ENGL 335 Boardgrading Process
The ENGL 335 Boardgrading Process focuses in on the body of work the students
have written over the course of the semester. In particular, students are asked to
put together a portfolio of their work, which must contain the following items:
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Portfolios will include two out-of-class essays, revised with pre-writing and
original drafts attached; a timed writing that may be revised provided that the
original timed writing is attached; and a one page reflection in which students
discuss their writing throughout the semester, how they have improved, and their
future writing goals.
Many of the ENGL 335 instructors have sample portfolios available for review. Also
some samples are available at the Reading and Writing Center. All ENGL 335 students
are given the portfolio handout (see attachment) by no later than one month prior to the
end of the semester. Usually the students are required to turn in their portfolios on the
last day of class during the 15th week of the semester. Boardgrading is usually held for
all ENGL 335 instructors on the English Final Exams day, which is the Friday of the 15th
week of the semester.
On this day, all ENGL 335 Portfolios will be evaluated. A fulltime faculty member of
the English Dept. is chosen to lead the Boardgrading Event, which consists of all of the
faculty members who are teaching ENGL 335 that semester. Norming takes place at the
beginning of the boardgrading, with faculty reading over several portfolios to determine
whether they are passing or not. A discussion follows as to what is and is not a passing
portfolio. Portfolios are evaluated holistically by using the following list of criteria:
A passing portfolio will have the following characteristics:
1) Will contain all required materials.
2) Will demonstrate improvement from early drafts to the final revisions.
3) Compositions will contain at least three paragraphs and must have a main
idea/thesis that is supported throughout with examples and details.
4) Compositions will contain at least one body paragraph with a topic sentence
and details and examples relevant to the thesis.
5) Compositions will demonstrate the student’s ability to write clear sentences
that follow the rules of standard written English. Compositions may contain
some errors, though these errors will not interfere with meaning.
A “Not Ready for English 92” portfolio will contain out of class essays that may be
underdeveloped, may lack main ideas/theses, and may contain errors at the
sentence and word level, such as sentence structure errors or word-form errors that
impede meaning. A “Not Ready” portfolio will typically show an inability to utilize
the writing process effectively in the improvement of an essay. The timed essay
may lack organization or may not follow the essay prompt.
All portfolios are read by at least two faculty members. If both faculty members
evaluate the portfolio as a Pass (P), the portfolio has met the requirements. In
contrast, if both faculty grade the portfolio as a No Pass (NP), the portfolio has not
met the requirements. Sometimes the faculty do not agree. In that case, the
portfolio is evaluated by a third reader who will ultimately determine whether the
portfolio meets the requirements or not.
The individual faculty members will then meet with all of their students during the
last week of the semester, Week 16, to go over the portfolio grade as well as the final
grade for the class. All portfolios are returned to students during this last week.
The portfolio assignment is worth 50% of the total grade for the course. In almost
all cases, the portfolio grade will determine whether the student passes the course
or not.
SPRING 2015
To: English 335 Students
English 335 Portfolio Instructions
This semester, you will turn in a portfolio that will count for 50% of your grade for the class. Your
portfolio will be board graded, that is, graded by a small group of English 335 instructors, none of whom
will be your current instructor. Your portfolio is an opportunity to share your best work and
demonstrate the skills you have gained this semester. In most cases, your score on the portfolio will
determine whether or not you pass English 335 and move on to English 92. It is, therefore, of the utmost
importance that you work to revise your essays to the best of your ability and that you follow all of the
instructions provided here.
Please place all of your portfolio materials in a three pronged paper folder. Write your name and your
instructor’s name on the outside of the folder. Write your name on each page of all submitted materials,
including your drafts. Your revisions should be placed on top of all previous drafts, and the drafts should
be labeled “draft.” Make sure to staple your revisions to your drafts.
Your portfolio must include the following:
1) Two compositions of at least three paragraphs, written as take-home assignments, with prewriting and at least one draft attached to a final revision.
2) One of the timed writings you wrote this semester that you have taken home and revised. Both
the timed writing and the revision will be attached.
3) A one page cover letter addressed to the English 335 faculty in which you discuss why you chose
the work included in the portfolio, the process you went through to revise each of the revised
papers, and how your work has changed throughout the semester. See below for instructions on
how to write your letter.
Cover Letter: Your cover must follow a standard business letter format. You may use the attached
letter as an example, though remember that your letter is about your portfolio, not about buying
property.
In your letter, make sure to do the following:
1) Introduce each essay and say why each is your best.
Example: For my portfolio, I have chosen my essays, “The Travesty of Zero Tolerance,” and
“Martha’s Confused Life.” I have chosen these two essays because I feel they represent my best
work and show the range of my abilities.
2) Discuss (briefly) what steps you took to revise each essay:
Example: When I first wrote “The Travesty of Zero Tolerance,” I was not able to come up with a
cohesive thesis. In addition, I had six run-on sentences and a number of verb errors. I worked
during lab and at the writing center on restructuring my paper around the thesis, “Schools
should abandon zero tolerance policies.” I also reviewed verbs and run-ons in our textbook and
revised my paper accordingly. You would then continue your discussion of the changes you
made to your other essay.
3) Brief conclusion: Say how you have improved as a writer this semester.
Example: This semester I learned to organize my papers around a thesis and to proofread my
work for verb errors and run-on sentences. As you will see, these essays demonstrate my ability
to succeed in English 92.
Due Date: Your portfolio must be turned in to your instructor no later than the last class meeting the
week May 11th-15th. No late portfolios will be accepted.
Your portfolio will be graded on the following criteria:
The two scores for the portfolios will be: Pass, meaning that the student is ready for English 92, and Not
Pass, meaning that the student is not ready for English 92. All elements of the portfolio will be taken into
account in determining a student’s score.
A passing portfolio will have the following characteristics:
1) Will contain all required materials.
2) Will demonstrate improvement from early drafts to the final revisions.
3) Compositions will contain at least three paragraphs and must have a main idea/thesis that is
supported throughout with examples and details.
4) Compositions will contain at least one body paragraph with a topic sentence and details and
examples relevant to the thesis.
5) Compositions will demonstrate the student’s ability to write clear sentences that follow the
rules of standard written English. Compositions may contain some errors, though these errors
will not interfere with meaning.
A “Not Ready for English 92” portfolio will contain out of class essays that may be underdeveloped, may
lack main ideas/theses, and may contain errors at the sentence and word level, such as sentence
structure errors or word-form errors that impede meaning. A “Not Ready” portfolio will typically show
an inability to utilize the writing process effectively in the improvement of an essay. The timed essay
may lack organization or may not follow the essay prompt.