If you ran an assignment and every student ended up with the same total score, you're not alone. This is one of the most common issues teachers report, and it almost always comes down to the rubric not giving CoGrader enough to work with.
Here's how to figure out what's happening and how to get differentiated scores on your next run.
Check your rubric first.
CoGrader reads your rubric the same way a substitute teacher would: it follows exactly what's written. If a criterion only has one score level, CoGrader has no instructions for what a "pretty good" or "almost there" response looks like. With nothing to compare against, it defaults to giving everyone full marks on that criterion.
Multiply that across five or six criteria, and every student scores the same total, not because their writing was the same, but because the rubric didn't describe any difference.
What a flat criterion looks like:
Thesis — 10 pts — Student presents a clear thesis.
There's no guidance here for what earns 7 or 4 points. CoGrader sees one option: 10 or nothing. It almost always gives 10.
What a rubric criterion should look like:
Thesis — 10 pts — Thesis is specific, arguable, and clearly previews the essay's structure.
Thesis — 7 pts — Thesis is present and arguable but vague or doesn't fully match the essay.
Thesis — 4 pts — A claim is attempted but is too broad, too obvious, or not arguable.
Thesis — 0 pts — No thesis is present.
With four levels to choose from, CoGrader can place each student's essay where it actually belongs.
How to fix your rubric
Open the rubric in your Rubric Library and add levels to any criterion that only has one score. A few tips:
Aim for at least three levels per criterion: strong, developing, and beginning. Even two extra levels make a significant difference.
Write descriptions, not just point values. CoGrader reads the description to decide which level fits. "Good work" doesn't help it differentiate. "Cite at least two sources and explain how each one supports the argument.
You don't need to rewrite your whole rubric. Even adding a single "partially meets" level to each criterion will immediately produce more varied scores.
What about changing the grading rigor?
Some teachers switch to Strict, hoping it will force lower scores when everything is coming out too high. It won't fix a flat rubric, and with single-level criteria, it can actually make things more uniform, not less.
Think of the grading rigor as a fine-tuning dial, not a fix. It works best after you've given CoGrader a rubric with real levels to work from. A well-built rubric on Balanced will almost always outperform a flat rubric on Strict.
Quick checklist
What you're seeing | Most likely cause | What to do |
Same scores across all students | Flat rubric criteria | Add levels and descriptions to each criterion |
Scores are too high across the board | Rubric descriptions are too easy to satisfy | Tighten the descriptions; try Balanced rigor |
Scores are all over the place | Rubric descriptions are vague or inconsistent | Review and clarify each level description |
Still seeing the same scores after checking your rubric? Reach out to our support team and share the assignment name and rubric. We'll take a look with you.