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Arkansas Department of Education

EXAMINATION

Teacher Handbook

March 2005 Administration

Thisdocument is thepropertyof theArkansasDepartmentofEducationandall rightsof this document are reserved by the Arkansas Department of Education. Arkansaspublic schools may reproduce this document in full or in part for use with teachers,students, and parents. All other uses of this document are forbidden without writtenpermission. All inquiries should be sent to Dr. Gayle Potter at the ArkansasDepartment of Education, 501-682-4558.

GRADE 11 LITERACY

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Table of Contents

PAGE

Introduction 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Scoring Student Responses to Reading Open-Response Questions 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Reader Training 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Scoring Procedures 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Reading 3---10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Reading Passage 4---5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Reading Open-Response Item B 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Item Scoring Rubric 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sample Student Responses and Annotations 7---10. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Writing 11---23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Scoring Student Responses to Writing Topics 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Domain Scoring 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Scoring Scale 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nonscoreable Papers 12. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Domains and Definitions 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Content 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Style 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Sentence Formation 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Usage 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mechanics 13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Writing Topics 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Writing Topic #1 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Writing Topic #2 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Writer’s Checklist 15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Student Papers and Annotations 16---23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Introduction

The Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP) includes aGrade 11Literacy Examination for all grade 11 students. It consists of multiple-choice and open-response questions andwriting topics that directly assess student knowledge relative to Reading and Writing. The Arkansas EnglishLanguage Arts Curriculum Framework is the basis for development of the Grade 11 Literacy Examination.

In March 2005, all eleventh-grade students participated in the Grade 11 Literacy Examination. Results of thisexamination will be provided to all students, schools, and districts to be used as the basis for instructional change.

This handbook provides information about the scoring of student responses to an open-response question inreading and to the direct writing topics. It describes the scoring procedures and the scoring criteria (rubrics) usedto assess student responses. Copies of actual student responses are provided, along with scores given to thoseresponses, to illustrate how the scoring criteria were applied in each content area.

Additional information about the Grade 11 Literacy Examination is available through the Arkansas Departmentof Education. Questions can be addressed to Dr. Gayle Potter at 501-682-4558.

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Scoring Student Responses to ReadingOpen-Response Questions

The multiple-choice and open-response test questions for the reading component of the Grade 11 LiteracyExamination are developed with the assistance and approval of the Reading Content Advisory Committee. Thiscommittee is composed of active Arkansas educators with expertise in reading education. The Reading ContentAdvisory Committee reviews selected reading passages and multiple-choice and open-response questions thatrelate to those passages for appropriateness and level of difficulty and to ensure that they reflect the ArkansasEnglish Language Arts Curriculum Framework.

While multiple-choice questions are scored by machine to determine if the student chose the correct answer fromfour options, responses to open-response questions must be scored by trained “readers” using a pre-establishedset of scoring criteria. Therefore, another important task of the Content Advisory Committee is to developwell-articulated, comprehensive criteria (or rubrics) for the readers to follow as they score student responses.

Reader Training

Before readers are allowed to begin assigning scores to any student responses, they go through intensive training.The first step in that training is for the readers to read the reading passage (or item) as it appeared in the testdocument and to respond—just as the student test takers are required to do. This step gives the readers someinsight intohow the studentsmight have responded. Thenext step is the readers’ introduction to the scoring rubric.All of the specific requirements of the rubric are explained by the ScoringDirector who has been specially trainedto lead the scoring group. Then responses (anchor papers) that illustrate the score points of the rubric arepresented to the readers and discussed. The goal of this discussion is for the readers to understandwhy a particularresponse (or type of response) receives a particular score. After discussion of the rubric and anchor papers,readers practice scoring sets of responses that have been pre-scored and selected for use as training papers.Detailed discussion of the training paper responses and the scores they received follows.

