Introduction to Soil Science

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The SDG Rubric is a tool that enables publishers and other educational stakeholders to evaluate, improve, and align textbooks and educational materials with the UN Sustainable Development Goals throughout the revision process.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the SDG Rubric is: a tool to evaluate how well textbooks and related materials cover UN SDGs.
• Primary goal: identify areas for improvement and better alignment with SDGs from the beginning of the revision process.
• Who can use it: designed for publishers, but also useful for educators, researchers, authors, students, and school leadership.
• Common confusion: the rubric is not only for publishers—multiple stakeholders can benefit from completing and analyzing it.
• How it helps: provides keywords for each SDG to ensure adequate coverage and identify gaps in content.

🛠️ What the SDG Rubric does

📋 Core function

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Rubric: a tool that can be used to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials.

• It is an evaluation instrument, not just a checklist.
• The rubric helps identify areas that can be more inclusive of and better aligned with SDGs.
• The process begins from the start of the revision process, not as an afterthought.

🔑 Keywords feature

• The rubric lists keywords under each SDG.
• These keywords offer a way to ensure adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts.
• They apply to curricula and other educational materials, not just textbooks.

📚 How publishers use the rubric

✏️ Revision and accuracy

• Publishers can integrate the SDG Rubric into the textbook revision process.
• The tool helps identify and update inaccurate information relating to SDGs.
• Example: A publisher reviewing a science textbook can use the rubric to spot outdated climate data or missing sustainability concepts.

📊 Coverage assessment

• The keywords under each SDG help publishers check whether they have adequate coverage.
• This ensures SDG-related concepts are present in curricula and educational materials.
• Don't confuse: "adequate coverage" means both quantity (presence of topics) and quality (accuracy and relevance).

👥 How other stakeholders use the rubric

🔬 Researchers

• Researchers can use the results to identify SDG-related topics that lack adequate research.
• They can embark on research topics related to keywords and concepts found in the rubric.
• Example: If the rubric reveals gaps in clean water education materials, researchers might focus on that SDG area.

✍️ Authors

• Authors can use the results to replace outdated references, examples, and other content.
• The replacement content should be relevant SDG-related material.
• This keeps textbooks current and aligned with sustainability goals.

👩‍🏫 Educators

Educator action	What the rubric enables	Purpose
Encourage publishers	Use results to push for more SDG content	Increase SDG-related content in textbooks
Identify gaps	Find missing SDG-related content	Refresh curricula and evaluate author expertise
Ensure relevance	Check if content is relevant and engaging to students	Improve student connection to SDGs

🏫 School leadership

• School leadership can use the tool to identify professional development opportunities.
• They can evaluate school-wide initiatives and district-wide curricula.
• The rubric provides a framework for assessing how well the entire institution addresses SDGs.

🎓 How students use the rubric

🎒 Undergraduate students

• Undergraduate students can use the results to empower themselves.
• The rubric helps them gain necessary knowledge and skills related to environmental sustainability.
• It enables them to connect different issues and topics relating to the SDGs.
• Example: A student might use rubric results to see how their economics course connects to poverty reduction (an SDG).

🎓 Graduate students

• Graduate students can use the results to identify what is most urgently needed in sustainability discourse.
• The rubric helps them:
  • Stay motivated
  • Take initiative to initiate change (for both curricular and extracurricular content)
  • Pursue cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability
• Don't confuse: graduate students use the rubric not just to learn, but to drive change and identify research priorities.

🌐 Design and accessibility

🎯 Intended vs actual users

• The tool was designed for publishers as the primary audience.
• However, other educational stakeholders could also benefit from completing the rubric and analyzing the results.
• This broader applicability makes it a flexible tool across the education ecosystem.

🔄 Process emphasis

• The excerpt emphasizes "completing the rubric and analyzing the results" as a process.
• It is not just about the final score, but about the insights gained during evaluation.
• The goal is to identify areas for improvement from the beginning of the revision process, suggesting an iterative approach.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The SDG Rubric enables publishers, educators, researchers, and students to systematically evaluate and improve how textbooks and curricula cover the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the rubric is: a tool to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials, designed to identify areas for better alignment from the start of the revision process.
• Core function for publishers and educators: keywords listed under each SDG help ensure adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts in curricula and educational materials.
• Who can use it: publishers, educators, researchers, authors, school leadership, and undergraduate/graduate students—each stakeholder group has distinct applications.
• Common confusion: the rubric is not only for publishers; other educational stakeholders can also complete it and analyze results to benefit their work.
• Why it matters: it helps identify outdated or missing content, guides research priorities, informs professional development, and empowers students with sustainability knowledge.

