High School RubricsComposing Rubric
Score Point 4
The writer demonstrates consistent, though not necessarily
perfect, control of the composing domain's features. The piece is generally
unified in that all of the parts contribute to the creation of a dominant
impression or idea. The sharply focused central idea is fully, but not
exhaustively, elaborated with key examples, illustrations, reasons, events,
or details. In all successful responses, layers of elaboration are present.
Surface signals, like transitions, logically connect their respective
statements into the whole of the paper. In all types of writing, a strong
organizational plan is apparent. Any minor organizational lapses that
occur do not significantly detract from the presentation. The writing
provides evidence of unity by exhibiting a consistent point of view (e.g.,
not switching from "I" to "you"), a lack of digressions,
appropriate transitions both within paragraphs and across the entire piece,
the presence of careful logic, and a strong lead and closure.
Score Point 3The writer demonstrates reasonable, but not consistent,
control of the composing domain's features; the writer may control some
features more than others. The clearly focused central idea is purposefully
elaborated with key examples, illustrations, reasons, events, or details.
Occasionally, some thinness or unevenness in elaboration may occur. In
all types of writing, an organizational plan is apparent. Any minor organizational
lapses that occur do not significantly detract from the piece. Although
there may be occasional lapses in coherence or cohesiveness, unity is
evidenced by the fact that few, if any, digressions or shifts in point
of view occur. Transitions are, on the whole, appropriate. The opening
and closing show some skill, but not the sophistication of a 4 performance.
Score Point 2The writer demonstrates inconsistent control of several
features, indicating significant weakness in the composing domain. At
this score point, ideas often compete, or no one idea emerges as central.
Even if a single idea dominates, the paper may lack focus because of little
or no elaboration. The paper may be a list of general, underdeveloped
statements or the skeleton of a narrative. In the case of persuasive writing,
it may consist of a few unelaborated reasons accompanied by inappropriate
attempts (begging, pleading, negotiating) to persuade. Typically, the
writer extends ideas with a few brief details and moves on, though chunks
of irrelevant material may appear as well. Often, no more than a hint
of organization is apparent. Even though an opening and closing may be
present, the lack of a logically elaborated central idea prevents unity
from emerging.
Score Point 1
The writer demonstrates little or no control of most of
the composing domain's features. The focus on a central idea is lacking,
or the piece is so sparse that the presence of a clear focus is insufficient
for it to earn a higher score. Typically, the writing jumps from point
to point, without a unifying central idea. No overall organizational strategy
is apparent. The writing seems haphazard, and sentences can be rearranged
without substantially changing the meaning. Bare statement is the norm,
but even in responses that are several pages long, no purposeful elaboration
is present.
Written Expression Rubric
Score Point 4
The writer demonstrates consistent, though not necessarily
perfect, control of the written expression domain's features. The result
is a purposefully crafted message that the reader remembers, primarily
because its precise information and vocabulary resonate as images in the
reader's mind. Highly specific word choice and information also create
a purposeful tone in the writing and enhance the writer's voice. If metaphors,
similes, personification, or other examples of figurative language are
present, they are appropriate to the purpose of the piece. The writer
repeats or varies sentence construction for effect and appropriately subordinates
ideas and embeds modifiers on a regular basis, resulting in a rhythmic
flow throughout the piece.
Score Point 3The writer demonstrates reasonable, but not consistent,
control of the written expression domain's features. On the whole, specific
word choice and information cause the message to be clear; occasionally,
a few examples of vivid or purposeful figurative language may be present.
Along with instances of successful control, some general statements or
vague words may be present, flattening the tone and voice of the piece
somewhat. Overall, the writing is characterized by a smooth rhythm created
by the effective use of normal word order and competent variation in sentence
length and complexity. An occasional awkward construction or the lack
of structural complexity is not distracting.
Score Point 2The writer demonstrates inconsistent control of several
features, indicating significant weakness in the written expression domain.
Some specificity of word choice might exist, but generally the piece is
written in imprecise, bland language. As a result, the writer's voice
rarely emerges. The selection of information may be uneven and/or consist
of an attempt to tell everything that the writer knows about a topic.
