Used for the "Writing to Speculate" (Picture Prompt) and Persuasive Writing Items
| Inadequate Command | Limited Command | Partial Command | Adequate Command | Strong Command | Superior Command | |
Score: |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Content and Organization | May lack opening and/ or closing | May lack opening and/ or closing | May lack opening and/ or closing | Generally has opening and/or closing | Opening and closing | Opening and closing |
| Minimal response to topic; uncertain focus | Attempts to
focus
May drift or shift focus |
Usually has single focus | Single focus | Single focus
Sense of unity and coherence Key ideas developed |
Single,
distinct focus
Unified and coherent Well- developed |
|
| No planning evident; disorganized | Attempts
organization
Few, if any, transitions between ideas |
Some lapses
or flaws in organization
May lack some transitions between ideas |
Ideas loosely
connected
Transitions evident |
Logical
progression of ideas
Moderately fluent Attempts compositional risks |
Logical
progression of ideas
Fluent, cohesive Compositional risks successful |
|
| Details random, inappropriate, or barely apparent | Details lack
elaboration,
i. e., highlight paper |
Repetitious
details
Several unelaborated details |
Uneven development of details | Details appropriate and varied | Details effective, vivid, explicit, and/ or pertinent | |
| Usage | No apparent
control
Severe/ numerous errors |
Numerous errors | Errors/ patterns of errors may be evident | Some errors that do not interfere with meaning | Few errors | Very few, if any, errors |
| Sentence Construction | Assortment of incomplete and/ or incorrect sentences | Excessive
monotony/ same structure
Numerous errors |
Little
variety in syntax
Some errors |
Some variety
Generally correct |
Variety in
syntax appropriate and effective
Few errors |
Precision
and/or sophistication
Very few, if any, errors |
| Mechanics | Errors so severe they detract from meaning | Numerous serious errors | Patterns of errors evident | No consistent
pattern of errors
Some errors that do not interfere with meaning |
Few errors | Very few, if any, errors |
| Non-Scorable Responses | NR | No Response | Student wrote too little to allow a reliable judgment of his/her writing. |
| OT | Off Topic/Off Task | Student did not write on the assigned topic/ task, or the student attempted to copy the prompt. | |
| NE | Not English | Student wrote in a language other than English. | |
| WF | Wrong Format | Student refused to write on the topic, or the writing task folder was blank. |