rubric for essay contest

Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the different criteria relevant to an assignment, assessment, or learning outcome and states the possible levels of achievement in a specific, clear, and objective way. Use rubrics to assess project-based student work including essays, group projects, creative endeavors, and oral presentations.

Rubrics can help instructors communicate expectations to students and assess student work fairly, consistently and efficiently. Rubrics can provide students with informative feedback on their strengths and weaknesses so that they can reflect on their performance and work on areas that need improvement.

How to Get Started

Best practices, moodle how-to guides.

• Workshop Recording (Fall 2022)
• Workshop Registration

Step 1: Analyze the assignment

The first step in the rubric creation process is to analyze the assignment or assessment for which you are creating a rubric. To do this, consider the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the assignment and your feedback? What do you want students to demonstrate through the completion of this assignment (i.e. what are the learning objectives measured by it)? Is it a summative assessment, or will students use the feedback to create an improved product?
• Does the assignment break down into different or smaller tasks? Are these tasks equally important as the main assignment?
• What would an “excellent” assignment look like? An “acceptable” assignment? One that still needs major work?
• How detailed do you want the feedback you give students to be? Do you want/need to give them a grade?

Step 2: Decide what kind of rubric you will use

Types of rubrics: holistic, analytic/descriptive, single-point

Holistic Rubric. A holistic rubric includes all the criteria (such as clarity, organization, mechanics, etc.) to be considered together and included in a single evaluation. With a holistic rubric, the rater or grader assigns a single score based on an overall judgment of the student’s work, using descriptions of each performance level to assign the score.

Advantages of holistic rubrics:

• Can p lace an emphasis on what learners can demonstrate rather than what they cannot
• Save grader time by minimizing the number of evaluations to be made for each student
• Can be used consistently across raters, provided they have all been trained

Disadvantages of holistic rubrics:

• Provide less specific feedback than analytic/descriptive rubrics
• Can be difficult to choose a score when a student’s work is at varying levels across the criteria
• Any weighting of c riteria cannot be indicated in the rubric

Analytic/Descriptive Rubric . An analytic or descriptive rubric often takes the form of a table with the criteria listed in the left column and with levels of performance listed across the top row. Each cell contains a description of what the specified criterion looks like at a given level of performance. Each of the criteria is scored individually.

Advantages of analytic rubrics:

• Provide detailed feedback on areas of strength or weakness
• Each criterion can be weighted to reflect its relative importance

Disadvantages of analytic rubrics:

• More time-consuming to create and use than a holistic rubric
• May not be used consistently across raters unless the cells are well defined
• May result in giving less personalized feedback

Single-Point Rubric . A single-point rubric is breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria, but instead of describing different levels of performance, only the “proficient” level is described. Feedback space is provided for instructors to give individualized comments to help students improve and/or show where they excelled beyond the proficiency descriptors.

Advantages of single-point rubrics:

• Easier to create than an analytic/descriptive rubric
• Perhaps more likely that students will read the descriptors
• Areas of concern and excellence are open-ended
• May removes a focus on the grade/points
• May increase student creativity in project-based assignments

Disadvantage of analytic rubrics: Requires more work for instructors writing feedback

Step 3 (Optional): Look for templates and examples.

You might Google, “Rubric for persuasive essay at the college level” and see if there are any publicly available examples to start from. Ask your colleagues if they have used a rubric for a similar assignment. Some examples are also available at the end of this article. These rubrics can be a great starting point for you, but consider steps 3, 4, and 5 below to ensure that the rubric matches your assignment description, learning objectives and expectations.

Step 4: Define the assignment criteria

Make a list of the knowledge and skills are you measuring with the assignment/assessment Refer to your stated learning objectives, the assignment instructions, past examples of student work, etc. for help.

  Helpful strategies for defining grading criteria:

• Collaborate with co-instructors, teaching assistants, and other colleagues
• Brainstorm and discuss with students
• Can they be observed and measured?
• Are they important and essential?
• Are they distinct from other criteria?
• Are they phrased in precise, unambiguous language?
• Revise the criteria as needed
• Consider whether some are more important than others, and how you will weight them.

Step 5: Design the rating scale

Most ratings scales include between 3 and 5 levels. Consider the following questions when designing your rating scale:

• Given what students are able to demonstrate in this assignment/assessment, what are the possible levels of achievement?
• How many levels would you like to include (more levels means more detailed descriptions)
• Will you use numbers and/or descriptive labels for each level of performance? (for example 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and/or Exceeds expectations, Accomplished, Proficient, Developing, Beginning, etc.)
• Don’t use too many columns, and recognize that some criteria can have more columns that others . The rubric needs to be comprehensible and organized. Pick the right amount of columns so that the criteria flow logically and naturally across levels.