After three or four of these practice sets, readers are given “qualifying rounds.” These are additional sets ofpre-scored papers, and in order to qualify, each reader must acheive a pre-determined level of exact agreementand have no more than 5% non-adjacent agreement on any item. Readers who do not score within the requiredrate of agreement are not allowed to score the Grade 11 Literacy Examination responses.

Once scoring of the actual student responses begins, readers are monitored constantly throughout the project toensure that they are scoring according to the criteria. Daily and cumulative statistics are posted and analyzed, andScoringDirectors or Team Leaders reread packets scored by the readers. These procedures promote reliable andconsistent scoring. Any reader who does not maintain an acceptable level of agreement is dismissed from theproject.

Scoring Procedures

All student responses toGrade 11 Literacy Examination open-response test questions are scored independently bytwo readers. Those two scores are compared, and responses that receive scores that are non-adjacent (a “1” anda “3,” for example) are scored a third time by a Team Leader or the Scoring Director for resolution.

On the next few pages, one of the test questions as it appeared in this year’s test is presented. The specific scoringrubric for that question and the annotated anchor papers for each score point of the rubric follow.The goal is for classroom teachers and their students to understand how responses are scored. It is hoped that thisunderstanding will help students see what kind of performance is expected of them on the Grade 11 LiteracyExamination.

3

Reading

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Reading

Reading Passage

Scientists have only recently discovered detailed information about Neptune. Read this passage about theelusive planet, and then answer multiple-choice questions 9 through 16 and open-response question B.

Mysterious Neptuneby Curtis Rist and Mona Chiang

For centuries, Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun, has been viewed—when visible at all—as the drabstepsister to other planets in our solar system. Then in 1989, NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by the fuzzy nobodyand sent snapshots to Earth. Those startling images forever changed the way scientists look at Neptune. Nowmore than a decade later, Neptune continues to excite and mystify astronomers. This giant ball of gas mayeven be raining diamonds!

Voyager 2 nabbed close-ups of a brilliant blue orb with swirling white clouds and a turbulent storm systemwith 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) per hour winds—by comparison, gale-force winds on Earth blow at 150miles per hour.

Changeable weather is no surprise to earthlings, because the sun heats our planet’s surface and sends watervapor and air rising to create clouds and wind. But farther out in the solar system, the sun’s energy is soreduced its effect ought to be minimal. That’s not the case with Neptune. “Neptune defies all models ofwhat’s expected,” says space scientist Heidi Hammel at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. “Sinceits energy isn’t coming from the sun, the question is, where’s it coming from?”

Neptune’s complex atmosphere may hold the key. Scientists calculated the planet’s radiation balance(amount of energy emitted compared with the amount of sunlight received) and found Neptune radiates 2.6times as much energy as it absorbs from the sun. “You’ve got great heat coming from the inside and verylittle heat from the outside, so you’re not in a stable situation at all,” says Hammel.

Scientists think that one-third of the way inside Neptune’s frenzied atmosphere churns an ocean of methane,water, and ammonia under extreme heat and pressure. And physicist Robin Benedetti at the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley believes diamonds as big as phones or cars may be raining there. How come? Lastyear, she re-created Neptune’s violent interior in her lab by blasting methane with high pressure and heat.

For pressure, Benedetti used a contraption called a diamond anvil cell. The apparatus consists of two modestengagement ring-size diamonds. Diamond, made of carbon, is the hardest mineral on Earth. “You can presson it with a lot of force and create really high pressure [force divided by area],” Benedetti explains.

Imagine diamonds that are flat on top and narrow to a point. “I squeezed a teeny drop of liquid methanebetween the two points,” she says. “Given the points’ tiny area, when we apply a lot of force the pressure onthe methane becomes huge [100,000 to 500,000 times Earth’s atmosphere pressure].”

To simulate Neptune’s extreme heat, the physicist flashed a laser beam at the squeezed methane. “When theyinteract it gets really hot [3,600--5,000_ F],” she says. “The methane would suddenly turn black.” The blackspot? Diamond dust!

