Olinghouse Writing Assessment Resource Handouts

Score = 4 Responses in this range demonstrate adequate skill in responding to the writing task.Most elements are controlled and support the writer’s purpose, audience, and form.• The response provides an explanation by addressing most parts of the subject and may include anevaluation of the importance of some of these parts.• The explanation maintains an adequate balance between broad assertions and specific examplesand details. While details and examples adequately support the clarity of the explanation, theirdevelopment may be somewhat uneven. Approaches to the development of ideas are adequate,but their relevance to the explanation may not always be clear.• Ideas are usually focused on the topic and an organizational structure is evident. Ideas arelogically grouped and adequately reflect the writer’s use of relevant approaches to organization.Relationships among ideas are mostly clear.• Sentence structure is adequately controlled and somewhat varied to communicate relationshipsamong ideas. Word choice is sometimes specific and adequately supports the clarity of theexplanation. Voice and tone are mostly controlled and usually effective for the writer’s purposeand audience.• Grammar, usage, and mechanics are mostly correct with some distracting errors, but meaning isclear.Score = 3 Responses in this range demonstrate developing skill in responding to the writing task.Some elements are controlled and provide some support for the writer’s purpose, audience, andform.• The response provides some explanation of the subject.• The explanation may provide both broad assertions and general and specific examples, but thebalance may be uneven and only somewhat controlled. Some relevant details and examples areused, but they are not developed enough to support the explanation, or they may be unevenlydeveloped. Approaches to the development of ideas are evident, but they may not be clearlyrelevant to the explanation.• Most ideas are focused on the topic. The response uses a simple organizational structure, and forthe most part, ideas are logically grouped. There may be some evidence of approaches toorganization, but they may not be clearly relevant, or they may be confusing. Relationshipsamong ideas are sometimes unclear.• Sentence structure is usually correct and there may be a little sentence variety to communicaterelationships among ideas. Word choice is usually clear and sometimes specific, but at times itmay not be appropriate for the writer’s purpose. Voice and tone show some understanding ofwhat is appropriate for the writer’s purpose and audience.• Grammar, usage, and mechanics are mostly correct but with some distracting errors that mayoccasionally impede understanding.