Step 6: Write descriptions for each level of the rating scale

Artificial Intelligence tools like Chat GPT have proven to be useful tools for creating a rubric. You will want to engineer your prompt that you provide the AI assistant to ensure you get what you want. For example, you might provide the assignment description, the criteria you feel are important, and the number of levels of performance you want in your prompt. Use the results as a starting point, and adjust the descriptions as needed.

Building a rubric from scratch

For a single-point rubric , describe what would be considered “proficient,” i.e. B-level work, and provide that description. You might also include suggestions for students outside of the actual rubric about how they might surpass proficient-level work.

For analytic and holistic rubrics , c reate statements of expected performance at each level of the rubric.

• Consider what descriptor is appropriate for each criteria, e.g., presence vs absence, complete vs incomplete, many vs none, major vs minor, consistent vs inconsistent, always vs never. If you have an indicator described in one level, it will need to be described in each level.
• You might start with the top/exemplary level. What does it look like when a student has achieved excellence for each/every criterion? Then, look at the “bottom” level. What does it look like when a student has not achieved the learning goals in any way? Then, complete the in-between levels.
• For an analytic rubric , do this for each particular criterion of the rubric so that every cell in the table is filled. These descriptions help students understand your expectations and their performance in regard to those expectations.

Well-written descriptions:

• Describe observable and measurable behavior
• Use parallel language across the scale
• Indicate the degree to which the standards are met

Step 7: Create your rubric

Create your rubric in a table or spreadsheet in Word, Google Docs, Sheets, etc., and then transfer it by typing it into Moodle. You can also use online tools to create the rubric, but you will still have to type the criteria, indicators, levels, etc., into Moodle. Rubric creators: Rubistar , iRubric

Step 8: Pilot-test your rubric

Prior to implementing your rubric on a live course, obtain feedback from:

• Teacher assistants

Try out your new rubric on a sample of student work. After you pilot-test your rubric, analyze the results to consider its effectiveness and revise accordingly.

• Limit the rubric to a single page for reading and grading ease
• Use parallel language . Use similar language and syntax/wording from column to column. Make sure that the rubric can be easily read from left to right or vice versa.
• Use student-friendly language . Make sure the language is learning-level appropriate. If you use academic language or concepts, you will need to teach those concepts.
• Share and discuss the rubric with your students . Students should understand that the rubric is there to help them learn, reflect, and self-assess. If students use a rubric, they will understand the expectations and their relevance to learning.
• Consider scalability and reusability of rubrics. Create rubric templates that you can alter as needed for multiple assignments.
• Maximize the descriptiveness of your language. Avoid words like “good” and “excellent.” For example, instead of saying, “uses excellent sources,” you might describe what makes a resource excellent so that students will know. You might also consider reducing the reliance on quantity, such as a number of allowable misspelled words. Focus instead, for example, on how distracting any spelling errors are.

Example of an analytic rubric for a final paper

Example of a holistic rubric for a final paper, single-point rubric, more examples:.

• Single Point Rubric Template ( variation )
• Analytic Rubric Template make a copy to edit
• A Rubric for Rubrics
• Bank of Online Discussion Rubrics in different formats
• Mathematical Presentations Descriptive Rubric
• Math Proof Assessment Rubric
• Kansas State Sample Rubrics
• Design Single Point Rubric

Technology Tools: Rubrics in Moodle

• Moodle Docs: Rubrics
• Moodle Docs: Grading Guide (use for single-point rubrics)

Tools with rubrics (other than Moodle)

• Google Assignments
• Turnitin Assignments: Rubric or Grading Form

Other resources

• DePaul University (n.d.). Rubrics .
• Gonzalez, J. (2014). Know your terms: Holistic, Analytic, and Single-Point Rubrics . Cult of Pedagogy.
• Goodrich, H. (1996). Understanding rubrics . Teaching for Authentic Student Performance, 54 (4), 14-17. Retrieved from   
• Miller, A. (2012). Tame the beast: tips for designing and using rubrics.
• Ragupathi, K., Lee, A. (2020). Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education. In: Sanger, C., Gleason, N. (eds) Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.

Submission Guidelines and Judging Rubric

Find everything you need to know about the contest below!

Contest Terms and Conditions

Submission guidelines.

