes I cheer myself up by watching Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals while I’m grading papers.

I had collected the essays a few weeks prior. They lay on my desk…ungraded. The dark cloud of ungraded essays cast a shadow over my soul. I sat down at my desk. I “accidentally” nudged them toward the edge of my desk, just above the trashcan. I stopped, put my hands behind my head, leaned back on my chair. While contemplating how nice it would be to rid myself of this curse, I leaned back too far, banged my head on the floor, and lay unconscious.

I was awakened by Aristotle. He just stood, shaking his head reprovingly, without saying a word, which is good because I don’t understand Greek. He picked up the mini-statue of himself off my desk and struck my skull with it, knocking me out again.

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When I woke up, I saw on my desk a literary analysis rubric and a note in Greek, which translates as follows: Here is a rubric for a literary analysis essay. It will make grading this stack of essays slightly better than ramming your eye with a soup ladle.

To prove this story’s true, I’ve provided a copy of the rubric he left: Literary Analysis Rubric .

Tips for Using this Rubric

The literary analysis rubric is self-explanatory, but here are some things you may want to prompt your students with before the writing begins or between the first draft and next draft. For a more in-depth examination of how to write a literary analysis , follow the link.

Following is what I would write on the board or PowerPoint or whatever.

• Make sure your essay has an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The last sentence of your introduction should be your thesis statement. It may look something like this: “The primary theme in (author’s name, title of literary work) is _________________. If you prefer a more active voice, the thesis statement might look something like this: (In (title of literary work), (the author) develops the theme that _____________________________ through his/her use of _____________, ______________, and ________________.
• Make sure the thesis statement encompasses the theme–no more and no less– and that the theme is relevant to a modern audience and to a potential audience years in the future. In other words the theme uses evidence from the literary work that applies to situations in the “real world.”
• In the body of the essay, be sure to include specific examples, and be sure to explain how these examples relate to the theme you stated in the thesis statement.
• Be sure to use transitions to logically connect ideas.

(For more on teaching thesis statements , click it)

What about Non-Fiction Literary Analysis?

This rubric works just as well with non-fiction literature. Instead of using the term “theme,” you can employ “argument.” In addition, you may want to review logos, pathos, and ethos along with logical fallacies .

In case you missed it before: Here is the Rubric for Literary Analysis .

This rubric takes care of the following common core standards.

• Common Core Writing Standard 1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• Common Core Writing Standard 2 . Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• W.9-10.4   Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in W.9-10.1-3.)
• W.9-10.5   Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of L.9-10.1-3.)
• W.9-10.9   Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis.

Last Updated on December 5, 2016 by Trenton Lorcher

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, sat essay rubric: full analysis and writing strategies.

We're about to dive deep into the details of that least beloved* of SAT sections, the SAT essay . Prepare for a discussion of the SAT essay rubric and how the SAT essay is graded based on that. I'll break down what each item on the rubric means and what you need to do to meet those requirements.

On the SAT, the last section you'll encounter is the (optional) essay. You have 50 minutes to read a passage, analyze the author's argument, and write an essay. If you don’t write on the assignment, plagiarize, or don't use your own original work, you'll get a 0 on your essay. Otherwise, your essay scoring is done by two graders - each one grades you on a scale of 1-4 in Reading, Analysis, and Writing, for a total essay score out of 8 in each of those three areas . But how do these graders assign your writing a numerical grade? By using an essay scoring guide, or rubric.

*may not actually be the least belovèd.

Feature image credit: Day 148: the end of time by Bruce Guenter , used under CC BY 2.0 /Cropped from original. 

UPDATE: SAT Essay No Longer Offered

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In January 2021, the College Board announced that after June 2021, it would no longer offer the Essay portion of the SAT (except at schools who opt in during School Day Testing). It is now no longer possible to take the SAT Essay, unless your school is one of the small number who choose to offer it during SAT School Day Testing.

While most colleges had already made SAT Essay scores optional, this move by the College Board means no colleges now require the SAT Essay. It will also likely lead to additional college application changes such not looking at essay scores at all for the SAT or ACT, as well as potentially requiring additional writing samples for placement.

What does the end of the SAT Essay mean for your college applications? Check out our article on the College Board's SAT Essay decision for everything you need to know.

The Complete SAT Essay Grading Rubric: Item-by-Item Breakdown

Based on the CollegeBoard’s stated Reading, Analysis, and Writing criteria, I've created the below charts (for easier comparison across score points). For the purpose of going deeper into just what the SAT is looking for in your essay, I've then broken down each category further (with examples).

