The Rubric Agent is a conversational way to build and edit rubrics in CoGrader. Instead of starting from a blank form, you describe your assignment in plain language, and the agent drafts a full rubric for you. From there, you keep chatting to refine it: make the descriptors more rigorous, add a criterion, translate it, align it to standards, or import an existing rubric as a starting point.
Nothing you do is destructive. You can roll back to any earlier version of the rubric at any time, and your chat history stays intact.
This article walks through every way to create or import a rubric that fits your assignment.
Open Rubrics & Answer Keys
From your dashboard, click the menu icon in the bottom-left corner.
Select Rubrics & Answer Keys from the menu.
Select the Rubric
Click Create Rubric.
The Create Rubric panel opens on the right. You will see three things:
Continue where you left off, with your most recent rubric drafts, so you can pick up where you stopped.
Choose a starting point, with four options: Import file, Library, Common criteria, and State standards.
A chat box at the bottom: Describe your assignment to generate a rubric.
The fastest way: describe your assignment
The quickest path is to type what you are grading into the chat box and send it. Be as plain or as specific as you like, for example Informative essay with text evidence for 7th grade ELA.
The agent drafts a complete rubric in the editor on the left, with your criteria laid out across performance levels (Advanced, Proficient, Developing, Beginning) and a written descriptor in every cell.
After it generates, the agent suggests quick next steps you can click, such as Make it more rigorous, Make it student-friendly, Add a [criterion], and Save this rubric.
Refine your rubric by chatting
You do not have to settle for the first draft. Keep the conversation going and the agent updates the rubric live. A few things you can ask for:
Make the descriptors more rigorous
Add a criterion for creativity
Make it more student-friendly
Simplify the language
Translate it to Spanish
Align it to 7th grade Common Core standards
For example, asking the agent to translate rewrites the whole rubric into the language you choose while keeping the structure intact.
You can mix chatting with hand edits at any time (see Edit by hand below). Use whichever is faster for the change you need.
Choose a starting point
If you would rather seed the rubric from something specific, use one of the four starting points instead of, or before, describing your assignment.
Import file
Already have a rubric as a PDF, DOC, or image? Upload it and the agent uses it as the starting point.
Click Import file
Choose From device, Google Drive, or Camera, or drag and drop your file
Review and edit the imported rubric, then keep refining by chat if you like
Click Save rubric
Refer to this link for more information on importing rubrics.
Tip: Keep your file under 8,000 words and 20 MB for the best results.
Library
Start from a ready-made rubric.
Click Library
Choose CoGrader library for our pre-made rubrics, or My library for rubrics you have already created
Pick one as your starting point, then refine it by chat or by hand
Click Save rubric
Common criteria
Build from a checklist of common criteria rather than describing the assignment from scratch.
Click Common criteria
Search or browse the list (for example, ELA: Writing includes Thesis Statement, Topic Sentences, Paragraph Structure, Transitions, and more)
Select the criteria you want
The agent builds them into a full rubric, which you can then refine
State standards
Align your rubric to learning standards.
Click State standards
Choose the State, then narrow by Grade Level and Subject
Select the specific standards students should meet
Click Submit
Review and refine, then save
Edit by hand
The rubric editor on the left is always editable, so you can fine-tune anything the agent produces without chatting.
Update the Name at the top
Switch between Fixed levels and Variable levels depending on how you want points handled
Click Add criterion to add a row, or use the trash icons to remove a criterion or a level column
Click any cell to rewrite a descriptor or change points
Hand edits and chat edits work together, so use whichever is quicker for each change.
Roll back to an earlier version
Every step the agent takes is saved as a snapshot, so you can always go back. Click the history icon on any message in the chat to restore the rubric to that point.
A confirmation appears: restoring brings the rubric back to that snapshot and may discard changes made after it, including unsaved editor edits. Your chat history stays intact, so you do not lose the conversation.
After you confirm, you will see a short "Rolled back" confirmation, and the rubric returns to that version.
Save your rubric
When the rubric looks right, click Save rubric in the top right.
It is saved to your Rubric Library, where you can use it in new assignments or edit it again at any time.