A relative lack of sentence variety may make reading monotonous, and occasional
awkward constructions may be distracting enough to make the writer's meaning
unclear. While a few brief rhythmic clusters of sentences may occur, an
overall sense of rhythmic flow is not present.
Score Point 1The writer demonstrates little or no control of most of
the written expression domain's features. Both word choice and information
are general, vague, and/or repetitive. A lack of sentence variety makes
the presentation monotonous. The existence of several extremely awkward
constructions reduces the paper's stylistic effect. The writer's lack
of control of vocabulary and information prevents both tone and voice
from emerging.
Usage/Mechanics Rubric
Score Point 4
The writer demonstrates consistent, though not necessarily
perfect, control of the domain's features of usage/mechanics. The writing
demonstrates a thorough understanding of usage and mechanics as specified
in the Virginia K-11 SOL. The author uses capitalization, punctuation,
usage, and sentence formation and applies the structural principles of
spelling. A few errors in usage and mechanics may be present. However,
the writer's control of the domain's many features is too strong for these
mistakes to detract from the performance.
Score Point 3The writer demonstrates reasonable, but not consistent,
control of most of the domain's features of usage/mechanics. The writing
demonstrates a basic understanding of usage and mechanics as specified
in the Virginia K-11 SOL. For the most part, the author appropriately
applies both the rules of capitalization, punctuation, usage, and sentence
formation and the structural principles of spelling expected of high school
students. Most of the errors contained in the piece are not elementary
ones.
Score Point 2
The writer demonstrates inconsistent control of several
features, indicating significant weakness in the domain of usage/mechanics.
Evidence of the author's knowledge of features of this domain appears
alongside frequent errors. In terms of both usage and mechanics, the writer
inconsistently applies the rules of capitalization, punctuation, usage,
spelling, and sentence formation as specified in the Virginia K-11 SOL.
Often, these papers exhibit a lack of control of tense consistency, meaningful
punctuation, and the principles of spelling, thus making it difficult
for the reader to follow the writer's thought. The density of errors that
emerges across features outweighs the feature control present in the paper.
Score Point 1The writer demonstrates little or no control of most of
the domain's features of usage/mechanics. Frequent and severe errors in
the Virginia K-11 usage and mechanics SOL distract the reader and make
the writing very hard to understand. Even when meaning is not significantly
affected, the density and variety of errors overwhelm the performance
and keep it from meeting minimum standards of competence.
Sentence Formation, Usage, and Mechanics Skills
Listed below are skills in the areas of sentence formation,
usage, and mechanics (capitalization, punctuation, formatting, and spelling)
which may be addressed on both the multiple choice and the direct writing
components of the secondary English writing test. This list is not intended
to be exhaustive but to provide examples of the skills which may be addressed
on the secondary English writing test.
Standard Sentence Formation
Use complete sentences
Avoid comma splices
Avoid used sentences (run-ons)
Avoid dangling modifiers
Usage
Correct use of the following:
subject-verb agreement
pronoun case
pronoun reference
pronoun antecedent agreement
adjective comparisons
adverb comparisons
adverbs instead of adjectives where appropriate
verb tense inflections such as -ed or use
of helping verbs
possessives (singular and plural)
plural inflections (-s, -es, irregular forms)
negatives ( includes avoidance of double
negatives)
frequently confused words (e.g., accept/except)
active/passive voice
Maintain consistent point of view (In direct writing,
a shift in the writer's point of view is scored in composing; a shift
in person such as the shift in the following sentence: "School is
important to student; you have to do well to get a good job." is
considered a usage error.)
Maintain tense consistency
Avoid common usage problems (e.g., lie/lay; less/fewer)
Avoid faulty parallelism
Mechanics
Punctuation
Correct use of the following:
colons
commas in dates, series, addresses
commas around interrupters (including but
not limited to appositives)
commas and semicolons in sentence types
punctuation of dialogue
commas with certain clauses
apostrophes in contractions and possessives
quotation marks around dialogue and titles
italics or underlining as appropriate
letter parts
Capitalization
Correct capitalization of the following:
proper nouns and adjectives
academic subjects and classes correctly
(e.g., history, sophomore)
title of works
I
Format
indent paragraphs or double space between them
paragraph dialogue correctly
divide words between syllables with a hyphen at end of
line
Spelling
spell frequently used and common words correctly
spell homophones correctly