Submission is open to US citizens and US-based young people who are between the ages of 13 and 19 and enrolled in middle or high school on January 1, 2024. Submission must be received by 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 19, 2024. Only submissions entered through MyImpact Challenge ’s online portal will be accepted for the contest. The contest is designed for one student per entry, but groups of up to five students may submit as a single group entry. Prizes awarded to group entries will be split evenly between entrants. Past winners of the MyImpact Challenge Grand Prize, First Prize, Second Prize, or Third Prize are not eligible to enter.  

Each submission must include the following:

• At least one Civic Virtue as defined in the Bill of Rights Institute's “Principles and Virtues.”
• At least one Founding Principle as defined in the Bill of Rights Institute's “Principles and Virtues.”
• The inspiration for the project.
• The project plan.
•  Details of the project’s execution
• At least two examples of the project’s demonstrated impact on the community.
• How the student(s) grew in understanding of the role of Civic virtue, knowledge of their communities, and their ability to support or impact them.
• Photographic Only: No fewer than seven and no more than ten high-resolution still photographs, submitted in either JPEG or PNG format.
• Video Only: One video of no more than five minutes, submitted in MP4 format
• Mixed Photographic and Video: No fewer than five and no more than seven high-resolution still photographs as well as one video of no more than two minutes. Photographs must be in either JPEG or PNG format, and video must be in MP4 format.

Qualifying service projects must have taken place between May 22, 2023 and May 19, 2024. Multi-year projects started before May 22, 2023 are eligible for entry if their activity continued after May 22, 2023. Projects that are ongoing as of May 19, 2024 are eligible for entry. Projects completed before May 22, 2023 are not eligible for entry. 

Judging Rubric

Entries will be judged using the following rubric. Entrants advancing to the final round will be asked to sit for a video interview with a panel selected by the Bill of Rights Institute, who will award the final prizes based on the interview and submission packet.

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

FREE Poetry Worksheet Bundle! Perfect for National Poetry Month.

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 ..

You Might Also Like

8 Ways to Get Middle School Students to Care About Their Grades

And more importantly, learning. Continue Reading

Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

Sample Essay Rubric for Elementary Teachers

• Grading Students for Assessment
• Lesson Plans
• Becoming A Teacher
• Assessments & Tests
• Elementary Education
• Special Education
• Homeschooling
• M.S., Education, Buffalo State College
• B.S., Education, Buffalo State College

An essay rubric is a way teachers assess students' essay writing by using specific criteria to grade assignments. Essay rubrics save teachers time because all of the criteria are listed and organized into one convenient paper. If used effectively, rubrics can help improve students' writing .

How to Use an Essay Rubric

• The best way to use an essay rubric is to give the rubric to the students before they begin their writing assignment. Review each criterion with the students and give them specific examples of what you want so they will know what is expected of them.
• Next, assign students to write the essay, reminding them of the criteria and your expectations for the assignment.
• Once students complete the essay have them first score their own essay using the rubric, and then switch with a partner. (This peer-editing process is a quick and reliable way to see how well the student did on their assignment. It's also good practice to learn criticism and become a more efficient writer.)
• Once peer-editing is complete, have students hand in their essay's. Now it is your turn to evaluate the assignment according to the criteria on the rubric. Make sure to offer students examples if they did not meet the criteria listed.

Informal Essay Rubric

Formal essay rubric.

• How to Create a Rubric in 6 Steps
• Writing Rubrics
• What Is a Rubric?
• Holistic Grading (Composition)
• How to Make a Rubric for Differentiation
• A Simple Guide to Grading Elementary Students
• How to Write a Philosophy of Education for Elementary Teachers
• Tips to Cut Writing Assignment Grading Time
• Assignment Biography: Student Criteria and Rubric for Writing
• Rubrics - Quick Guide for all Content Areas
• How to Teach the Compare and Contrast Essay
• How to Calculate a Percentage and Letter Grade
• Stage a Debate in Class
• Rubric Template Samples for Teachers
• Group Project Grading Tip: Students Determine Fair Grade
• Grading for Proficiency in the World of 4.0 GPAs

Essay Rubric: Basic Guidelines and Sample Template

11 December 2023

last updated

Lectures and tutors provide specific requirements for students to meet when writing essays. Basically, an essay rubric helps tutors to analyze the quality of articles written by students. In this case, useful rubrics make the analysis process simple for lecturers as they focus on specific concepts related to the writing process. Also, an essay rubric list and organize all of the criteria into one convenient paper. In other instances, students use an essay rubric to enhance their writing skills by examining various requirements. Then, different types of essay rubrics vary from one educational level to another. For example, Master’s and Ph.D. essay rubrics focus on examining complex thesis statements and other writing mechanics. However, high school essay rubrics examine basic writing concepts. In turn, a sample template of a high school rubric in this article can help students to evaluate their papers before submitting them to their teachers.