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Methane gas is composed of four hydrogen atoms around a carbonatom. But under such extreme heat and pressure, the bonds that holdthe atoms dissolve. Carbon atoms then bind to one another to formdiamond crystals. “We’re not sure how big diamonds might be insideNeptune,” says Benedetti. “That depends on factors like temperatureand environment. But conceivably you could make diamonds as bigas boulders,” says Benedetti.

How does diamond-making explain Neptune’s internal energy? “Wethink methane in the ocean of water and ammonia breaks down tomake diamonds,” she explains. The diamonds might be hailing downfor thousands of kilometers to the ocean bottom—the planet’scenter—releasing heat as a result of friction (rubbing of one objectsurface to another). “This could generate a huge amount of energy.”

Even if Neptune hails diamonds, forget about jewelry. “Nothing wecould build would withstand the conditions to bring the diamondsback to Earth,” says Benedetti.

Astronomers dream of collecting firsthand information to learn moreabout mysterious Neptune. But how do you get a spacecraft to makea 2.6 billion-mile trip quickly?

Voyager 2, bogged down with thousands of tons of fuel, took over12 years. It even got a boost from a rare alignment of the outerplanets that created a “gravitational super-highway”—which won’treoccur for 200 years. If launched today, a similar spacecraftwouldn’t reach Neptune until 2030! “Nobody’s interested inlaunching something that’s so slow it won’t arrive until aftereverybody who sent it up is either retired or dead,” says John Brophyof NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. ButJPL may have found a solution.

The plan involves rigging a spacecraft with a lightweight aluminum-coated plastic sail one-twentieth thethickness of a human hair. The energy source: the sun. “This is basically a mirror in space,” saysJPL engineer Charles Garner. As photons (light particles) from the sun bombard the sail they bounceoff—imparting up to double their momentum to the spacecraft. Blown by photons, the “sailcraft” couldjourney to Neptune in three years! “It would open up a whole new era of deep-space and interstellarexploration,” says Gardner. Until then, however, Neptune remains a deep dark mystery.

STRANGE ATMOSPHERE

Unlike Earth, which has a verythin layer of atmosphere,Neptune is a thick swath ofatmosphere surrounding a smallsolid core. In the upper third ofthe planet is a mixture of heatedgases—hydrogen, helium,methane, and water. Methanegives Neptune its vibrant bluecoloring. And frozen methanehigh up in the atmosphereproduces wispy clouds. Thepressure in Neptune’s outeratmosphere would probably besimilar to that on Earth, exceptwith temperatures as low as–350_ F. However, deeper intothe planet, heat and pressureincrease dramatically. The innertwo-thirds of Neptune is anocean, probably with theconsistency of pudding,composed of molten rock, water,liquid ammonia, and methane.

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Reading

READING OPEN-RESPONSE ITEM B

B. Explain why Robin Benedetti insists that “nothing we could build” could bring back diamonds fromNeptune. Include at least two specific details from the passage to support your response.

ITEM SCORING RUBRIC

SCORE DESCRIPTION

4 Student clearly explains why Robin Benedetti insists that “nothing we could build” could bringback diamonds from Neptune. Response shows insightful interpretation and includes at leasttwo specific, relevant details from the passage for support. Response is well developed anddemonstrates a thorough understanding of the item and passage.

3 Student generally explains why Robin Benedetti insists that “nothing we could build” couldbring back diamonds from Neptune. Response includes at least two pieces of relevantinformation from the passage for support; however, minor misinterpretations may be evident.Response is somewhat developed and demonstrates an adequate understanding of the item andthe passage.

2 Student gives limited explanation why Robin Benedetti insists that “nothing we could build”could bring back diamonds from Neptune. References to the passage may be vague ordisconnected. Response lacks development and demonstrates a limited understanding of theitem and the passage.

1 Student minimally addresses some part of the item using vague or no examples from thepassage. Response may consist entirely of relevant copied text. Understanding is minimal.