📚 What the SDG Rubric is and its purpose

📚 Definition and goal

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Rubric: a tool that can be used to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials.

• The rubric's goal is to identify areas that can be more inclusive of and better aligned with SDGs from the beginning of the revision process.
• It is designed primarily for publishers but is useful for other educational stakeholders as well.
• The process involves completing the rubric and analyzing the results to find gaps or misalignments.

🔑 Keywords as a coverage mechanism

• The rubric lists keywords under each SDG.
• These keywords offer publishers and educators a way to ensure they have adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts in curricula and other educational materials.
• Example: if a keyword related to a specific SDG is missing from a textbook, the rubric flags that gap so it can be addressed during revision.

🏢 How publishers and authors use the rubric

🏢 Publishers: integrating into revision

• Publishers can integrate the SDG Rubric into the textbook revision process to identify and update inaccurate information relating to SDGs.
• The rubric helps spot outdated or incorrect content early, so corrections can be made before publication.

✍️ Authors: replacing outdated content

• Authors can use the results to replace outdated references, examples, and other content with relevant SDG-related content.
• This ensures that the material stays current and aligned with sustainability goals.
• Example: an author might find that an old case study no longer reflects current SDG priorities and replace it with a more relevant example.

🎓 How educators and school leadership use the rubric

🎓 Educators: encouraging publishers and identifying gaps

• Educators can use the results to encourage publishers to increase the amount of SDG-related content in their textbooks.
• They can also identify gaps in SDG-related content that is relevant and engaging to students, which helps them refresh curricula and evaluate author expertise.
• Example: an educator notices that a textbook lacks coverage of a particular SDG keyword and requests that the publisher add more material on that topic.

🏫 School leadership: professional development and curricula evaluation

• School leadership can use the tool to identify professional development opportunities and evaluate school-wide initiatives and district-wide curricula.
• The rubric helps leaders see where teachers or programs need more training or resources related to SDGs.
• Example: a district finds that its curricula lack adequate coverage of environmental sustainability and organizes professional development workshops for teachers.

🔬 How researchers and students use the rubric

🔬 Researchers: identifying research gaps

• Researchers can use the results to identify SDG-related topics that lack adequate research and embark on research topics related to keywords and concepts.
• The rubric highlights areas where more scholarly work is needed to support educational content.

🎒 Undergraduate students: empowerment and knowledge

• Undergraduate students can use the results to empower themselves with the necessary knowledge and skills related to environmental sustainability and to connect different issues and topics relating to the SDGs.
• The rubric helps students see how various topics link to broader sustainability goals.

🎓 Graduate students: urgency and interdisciplinary approaches

• Graduate students can use the results to identify what is most urgently needed when it comes to learning for the sustainability discourse.
• They can stay motivated, take the initiative to initiate change (for both curricular and extracurricular content), and pursue cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability.
• Don't confuse: graduate students are not just passive learners; the rubric helps them actively shape curricula and research agendas.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The SDG Rubric helps researchers discover under-researched SDG topics by analyzing keyword coverage gaps in educational materials, enabling them to launch new research aligned with those concepts.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the SDG Rubric is: a tool to evaluate how well textbooks and related materials cover the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Core purpose: identify areas that can be more inclusive of and better aligned with SDGs from the beginning of the revision process.
• How researchers use it: analyze rubric results to find SDG-related topics that lack adequate research, then start research on those keywords and concepts.
• Common confusion: the rubric was designed for publishers, but other educational stakeholders (researchers, educators, students, school leadership) can also benefit from completing and analyzing it.
• Broader applications: nine different stakeholder groups can use the rubric results for distinct purposes, from updating textbooks to guiding curricula and professional development.

🔍 What the SDG Rubric is and does

🔍 Definition and goal

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Rubric is a tool that can be used to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials.

• It is not just a checklist; it is designed to identify areas for improvement in SDG alignment.
• The goal is to make materials more inclusive of SDGs from the beginning of the revision process, not as an afterthought.
• Example: An organization evaluating a textbook can use the rubric to spot missing SDG concepts before finalizing the revision.

