Grading Rubrics

Criteria

A excellent

B good

C emerging skills

D to F below expectations;
may be unacceptable

Comments

Content

(quality of the information, ideas and supporting details)

• shows strong clarity of purpose
• offers strong depth of content 
• applies keen insight and represents original thinking
• follows guidelines for content

• shows clarity of purpose
• offers depth of content 
• applies insight and some original thinking
• mostly follows guidelines for content

• shows some clarity of purpose
• offers some depth of content
• applies some insight and original thinking
• somewhat follows guidelines for content

• shows minimal or no clarity of purpose offers minimal or no depth of content
• applies minimal or no insight and original thinking
• does not follow guidelines for content

Structure

(logical order or sequence of the writing)

• shows strong coherence and logically developed paragraphs
• uses highly effective transitions between ideas and sections
• constructs highly  appropriate introduction and conclusion

• shows coherence and some logically developed paragraphs
• uses effective transitions between ideas and sections
• shows appropriate introduction and conclusion 

• shows some coherence and logically developed paragraphs
• uses some transitions between ideas and sections
• shows some construction of appropriate introduction and conclusion

• shows minimal or no coherence and logically developed paragraphs
• uses minimal or no transitions between ideas and sections
•  shows minimum or no construction of appropriate introduction and conclusion

Rhetoric and Style

(appropriate attention to audience)

• is highly concise, eloquent and rhetorically effective
• effectively uses correct, varied, and concise sentence structure 
• is engaging to read
• writes highly appropriate prose for audience and purpose

• is concise, eloquent, and rhetorically effective
• generally uses correct, varied, and concise sentence structure
• is somewhat engaging to read
• writes appropriate prose for audience and purpose

• is somewhat conciseness, eloquence, and rhetorical effectiveness
• uses some correct, varied, and concise sentence structure
• is minimally engaging to read
• generally writes appropriate prose for audience and purpose

• shows minimum or no conciseness, eloquence, or rhetorical effectiveness
• uses little to no correct, varied, and concise sentence structure 
• is not engaging to read
• lacks appropriate writing for audience and purpose
• uses inappropriate jargon and clichés

Information Literacy

(locating, evaluating, and using effectively the needed information as appropriate to the assignment)

• uses strong academic and other reliable sources
• chooses sources from many types of resources
• chooses timely resources for the topic
• fully integrates references and quotations to support ideas

• uses academic and other reliable sources
• chooses sources from a variety of types of resources
• chooses resources with mostly appropriate dates
• integrates references and quotations to provide some support for ideas

• uses mostly academic  and some unreliable sources
• chooses sources from a moderate variety of resources
• chooses a few resources with inappropriate dates
• integrates references or quotations that are loosely linked to the ideas of the paper

• uses a few or no academic sources and uses unreliable sources

• chooses  sources that are not varied, mostly  from one type of source
• chooses many resources with inappropriate dates
• uses disconnected references and quotations and does not support ideas

Source Integrity

(appropriate acknowledgment of sources used in research)

• correctly cites sources for all quotations 
• cites paraphrases correctly and credibly
• includes reference page
• makes virtually no errors in documentation style
• makes virtually no errors in formatting
• incorporates feedback given in previous written assignments

• correctly cites sources for most quotations
• usually cites paraphrases correctly and credibly
• includes reference page with some errors
• makes some errors in documentation style
• makes some errors in formatting
• incorporates  most   feedback given in previous written assignments

• provides sources for all quotations without correctly citing them
• sometimes cites paraphrases correctly and credibly 
• includes reference page with many errors
• makes many errors in documentation style
• makes many  errors in formatting
• incorporates some  feedback given in previous written assignments

• lacks sources for all quotations
• lacks correctly and credibly cited paraphrases
• shows little to no evidence of source usage
• includes no reference page or an extremely weak one  
• entirely lacks correct documentation style
• lacks correct formatting
• incorporates little to no feedback given in previous written assignments

Conventions

(adherence to grammar rules: usage, spelling & mechanics of Standard Edited English or SEE)

• makes virtually no errors in SEE conventions
• makes accurate word choices

• makes some errors in SEE conventions
• almost always makes accurate word choices

• makes many errors in SEE conventions
• makes some inaccurate word choice

• lacks appropriate SEE conventions 
• makes many inaccurate word choices

he weighting of each of the five areas is dependent on the specific written assignment and the teacher’s preference. Plagiarism occurs when a person presents as one’s own “someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source” (adapted from Council of Writing Program Administrators). 

Grade