QUIZZES AND TESTS · ENHANCE

Grade a New Quiz essay against your outcomes

One rubric built from your outcomes. You rate each outcome and write a comment under it, so the student sees where they landed on each one. About ten minutes the first time.

1 · Build the rubric ↓2 · Put it on the quiz ↓3 · Grade the essay ↓More than 6 points? ↓Something didn't work ↓

A New Quiz can't put a rubric on one question. The rubric goes on the whole quiz. You click a rating for each outcome, then type the essay's points yourself. Checked in our Canvas on 9 Oct 2026.

Before you start: make the essay question worth the rubric's total. In the pictures, three English outcomes scored like the AP argument essay add up to 6. Yours can add up to anything; see Need a different total?

1 BUILD THE RUBRIC from your outcomes

1Rubrics → Create New Rubric. Name it, then click Create From Outcome. Pick an outcome, leave Use this criterion for scoring ticked, and click Import.

Find Outcome window with the Thesis Statement outcome selected and the Import button

2Do the same for each outcome, then click Create Rubric. The total at the top right should match the essay's points.

Rubric builder showing three outcome criteria and 6 points possible

Canvas guide with pictures →

2 PUT IT ON THE QUIZ it hides at the bottom of Edit

1Assignments → click the three dots next to the quiz → Edit. Scroll to the very bottom, then click Find Rubric.

Bottom of the quiz Edit page showing the Rubric section with Create Rubric and Find Rubric

2Pick your course in the list, choose the rubric, then click Add. The list can take a few seconds to fill. It saves by itself and shows Rubric added to assignment. You can do this even after students have taken the quiz.

Find Rubric panel with the course selected and the rubric chosen, Add button at the bottom

Canvas guide with pictures →

3 GRADE THE ESSAY in SpeedGrader

1In SpeedGrader, open Rubric & Feedback and set View Mode to Vertical. Click a rating for each outcome, type a comment under it, then click Submit Assessment.

2Type the rubric total into the essay's points box, then click Update. The rubric does not fill the score for you. Here, 1 + 2 + 0 = 3 out of 6.

SpeedGrader with the student essay on the left, the essay points box set to 3, and the Evidence outcome rated Approaching on the right

Canvas guide with pictures →

NEED A DIFFERENT TOTAL? 6 is just our example

The essay can be worth any number of points: 12, 20, 50, 100. Pick whichever of these fits how you grade.

Use outcomes worth more

Your outcomes set the rubric total. Outcomes rated 0–10 or 0–25 give you a 30- or 75-point rubric, with no math. Your department sets the points on department outcomes; you set them on outcomes you make in your own course.

Multiply

Make the essay worth 30 and multiply the rubric total by 5, so 3 of 6 becomes 15 of 30. You type the essay's points anyway, and the outcome ratings don't change.

Add your own criteria

Draft New Criterion sits next to Create From Outcome. Add something like "Conventions — 10 pts" and the total grows with it. Only the outcome criteria show up in the Learning Mastery Gradebook.

Score it like the AP exam

Rate 0–6 the way AP readers do, then enter the grade from your department's conversion chart (for example, 6 = 100). Students see the same scale they'll meet in May.

The lock next to an outcome criterion means you can't change its points inside the rubric. They come from the outcome itself. Change the outcome, or use one of the other three.

GOOD TO KNOW

The number in the box is the level, not the points

In the picture, Evidence's box says 1 but it is worth 2 pts. Read the pts at the bottom right of the rating you picked.

Don't remove the rubric after grading

Unlinking the rubric from the quiz erases every rating, every comment and the outcome results. If you need a change, Teams me first.

Where the outcome results show up

Turn it on once: Settings → Feature Options → Learning Mastery Gradebook. Then Grades → Gradebook ▾ → Learning Mastery shows a column for each outcome. Canvas guide

Sharing it with your department

Send the quiz to a colleague and the rubric goes with it: Send a colleague an assignment, with its rubric.

Why not align the outcomes to the essay question instead? · 1 minute

You can align outcomes to a question in Build, but then the question's points decide the rating. With three outcomes on one essay, all three get the same rating. Only the rubric lets a student be strong on thesis and still working on evidence.

SOMETHING DIDN'T WORK

I can't find the Rubric section	It is the last thing on the quiz's Edit page, below Assign Access. Scroll all the way down.
The Find Rubric list is empty	Wait a few seconds, then choose your course in the drop-down at the top of the panel.
My outcome isn't in Create From Outcome	Add it to the course first: Outcomes → Find. If it still isn't there, Teams me.
The quiz still says it needs grading	The rubric doesn't fill the score. Type the essay's points and click Update.

Canvas questions? Teams Jason Beyer · Device, login or Wi-Fi? HelpDesk · 303.269.8080 · HelpDesk@regisjesuit.com
LAST VERIFIED 9 Oct 2026 · Jason Beyer · Educational Technology · Regis Jesuit High School