🔑 Keywords as coverage indicators

• The rubric lists keywords under each SDG.
• These keywords help stakeholders ensure adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts in curricula and educational materials.
• Don't confuse: keywords are not just search terms—they represent the concepts that should be present in the materials.

🔬 How researchers use the rubric

🔬 Identifying research gaps

• Researchers analyze the results of applying the rubric to educational materials.
• The results reveal SDG-related topics that lack adequate research.
• This gap analysis guides researchers to embark on research topics related to keywords and concepts that are underrepresented.
• Example: If the rubric shows that textbooks rarely mention a specific SDG keyword, researchers can investigate why and develop new studies on that topic.

🧩 Connection to keywords and concepts

• The rubric's keyword lists serve as a map of what should be researched.
• Researchers use these keywords to frame new research questions and topics.
• This approach ensures research aligns with the SDG framework and addresses real gaps in knowledge.

🌐 Who else uses the rubric and how

📚 Publishers and authors

Stakeholder	How they use the rubric
Publishers	Integrate the rubric into textbook revision to identify and update inaccurate SDG information
Authors	Use results to replace outdated references, examples, and content with relevant SDG-related content

• Publishers use it to ensure accuracy and relevance during revision.
• Authors use it to refresh their materials with current SDG content.

🎓 Educators and school leadership

Stakeholder	How they use the rubric
Educators	Encourage publishers to increase SDG content; identify gaps in relevant, engaging content; refresh curricula; evaluate author expertise
School leadership	Identify professional development opportunities; evaluate school-wide initiatives and district-wide curricula

• Educators can push for better textbooks and improve their own teaching materials.
• School leadership uses the tool for strategic planning and staff development.

🎒 Students

Stakeholder	How they use the rubric
Undergraduate students	Empower themselves with knowledge and skills related to environmental sustainability; connect different issues and topics relating to SDGs
Graduate students	Identify what is most urgently needed for sustainability discourse; stay motivated; take initiative for curricular and extracurricular change; pursue cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches

• Undergraduate students use it for self-education and making connections across topics.
• Graduate students use it to guide their own learning priorities and advocate for change in their programs.
• Don't confuse: students are not just passive recipients—they can actively use the rubric to shape their education and drive change.

🧷 Design and flexibility

🧷 Designed for publishers, useful for all

• The rubric was designed for publishers, but the excerpt emphasizes that other educational stakeholders could also benefit.
• The process of completing the rubric and analyzing the results is valuable across different roles.
• Example: A researcher, an educator, and a school administrator can all complete the same rubric and extract different insights relevant to their work.

🔄 Integration into revision and planning

• The rubric is meant to be integrated from the beginning of the revision process, not applied at the end.
• This early integration helps ensure SDG alignment is built in, not added on.
• The action list (nine tips) shows how different stakeholders can incorporate the rubric into their workflows.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The SDG Rubric is a tool that helps various educational stakeholders—publishers, educators, researchers, students, and school leaders—identify gaps in SDG coverage and improve textbook content alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the SDG Rubric is: a tool to evaluate how well textbooks and related materials cover UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Primary purpose: to identify areas for improvement and better SDG alignment from the beginning of the revision process.
• Who can use it: designed for publishers, but also useful for educators, researchers, authors, students, and school leadership.
• Common confusion: the tool is not only for publishers—other educational stakeholders can benefit from completing the rubric and analyzing results.
• How it helps: provides keywords for each SDG to ensure adequate coverage, identifies gaps, and guides updates to curricula and materials.

📚 What the SDG Rubric does

📖 Core function

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Rubric: a tool that can be used to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials.

• The rubric assesses how much and how well SDG-related content appears in educational materials.
• It is meant to be used early: "from the beginning of the revision process."
• The goal is to make materials "more inclusive of and better aligned with SDGs."

🔑 Keywords as a guide

• The rubric lists keywords under each SDG.
• These keywords help publishers and educators check whether they have "adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts in curricula and other educational materials."
• Example: if a textbook lacks terms associated with a particular SDG, that signals a gap.

🏢 How publishers and authors use the rubric

🔄 Integrating into revision

• Publishers can integrate the SDG Rubric into the textbook revision process to "identify and update inaccurate information relating to SDGs."
• This means checking existing content for errors or outdated facts about sustainability and related topics.

