AWPE UNIFORM SCORING STANDARDS AND SCORING PROCESS

In 1986, UCOPE set the general standard for passing by approving the UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam Scoring Guide. There also is a regular annual procedure for applying these general standards to each new examination. From the pretest essays, the UC Analytical Writing Placement Exam Committee assembles a set of papers representing the weakest to the strongest performance. Members reach their own consensus about the scores these papers should receive. They then provide this set of papers to UCOPE. At its March meeting UCOPE reviews these essays and decides independently on the scores. (In almost all cases both committees assign the same scores to the papers.) These essays and their UCOPE scores set the standard by which the chief reader and the room leaders choose essays from the May administration to exemplify the standards for all the readers who score papers in June.

Readers assign each essay to a scoring category according to its dominant characteristics. The categories below describe the characteristics typical of papers at six different levels of competence. All the descriptions take into account that the papers they categorize represent two hours of reading and writing, not a more extended period of drafting and revision.  

• A “6” paper commands attention because of its insightful development and mature style. It presents a cogent response to the text, elaborating that response with well-chosen examples and persuasive reasoning. The 6 paper shows that its writer can usually choose words aptly, use sophisticated sentences effectively, and observe the conventions of written English.
  
  
• A “5” paper is clearly competent. It presents a thoughtful response to the text, elaborating that response with appropriate examples and sensible reasoning. A 5 paper typically has a less fluent and complex style than a 6, but does show that its writer can usually choose words accurately, vary sentences effectively, and observe the conventions of written English.
  
  
• A “4” paper is satisfactory, sometimes marginally so. It presents an adequate response to the text, elaborating that response with sufficient examples and acceptable reasoning. Just as these examples and this reasoning will ordinarily be less developed than those in 5 papers, so will the 4 paper's style be less effective. Nevertheless, a 4 paper shows that its writer can usually choose words of sufficient precision, control sentences of reasonable variety, and observe the conventions of written English.
  
  
• A “3” paper is unsatisfactory in one or more of the following ways. It may respond to the text illogically; it may lack coherent structure or elaboration with examples; it may reflect an incomplete understanding of the text or the topic. Its prose is usually characterized by at least one of the following: frequently imprecise word choice; little sentence variety; occasional major errors in grammar and usage, or frequent minor errors.
  
  
• A “2” paper shows serious weaknesses, ordinarily of several kinds. It frequently presents a simplistic, inappropriate, or incoherent response to the text, one that may suggest some significant misunderstanding of the text or the topic. Its prose is usually characterized by at least one of the following: simplistic or inaccurate word choice; monotonous or fragmented sentence structure; many repeated errors in grammar and usage.
  
  
• A “1” paper suggests severe difficulties in reading and writing conventional English. It may disregard the topic's demands, or it may lack any appropriate pattern of structure or development. It may be inappropriately brief. It often has a pervasive pattern of errors in word choice, sentence structure, grammar, and usage.

All of the essays are evaluated at a single scoring session scheduled the first weekend in June. The majority of the examination readers/scorers are faculty members drawn from English departments and programs in composition, ELWR, and ESL on all nine University of California general undergraduate campuses. In order to encourage University faculty communication about student writing with their secondary school colleagues, about 20 percent of the readers are high school and community college teachers recommended by the Writing Projects on University campuses.

Each essay is scored independently by two readers, who measure it against the 6 point scoring guide, written by the experts who developed the examination. Papers whose scores are two points apart are read a third time. Papers whose composite scores (sum of the two readers’ scores) are 8 and higher satisfy the UC Entry Level Writing Requirement. Results are sent to each student in the middle of June. Results are final; your essay will not be re-evaluated after the University-wide scoring session.

Once the placement exam has been determined to be satisfactory, UCR students are eligible to register for ENGL 001A. Students whose exams are unsatisfactory will be given further placement information for a particular ELWR course at UCR. That information will be placed online in time for them to register during their appropriate registration period.

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