Description

The grade 5 writing test has two components. The first component is composed of items that require students to correct errors embedded in selections that are intended to model rough drafts of student writing. Some of the items are multiple-choice with students selecting the correct revision to the text from the answer choices provided. For example, students might be asked to select the sentence that does not belong in the rough draft from a list of options. Other items are
“technology enhanced” and allow the student to indicate the revision to the text in some other way. For example, a technology-enhanced item might allow a student to correct punctuation errors by dragging commas into a sentence.

In the second component students are asked to write a short paper in response to a narrative or expository prompt. Prompts present a context for writing in the form of a question, an issue, or a hypothetical situation. Each student’s response to the writing prompt receives a score in each of two domains: 1) composing/written expression and 2) usage/mechanics. Each domain is scored independently, using the following scale:

4 = The writer demonstrates consistent, though not necessarily perfect, control* of almost all the
domain’s features.
3 = The writer demonstrates reasonable, but not consistent, control* of most of the domain’s
features indicating some weakness in the domain.
2 = The writer demonstrates enough inconsistent control* of several of the domain’s features
indicating some weakness in the domain.
1 = The writer demonstrates little or no control* of most of the domain’s features.
* Control is the ability to use a given feature of written language effectively at the appropriate grade level. A paper receives a higher score to the extent that it demonstrates increasing control of the features in each domain. The rubric included in the blueprint for the grade 5 writing assessment explains score points for each domain.

All papers are read by at least two readers, with the student’s score for each domain being the total of the score assigned by both readers. For example, in the composing/written expression domain, if Reader A scores the student’s paper a 3 and Reader B scores the student’s paper a 2, the student’s score in the composing/written expression domain is a 5. Since a reader may assign a score of 1 to 4, the range of possible scores in any domain is 2 to 8 when the two readers’
scores are combined. The composing/written expression score is counted two times, and the usage/mechanics score is counted once in calculating the total score. Therefore, in the total score of the short paper, the composing/written expression score counts 2/3 and the usage/mechanics score counts 1/3.