General Aspects of an Essay Rubric

An essay rubric refers to the way how teachers assess student’s composition writing skills and abilities. Basically, an essay rubric provides specific criteria to grade assignments. In this case, teachers use essay rubrics to save time when evaluating and grading various papers. Hence, learners must use an essay rubric effectively to achieve desired goals and grades.

General Assessment Table for an Essay Rubric

1. organization.

Excellent/8 points: The essay contains stiff topic sentences and a controlled organization.

Very Good/6 points: The essay contains a logical and appropriate organization. The writer uses clear topic sentences.

Average/4 points: The essay contains a logical and appropriate organization. The writer uses clear topic sentences.

Needs Improvement/2 points: The essay has an inconsistent organization.

Unacceptable/0 points: The essay shows the absence of a planned organization.

Grade: ___ .

Excellent/8 points: The essay shows the absence of a planned organization.

Very Good/6 points: The paper contains precise and varied sentence structures and word choices. 

Average/4 points: The paper follows a limited but mostly correct sentence structure. There are different sentence structures and word choices.

Needs Improvement/2 points: The paper contains several awkward and unclear sentences. There are some problems with word choices.

Unacceptable/0 points: The writer does not contain apparent control over sentence structures and word choice.

Excellent/8 points: The content appears sophisticated and contains well-developed ideas.

Very Good/6 points: The essay content appears illustrative and balanced.

Average/4 points: The essay contains unbalanced content that requires more analysis.

Needs Improvement/2 points: The essay contains a lot of research information without analysis or commentary.

Unacceptable/0 points: The essay lacks relevant content and does not fit the thesis statement . Essay rubric rules are not followed.

Excellent/8 points: The essay contains a clearly stated and focused thesis statement.

Very Good/6 points: The written piece comprises a clearly stated argument. However, the focus would have been sharper.

Average/4 points: The thesis phrasing sounds simple and lacks complexity. The writer does not word the thesis correctly. 

Needs Improvement/2 points: The thesis statement requires a clear objective and does not fit the theme in the content of the essay.

Unacceptable/0 points: The thesis is not evident in the introduction.

Excellent/8 points: The essay is clear and focused. The work holds the reader’s attention. Besides, the relevant details and quotes enrich the thesis statement.

Very Good/6 points: The essay is mostly focused and contains a few useful details and quotes.

Average/4 points: The writer begins the work by defining the topic. However, the development of ideas appears general.

Needs Improvement/2 points: The author fails to define the topic well, or the writer focuses on several issues.

Unacceptable/0 points: The essay lacks a clear sense of a purpose or thesis statement. Readers have to make suggestions based on sketchy or missing ideas to understand the intended meaning. Essay rubric requirements are missed.

6. Sentence Fluency

Excellent/8 points: The essay has a natural flow, rhythm, and cadence. The sentences are well built and have a wide-ranging and robust structure that enhances reading.

Very Good/6 points: The ideas mostly flow and motivate a compelling reading.

Average/4 points: The text hums along with a balanced beat but tends to be more businesslike than musical. Besides, the flow of ideas tends to become more mechanical than fluid.

Needs Improvement/2 points: The essay appears irregular and hard to read.

Unacceptable/0 points: Readers have to go through the essay several times to give this paper a fair interpretive reading.

7. Conventions

Excellent/8 points: The student demonstrates proper use of standard writing conventions, like spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, usage, and paragraphing. The student uses protocols in a way that improves the readability of the essay.

Very Good/6 points: The student demonstrates proper writing conventions and uses them correctly. One can read the essay with ease, and errors are rare. Few touch-ups can make the composition ready for publishing.

Average/4 points: The writer shows reasonable control over a short range of standard writing rules. The writer handles all the conventions and enhances readability. The errors in the essay tend to distract and impair legibility.

Needs Improvement/2 points: The writer makes an effort to use various conventions, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and paragraphing. The essay contains multiple errors.

Unacceptable/0 points: The author makes repetitive errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, usage, and paragraphing. Some mistakes distract readers and make it hard to understand the concepts. Essay rubric rules are not covered.

8. Presentation

Excellent/8 points: The form and presentation of the text enhance the readability of the essay and the flow of ideas.

Very Good/6 points: The format has few mistakes and is easy to read.