0 Response is completely incorrect or irrelevant.

Blank No response.

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Sample Student Responses and Annotations

B

Score Point: 4

The response clearly explains why Robin Benedetti insists that “nothing we could build” could bring backdiamonds from Neptune (“To get there requires an extreme amount of fuel and time” and “Once on the surfacethe craft would have to endure 1,200 MPH wind, high radiation, gasses and extreme temperatures”). The responseshows insightful interpretation (“wouldn’t arrive until 2030, a long, lingering project”) and uses specific, relevantdetails from the passage for support. The response is well developed and demonstrates a thorough understandingof the item and the passage.

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B

Score Point: 3

The response generally explains why Robin Benedetti insists that “nothing we could build” could bring backdiamonds from Neptune (“it is so hot. Neptune’s temperatures can reach up to 5,000_F” and “it has winds thatcan reach 1,200 miles an hour... the strongest wind on earth are usually only 150 miles pe [per] hour”). Theresponse is somewhat developed and uses relevant information from the passage for support. Understanding isadequate.

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B

Score Point: 2

The response gives a limited explanation why Robin Benedetti insists that “nothing we could build” could bringback diamonds from Neptune (“couldn’t withstand the amount of damage,” “because all the pressure and heat”and “a space craft…wouldn’t get ther [there] till [until] 2030”). Because the details are disconnected and theresponse lacks development, only a limited understanding is demonstrated.

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B

B

Score Point: 1

The response minimally addresses some part of the question (“Because Neptune has 100,000 to 500,000 timesEarth’s atmospheric pressure”). Understanding is minimal.

Score Point: 0

The response is completely incorrect.

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Writing

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Writing

Scoring Student Responses to Writing Topics

Domain Scoring

In domain scoring, which was developed in conjunction with Arkansas educators, the observation of writing isdivided into several domains (categories), each composed of various features. Each domain is evaluatedholistically; the domain score indicates the extent to which the features in that domain appear to be under thecontrol of the writer. The score reflects the student’s performance for the entire domain with all features beingof equal importance.

All papers are read independently by at least two readers, with the final score being the total of both readings. Incases where the two readers’ scores are non-adjacent in any domain, the paper is read by a third reader. The finalscore in that domain is the sum of the third reader’s score and the score from the two previous readings that isidentical to it. If none of the three scores are identical, the sum of the two highest scores is taken. Domains areweighted; final scores reflect that weighting process.

The domain scores, along with an awareness of the features comprising each domain, may be used to plandevelopmental or remedial instruction for the student.

Scoring Scale

Each domain is scored independently using the following scale.

4 = The writer demonstrates consistent, though not necessarily perfect, control*of almost all of the domain’s features.

3 = The writer demonstrates reasonable, but not consistent, control of most of thedomain’s features, indicating some weakness in the domain.

2 = The writer demonstrates enough inconsistent control of several features toindicate significant weakness in the domain.

1 = The writer demonstrates little or no control of most of the domain’s features.

* Control: The ability to use a given feature of written language effectively atappropriate grade level. A paper receives a higher score to the extent thatit demonstrates control of the features in each domain.

The application of the scale, using actual student writing, was done with the assistance of a committee ofArkansasteachers, language arts supervisors, and representatives of the Arkansas Department of Education.

Nonscoreable Papers

All papers are scored, unless they are off-topic, illegible, incoherent, refusals to respond, or written in a languageother than English. An “NS” (nonscoreable) is assigned to papers that are too brief to assess writing ability. Onlythe Scoring Director is permitted to assign a nonscoreable code.

