Construct
Measured
Reading
Comprehension
of Key Ideas
and Details
Score Point = 4
EXCEEDS
EXPECTATIONS
The student response….
 Demonstrates full
comprehension of ideas stated
explicitly and inferentially by
providing an accurate analysis
and supporting the analysis
with effective and convincing
textual evidence.
Score Point = 3
MEETS
EXPECTATIONS
The student response….
 Demonstrates
comprehension of ideas by
providing a mostly accurate
analysis with adequate
supporting textual
evidence.
The student response….
Writing
Written
Expression
Writing
Knowledge
Of
Language
and Conventions
The student response….
 Has a strong purpose

and develops ideas effectively
 Clearly states a claim or objective 
 Answers the prompt with

thorough reasoning
 Stays consistently on topic

 Uses supporting evidence, all of 
which is convincing and based on
the text
 Demonstrates clarity and fluidity 
 Enables readers to understand

the writing with ease
 Uses specific language that
effectively clarifies ideas

 Correctly uses the conventions
of the discipline

(Same as three because student
has already demonstrated a
complete command of the task.)
Has a purpose and develops
ideas appropriately
States a claim or objective
Answers the prompt with
adequate reasoning
Generally stays on topic
Uses supporting evidence
which is convincing and
based on the text
Demonstrates clarity
Enables readers to
understand most of the
writing with ease
Uses language that helps to
clarify ideas
Appropriately uses the
conventions of the
discipline
The Student Response….
 Demonstrates a complete
command of conventions at
grade level complexity
 Includes very few errors in
mechanics, grammar, and
usage and its meaning is
clear
*Mechanics are capitalization, punctuation, quotation marks, etc.
*Usage is word choice such as vocabulary, metaphors, similes, etc.
Score Point = 2
BELOW
EXPECTATIONS
The student response….
 Demonstrates basic
comprehension of ideas by
providing a generally
accurate analysis and
supporting the analysis
with basic textual evidence.
The student response….
Score Point = 1
MEETS MINIMAL
EXPECTATIONS
Score Point =
OFF TOPIC
OFF TASK
0
The student response….
 Demonstrates limited
comprehension of ideas by
providing a minimally accurate
analysis and supporting the
analysis with limited textual
evidence.
The student response….
 Demonstrates no comprehension
of ideas by providing inaccurate
or no analysis and little to no
textual evidence.
The student response….
The student response….
 Develops ideas that are

