What rubric verbs tell you
Rubric verbs such as describe, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, justify, and recommend signal the kind of intellectual action a criterion asks the learner to demonstrate. The verb is important, but it should not be interpreted by itself. Read it together with the subject, context, conditions, current assessment instructions, and the performance description attached to that criterion.
For the broader process of reading a scoring guide, start with How to Read a Capella FlexPath Scoring Guide. This page owns the narrower question: what should you look for when a criterion uses a particular action verb?
The 7 steps to interpret a rubric verb
Step 1: Isolate the action
Identify the main verb or verbs in the criterion. Do not stop at the topic noun. A criterion about leadership, patient safety, finance, or technology can ask for very different work depending on whether the action is to describe, compare, analyze, evaluate, design, justify, or recommend.
Step 2: Read the subject and object of the action
Ask what the action is being performed on. “Evaluate a strategy” is different from “evaluate two strategies for a named context.” The subject and object narrow the scope of the reasoning.
Step 3: Record the stated conditions
Look for conditions involving audience, scenario, population, organization, evidence, comparison, limitations, implementation, or another stated dimension. Record only conditions that appear in the current criterion or assessment materials; do not add a universal formula.
Step 4: Translate the verb into a reasoning cue
Use the verb to ask what kind of visible reasoning would normally demonstrate the action, then confirm that interpretation against the current criterion and performance description.
| Verb | Useful reasoning cue | Check in the current criterion |
|---|---|---|
| Describe | State relevant characteristics, features, events, or context clearly. | What specifically must be described, and how much context is required? |
| Analyze | Examine relationships, causes, patterns, components, or implications. | Which relationships or dimensions does this criterion actually ask you to examine? |
| Compare | Identify meaningful similarities and differences using a relevant basis of comparison. | What items are being compared, and does the criterion specify dimensions or criteria? |
| Evaluate | Make a supported judgment using relevant criteria, evidence, strengths, limitations, or trade-offs. | What is being judged, and what standard or context should inform that judgment? |
| Synthesize | Connect information or evidence across sources or ideas to produce an integrated conclusion. | What evidence must be integrated, and what question or claim should the synthesis resolve? |
| Justify | Explain why a choice, claim, or decision is reasonable using relevant support. | What decision or claim requires justification, and what evidence or context is relevant? |
| Recommend | Propose an action that follows logically from the preceding analysis or evidence. | Who should act, what constraints apply, and what reasoning should support the recommendation? |
Step 5: Match evidence to the claim, not to the verb alone
A verb does not create one universal source rule. Evidence needs depend on the current claim, subject, assessment instructions, and disciplinary context. Use the criterion evidence map when the main problem is tracking what evidence supports each criterion.
Step 6: Read the criterion with the assessment instructions
The scoring guide and assessment description work together. If the task specifies an audience, scenario, deliverable, template, source rule, presentation format, or another constraint, interpret the verb within that context. The assessment-instructions guide provides the focused method for separating those task-specific elements.
Step 7: Verify the action in the draft
After drafting, locate the sentences, paragraphs, slides, calculations, tables, or other elements that demonstrate the requested action. If the criterion asks for analysis but the section only states background facts, the revision problem is to make the relationships or implications visible. If the work already exists and needs a broader criterion-by-criterion review, use Editing and Revision.
How rubric verbs relate to performance descriptions
The verb identifies an important part of the task, while the performance description can add criterion-specific quality conditions. To compare Proficient and Distinguished wording, use Distinguished vs. Proficient in FlexPath Rubrics. After that difference is understood, Write Toward Distinguished Criteria Without Overclaiming focuses on applying the added condition accurately to the draft.
Do not assume that one verb always carries the same evidence quantity, paragraph length, heading structure, or performance outcome. The current scoring-guide wording controls the requirement.
Common interpretation mistakes
- Reading only the verb: the subject, conditions, and performance description may materially change the task.
- Using a universal formula: verbs are reasoning cues, not a substitute for the current criterion.
- Adding evidence rules that are not stated: evidence should fit the claim and task rather than an assumed source count.
- Confusing description with analysis: background can support analysis, but the relationships, causes, implications, or other requested reasoning still need to be visible.
- Writing a recommendation before the reasoning: a recommendation is stronger when the preceding analysis shows why that action follows.
- Ignoring ambiguity: if the instructions and scoring guide appear materially inconsistent, check current course resources or seek official clarification instead of inventing a rule.
Frequently asked questions
Does “discuss” have one fixed meaning?
No. “Discuss” is broad. Read the full criterion and performance description to determine whether the current task calls for explanation, comparison, analysis, evaluation, or another form of reasoning.
Can one section perform more than one action?
Yes, when the actions are genuinely connected and each required element remains visible. A criterion that asks for analysis and recommendation, for example, may be addressed in one coherent section if both actions can be clearly located.
What if the instructions and scoring guide use different verbs?
Read them together in context. If the difference would materially change the submitted work and current course resources do not resolve it, seek official clarification.
Should I copy the rubric verb into a heading?
Not automatically. A heading can help traceability, but the best structure depends on the current deliverable, audience, and communication requirements.
Sources used to verify this guidance
- Capella: Using the Scoring Guide
- Capella University: FlexPath learning format
- Capella University policies
For the full service-level planning path, return to Assessment and Rubric Support.