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Writing

Domains and Definitions

Content: (C)

TheContent domain includes the focusing, structuring, and elaborating that a writer does to construct an effectivemessage for a reader. It is the creation of a product, the building of a composition intended to be read. The writercrafts his/her message for the reader by focusing on a central idea, providing elaboration of the central idea, anddelivering the central idea and its elaboration in an organized text. Features are

D Central idea D Unity

D Elaboration D Organization

Style: (S)

The Style domain comprises those features that show the writer is purposefully shaping and controlling languageto affect readers. This domain focuses on the vividness, specificity, and rhythmof the piece and the writer’s attitudeand presence. Features are

D Selected vocabularyD Selected informationD Sentence variety

D ToneD Voice

Sentence Formation: (F)

The Sentence Formation domain reflects the writer’s ability to form competent, appropriately mature sentencesto express his/her thoughts. Features are

D CompletenessD Absence of fused sentencesD Expansion through standard coordinationand modifiers

D Embedding through standard subordinationand modifiers

D Standard word order

Usage: (U)

The Usage domain comprises the writer’s use of word-level features that cause written language to be acceptableand effective for standard discourse. Features are

D Standard inflectionsD Agreement

D Word meaningD Conventions

Mechanics: (M)

The Mechanics domain includes the system of symbols and cuing devices a writer uses to help readers makemeaning. Features are

D CapitalizationD Punctuation

D FormattingD Spelling

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Writing

Writing Topics

The following are the two writing topics administered to all eleventh-grade students in March 2005.

Writing Topic #1

A state senator has a plan that would require all students to perform one week of communityservice before they graduate from high school. The community service could be, for example,cleaning up a park, volunteering at a day care center, or tutoring younger students. You decideto write a letter to the senator expressing your opinion about the plan.

Before you begin to write, think about the community service plan. Should students be requiredto volunteer in the community before they graduate?Why do you think the way you do aboutthe plan?

Now write a letter to the senator expressing your opinion about the plan to require communityservice before graduation. Convince the senator that your opinion is reasonable. Give specificreasons for your opinion and support your reasons with clear examples and evidence.

Writing Topic #2

You have been chosen to participate in a foreign exchange program. You need to write a letter tothe director of the foreign exchange program choosing one country you would like to visit andexplaining why.

Before you begin to write, think about a foreign country you would like to visit.Why do youwant to visit there?

Now write the letter to the director of the foreign exchange program. Name one country youwould like to visit and give specific reasons for your choice. Explain those reasons in enoughdetail so that the director will approve the foreign country you have chosen.

15

Writing

WRITER’S CHECKLIST

1. Look at the ideas in your response.

Have you focused on one main idea?

Have you used enough details to explainyourself?

Have you put your thoughts in order?

Can others understand what you aresaying?

2. Think about what you want others to know andfeel after reading your paper.

Will others understand how you think orfeel about an idea?

Will others feel angry, sad, happy,surprised, or some other way about yourresponse? (Hint: Make your reader feellike you do about your paper’s subject.)

Do you have sentences of differentlengths? (Hint: Be sure you have varietyin sentence lengths.)Are your sentences alike? (Hint: Usedifferent kinds of sentences.)

3. Look at the words you have used.Have you described things, places, andpeople the way they are? (Hint: Useenough details.)Are you the same person all the waythrough your paper? (Hint: Check yourverbs and pronouns.)Have you used the right words in the rightplaces?

4. Look at your handwriting.Can others read your handwriting with notrouble?

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Writing

Student Paper 1 — Writing Topic #1

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Writing

Annotation for Student Paper 1 – Writing Topic #1

Content: 2

This writer has a central idea of not wanting community service as a graduation requirement, but only highlightsthe important points (“The community should be in charge with keeping up with the parks and a day care shouldhave trained workers”). There is no apparent plan for organization and no progression of ideas. A simple closureis present. This response demonstrates inconsistent control of the Content domain.

Style: 2

Vocabulary and information in this response are general and reflect only the information given in the prompt. Thevoice is not strong because of the functional vocabulary, and there is little evidence of audience awareness. Thevoice emerges when the writer states (“there will be a lot of students are angry about it”), but this is not sustainedthroughout the response. This writer demonstrates inconsistent control of the features of the Style domain.