somewhat appropriate

 Attempts to state a claim or
objective

 Answers the prompt with
some reasoning

 Stays somewhat on topic

 Uses some supporting
evidence which is based on 
the text

 Demonstrates some clarity
 Enables readers to discern 
the writer’s purpose, but the
content is not always easy to 
understand
 Uses some language that
helps to clarify ideas
 Generally uses conventions
of the discipline
appropriately
Minimally develops ideas
Ineffectively states a claim or
objective
Answers the prompt with minimal
reasoning
Inconsistently stays on topic
Uses limited supporting evidence
based on the text
Demonstrates little clarity
Elicits little understanding on the
part of the reader
Uses language that creates
confusion
Incorrectly uses the
conventions of the
discipline.
The Student Response….
The Student Response….
 Demonstrates some
 Demonstrates a limited/minimal
command of conventions at
command of conventions
grade level complexity
at grade level complexity
 Includes some errors in
 Includes errors in mechanics,
mechanics, grammar, and
grammar, and usage that often
usage that interfere with
interfere with understanding
understanding at times
 Has a meaning which is
 Has a meaning which is
generally unclear
generally clear
 Is not developed and/or is
inappropriate to the task
 Contains no claim or objective
 Answers the prompt with no
appropriate reasoning
 Is not on topic
 Uses little or no supporting
evidence from text
 Is incoherent
 Loses the reader’s attention
 Shows little or no knowledge of
the conventions of the discipline
The Student Response….
 Demonstrate little to no
understanding of conventions
 Includes frequent errors in
mechanics, grammar, and usage
that consistently interfere with
understanding
 Has a meaning which is unclear
Construct
Measured
Writing
Written
Expression
Score Point = 4
EXCEEDS
EXPECTATIONS
Score Point = 3
MEETS
EXPECTATIONS
Score Point = 2
BELOW
EXPECTATIONS
The student response….
The student response….
The student response….
 Is effectively developed all the
time through the use of
narrative elements and is
consistently appropriate to the
prompt/task
 Is effectively developed most
of the time through the use
of narrative elements and is
generally appropriate to the
prompt/task
 Merges ideas that create a
clear purpose, making the
composition fairly easy to
follow
 Establishes and maintains a
mostly effective style, while
attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline.
 Merges ideas that create a
clear unity of purpose, making
the composition easy to follow
 Establishes and maintains an
effective style, attending to the
norms and conventions of the
discipline.
Writing
Knowledge
of
Language
and Conventions
(Same as three because student
has already demonstrated a
complete command of the task.)
The Student Response….
 Demonstrates a complete
command of conventions at
grade level complexity
 Includes very few errors in
mechanics, grammar, and
usage, but meaning is clear
 Is developed with some
narrative elements and is
somewhat appropriate to
the prompt/task
 Demonstrates some
connectivity, clarity or
order, making the writer’s
progression of ideas
usually discernible but not
obvious
 Establishes a style that is
somewhat effective,
generally attending to the
norms and conventions of
the discipline.
The Student Response….
Score Point = 1
MEETS MINIMAL
EXPECTATIONS
The student response….
Score Point = 0
OFF TOPIC
OFF TASK
The student response….
 Is minimally developed with few  Is undeveloped and/or
narrative elements and is limited
inappropriate to the prompt/ task
in its appropriateness to the
 Is incoherent, unclear and/or
prompt/task
unorganized
 Demonstrates limited
 Establishes an inappropriate
connectivity, clarity, and/or
style, with little to no awareness
order, making the writer’s
of the norms of the discipline.
progression of ideas somewhat
unfocused
 Establishes a style that has
limited effectiveness, with some
awareness of the norms of the
discipline.
The Student Response….
The Student Response….
 Demonstrates some
 Demonstrates a limited/minimal  Demonstrates little to no
command of conventions at
understanding of conventions at
understanding of conventions at
grade level complexity
grade level complexity
grade level complexity
 Includes errors in mechanics,  Includes errors in mechanics,
 Includes frequent errors in
grammar, and usage that
grammar, and usage that often
mechanics, grammar, and usage
interfere with understanding
interfere with understanding
that consistently interfere with
at times
 Has a meaning which is generally understanding
 Has a meaning which is
unclear
 Has a meaning which is unclear
generally clear
*Narrative Elements are setting, character, conflict, resolution, theme, point of view, etc.
*Narrative style is language chosen to tell the story, including sensory detail and figurative
language.
*Conventions are spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.
NOTE:
 The reading dimension is not scored for elicited narrative stories.
 The elements of coherence, clarity, and cohesion to be assessed are expressed in the grade-level standards 1-4 for writing.
 Tone is not assessed in grade 6.
 Per the CCSS, narrative elements in grades 3-5 may include: establishing a situation, organizing a logical event sequence, describing scenes,
objects or people, developing characters personalities, and using dialogue as appropriate. In grades 6-8, narrative elements may include, in
addition to the grades 3-5 elements, establishing a context, situating events in a time and place, developing a point of view, developing
characters’ motives. In grades 9-11, narrative
elements may include, in addition to the grades 3-8 elements, outlining step-by-step procedures, creating one or more points of view, and
constructing event models of what happened. The elements to be assessed are expressed in grade-level standards 3 for writing.
A response is considered unscoreable if it cannot be assigned a score based on the rubric criteria. For unscoreable student responses, one of the
following condition codes will be applied.
Coded Responses: A=No response
B=Response is unintelligible or undecipherable C=Response is not
written in English
D=Off-topic E=Refusal to respond
F=Don’t understand/know
* This rubric is subject to further refinement based on research and study.