Rubricering

Rubricering is the process of applying rubrics—structured scoring guides or labeling schemes—to content, tasks, or items in order to classify, index, or evaluate them. The term is used in several professional domains, most commonly in education, but also in libraries, archives, and information management. In its educational use, rubricering involves the design and application of rubrics that describe expected performance and assign scores or categorizations accordingly.

In education, there are two main types of rubrics: analytic rubrics, which break down the task into separate criteria with individual scoring, and holistic rubrics, which assess the overall quality of the work. Development typically starts with clear learning objectives, followed by defining criteria and performance levels, writing descriptive descriptors for each level, and piloting and calibrating the rubric to ensure consistency among evaluators. Rubricering supports transparency, feedback, and reliability in assessment, and it can be used for assignments, performances, and self- or peer-assessment. Potential challenges include the time required to create and refine rubrics, the need for training to ensure consistent use, and the risk of over-constraining students or focusing on form over understanding.

Beyond education, rubricering can refer to indexing and classification activities in libraries and archives, where items are tagged or categorized using controlled vocabularies or subject headings to improve retrievability. Historically, rubrication (a related term in manuscript studies) referred to the practice of adding red headings or initials to texts to guide readers.

Overall, rubricering aims to make evaluation, organization, and retrieval more explicit, systematic, and comparable.