Scoring Guidance
The items on CenterPoint’s EL Curriculum-Aligned Interim Assessments are like those on summative assessments to provide students with an indication of their progress 3-4 times a year and provide a better understanding of what to expect for the End of Year assessments.
Raw score data and items showing actual student performance can be used by educators to determine patterns of student performance and to diagnose students’ strengths and areas of need.
Of note: CenterPoint’s interim assessments are designed to show students’ progress toward meeting End of Year expectations. Each assessment is intentionally designed to balance the assessment of each claim throughout the school year. These assessments are intentionally designed to be rigorous (for more information regarding the definition of rigor see this blog post). To this end, when reviewing student data at the standards level, you may see significant gaps in demonstration of mastery at the Beginning and Middle of the Year.
Performance Band Recommendations
Scoring Student Responses
Constructed-response items are designed to be hand scored. Each constructed response is aligned to a Writing standard and has an associated rubric that is attached to each item. Rubrics can be accessed while scoring within the platform.
A student’s score is determined by using the rubric, multiplying his or her Written Expression score by 3 and then adding in the Knowledge of Language and Conventions score (each rubric provides guidance at the top to support this calculation). For example, if 4th grade Student A earned a score of 2 for Written Expression and a score of 3 for Knowledge of Language and Conventions, one would multiply 2 X 3 to get 6 points. Adding in the score point for Knowledge of Language and Conventions, the total number of points Student A earns for Writing is 9 points.
SAMPLE Analytic Writing Rubric (Grades 4-8)
Analytic Writing Rubric
Student score determined as follows:
- Multiply the Written Expression score by 3 (e.g., 4 X 3 = 12) and add the Knowledge of Language and Conventions score (max = 12 + 3 or 15).
- Total score ______ out of 15 points
Score Point 4
Written Expression
The student response:
- addresses the prompt and provides effective and comprehensive development of the claim or topic that is consistently appropriate to task, purpose, and audience;
- uses clear reasoning supported by relevant, text-based evidence in the development of the claim or topic;
- is effectively organized, with clear and coherent writing;
- establishes and maintains an effective style.
Knowledge of Language and Conventions
N/A (starts with score point 3)
Score Point 3
Written Expression
The student response:
- addresses the prompt and provides mostly effective development of claim or topic that is mostly appropriate to task, purpose, and audience;
- uses mostly clear reasoning supported by relevant, text-based evidence in the development of the claim or topic;
- is organized with mostly clear and coherent writing;
- establishes and maintains a mostly effective style.
Knowledge of Language and Conventions
The student response to the prompt demonstrates full command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be a few minor errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage, but meaning is clear.
Score Point 2
Written Expression
The student response:
- addresses the prompt and provides some development of claim or topic that is somewhat appropriate to task, purpose, and audience;
- uses some reasoning and text-based evidence in the development of the claim or topic;
- demonstrates some organization with somewhat coherent writing;
- has a style that is somewhat effective.
Knowledge of Language and Conventions
The student response to the prompt demonstrates some command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage that occasionally impede understanding, but the meaning is generally clear.
Score Point 1
Written Expression
The student response:
- addresses the prompt and provides minimal development of claim or topic that is limited in its appropriateness to task, purpose, and audience;
- uses limited reasoning and text-based evidence;
- demonstrates limited organization and coherence;
- has a style that is minimally effective.
Knowledge of Language and Conventions
The student response to the prompt demonstrates limited command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage that often impede understanding.
Score Point 0
Written Expression
The student response:
- is undeveloped and/or inappropriate to task, purpose, and audience;
- includes little to no text-based evidence;
- lacks organization and coherence;
- has an inappropriate style.
Knowledge of Language and Conventions
The student response to the prompt does not demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. Frequent and varied errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage impede understanding.
