SDG Rubric
for Improving Textbooks and Related Materials
We developed the SDG Rubric (SDGR) as a tool to evaluate textbooks and related educational materials for their coverage of the UN SDGS. The rubric gives you the ability to identify specific areas that can be more inclusive of, and better aligned with, SDGs from the beginning of the revision process to its final destination in the hands of learners.
Not only for textbooks
The SDG Rubric is an essential tool to evaluate coverage of the UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials. However, the SDG Rubric is also an excellent tool for many stakeholders from across education. Educators, researchers, authors, school leadership and students can also benefit from the process of completing the rubric and analyzing the results.
SDG Rubric Top Action Tips
Learn how you can use the SDG Rubric to bring SDGs into any educational context.
Using the SDG Rubric for Textbooks
First, make sure to download the rubric.
Before you begin to complete the SDGR, you need to identify instances from the textbook that refer to key terms related to the SDGs. We have identified several SDG key terms in the Key Terms column for each SDG. During this step, you are looking for instances where the key terms are used inaccurately or given insufficient context based on their definition/association with the SDGs. You will record these instances in the "Evidence" section for each SDG, which I will explain in more detail shortly.
The rubric itself is organized by the 17 SDGs. Within each of the 17 SDGs is the corresponding list of targets for the goal, keywords associated with the goal, and four major evaluation criteria. The criteria are directly tied to the indicators associated with each SDG. The four criteria are the same across all 17 SDGs and focus on key term usage, relevant and current scholarship, diverse examples of sustainable practices for individuals, groups, and regions, and finally relevant examples that engage students.
As the reviewer uses the rubric to evaluate one chapter in the textbook they are planning to revise, they will add Evidence and a tentative Improvement Plan for each area for improvement they identify. Evidence can be in the form of a written explanation, screenshot, or another form that clearly identifies the issue. It is up to the reviewer how general or specific they want or need to be in the Improvement Plan.
Once areas for improvement identified using the rubric have been analyzed, discussed, and revised, the SDG focus of the textbook and related materials will act as a market differentiator for the publisher.
The SDGR is designed to help evaluators identify areas for improvement in any textbook. While there may be more explicit opportunities to address SDGs in, say, an Environmental Science textbook, this rubric will help identify key opportunities to address SDGs in other textbooks as well, such as Information Technology (IT) or Art. No matter the discipline, instructors and students gravitate toward educational resources that represent their needs and values, such as the need for a sustainable future.