Average/4 points: The writer’s message is understandable in this format.

Needs Improvement/2 points: The writer’s message is only comprehensible infrequently, and the paper appears disorganized.

Unacceptable/0 points: Readers receive a distorted message due to difficulties connecting to the presentation of the text.

Final Grade: ___ .

Grading Scheme for an Essay Rubric:

• A+ = 60+ points
• A = 55-59 points
• A- = 50-54 points
• B+ = 45-49 points
• B = 40-44 points
• B- = 35-39 points
• C+ = 30-34 points
• C = 25-29 points
• C- = 20-24 points
• D = 10-19 points
• F = less than 9 points

Basic Differences in Education Levels and Essay Rubrics

The quality of essays changes at different education levels. For instance, college students must write miscellaneous papers when compared to high school learners. In this case, an essay rubric will change for these different education levels. For example, university and college essays should have a debatable thesis statement with varying points of view. However, high school essays should have simple phrases as thesis statements. Then, other requirements in an essay rubric will be more straightforward for high school students. For master’s and Ph.D. essays, the criteria presented in an essay rubric should focus on examining the paper’s complexity. In turn, compositions for these two categories should have thesis statements that demonstrate a detailed analysis of defined topics that advance knowledge in a specific area of study.

Summing Up on an Essay Rubric

Essay rubrics help teachers, instructors, professors, and tutors to analyze the quality of essays written by students. Basically, an essay rubric makes the analysis process simple for lecturers. Essay rubrics list and organize all of the criteria into one convenient paper. In other instances, students use the essay rubrics to improve their writing skills. However, they vary from one educational level to the other. Master’s and Ph.D. essay rubrics focus on examining complex thesis statements and other writing mechanics. However, high school essay rubrics examine basic writing concepts.  The following are some of the tips that one must consider when preparing a rubric.

• contain all writing mechanics that relates to essay writing;
• cover different requirements and their relevant grades;
• follow clear and understandable statements.

To Learn More, Read Relevant Articles

How to cite a newspaper article in apa 7 with examples, how to write a "who am i" essay: free tips with examples.

• Members’ Website

American History Essay Changes

By janet westbrook posted 05-12-2023 11:31 am.

During an exciting first year of the Wright Administration, the American History Committee has looked for ways to improve the essay contests.   The biggest change is that essays will now be submitted electronically at each level beginning with the Chapter and so on all the way to National . Changes have been made to all essay contests forms and will be updated by July 1. The American History Essay Contest for grades 5 – 8 will now have a submission form as the title page, a new judging rubric, and a list of resources replacing the more formal bibliography. Completing the submission form will ensure no student will be disqualified based on the former title page. Students will also be able to submit an entry directly to a DAR chapter if their class or school is not participating. Chapters are encouraged to reach out beyond the schools to include their community libraries, YMCA, and other youth organizations. Our hope is this will increase chapter and student participation.

Related Content

American history essay and patriots of the american revolution essay contest winners.

Christy Hiatt Hiatt 07-07-2023 03:23 PM

Do we have any updates for the History Contest yet? We are a newer chapter hosting our fist contest and I'm having a hard time finding informaton, guidelines, judging criteria, etc. The pamphlet I found said to reach out to the chapter for more details so I appreciate anything that this Community can share.

Janet Calabrese 06-16-2023 07:24 AM

Hi Stephanie,

Hopefully they will be announcing all of the changes at Continental Congress. The new forms and process will not be available online until afterwards.

Stephanie Keaty 06-15-2023 08:34 PM

hi Janet - Will these changes be announced at Continental Congress? 

Janet Calabrese 06-15-2023 08:40 AM

I like the idea of being able to submit electronically. However, I am holding off on the whole rubric thing until I see what it is. Last year National used a rubric judging sheet for Good Citizens which was an absolute nightmare. My judges hated it. If the rubric for America History is anything like the one used for Good Citizens we are going to have a difficult time finding judges for either.

Karen Kreitzberger Polett 06-07-2023 08:58 AM

How will our Chapters guard against AI generated essays? 

Karen Bradley 05-13-2023 04:59 AM

This is fabulous…a wonderful change! I am a former national vice chair in charge of the contest and former national chair and know how many essays get caught for these types of things. Hopefully, this will make it simpler and will encourage more students to enter. 

1776 D Street NW Washington, D.C. 20006

• Terms and Conditions
• Request Removal from the Community

National JROTC Essay Contest

The JROTC Essay Contest is an annual competition designed to give Cadets an opportunity to assimilate lessons learned from JROTC curriculum and communicate their knowledge in writing. Participating in the essay contest exposes Cadets to a key component of 21st Century Education: writing.