The information in all three charts is taken from the College Board site .

The biggest change to the SAT essay (and the thing that really distinguishes it from the ACT essay) is that you are required to read and analyze a text , then write about your analysis of the author's argument in your essay. Your "Reading" grade on the SAT essay reflects how well you were able to demonstrate your understanding of the text and the author's argument in your essay.

You'll need to show your understanding of the text on two different levels: the surface level of getting your facts right and the deeper level of getting the relationship of the details and the central ideas right.

Surface Level: Factual Accuracy

One of the most important ways you can show you've actually read the passage is making sure you stick to what is said in the text . If you’re writing about things the author didn’t say, or things that contradict other things the author said, your argument will be fundamentally flawed.

For instance, take this quotation from a (made-up) passage about why a hot dog is not a sandwich:

“The fact that you can’t, or wouldn’t, cut a hot dog in half and eat it that way, proves that a hot dog is once and for all NOT a sandwich”

Here's an example of a factually inaccurate paraphrasing of this quotation:

The author builds his argument by discussing how, since hot-dogs are often served cut in half, this makes them different from sandwiches.

The paraphrase contradicts the passage, and so would negatively affect your reading score. Now let's look at an accurate paraphrasing of the quotation:

The author builds his argument by discussing how, since hot-dogs are never served cut in half, they are therefore different from sandwiches.

It's also important to be faithful to the text when you're using direct quotations from the passage. Misquoting or badly paraphrasing the author’s words weakens your essay, because the evidence you’re using to support your points is faulty.

Higher Level: Understanding of Central Ideas

The next step beyond being factually accurate about the passage is showing that you understand the central ideas of the text and how details of the passage relate back to this central idea.

Why does this matter? In order to be able to explain why the author is persuasive, you need to be able to explain the structure of the argument. And you can’t deconstruct the author's argument if you don’t understand the central idea of the passage and how the details relate to it.

Here's an example of a statement about our fictional "hot dogs are sandwiches" passage that shows understanding of the central idea of the passage:

Hodgman’s third primary defense of why hot dogs are not sandwiches is that a hot dog is not a subset of any other type of food. He uses the analogy of asking the question “is cereal milk a broth, sauce, or gravy?” to show that making such a comparison between hot dogs and sandwiches is patently illogical.

The above statement takes one step beyond merely being factually accurate to explain the relation between different parts of the passage (in this case, the relation between the "what is cereal milk?" analogy and the hot dog/sandwich debate).

Of course, if you want to score well in all three essay areas, you’ll need to do more in your essay than merely summarizing the author’s argument. This leads directly into the next grading area of the SAT Essay.

The items covered under this criterion are the most important when it comes to writing a strong essay. You can use well-spelled vocabulary in sentences with varied structure all you want, but if you don't analyze the author's argument, demonstrate critical thinking, and support your position, you will not get a high Analysis score .

Because this category is so important, I've broken it down even further into its two different (but equally important) component parts to make sure everything is as clearly explained as possible.

Part I: Critical Thinking (Logic)

Critical thinking, also known as critical reasoning, also known as logic, is the skill that SAT essay graders are really looking to see displayed in the essay. You need to be able to evaluate and analyze the claim put forward in the prompt. This is where a lot of students may get tripped up, because they think “oh, well, if I can just write a lot, then I’ll do well.” While there is some truth to the assertion that longer essays tend to score higher , if you don’t display critical thinking you won’t be able to get a top score on your essay.

What do I mean by critical thinking? Let's take the previous prompt example:

Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his audience that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich.

An answer to this prompt that does not display critical thinking (and would fall into a 1 or 2 on the rubric) would be something like:

The author argues that hot dogs aren’t sandwiches, which is persuasive to the reader.

While this does evaluate the prompt (by providing a statement that the author's claim "is persuasive to the reader"), there is no corresponding analysis. An answer to this prompt that displays critical thinking (and would net a higher score on the rubric) could be something like this:

The author uses analogies to hammer home his point that hot dogs are not sandwiches. Because the readers will readily believe the first part of the analogy is true, they will be more likely to accept that the second part (that hot dogs aren't sandwiches) is true as well.

See the difference? Critical thinking involves reasoning your way through a situation (analysis) as well as making a judgement (evaluation) . On the SAT essay, however, you can’t just stop at abstract critical reasoning - analysis involves one more crucial step...