✍️ Updating content

• Authors can use the results to "replace outdated references, examples, and other content with relevant SDG-related content."
• The rubric highlights what needs refreshing, so authors know where to focus updates.

👩‍🏫 How educators use the rubric

📢 Encouraging publishers

• Educators can use the results to "encourage publishers to increase the amount of SDG-related content in their textbooks."
• This is the action described in the current title: educators act as advocates for more SDG coverage based on rubric findings.

🔍 Identifying gaps

• Educators can also "identify gaps in SDG-related content that is relevant and engaging to students."
• They use these findings to "refresh curricula and evaluate author expertise."
• Example: if a curriculum lacks engaging material on climate action, educators can request updates or seek new authors with stronger expertise.

🔬 How researchers and students use the rubric

🧪 Research opportunities

• Researchers can use the results to "identify SDG-related topics that lack adequate research."
• They can then "embark on research topics related to keywords and concepts" that the rubric highlights as underrepresented.

🎓 Undergraduate empowerment

• Undergraduate students can use the results to "empower themselves with the necessary knowledge and skills related to environmental sustainability."
• The rubric helps them "connect different issues and topics relating to the SDGs."

🎓 Graduate student focus

• Graduate students can use the results to identify "what is most urgently needed when it comes to learning for the sustainability discourse."
• They can stay motivated, take initiative for curricular and extracurricular change, and pursue "cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability."

🏫 How school leadership uses the rubric

🛠️ Professional development and evaluation

• School leadership can use the tool to "identify professional development opportunities."
• They can also "evaluate school-wide initiatives and district-wide curricula."
• Example: if the rubric reveals weak coverage of certain SDGs across a district, leadership can organize training or revise district standards.

Stakeholder	Primary use	Outcome
Publishers	Integrate into revision process	Identify and update inaccurate SDG information
Authors	Replace outdated content	Refresh references and examples with SDG-related material
Educators	Encourage publishers; identify gaps	Increase SDG content; refresh curricula
Researchers	Identify research gaps	Launch new studies on underrepresented SDG topics
Undergraduate students	Empower with knowledge	Connect SDG issues and build sustainability skills
Graduate students	Identify urgent learning needs	Drive curricular change and interdisciplinary approaches
School leadership	Evaluate initiatives and curricula	Plan professional development and district-wide improvements

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The SDG Rubric enables educators to pinpoint missing or weak SDG-related content in textbooks, helping them update curricula and assess whether authors have sufficient expertise in sustainability topics.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the SDG Rubric is: a tool to evaluate how well textbooks and related materials cover the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Core purpose: identify areas for improvement and better alignment with SDGs early in the revision process.
• Educator-specific use (action 6): find gaps in SDG content that would be relevant and engaging to students, refresh curricula, and evaluate author expertise.
• Common confusion: the rubric is not only for publishers—educators, researchers, students, and school leadership can all use it for different purposes.
• How it works: keywords listed under each SDG help ensure adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts.

🎯 What the SDG Rubric does

📚 Purpose and design

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Rubric: a tool that can be used to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials.

• The rubric was designed primarily for publishers but is useful for other educational stakeholders.
• Its goal is to identify areas that can be more inclusive of and better aligned with SDGs from the beginning of the revision process.
• It helps spot inaccurate, outdated, or missing information related to the SDGs.

🔑 How keywords support coverage

• Each SDG in the rubric includes a list of keywords.
• These keywords offer a way to ensure adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts in curricula and educational materials.
• Example: If a keyword appears rarely or not at all, that signals a potential gap.

👩‍🏫 How educators use the rubric (action 6)

🕳️ Identifying content gaps

• Educators can use the rubric results to identify gaps in SDG-related content.
• The focus is on content that is both relevant and engaging to students.
• This helps educators decide what to add or update when refreshing curricula.

🧑‍💼 Evaluating author expertise

• The rubric also allows educators to assess author expertise.
• If an author's material shows weak or missing coverage of key SDG concepts, that may indicate limited expertise in sustainability topics.
• Don't confuse: evaluating expertise is not about judging the author personally—it's about ensuring the material meets educational needs for SDG literacy.

🔄 Refreshing curricula

• Educators use the results to refresh curricula: update outdated content, add missing topics, and improve alignment with SDGs.
• This is distinct from action 5 (encouraging publishers to increase SDG content)—action 6 focuses on educators' own curriculum decisions and author evaluation.