School Year 2023-24 Information

The theme for this year’s essay contest is service. Criteria for the essay is explained in the OPORD and annexes. Check with your Brigade POC for suspense. Your Brigade will have a suspense earlier than the one indicated in OPORD.

• OPORD and Annexes Essay Contest SY 23-24

SY 2022-23 – Winners

Winners are listed by Brigade.

2nd BDE Cadet Liz Cedano Eastside High School

3rd BDE Cadet Grace Mouatcho Hyde Park Academy

4th BDE Cadet Scarlett Key East Surry High School

5th BDE Cadet Jake Ryan Witt Conroe High School

6th BDE Cadet Angelina Orengo William T. Dwyer High School

7th BDE Cadet Morgan Cox Concordia Lutheran High School

8th BDE Cadet Easten Jenn Leilehua High School

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Our 10th Annual Student Editorial Contest

We invite students to write opinion pieces on the issues that matter to them. Contest dates: March 15 to April 19, 2023.

By The Learning Network

Update, March 13, 2024: Our new Open Letters Contest is open for student submissions.

Update, June 22: Winners have been announced!

What makes you mad? What would you like to see change? What do you wish more people understood?

Over the last nine years, tens of thousands of teenagers from around the world have answered these questions in the form of short opinion essays submitted to our annual spring Editorial Contest.

They’ve made compelling arguments on issues big and small, from anti-Asian hate, climate change, stolen art, endangered languages, school shootings and Black Lives Matter, to snow days, video game culture, memes, and why pineapple pizza deserves more respect.

The best of them — our annual winners — not only ground their claims in strong evidence, but also engage us with voice and style.

Now we’re inviting you to do the same. Make an argument in 450 words or fewer about something that matters to you, and persuade us that we should care, too.

Take a look at the full guidelines and related resources below. And consider hanging this PDF one-page announcement on your class bulletin board. Please post any questions to the comments here, or write to us at [email protected].

Here’s what you need to know:

Contest guidelines and rules, resources for teachers and students, frequently asked questions, how to submit.

Please read these rules carefully before submitting an entry. You can find more details in the Frequently Asked Questions section below.

1. Choose a topic you care about, and make an argument that will persuade readers to care about that topic, too.

Start by choosing something you are genuinely interested in. We’ve been running student writing contests for over a decade, and one thing we know for sure is that the best writing is inspired by students’ real interests and experiences. You might start by asking yourself the three questions at the top of this post and brainstorming a few answers.

You might also think about what topics you are an authority on, no matter how small. Take some 2022 winners, for example. Maybe, like Lucas Cohen-d’Arbeloff, you’re concerned about what the “Don’t Say Gay” bill means for same-sex parents and their children . Or maybe, like Ketong Li, you feel guilty about participating in “voluntourism” and would like to see a change. Or, like Aria Capelli, you want to spread the joys of multigenerational living .

2. Your editorial must not exceed 450 words, so make sure your argument is focused enough that you can still make a strong case.

Let’s say you choose to write about college admissions. While it might be possible to write an essay for this contest that would upend the entire admissions system as we know it, 450 words are probably far too few to take on everything that’s problematic about the process. Instead, try carving out a smaller claim, the way Erin Tan did in 2020 when she focused on how changes wrought by the pandemic could impact college admissions forever. In other words, make a claim that you have room to defend so that you can focus on the logic of your argument.

(Please note: Your title and list of sources are separate and do not count as part of your 450-word limit.)

3. Research and gather evidence to bolster your argument, using at least one source published in The New York Times and at least one source from outside The Times.

At a time when breaking out of one’s “ filter bubble ” is more important than ever, we hope this contest encourages you to deepen your opinions by using multiple sources, ideally ones that offer a range of perspectives on your chosen issue. Just make sure those sources are reliable ones.

There is no limit on the number of sources you can use, but we ask that you cite at least one Times article and at least one article from outside The Times. There is a dedicated field in the submission form to cite a number of sources, because readers (and judges) should always be able to tell where you got your evidence. (You do not need to provide in-text citations.)

Please be very careful to put quotations around any direct quotes you use, and to cite the source of anything you paraphrase. If we put a sentence from your submission into a search engine, we don’t want to find it anywhere else — unless you’re clearly quoting or citing that source. We take evidence and allegations of plagiarism very seriously.