Part II: Examples, Reasons, and Other Evidence (Support)

The other piece of the puzzle (apparently this is a tiny puzzle) is making sure you are able to back up your point of view and critical thinking with concrete evidence . The SAT essay rubric says that the best (that is, 4-scoring) essay uses “ relevant, sufficient, and strategically chosen support for claim(s) or point(s) made. ” This means you can’t just stick to abstract reasoning like this:

That explanation is a good starting point, but if you don't back up your point of view with quoted or paraphrased information from the text to support your discussion of the way the author builds his/her argument, you will not be able to get above a 3 on the Analysis portion of the essay (and possibly the Reading portion as well, if you don't show you've read the passage). Let's take a look of an example of how you might support an interpretation of the author's effect on the reader using facts from the passage :

The author’s reference to the Biblical story about King Solomon elevates the debate about hot dogs from a petty squabble between friends to a life-or-death disagreement. The reader cannot help but see the parallels between the two situations and thus find themselves agreeing with the author on this point.

Does the author's reference to King Solomon actually "elevate the debate," causing the reader to agree with the author? From the sentences above, it certainly seems plausible that it might. While your facts do need to be correct,  you get a little more leeway with your interpretations of how the author’s persuasive techniques might affect the audience. As long as you can make a convincing argument for the effect a technique the author uses might have on the reader, you’ll be good.

Say whaaat?! #tbt by tradlands , used under CC BY 2.0 /Cropped and color-adjusted from original.

Did I just blow your mind? Read more about the secrets the SAT doesn’t want you to know in this article . 

Your Writing score on the SAT essay is not just a reflection of your grasp of the conventions of written English (although it is that as well). You'll also need to be focused, organized, and precise.

Because there's a lot of different factors that go into calculating your Writing score, I've divided the discussion of this rubric area into five separate items:

Precise Central Claim

Organization, vocab and word choice, sentence structure, grammar, etc..

One of the most basic rules of the SAT essay is that you need to express a clear opinion on the "assignment" (the prompt) . While in school (and everywhere else in life, pretty much) you’re encouraged to take into account all sides of a topic, it behooves you to NOT do this on the SAT essay. Why? Because you only have 50 minutes to read the passage, analyze the author's argument, and write the essay, there's no way you can discuss every single way in which the author builds his/her argument, every single detail of the passage, or a nuanced argument about what works and what doesn't work.

Instead, I recommend focusing your discussion on a few key ways the author is successful in persuading his/her audience of his/her claim.

Let’s go back to the assignment we've been using as an example throughout this article:

"Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his audience that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich."

Your instinct (trained from many years of schooling) might be to answer:

"There are a variety of ways in which the author builds his argument."

This is a nice, vague statement that leaves you a lot of wiggle room. If you disagree with the author, it's also a way of avoiding having to say that the author is persuasive. Don't fall into this trap! You do not necessarily have to agree with the author's claim in order to analyze how the author persuades his/her readers that the claim is true.

Here's an example of a precise central claim about the example assignment:

The author effectively builds his argument that hot dogs are not sandwiches by using logic, allusions to history and mythology, and factual evidence.

In contrast to the vague claim that "There are a variety of ways in which the author builds his argument," this thesis both specifies what the author's argument is and the ways in which he builds the argument (that you'll be discussing in the essay).

While it's extremely important to make sure your essay has a clear point of view, strong critical reasoning, and support for your position, that's not enough to get you a top score. You need to make sure that your essay  "demonstrates a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas both within paragraphs and throughout the essay."

What does this mean? Part of the way you can make sure your essay is "well organized" has to do with following standard essay construction points. Don't write your essay in one huge paragraph; instead, include an introduction (with your thesis stating your point of view), body paragraphs (one for each example, usually), and a conclusion. This structure might seem boring, but it really works to keep your essay organized, and the more clearly organized your essay is, the easier it will be for the essay grader to understand your critical reasoning.

The second part of this criteria has to do with keeping your essay focused, making sure it contains "a deliberate and highly effective progression of ideas." You can't just say "well, I have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, so I guess my essay is organized" and expect to get a 4/4 on your essay. You need to make sure that each paragraph is also organized . Recall the sample prompt:

“Write an essay in which you explain how Hodgman builds an argument to persuade his audience that the hot dog cannot, and never should be, considered a sandwich.”

And our hypothetical thesis:

Let's say that you're writing the paragraph about the author's use of logic to persuade his reader that hot dogs aren't sandwiches. You should NOT just list ways that the author is logical in support of his claim, then explain why logic in general is an effective persuasive device. While your points might all be valid, your essay would be better served by connecting each instance of logic in the passage with an explanation of how that example of logic persuades the reader to agree with the author.

