Proficient
Score of 4
Basic
Score of 3
Below Basic
Score of 2
Far Below Basic
Score of 1
Develops an effective expository
essay, including ample evidence in
support of a controlling idea
Develops an adequate expository
essay, including adequate support of a
controlling idea
Demonstrates an emerging grasp of
expository writing, though support of
a controlling idea may be limited
Lacks a controlling idea or has a main
idea that is not developed enough to
control and guide the essay; little
development of supporting
information
Does not address the prompt or
addressed the topic but not the genre;
may be too brief or thin
Skillfully anticipates and addresses
reader’s potential misunderstandings
Proficiently anticipates and addresses
reader’s potential misunderstandings,
biases, and expectation
Attempts to address reader’s need to
know and potential
misunderstandings
Little or no attempt to address
reader’s need to know and potential
misunderstandings
No attempt to use appropriate
strategies
Demonstrates a thorough
understanding of the subject of the
essay; includes relevant background
information and significant examples,
anecdotes, or data
Demonstrates an adequate
understanding of the subject of the
essay; includes relevant background
information and significant examples,
anecdotes, or data
Demonstrates some, though limited,
awareness of the subject of the essay
and may or may not balance
background information with
examples, anecdotes, or data
Mentions the relevant information
about the subject of the essay and
may or may not include background
information and/or examples,
anecdotes, or data
No attempt to choose significant
ideas about the subject of the essay
Ideas
Holds the reader’s attention,
demonstrates in-depth
understanding of topic, rich with
significant supporting details
Main idea expanded with
supporting details, demonstrates
sufficient understanding of topic
Identifiable main idea with some
supporting details, but may
include extraneous or loosely
related materials
Main idea is unclear, few
supporting details which may be
inconsistent or interfere with the
meaning of the text
Thoughts written in random order
with no relation to prompt
Word
Choice
Uses language maturely,
exhibiting word choices that are
precise and natural for intended
audience and purpose
Uses effective language and
appropriate word choices for
intended audience and purpose
Has a limited and predictable
vocabulary that may not be
appropriate for the intended
audience and purpose
Has a limited or repetitive
vocabulary
Words seem chosen at random
resulting in unclear meaning
Writes with the reader in mind,
allows the reader to sense the
person behind the words, uses
tone to enhance meaning
Generally writes with the reader
in mind, tone is appropriate for
the author’s purpose
Sometimes writes with the reader
in mind, tone does not enhance
meaning and/or is not suited for
the author’s purpose
Not written with the reader in
mind, tone is not easily
identified, author’s purpose is
unclear
No evidence of author’s purpose,
tone, or meaning
Mature organization; maintains
consistent focus on the topic, has
a logical organizational pattern
and conveys a sense of
completeness and wholeness,
paragraphed
Maintains sufficient focus on the
topic, has a logical organizational
pattern and conveys a sense of
wholeness and completeness,
although may have some lapses,
paragraphed
Demonstrates an inconsistent
focus on the topic, shows an
attempt at an organizational
pattern, but may ramble or be too
choppy, not paragraphed or
inappropriately paragraphed
Demonstrates little or no focus,
has little evidence of an
organizational pattern or any
sense of wholeness and
completeness, not paragraphed or
inappropriately paragraphed
Unrelated list of details or events,
no recognizable organizational
pattern, not paragraphed or
inappropriately paragraphed
Provides mature transitions that
serve to clearly connect ideas and
includes sentences or phrases of
varied length and structure
Provides effective transitions to
connect ideas, but they may be
functional rather than skillful;
includes sentences, or phrases
that are somewhat varied in
length and structure
Emerging use of transitions, but
they may be weak or
inconsistent, and shows limited
variety in sentence length and
structure; may include simple,
choppy sentences
Fails to consistently provide
transitions and has little or no
variety in sentence length and
structure
Unconnected ideas do not flow
and there is no variety in
sentence structure in a minimal
attempt to write
Any errors in standard writing
conventions are barely noticeable
and do not interfere with
understanding
Errors in standard writing
conventions are noticeable but do
not significantly interfere with
understanding
A variety of errors in standard
writing conventions may
occasionally make reading slow
and may somewhat interfere with
understanding
Persistent errors in standard
writing conventions consistently
interfere with understanding and
often result in a density of errors
Serious errors in standard writing
conventions obscure meaning
Conventions
Fluency
Genre
Trait
NOTES:
Advanced
Score of 5
Grades 9 through 12
Voice
EXPOSITORY ESSAY
Organization
Rubric – Writing Scoring Guide
1) When used holistically, all traits should be given equal consideration and value in determining a final, overall score. Genre carries no additional weight.
2) Unscorable papers are coded as follows: 7 = Unreadable; 8 = Written primarily in a language other than English; 9 = No attempt to write.
San Bernardino City USD District Writing Rubric
2004/2005