🌐 Broader stakeholder actions

📖 Publishers (actions 1–2)

Action	What it involves
Integrate into revision	Use the rubric to identify and update inaccurate SDG information during textbook revision
Ensure coverage	Use keywords to check that curricula and materials have adequate SDG-related concepts

🔬 Researchers and authors (actions 3–4)

• Researchers: use results to identify SDG topics that lack adequate research and embark on new research related to keywords and concepts.
• Authors: use results to replace outdated references, examples, and other content with relevant SDG-related content.

🏫 School leadership (action 7)

• Use the tool to identify professional development opportunities for staff.
• Evaluate school-wide initiatives and district-wide curricula for SDG alignment.

🎓 Students (actions 8–9)

• Undergraduate students: empower themselves with knowledge and skills related to environmental sustainability; connect different issues and topics relating to the SDGs.
• Graduate students: identify what is most urgently needed for sustainability discourse; stay motivated; take initiative for curricular and extracurricular change; pursue cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability.

🔍 Key distinctions

🆚 Action 5 vs action 6

• Action 5 (not the focus): educators use results to encourage publishers to increase SDG content in textbooks.
• Action 6 (the focus): educators identify gaps themselves to refresh their own curricula and evaluate author expertise.
• Don't confuse: action 5 is about influencing publishers; action 6 is about educators' direct curriculum work.

🆚 Designed for publishers, useful for all

• The rubric was designed for publishers, but the excerpt emphasizes that other educational stakeholders could also benefit.
• Each stakeholder group uses the rubric differently: publishers for revision, educators for curriculum refresh, researchers for research gaps, students for self-empowerment, etc.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

School leaders can apply the SDG Rubric to pinpoint professional development needs and assess both school-wide and district-wide programs for alignment with sustainability goals.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the tool is: the SDG Rubric evaluates how well textbooks and materials cover UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Who can use it: designed for publishers, but also useful for school leadership, educators, researchers, authors, and students.
• School leadership's specific use: identifying professional development opportunities and evaluating initiatives and curricula at school and district levels.
• Common confusion: the rubric is not only for publishers—educational stakeholders at multiple levels can benefit from completing and analyzing it.
• Broader purpose: to improve inclusiveness and alignment with SDGs from the start of the revision process.

🎯 What the SDG Rubric is and why it exists

🎯 Definition and purpose

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Rubric: a tool that can be used to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials.

• The rubric helps identify areas that can be more inclusive of and better aligned with SDGs.
• It is meant to be used from the beginning of the revision process, not as an afterthought.
• Example: An organization revising a science textbook can use the rubric early to spot missing SDG topics before finalizing content.

🔑 Keywords as a coverage guide

• Each SDG in the rubric includes a list of keywords.
• These keywords help publishers and educators ensure adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts in curricula and materials.
• Don't confuse: keywords are not just search terms—they represent core concepts that should appear in educational content.

🏫 How school leadership uses the rubric

🏫 Identifying professional development opportunities

• School leaders can analyze rubric results to see which SDG-related topics staff need training on.
• Example: If the rubric shows weak coverage of climate action concepts, leadership might arrange workshops on environmental sustainability for teachers.

📋 Evaluating school-wide and district-wide programs

• The tool allows leaders to assess school-wide initiatives and district-wide curricula for SDG alignment.
• This evaluation can reveal gaps in how sustainability goals are integrated across programs.
• Example: A district curriculum review might use the rubric to check whether all grade levels address SDG themes consistently.

🌐 How other stakeholders use the same tool

📚 Publishers and authors

Stakeholder	How they use the rubric	Outcome
Publishers	Integrate into textbook revision to identify and update inaccurate SDG information	More accurate, SDG-aligned materials
Authors	Replace outdated references, examples, and content with relevant SDG-related content	Fresher, more relevant textbooks

👩‍🏫 Educators

• Encouraging publishers: Educators can use results to push publishers to increase SDG-related content in textbooks.
• Identifying gaps: They can spot missing SDG content that is relevant and engaging to students, then refresh curricula and evaluate author expertise.
• Don't confuse: educators use the rubric both to improve their own materials and to advocate for better published materials.

