Test graders will use a rubric to judge the quality of your writing for assessment. By using the following rubric to judge your own writing, you can become aware of what testers are looking for and can improve your scores in the future.
Use the following rubric to score an explanatory essay for assessment.
Student: | Date: |
Assess with a rubric.
Use the following rubric to score an explanatory essay for assessment.
Score | Focus | Organization | Evidence | Language | Conventions |
4 | A consistent and purposeful focus and a strong controlling idea make the writing very informative: • is focused, clear, and well supported • places the controlling idea in a solid context | An effective beginning, middle, and ending create completeness and unity: • strongly connects ideas using transitions • presents ideas in a logical progression throughout • connects to the reader in the beginning and achieves the purpose by the ending | Thorough support for the controlling idea includes a variety of details from various sources: • has complete, relevant, and well integrated support, giving credit to sources • elaborates ideas effectively | Precise language makes the writing clear and effective: • has appropriate vocabulary for the subject, audience, and purpose | A strong command of conventions makes the writing polished and clear: • uses words well and forms sentences correctly • has correct punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar |
3 | An adequate, general focus with a controlling idea makes the writing informative: • is mostly maintained, but with some loosely related material • provides adequate context for the controlling idea | A beginning, a middle, and an ending exist, making the writing complete, though some material may be loosely related: • connects ideas with some transitions • progresses through ideas • adequately introduces ideas in the beginning, and adequately sums them up in the ending | Support for the controlling idea includes details from different sources: • uses some support from sources, with general or imprecise credit • elaborates on some ideas | Some precise and some general language adequately communicates • has generally appropriate vocabulary for the subject, audience, and purpose | Adequate command of conventions makes the writing solid: • has occasional usage or sentence errors, but they do not disrupt meaning • has adequate punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar |
Score | Focus | Organization | Evidence | Language | Conventions |
2 | A somewhat focused controlling idea is supported, with minor divergence from the topic: • receives some support, but not enough • may be somewhat unclear or unfocused | An inconsistent structure and obvious flaws make the writing uneven: • has inconsistent transitions • progresses unevenly through ideas from beginning to ending • has a weak beginning or ending | Support for the controlling idea is uneven, needing more details from different sources: • has little support from sources, with unclear or missing credit • elaborates on few ideas | Simplistic vocabulary unevenly expresses ideas: • has vocabulary that is sometimes inappropriate for the subject, audience, and purpose | Uneven use of conventions makes the writing somewhat difficult to read: • has frequent usage and sentence errors, which can obscure meaning • does not consistently use punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar |
1 | Little or no focus makes the writing uninformative: • might be brief • might have major divergence from the topic • might be confusing or ambiguous in focus | Little or no structure exists, making the writing incomplete or confused: • uses few transitions • has off-topic ideas | Few or no details from sources support the controlling idea: • includes little or no support from source material, with no credit • does not elaborate on ideas | Vague, unclear vocabulary creates confusion: • has limited vocabulary that does not connect to subject, audience, or purpose | Incorrect conventions make the writing difficult to read: • makes many errors, which often obscure meaning |
0 | A category receives no credit when performance falls below the level indicated in row 1. | ||||