4. You can write your editorial by yourself or with a group, but please submit only one editorial per student.

Because editorial writing at newspapers is a collaborative process , you can write your entry as a team or by yourself — though, please, only one submission per student.

If you are working as a team, just remember to submit all of your names when you post your entry. And if you’re submitting as part of a team, you should not also submit as an individual.

5. We will use this rubric to judge your work, but the best way to get a feel for what we’re looking for is to read a few essays by previous winners.

We believe in using student work as mentor texts, so much so that we’ve published a book — and teacher’s guide — with 100 award-winning essays drawn from this contest.

But you don’t have to buy the book to see many examples; just skim through this column of recent winners and choose some that interest you. As you go, ask yourself: What ideas does this give me for my own work? What do I admire? What “writer’s moves” did this student use that I might try to use to make my own piece stronger?

6. We have a new required field this year about your research and writing process.

While our judges will NOT use what you write in this section to select finalists, we’d love some insight into how you decided what to write about, as well as how you researched and composed.

7. You must be a student ages 13 to 19 in middle school or high school to participate .

All students must have parent or guardian permission to enter. Please see the F.A.Q. section for additional eligibility details.

8. Your essay should be original for this contest.

It should not already be published at the time of submission, whether in a school newspaper, for another contest or anywhere else. The work should be fundamentally your own — it should not be plagiarized, written by someone else or generated by A.I.

9. The work you send in should be appropriate for a Times audience.

That is, something that could be published in a family newspaper (so, please, no curse words).

10. All entries must be submitted by April 19, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific using the submission form at the bottom of this post.

We provide a small window of time after that deadline to allow for technical difficulties. However, we will not judge late entries.

Please read through all the guidelines before submitting your editorial. If you have questions, please see the F.A.Q. section below.

Reflections From Winners of the Student Editorial Contest

Student winners of our editorial contest discuss the writing and submission process..

In like one of my daily scrolls through the New York Times, I came across this competition. I guess the rest is history. Hi, everyone, My name is Abel John. I’m going to Clements High School in Sugarland, Texas. The title of my essay is “Collar the Cat.” Hi, Eddie Xu, this piece is entitled How Pragmatism is Poisoning the Democratic Will of America’s Youth.” My name is Ananya Udaygiri. I go to Shadow Creek High School. I am the author of “How Animal Crossing Will Save Gen Z.” I’ve always been interested in politics and current events, but sometimes I see that my friends and my peers don’t necessarily have that same background, and they find it harder to enter into the discussion. And I just think that there’s not a lot of opportunities for students to do that. And this is really unique. My strategy starting was to get words on the paper, and I got a lot of words on the paper, and they were bad words, but it gives you something to start off with. I do debate. As part of that. you have to write cases, right? Those are a way that you present your arguments to the audience. And it follows the basic structure of establishing the problem, warranting out the problem, right, saying why it’s bad, and then providing a solution to it. So throughout the editorial, I kind of follow the same structure. I actually started off with. So many drafts where I filled it with, like convoluted analogies and really pretentious wording. And to me, you know, like whenever I write something, I think of it as my baby and I’m like, wow, this is so clever. I showed to my friend and they’re like, I have no idea what you’re talking about. The message is being lost. So I had to go through it multiple times and just check that the clarity was there that I was saying what I need to be said. And that was a really hard process to me and just shaving off things that were unnecessary and reshaping it so that it genuinely was supposed to be accessible. The whole process forced me to concretize all these rants and run-on sentences I had in my head into a succinct piece of writing. I think in the future, I’ll absolutely keep writing, because it’s a great way to convey what you think, like to everybody else, and just raise awareness of important things in our society. I was so convinced that I was a bad writer before this contest and now moving into this, just having that validation, I do feel more confident to explore writing careers. I’m thinking about careers in English, careers in journalism. And so it’s really opened those pathways to me that I thought were closed. This whole process has been so amazing for me. And it’s been one of the best opportunities in my life. And it’s just been such an honor to work with The New York Times.

As teachers know, the persuasive essay has long been a staple of high school education, but the Common Core standards seem to have put evidence-based argumentative writing on everybody’s agenda. You couldn’t ask for a more real-world example of the genre than the essays published in newspaper opinion sections every day, and The Times publishes a bounty of them .

Beyond that daily section, however, we have many more resources to help teachers and students plan for this contest:

An argumentative writing unit: This step-by-step unit plan includes writing prompts, lesson plans, ideas from teachers and on-demand webinars to help you teach and learn with New York Times editorials. Our video webinar “ Teaching Argumentative Writing ” walks you through how to use this resource.

