Elementary School Expression of Academic Knowledge

Each student response will receive one score for Expression of Academic Ideas. The rubric for Academic Ideas assesses the academic knowledge and skills of (1) development of ideas, (2) use of documents, (3) use of precise and effective vocabulary, and (4) appropriate voice and tone for the purpose and audience.

Ideas

	Expression of Academic Ideas. The degree to which the writer demonstrates a depth of understanding through explanation, interpretation, and application relevant to the assigned task.
	Components and Elements Development of Ideas: Relevant and valid information Use of Documents: Application and interpretation of the provided documents Use of Vocabulary: Precise and effective vocabulary Purpose of Audience: Appropriate voice and tone for purpose and audience
4	Consistent control of the components of Expression of Academic Ideas. The response is characterized by most or all of the following: Demonstrates a deep understanding of the topic or issue by providing considerable effective ideas or reasons supported with well-chosen and well-developed evidence. Consistently correct interpretation and application of provided documents. Extensive use of precise and effective vocabulary (from within and beyond the provided documents). Voice and tone are appropriate to purpose and audience; style enhances content. All parts of the writing task are explained comprehensively.
3	Sufficient control of the components of Expression of Academic Ideas. The response is characterized by most or all of the following: Demonstrates a clear understanding of the topic or issue by providing ideas or reasons supported with generally relevant and sufficiently developed evidence. Generally correct interpretation and application of provided documents. Adequate use of precise and effective vocabulary (from within and some beyond the provided documents). Voice and tone are mostly appropriate to purpose and audience. The majority of the writing task is explained with sufficient detail.
2	Limited control of the components of Expression of Academic Ideas. The response is characterized by most or all of the following: Demonstrates a minimal understanding of the topic or issue. Ideas or reasons may be limited. Supporting evidence may be minimally developed, imprecise, repetitive, vague, and/or copied. Over-reliance, limited, or inconsistent use of information from the provided documents. Little use of precise and effective vocabulary (may be limited to vocabulary used in the provided documents). Voice and tone are sometimes appropriate to purpose and audience. Incomplete explanations are given to address the writing task.
1	Lack of control of the components of Expression of Academic Ideas. The response is characterized by most or all of the following: Demonstrates an insufficient understanding of the topic or issue. Ideas or reasons may be unclear or invalid. Supporting evidence may be minimal, irrelevant, absent, incorrect, or predominantly copied. Expression of ideas may be vague or confusing. Inappropriate or no use of provided documents. Uses basic words or word choice is inaccurate, imprecise, inappropriate, and/or confusing. Voice and tone are not appropriate to purpose and audience. Incorrect or unclear explanations are given to address the writing task.
0	Nonscorable. The response is unable to be scored. See information below.

Expression of Academic Ideas. The degree to which the writer demonstrates a depth of understanding through explanation, interpretation, and application relevant to the assigned task.

Components and Elements

Development of Ideas: Relevant and valid information
Use of Documents: Application and interpretation of the provided documents
Use of Vocabulary: Precise and effective vocabulary
Purpose of Audience: Appropriate voice and tone for purpose and audience

Consistent control of the components of Expression of Academic Ideas. The response is characterized by most or all of the following:

Demonstrates a deep understanding of the topic or issue by providing considerable effective ideas or reasons supported with well-chosen and well-developed evidence.
Consistently correct interpretation and application of provided documents.
Extensive use of precise and effective vocabulary (from within and beyond the provided documents).
Voice and tone are appropriate to purpose and audience; style enhances content.

All parts of the writing task are explained comprehensively.

Sufficient control of the components of Expression of Academic Ideas. The response is characterized by most or all of the following:

Demonstrates a clear understanding of the topic or issue by providing ideas or reasons supported with generally relevant and sufficiently developed evidence.
Generally correct interpretation and application of provided documents.
Adequate use of precise and effective vocabulary (from within and some beyond the provided documents).
Voice and tone are mostly appropriate to purpose and audience.

The majority of the writing task is explained with sufficient detail.

Limited control of the components of Expression of Academic Ideas. The response is characterized by most or all of the following:

Demonstrates a minimal understanding of the topic or issue. Ideas or reasons may be limited. Supporting evidence may be minimally developed, imprecise, repetitive, vague, and/or copied.
Over-reliance, limited, or inconsistent use of information from the provided documents.
Little use of precise and effective vocabulary (may be limited to vocabulary used in the provided documents).
Voice and tone are sometimes appropriate to purpose and audience.

Incomplete explanations are given to address the writing task.

Lack of control of the components of Expression of Academic Ideas. The response is characterized by most or all of the following:

Demonstrates an insufficient understanding of the topic or issue. Ideas or reasons may be unclear or invalid. Supporting evidence may be minimal, irrelevant, absent, incorrect, or predominantly copied. Expression of ideas may be vague or confusing.
Inappropriate or no use of provided documents.
Uses basic words or word choice is inaccurate, imprecise, inappropriate, and/or confusing.
Voice and tone are not appropriate to purpose and audience.

Incorrect or unclear explanations are given to address the writing task.

Nonscorable. The response is unable to be scored. See information below.

How do I know if the student response is a non-scorable?

While you are scoring student work, you may be presented with a student response that could possibly be scored as a 0 and not as a 1, 2, 3, or 4 based on the scoring rubric.

The list below shows and explains what could constitute a nonscorable response.

Nonscorable Response	Description	Notes for Raters
Alert!	The student response contains material that is troubling or disturbing and needs to be reviewed further.	Please use professional judgement as a mandated reporter and contact a counselor and/or Assistant Principal.
Blank	The student response is completely blank, no student work present.
Copied	The student response is entirely or almost entirely copied from the prompt and/or reference documents in the prompt.	Assign to a student response that contains no original student writing, or contains an isolated original sentence (e.g., to introduce or conclude the response).
Incomprehensible	The student response contains few recognizable words, or it may contain recognizable words arranged in such a way that no meaning is conveyed.	Every effort should be made to read the response thoroughly. Do not confuse spelling errors with incomprehensibility.
Insufficient	The student response contains a response too brief to be scored.	An insufficient response is extremely brief (1-2 sentences).
Non-English	Student responses that are written in a language other than English are not scored.	These are student responses written mostly or entirely in another language.
Off Task	The student response is not a content-area essay (e.g., poetry, doodles).	The student response does not fall within the parameters set forth in the writing task.
Off Topic	The student response only contains material not related to the assigned task.	The student response addresses a topic or answers a question, but never the topic or question in the prompt.
Offensive	The student response only contains offensive/vulgar language or inappropriate material.
Plagiarism	The student response contains material that is copied from another source or response.	The student response contains material that is confirmed to be copied from another source or response.