Above all, it is imperative that you make your thesis (your central claim) clear in the opening paragraph of your essay - this helps the grader keep track of your argument. There's no reason you’d want to make following your reasoning more difficult for the person grading your essay (unless you’re cranky and don’t want to do well on the essay. Listen, I don’t want to tell you how to live your life).

In your essay, you should use a wide array of vocabulary (and use it correctly). An essay that scores a 4 in Writing on the grading rubric “demonstrates a consistent use of precise word choice.”

You’re allowed a few errors, even on a 4-scoring essay, so you can sometimes get away with misusing a word or two. In general, though, it’s best to stick to using words you are certain you not only know the meaning of, but also know how to use. If you’ve been studying up on vocab, make sure you practice using the words you’ve learned in sentences, and have those sentences checked by someone who is good at writing (in English), before you use those words in an SAT essay.

Creating elegant, non-awkward sentences is the thing I struggle most with under time pressure. For instance, here’s my first try at the previous sentence: “Making sure a sentence structure makes sense is the thing that I have the most problems with when I’m writing in a short amount of time” (hahaha NOPE - way too convoluted and wordy, self). As another example, take a look at these two excerpts from the hypothetical essay discussing how the author persuaded his readers that a hot dog is not a sandwich:

Score of 2: "The author makes his point by critiquing the argument against him. The author pointed out the logical fallacy of saying a hot dog was a sandwich because it was meat "sandwiched" between two breads. The author thus persuades the reader his point makes sense to be agreed with and convinces them."

The above sentences lack variety in structure (they all begin with the words "the author"), and the last sentence has serious flaws in its structure (it makes no sense).

Score of 4: "The author's rigorous examination of his opponent's position invites the reader, too, to consider this issue seriously. By laying out his reasoning, step by step, Hodgman makes it easy for the reader to follow along with his train of thought and arrive at the same destination that he has. This destination is Hodgman's claim that a hot dog is not a sandwich."

The above sentences demonstrate variety in sentence structure (they don't all begin with the same word and don't have the same underlying structure) that presumably forward the point of the essay.

In general, if you're doing well in all the other Writing areas, your sentence structures will also naturally vary. If you're really worried that your sentences are not varied enough, however, my advice for working on "demonstrating meaningful variety in sentence structure" (without ending up with terribly worded sentences) is twofold:

• Read over what you’ve written before you hand it in and change any wordings that seem awkward, clunky, or just plain incorrect.
• As you’re doing practice essays, have a friend, family member, or teacher who is good at (English) writing look over your essays and point out any issues that arise. 

This part of the Writing grade is all about the nitty gritty details of writing: grammar, punctuation, and spelling . It's rare that an essay with serious flaws in this area can score a 4/4 in Reading, Analysis, or Writing, because such persistent errors often "interfere with meaning" (that is, persistent errors make it difficult for the grader to understand what you're trying to get across).

On the other hand, if they occur in small quantities, grammar/punctuation/spelling errors are also the things that are most likely to be overlooked. If two essays are otherwise of equal quality, but one writer misspells "definitely" as "definately" and the other writer fails to explain how one of her examples supports her thesis, the first writer will receive a higher essay score. It's only when poor grammar, use of punctuation, and spelling start to make it difficult to understand your essay that the graders start penalizing you.

My advice for working on this rubric area is the same advice as for sentence structure: look over what you’ve written to double check for mistakes, and ask someone who’s good at writing to look over your practice essays and point out your errors. If you're really struggling with spelling, simply typing up your (handwritten) essay into a program like Microsoft Word and running spellcheck can alert you to problems. We've also got a great set of articles up on our blog about SAT Writing questions that may help you better understand any grammatical errors you are making.

How Do I Use The SAT Essay Grading Rubric?

Now that you understand the SAT essay rubric, how can you use it in your SAT prep? There are a couple of different ways.

Use The SAT Essay Rubric To...Shape Your Essays

Since you know what the SAT is looking for in an essay, you can now use that knowledge to guide what you write about in your essays!

A tale from my youth: when I was preparing to take the SAT for the first time, I did not really know what the essay was looking for, and assumed that since I was a good writer, I’d be fine.

Not true! The most important part of the SAT essay is using specific examples from the passage and explaining how they convince the reader of the author's point. By reading this article and realizing there's more to the essay than "being a strong writer," you’re already doing better than high school me.

