simple critical thinking rubric

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Critical Thinking Rubrics

2021 research-based critical thinking rubrics.

We're pleased to share these research-based Critical Thinking rubrics created in collaboration with the National Center for Improvement of Educational Assessment (Center for Assessment) , based on a comprehensive review of the literature about Critical Thinking. 

• 2021 Critical Thinking Rubric: Grades K-2
• 2021 Critical Thinking Rubric: Grades 3-5
• 2021 Critical Thinking Rubric: Grades 6-12

These research-based rubrics are designed to provide useful, formative information that teachers can use to guide instruction and provide feedback to students on their overall performance. Students can also use the rubrics to reflect on their own learning. 

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• critical thinking rubric

Critical Thinking Rubric

This rubric is designed to evaluate the extent to which undergraduate students evaluate claims, arguments, evidence, and hypotheses.

Results will be used for program improvement purposes only.

Download the Critical Thinking Rubric (PDF version)

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Critical Thinking Rubric

Critical thinking.

The VALUE rubrics were developed by teams of faculty experts representing colleges and universities across the United States through a process that examined many existing campus rubrics and related documents for each learning outcome and incorporated additional feedback from faculty. The rubrics articulate fundamental criteria for each learning outcome, with performance descriptors demonstrating progressively more sophisticated levels of attainment. The rubrics are intended for institutional-level use in evaluating and discussing student learning, not for grading. The core expectations articulated in all 15 of the VALUE rubrics can and should be translated into the language of individual campuses, disciplines, and even courses. The utility of the VALUE rubrics is to position learning at all undergraduate levels within a basic framework of expectations such that evidence of learning can by shared nationally through a common dialog and understanding of student success.

Critical thinking is a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.

Framing Language

This rubric is designed to be transdisciplinary, reflecting the recognition that success in all disciplines requires habits of inquiry and analysis that share common attributes. Further, research suggests that successful critical thinkers from all disciplines increasingly need to be able to apply those habits in various and changing situations encountered in all walks of life.

This rubric is designed for use with many different types of assignments and the suggestions here are not an exhaustive list of possibilities. Critical thinking can be demonstrated in assignments that require students to complete analyses of text, data, or issues. Assignments that cut across presentation mode might be especially useful in some fields. If insight into the process components of critical thinking (e.g., how information sources were evaluated regardless of whether they were included in the product) is important, assignments focused on student reflection might be especially illuminating.

The definitions that follow were developed to clarify terms and concepts used in this rubric only.

Ambiguity : Information that may be interpreted in more than one way.

Assumptions : Ideas, conditions, or beliefs (often implicit or unstated) that are “taken for granted or accepted as true without proof.” (quoted from www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/assumptions )

Context : The historical, ethical. political, cultural, environmental, or circumstantial settings or conditions that influence and complicate the consideration of any issues, ideas, artifacts, and events.

Literal meaning : Interpretation of information exactly as stated. For example, “she was green with envy” would be interpreted to mean that her skin was green.

Metaphor : Information that is (intended to be) interpreted in a non-literal way. For example, “she was green with envy” is intended to convey an intensity of emotion, not a skin colour.

The rubric below is available for you to use as is or to mix and match with criteria from other VALUE rubrics or your own. Follow these steps to make the rubric your own:

• Click on the link , which brings you to an online Google Sheet.
• Under File , download a copy in the format of your choice.

Fact, Fiction, and Finding Your Way Copyright © 2018 by Peggy French is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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T2I Critical Thinking Rubric

Critical Thinking is disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, systematic, and informed by evidence (EO 1.2).

Framing Language

The culture of higher education includes the pursuit of truth, for the sake of conveying truth to the world. In the pursuit of truth students encounter various understandings and points of view. Therefore, CT is required for students’ development through understanding, evaluating, deciding, and graciously communicating ideas and conclusions.

The goal of Montreat College’s T2I is to develop the critical thinking skills of our students so that they can graciously impact the world around them. To assess the effectiveness of T2I the following rubric is utilized. The T2I rubric addresses the skills of problem solving and learning, creative thinking, and communication of multifaceted ideas, as each are skill based components of critical thinking.

Problem solving and learning include the ability to separate relevant and irrelevant information, to integrate multiple sources of information to solve problems and to learn and apply new information to solve real-world problems. Creative thinking involves identifying or deriving alternative interpretations for data or observations, recognizing new information that might support or contradict a hypothesis, and explaining how new information can change one’s understanding and ability to address a problem. Communication of multifaceted ideas includes the ability to communicate ideas graciously so engagement with the world can be done effectively and precisely.

Work samples to be assessed include, but are not limited to, student reflections, discussion board posts, and course presentations.

• Clear: Expressing ideas in a straight-forward and simple manner.
• Rational: Thought that clearly demonstrates cognitive reasoning to come to a logical conclusion.
• Open-minded: A genuine critical openness to the ideas and beliefs of others (EO 2.4).
• Systematic: Organized thought that follows a logical plan to investigate or explain an idea.
• Evidence: Quantitative and qualitative information that is supported by direct observation and empirical sources.

Evaluators are encouraged to assign a zero to any work sample or collection that does not meet benchmark (cell one) level performance.

This rubric was created using the Association of American Colleges and Universities Critical Thinking VALUE Rubric. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/value-rubrics

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