Portfolio Scoring Guide

Alamo Interior (San Antonio, TX)
San Antonio, TX | March 2004 | T. Duckart

The Way of the Program
Guidelines and Resources for Composition Faculty at Humboldt State University

Updated: 02/18/05

Click here for a downloadable version of the Scoring Guide.
(Reminder: You will receive sufficient copies of this document for distribution to your students in advance of the portfolio reading; please do not make your own copies.)

Upper-range portfolios demonstrate a degree of proficiency at organizing, developing, and conveying in standard written English the writer's ideas to an appropriate audience; the portfolio provides evidence of a suitable degree of writing self-awareness.

A 6 portfolio demonstrates exceptional writing competence but may exhibit minor lapses in one of the items below. A portfolio in this category:

shows clarity, depth, and complexity of thought
explains or illustrates key ideas clearly with a good deal of elaboration and specificity
shows syntactic variety and demonstrates a sophisticated command of language appropriate to the audience
is generally free from errors in mechanics, usage, and sentence structure

A 5 portfolio demonstrates strong writing competence but may have minor lapses which are not serious enough to confuse the reader. A portfolio in this category:

shows clarity of thought, with some depth or complexity
is overall well organized and developed with a moderate amount of elaboration and specificity
shows some syntactic variety and displays a strong command of language appropriate to the audience
is generally free from errors in mechanics, usage, and sentence structure

A 4 portfolio demonstrates adequate writing competence but may contain more frequent lapses than the 5 or 6 portfolio. A portfolio in this category:

shows clarity of thought but may show less evidence of depth or complexity
explains or illustrates key ideas with some elaboration and specificity
is generally unified, organized, and coherent, generally supporting ideas with reasons and examples
shows adequate command of language usually appropriate to the audience
may have some errors, but generally demonstrates control of mechanics, usage, and sentence structure

Lower-range--or developing--portfolios demonstrate a degree of difficulty at organizing, developing, or conveying in standard written English the writer's ideas to an appropriate audience.

Category 2 or 3 portfolios that demonstrate STRONG writing self-awareness may be scored one point higher.

A 3 portfolio demonstrates developing competence but is flawed in some significant way(s). A portfolio in this category reveals one or more of the following weaknesses:

shows coherence but exhibits some difficulty with focus or unity
develops major ideas somewhat but supports generalizations with little or with superficial elaboration or specificity
employs limited vocabulary or poor word choices sometimes inappropriate for the audience
contains a pattern or accumulation of errors in mechanics, usage, or sentence structure

A 2 portfolio demonstrates limited competence and is seriously flawed. A portfolio in this category reveals one or more of the following weaknesses:

shows problems with clarity or coherence
lacks development of major ideas; may not explain but simply repeat them
has very weak organization
employs limited vocabulary or poor word choices frequently inappropriate for the audience
contains numerous errors in mechanics, usage, and sentence structure

A 1 portfolio demonstrates fundamental deficiencies in writing skills. A portfolio in the category contains serious and persistent writing errors or is incoherent or is considerably undeveloped.

A 0 portfolio fails to meet submission requirements. It may lack a cover letter, or it may include too few or too many submissions, or it may include too few pages.

Garnered from two ETS scoring guide versions and the "Generic Scoring Guide for Writing Samples." Updated 12/17/04 for Spring 2005 adoption.