Change the object in that girl’s left hand from a mirror to a textbook and you have a pretty good sketch of what my junior year of high school looked like.

Use The SAT Essay Rubric To...Grade Your Practice Essays

The SAT can’t exactly give you an answer key to the essay. Even when an example of an essay that scored a particular score is provided, that essay will probably use different examples than you did, make different arguments, maybe even argue different interpretations of the text...making it difficult to compare the two. The SAT essay rubric is the next best thing to an answer key for the essay - use it as a lens through which to view and assess your essay.

Of course, you don’t have the time to become an expert SAT essay grader - that’s not your job. You just have to apply the rubric as best as you can to your essays and work on fixing your weak areas . For the sentence structure, grammar, usage, and mechanics stuff I highly recommend asking a friend, teacher, or family member who is really good at (English) writing to take a look over your practice essays and point out the mistakes.

If you really want custom feedback on your practice essays from experienced essay graders, may I also suggest the PrepScholar test prep platform ? I manage the essay grading and so happen to know quite a bit about the essay part of this platform, which gives you both an essay grade and custom feedback for each essay you complete. Learn more about how it all works here .

What’s Next?

Are you so excited by this article that you want to read even more articles on the SAT essay? Of course you are. Don't worry, I’ve got you covered. Learn how to write an SAT essay step-by-step and read about the 6 types of SAT essay prompts .

Want to go even more in depth with the SAT essay? We have a complete list of past SAT essay prompts as well as tips and strategies for how to get a 12 on the SAT essay .

Still not satisfied? Maybe a five-day free trial of our very own PrepScholar test prep platform (which includes essay practice and feedback) is just what you need.

Trying to figure out whether the old or new SAT essay is better for you? Take a look at our article on the new SAT essay assignment to find out!

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?

Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep classes . We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more.

Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by SAT experts . If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next.

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Laura graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Music and Psychology, and earned a Master's degree in Composition from the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and GRE and loves advising students on how to excel in high school.

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5 Analytic Rubric Examples for High School

Analytic rubrics are one of the best ways to assess students. While holistic rubrics are a great way to highlight success and what students have done well, analytic rubrics are much more comprehensive. In this post, we’re going to highlight 5 analytic rubric examples for high school.

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What is an analytic rubric.

Analytic rubrics are assessment resources that assess students across specific criteria. In an analytic rubric, each section of the rubric has an independent score.

For example… in an essay, you might score the student’s ability to summarize, use vocabulary, connect ideas – etc. Each section or criteria of the rubric will have an independent score which is totalled up at the end to provide a comprehensive grade. 

With analytic rubrics, the combination of multiple criteria that determine both strengths and areas for growth creates a grade that is comprehensive and helps the student to understand where they were successful and what they might need help developing.

Let’s take a look at some of the most common advantages and disadvantages of analytic rubrics.

Advantages of Analytic Rubrics

• Comprehensive assessment
• Assessment of multiple categories/criteria
• Simple to understand

Disadvantages of Analytic Rubrics

• Can take longer to use (if online tools are not utilized)
• They also highlight areas for growth (weaknesses)

Now that we understand what an analytic rubric is, let’s take a look at 5 pre-built rubrics that can be accessed in our rubric maker . 

1. Book Report Rubric

Default Assessment Criteria: Book Summary, Critical assessment of text, presentation of ideas, use of language and conventions, word choice.

Use the Book Report Rubric Maker – Click here. 

2. Discussion Forum Rubric

Default Assessment Criteria: primary content contribution, Critical engagement, frequency, use of language and conventions, formatting and referencing.

Analytic Discussion Forum Rubric – Click here. 

3. Essay Rubric

Default Assessment Criteria: Content and clarity, thematic organization & thesis, formatting and referencing, use of language and conventions, perspective.

Use the Essay Rubric Maker – Click here. 

4. Research Paper Rubric

Perhaps one of the most important writing tasks for students who are entering post-secondary studies; a research paper is essential. Our research paper rubric is based on an analytical design that highlights the most important criteria for developing a well written paper.

Default Assessment Criteria: Content and focus, purpose integration, formatting and referencing, use of language and conventions, word choice.

Analytic Research Paper Rubric – Click here. 

5. Reading Response Rubric

One of the most common types of assignments in class – assessing a reading response could help your students to better understand  how they should be engaging with material in class.

Default Assessment Criteria: Understanding and reflection, depth of connections, use of language and conventions, word choice, formatting and referencing.

Use the Reading Response Rubric Maker – Click here. 

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