How we check our rubrics

1. We start from the publisher’s current document

For each rubric we find the document the test publisher uses today: a state education agency’s scoring guide, a consortium’s scoring rubric, or the exam program’s published scoring guidelines. We don’t start from copies shared on teacher sites or from older editions. If we can’t open the current document, the page stays a draft and isn’t published.

The page links to that document and records its version, such as the school year or the edition date printed on it, so you can open it next to ours.

2. We compare the structure exactly

These parts must match the official document before a page is published:

• the name of every criterion or trait, and how many there are;
• the points for each criterion, and the total (which must equal the sum of the criteria);
• every score level, from highest to lowest, in the official order;
• short official level labels, where the publisher uses them (we never invent level names);
• responses that receive no score, such as blank, copied or off-topic answers, listed separately and not as a 0;
• scoring notes, such as a score that the test doubles or a trait that is scored only under certain conditions.

“Checked against [document] on [date]” on a page is the day we last made this comparison. If we re-check and nothing has changed, the date moves and the content stays the same.

3. We label the wording honestly

Some publishers allow their rubric text to be copied; others don’t. Each page carries one of three labels:

Official wording

The descriptors are the publisher’s own words. We use this only when the publisher clearly allows reuse.

Adapted from the official rubric

The wording stays close to the official text, with small edits, such as splitting long descriptors into bullet points. Each edit is listed on the page.

Official structure, our wording

The criteria, points and score levels match the official rubric exactly. The descriptors are written in our own words and say the same thing in meaning. Use the link to the official document when you need the exact wording, for example to quote it to students or in a scoring meeting.

We never call our own wording “official”.

4. We list every difference

Under “What differs from the official version”, each page lists every change we made, such as moving non-scorable conditions out of the score levels or writing descriptors as bullet points. If the list is empty, the structure matches the document.

5. How AI is used

We use AI to help draft the explanations, the teacher tools and the fictional sample responses on each page. Those drafts are checked against the official document before the page is published, and the rubric itself is copied from the document’s structure, not generated. Sample responses are always labeled as fictional and are not official anchor papers.

6. When a test changes

States change their tests and rubrics. When that happens we update the page and its checked date, add a note about the change (for example, Texas is replacing STAAR with a new assessment from 2027–28), or retire the page and point it to the rubric that replaced it.

7. The grader uses the same rubric

The rubric on each page is the same one the EasyClass grader scores with when you choose “Grade essays with this rubric”. You review every score before anything goes back to a student.

Spotted a difference?

Email support@easyclass.ai with the page and what you found. We check it against the official document and fix the page if we got it wrong. Browse all rubrics.