This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents regarding writing.

1. Is there a writing test this year?
2. How will my child be graded in writing this year?

Is there a writing test this year?

NO, this year the students will have the opportunity to learn how to write 5 
different types of writing and they will put together a portfolio of various 
modes of writing. The students will also focus on the conventions of 
writing.

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How will my child be graded in writing this year?

Focus, Organization, Support, and Style Scoring Guide 

4 (Highest score for the content of a student wrting sample) 

-Topic/Subject is clear, though it may or may not be explicitly stated 

-Maintains focus on topic/subject throughout the response 

-Organizational structure establishes relationships between and among ideas 
and/or events 

-Consists of logical progresstion of ideas and/or events and is unified and 
complete 

-Support and elaboration are related to and supportive of the topic/subject 

-Consists of specific/developed details 

-Exhibits skillful use of vocabulary that is precise and purposeful 

-Demonstrated skillful use of sentence fluency 


3 

-Topic/subject is generally clear, though it may or may not be explicitly 
stated 

-May exhibit minor lapses in focus on topic/subject 

-Organizational structure establishes relationships between and among ideas 
and/or events, although minor lapses may not be present 

-Consists of logical progression of ideas and/or events and is reasonably 
complete, although minor lapses may be present 

-Support and elaboration may have minor weaknesses in relatedness to and 
support of the topic/subject 

-Consists of some specific details 

-Exhibits reasonable use of vocabulary that is precise and purposeful 

-Demonstrates reasonable use of sentence fluency 


2 

-Topic/subject may be vague 

-May lose or may exhibit major lapses in focus on topic/subject 

-Organizational structure may establish little relationship between and 
among ideas and/or events 

-May have major lapses in the logical progression of ideas and/or events and 
is minimall complete 

-Support and elaboration may have major weaknesses in relatedness to and 
support of the topic/subject 

-Consists of general or undeveloped details, which may be presented in a 
list-like fashion 

-Exhibits minimal use of vocabualry that is precise and purposeful 

-Demonstrates minimal use of sentence fluency 


1- 

-Topic/subject is unclear or confusing 

-May fail to establish a focus on topic/subject 

-Organizational structure may not establish connection between and among 
ideas and/or events 

-May consist of ideas and/or events that are presented in a random fashion 
and is incomplete or confusing 

-Support and elaboration attempts to support the topic/subject but may be 
unrelated or confusing 

-Consists of sparse details 

-Lacks use of vocabulary that is precise and purposeful 

-May not demonstrate sentence fluency 


NS (NOT SCOREABLE) 

-Compositions that are entirely illegible or otherwise unscorable: blank 
responses, responses written in a foreign language, restatements of the 
prompt, and responses that are off-topic or incoherant. 



CONVENTIONS Scoring Guide FOR   THE   NORTH   CAROLINA   WRITING   
ASSESSMENT 


2-(Highest possible conventions score for the writing assessment) 

-Exhibits reasonable control of grammatical conventions appropriate to the 
writing task 

-Exhibits reasonable control of sentence formation 

-Exhibits reasonable control of standard usage including agreement, tense, 
and case. 

-Exhibits reasonable control of mechanics including use of punctuation, 
capitalization, and spelling 


1- 

-Exhibits minimal control of grammatical conventions appropriate to the 
writing task 

-Exhibits minimal control of sentence formation 

-Exhibits minimal control of standard usage including agreement, tense, and 
case 

-Exhibits minimal control of mechanics including use of capitalization, 
punctuation, and spelling 


0- 

-Lacks control of grammatical conventions appropriate to the writing task 

-Lacks control of sentence formation 

-Lacks control of standard usage including agreement, tense, and case 

-Lacks control of mechanics including use of capitalization, punctuation, 
and spelling

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