Sentence Formation: 4

In this response, the writer has demonstrated consistent control of the Sentence Formationdomain. The sentencesaremature, using expansion and subordination. There are also some simple sentences. All sentences are completeand correct.

Usage: 4

Although some errors are present (“in charge with”), this writer consistently controls all inflections, agreement,and conventions of the Usage domain.

Mechanics: 4

Despite a couple of mechanics errors (the misspelling of “alot,” and an incorrectly hyphenated word), this writerhas demonstrated consistent control of capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and formatting.

18

Writing


19

Writing

Student Paper 2 — Writing Topic #1 (continued)

20

Writing


Content: 3

This writer has a clear central idea that is basically adhered to. The elaboration is somewhat uneven. The detailsof what the student can do to help the community are elaborated well (“plant trees & flowers, or do a food drivefor the homeless,” “seat [set] a good example for the little ones”). The reasons that students don’t do communitywork are not elaborated as well (“some just go party,” “help them get a good scholarship for when they want togo to collage”). There is a slight digression when the writer says that he/she will vote “for you no matter what.”A sense of closure is present. Overall, this writer demonstrates reasonable control of the Content domain.

Style: 3

In this response, the writer has used some general vocabulary and information and some precise information.General vocabulary includes (“think it’s dumb andwrong,” “good thing,” “help the community as much as you didwhen you helped us”). The precise information and details are in the examples (“plant trees & flowers,” “plan afood drive for the homeless that have no money for food”). Tone and voice are appropriate, but not sustainedthroughout the response. Reasonable control of the features of Style is demonstrated.


Inconsistent control of Sentence Formation is demonstrated in this response. This writer has run-on sentences,comma splices, and some over coordination. A couple words are missing in sentences also. Although there are acouple of correct sentences, immature sentence construction is prevalent in this response.

Usage: 2

In this response, there are inflection errors in verbs and nouns, several errors in the conventions of usage, (“dumban wrong,” “me and some of my classmates want”), and errors in word meaning (“seat” for “set,” “every” for“ever”). There are also some missing verbs. Overall, this writer demonstrates inconsistent control of the featuresof Usage.

Mechanics: 4

Although this writer has a couple of misspellings, (“collage” for “college,” and “their” for “they’re”), all otherfeatures of mechanics (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and formatting) are consistently controlled.

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Writing


22

Writing

Student Paper 1 —Writing Topic #2 (continued)

23

Writing


Content: 4

This student has a clear central idea of France as the country she would like to visit. All the elaboration is focusedon the central idea. Traveling to France, touring Paris, and deciding to learn the language are the reasons thewriterwants to participate in the foreign exchange program and go to France. She then explains how these experiencesmake her the perfect candidate for the program. There is a clear progression of ideas with a consistent point ofview and a sophisticated closing paragraph. This writer consistently controls the Content domain.

Style: 4

In this response, the vocabulary and information are purposefully selected with precise, vivid information. (“Thecountryside had beautifully flowing greenhills.” “At night, theEiffel Towerwas radiantly glowing fromall the lightson it.” “Stained glass pictures were so lovely that they made me momentarily speechless.”) Sentence variety ispresent, and a strong, enthusiastic voice is apparent.


There are many mature sentences in this response. This writer is accomplished at coordinating sentences usingmodifiers and coordinators. There are also sentences that use subordinating prepositional structures, conditionalclauses, and infinitives. Overall, the control of Sentence Formation is consistent.

Usage: 4

This writer consistently controls inflections, agreement, conventions, and word meaning.

Mechanics: 4

There is one misspelling of “foreign” (“forign”) in this response. All other features of spelling and punctuationare consistently controlled by this writer, including the correct use of commas, capitalization, and formatting.

Developed for the Arkansas Department of Education D Little Rock, AR 72201Developed by Data Recognition Corporation

EAR411-THLMAR05

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