🔬 Researchers

• Researchers can use the results to identify SDG-related topics that lack adequate research.
• They can then embark on research projects related to the keywords and concepts highlighted by the rubric.
• Example: If the rubric reveals little research on sustainable cities, a researcher might focus new studies on urban sustainability.

🎓 Students (undergraduate and graduate)

🎓 Undergraduate students

• Use results to empower themselves with necessary knowledge and skills related to environmental sustainability.
• Connect different issues and topics relating to the SDGs.
• Example: A student notices the rubric highlights water scarcity; they seek out courses or projects linking water, health, and agriculture SDGs.

🎓 Graduate students

• Identify what is most urgently needed for learning in the sustainability discourse.
• Stay motivated and take initiative to initiate change for both curricular and extracurricular content.
• Pursue cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability.
• Don't confuse: graduate students use the rubric not just to learn, but to drive change in educational content and research priorities.

🔄 Design and accessibility of the tool

🔄 Designed for publishers, useful for all

• The excerpt states: "While the tool was designed for publishers, other educational stakeholders could also benefit from the process of completing the rubric and analyzing the results."
• This means the rubric's structure and keywords are flexible enough for multiple user types.
• Example: A school district, a university researcher, and a textbook author can all complete the same rubric and extract different insights relevant to their roles.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The SDG Rubric enables undergraduate students to build environmental sustainability knowledge and see connections across different SDG-related issues and topics.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the SDG Rubric is: a tool to evaluate how well textbooks and related materials cover the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Core purpose: identify areas for better SDG alignment and inclusivity from the start of the revision process.
• Who can use it: designed for publishers, but also useful for educators, researchers, authors, school leadership, and students.
• Common confusion: the rubric is not only for publishers—multiple educational stakeholders can benefit from completing and analyzing it.
• Student empowerment: undergraduate students specifically use results to gain sustainability knowledge and connect different SDG topics.

🎯 What the SDG Rubric does

🔍 Purpose and design

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Rubric is a tool that can be used to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials.

• The goal is to identify areas that can be more inclusive of and better aligned with SDGs.
• This identification happens from the beginning of the revision process, not as an afterthought.
• The rubric was designed primarily for publishers but is applicable to other educational stakeholders.

🗝️ Keywords as a coverage guide

• The rubric lists keywords under each SDG.
• These keywords help publishers and educators ensure adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts in curricula and educational materials.
• Example: if a textbook lacks terms associated with a particular SDG, the rubric flags that gap.

👥 How different stakeholders use the rubric

📚 Publishers and authors

Stakeholder	Action	Outcome
Publishers	Integrate rubric into textbook revision	Identify and update inaccurate SDG information
Authors	Use results to replace outdated content	Replace old references/examples with relevant SDG-related content

• Publishers can catch inaccuracies early in the revision cycle.
• Authors can refresh their materials with current SDG examples and references.

🔬 Researchers

• Researchers use the results to identify SDG-related topics that lack adequate research.
• They can then embark on research projects related to the keywords and concepts highlighted by the rubric.
• This helps direct scholarly attention to underexplored areas.

🏫 Educators and school leadership

• Educators can use results to encourage publishers to increase SDG-related content in textbooks.
• Educators also identify gaps in SDG-related content that is relevant and engaging to students, which helps refresh curricula and evaluate author expertise.
• School leadership uses the tool to identify professional development opportunities and evaluate school-wide initiatives and district-wide curricula.
• Don't confuse: educators use the rubric both to push for better materials and to assess what they already have.

🎓 Student empowerment through the rubric

🌱 Undergraduate students

• Undergraduate students use the results to empower themselves with necessary knowledge and skills related to environmental sustainability.
• They also use it to connect different issues and topics relating to the SDGs.
• This means students are not passive recipients—they actively engage with rubric findings to build their own understanding.
• Example: an undergraduate might notice that their textbook lacks coverage of clean water (SDG 6) and seek out additional resources to fill that gap.

