Capella Student › Articles › Scoring guides
What is a Capella scoring guide, and how do you write to one?
It is the marking scheme, published to you before you start writing. A checklist or rubric mapping each competency the assessment covers, with descriptors for each level.
Read it first and structure the work around it. Nurses who struggle at Capella write the piece they would have written anyway and check the guide at the end — the same work, done in the wrong order.
Why this is unusual
Most institutions publish a rubric somewhere. Capella builds the assessment around competencies and shows you the criteria and level descriptors up front, and your work is scored against exactly those. There is little guesswork about what is wanted.
That transparency rewards a specific habit, and it is not gaming the system. It is the system.
The method, in four steps
- Open the scoring guide before the prompt. Read the criteria and the level descriptors first, so you know the target before you know the topic.
- Turn each criterion into a heading in your draft. Ugly, and it guarantees nothing is answered only implicitly.
- Write to the top descriptor, not the passing one. The gap between Proficient and Distinguished is usually depth of analysis rather than more words.
- Audit against the guide before submitting. Criterion by criterion, honestly. If one is thin, the piece is unfinished rather than merely imperfect.
Why the fourth step matters most
Scoring is competency by competency with no averaging — Capella's own wording is that a learner cannot use one strong skill to average out a weaker one. A submission that is excellent on three criteria and thin on the fourth comes back.
In a session-billed format, a returned assessment costs days inside a window you are paying for. The audit takes twenty minutes. What actually happens when work is returned.
It applies to video too
Kaltura video assessments are scored against a written scoring guide as well. You are judged on clinical reasoning, structure and evidence — not production values. Same method: read the guide, structure to it, then record.
Where do I find the scoring guide?
With the assessment in the courseroom, published before you begin. If you cannot see one for a given assessment, ask your faculty — it is a reasonable question and the answer is usually that you are looking in the wrong tab.
What is the difference between Proficient and Distinguished?
Usually depth rather than length: analysis instead of description, evidence integrated rather than cited, and implications drawn out. The descriptors themselves are the most reliable guide, and they are written for exactly this purpose.
Does GuidedPath use scoring guides too?
Yes. The scoring-guide model runs across Capella. What differs between the formats is the surrounding structure — due dates, discussion posts and instructor rhythm — rather than how a piece of work is judged.