Writing prompts: Our daily Student Opinion feature is a low-stakes opportunity to practice honing arguments for an audience. You can find all of our argumentative prompts here as they publish. Anyone 13 to 19 years old is welcome to post on any question past or present.

We also have two curated collections: 401 Prompts for Argumentative Writing and 300 Questions and Images to Inspire Argument Writing .

Advice from Times columnists: Watch a three-minute video on how to write an editorial from Andy Rosenthal, the former editor of the Times Opinion page.

Read an annotated editorial from Nicholas Kristof , a Times Opinion columnist, and watch this webinar in which he shares a wealth of practical writing tips.

Or participate in this on-demand classroom workshop with Mara Gay , a member of the New York Times editorial board, where she and Learning Network editors guide students through prompts designed to inspire their own argumentative pieces.

Tips from teenage writers: You can find the work of our Student Editorial Contest winners from 2017-2022 here .

To go even deeper into the writing process, read annotated essays from two winners of our 2020 contest: Ananya Udaygiri on “How Animal Crossing Will Save the World” and Abel John on “Collar the Cat!” These resources also include videos in which Ananya gives advice for choosing a topic and Abel tells us how to cite evidence effectively .

Finally, check out the video above, which has even more advice from past student winners for entering this contest.

Lesson plans and ideas from teachers: Our lesson plan “ 10 Ways to Teach Argument-Writing With The New York Times ” links to many more resources relevant to this contest, including ideas from educators who teach with it annually.

We also have a more recent roundup of ideas from 17 teachers and students for ways to use the “authentic, powerful and unafraid” essays of previous student winners as mentor texts.

A book: Our book “ Student Voice ” collects 100 of the best student essays from this contest all in one place, categorized by subjects like “Teenage Life Online,” “Gender and Sexuality” and “Sports and Gaming.” There is also a related teacher’s guide .

Our contest rubric: These are the criteria we will use to judge this contest. Keep this rubric handy to make sure your piece meets all of the qualifications before entering.

Below are answers to your questions about judging, the rules and teaching with this contest. Please read these thoroughly and, if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, post your query in the comments or write to us at [email protected].

QUESTIONS ABOUT JUDGING

How will my editorial be judged?

Your work will be read by New York Times journalists, as well as by Learning Network staff members and educators from around the United States. We will use this rubric to judge entries.

What’s the “prize”?

Having your work published on The Learning Network and being eligible to have your work published in the print New York Times.

When will the winners be announced?

About two months after the contest has closed.

My essay wasn’t selected as a winner. Can you tell me why?

We receive thousands of entries for this contest, so unfortunately, our team does not have the capacity to provide individual feedback on each student’s essay.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RULES

Who is eligible to participate in this contest?

This contest is open to students ages 13 to 19 who are in middle school or high school around the world. College students cannot submit an entry. However, high school students (including high school postgraduate students) who are taking one or more college classes can participate. Students attending their first year of a two-year CEGEP in Quebec Province can also participate. In addition, students age 19 or under who have completed high school but are taking a gap year or are otherwise not enrolled in college can participate.

The children and stepchildren of New York Times employees are not eligible to enter this contest. Nor are students who live in the same household as those employees.

Can I have someone else check my work?

We understand that students will often revise their work based on feedback from teachers and peers. That is allowed for this contest. However, be sure that the final submission reflects the ideas, voice and writing ability of the student, not someone else.

Do I need a Works Cited page?

Yes. We provide you with a separate field to list the sources you used to write your essay. You’re allowed to format your list however you want; we will not judge your entry based on formatting in this section. Internal citations are not necessary.

My essay has already been published in my school newspaper. Can I submit it to this contest?

No. We ask that your editorial be original for this contest. Please don’t submit anything you have already published at the time of submission, whether in a school newspaper, for another contest or anywhere else.

Who can I contact if I have questions about this contest or am having issues submitting my entry?

Leave a comment on this post or write to us at [email protected].

QUESTIONS ABOUT TEACHING WITH THIS CONTEST

I’m a teacher. What resources do you have to help me teach with this contest?

Here is our full unit on teaching argumentative writing . It includes writing prompts, mentor texts and lesson plans that can support this contest.

Do my students need a New York Times subscription to access these resources?

No. All of the resources on The Learning Network are free.

If your students don’t have a subscription to The New York Times, they can also get access to Times pieces through The Learning Network . All the activities for students on our site, including mentor texts and writing prompts, plus the Times articles they link to, are free. Students can search for articles using the search tool on our home page.

This contest is closed.