🎯 Graduate students

• Graduate students use the results to identify what is most urgently needed in sustainability learning discourse.
• They stay motivated and take initiative to initiate change for both curricular and extracurricular content.
• They also pursue cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability.
• The rubric helps graduate students see where their own research or advocacy can have the most impact.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Graduate students can apply the SDG Rubric results to pinpoint the most urgent learning priorities for sustainability discourse, maintain motivation, drive curricular and extracurricular change, and advance cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the SDG Rubric is: a tool to evaluate how well textbooks and educational materials cover the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Graduate students' unique use: identifying what is "most urgently needed" in sustainability learning, not just gaps in content.
• Four application areas: learning priorities for sustainability discourse, staying motivated, initiating change in both curricular and extracurricular content, and developing cross-curricular/interdisciplinary approaches.
• Common confusion: the rubric is not only for publishers—multiple stakeholders (researchers, educators, students at different levels, school leadership) can use it for different purposes.
• How it differs from undergraduate use: undergraduates focus on empowering themselves with knowledge and connecting issues; graduate students focus on identifying urgent needs and driving systemic change.

🔍 The SDG Rubric tool

🔍 What the rubric evaluates

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Rubric is a tool that can be used to evaluate coverage of UN SDGs in textbooks and related materials.

• It assesses how comprehensively educational materials address the UN SDGs.
• The rubric includes keywords listed under each SDG to help ensure adequate coverage of SDG-related concepts.
• The goal is to identify areas for improvement and better alignment with SDGs from the beginning of the revision process.

🎯 Who can use it

The excerpt emphasizes that while the tool was designed for publishers, other educational stakeholders can also benefit:

Stakeholder	Primary use
Publishers	Integrate into revision process; identify and update inaccurate SDG information
Educators	Encourage more SDG content; identify gaps; refresh curricula
Researchers	Identify topics lacking adequate research; embark on new research
Authors	Replace outdated references and examples with relevant SDG content
School leadership	Identify professional development opportunities; evaluate school-wide and district-wide initiatives
Undergraduate students	Empower themselves with sustainability knowledge; connect different SDG issues
Graduate students	Identify urgent learning needs; drive change; develop interdisciplinary approaches

🎓 Graduate students' four application areas

📚 Identifying urgent learning priorities for sustainability discourse

• Graduate students use the results to determine "what is most urgently needed when it comes to learning for the sustainability discourse."
• This goes beyond simply noting what is missing—it involves prioritizing which gaps are most critical to address.
• Example: If the rubric reveals minimal coverage of climate adaptation strategies, a graduate student might identify this as an urgent learning priority for their field.

💪 Staying motivated

• The rubric results help graduate students maintain motivation in their sustainability work.
• The excerpt does not specify the mechanism, but implies that identifying clear, urgent needs provides direction and purpose.
• Don't confuse: this is about personal motivation, not motivating others (though that may be a secondary effect).

🚀 Taking initiative to initiate change

• Graduate students can use the results to drive change in both curricular and extracurricular content.
• The phrase "taking the initiative to initiative change" (likely a typo for "initiate change") emphasizes proactive action.
• Curricular content: formal courses, syllabi, required readings.
• Extracurricular content: workshops, student organizations, informal learning opportunities.
• Example: A graduate student might propose a new seminar series to address an SDG topic that the rubric shows is underrepresented in their program.

🔗 Developing cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches

• Graduate students use the results to advance "cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches to environmental sustainability."
• Cross-curricular: integrating sustainability themes across different courses or subjects.
• Interdisciplinary: bringing together multiple academic disciplines to address sustainability challenges.
• The rubric can reveal where connections between disciplines are weak or missing.
• Example: If the rubric shows that engineering materials lack social equity content (SDG 10), a graduate student might advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration between engineering and social science departments.

🔄 How graduate student use differs from other stakeholders

🎓 Comparison with undergraduate students

The excerpt explicitly contrasts undergraduate and graduate student uses:

Student level	Focus
Undergraduate	Empower themselves with necessary knowledge and skills; connect different issues and topics relating to SDGs
Graduate	Identify what is most urgently needed; stay motivated; take initiative to initiate change; develop cross-curricular and interdisciplinary approaches

• Undergraduates are building foundational knowledge and making connections.
• Graduate students are analyzing priorities, driving systemic change, and creating new interdisciplinary frameworks.
• Don't confuse: both levels use the rubric for learning, but graduate students are expected to take a more active, change-oriented role.

🏫 Comparison with educators and leadership

• Educators use the rubric to identify gaps and encourage publishers to add more SDG content.
• School leadership uses it to evaluate initiatives and identify professional development needs.
• Graduate students focus on their own learning priorities and on initiating change themselves, rather than evaluating others' work or making institutional decisions.
• Graduate students occupy a middle ground: they are still learners but are also positioned to drive change in their educational environments.