WST Essay Scoring Guidelines
A "6" essay demonstrates superior competence in writing on both rhetorical and syntactic levels.
A "6" paper:
- is effectively organized and developed
- intelliegently addresses the topic, showing maturity of thought and expression
- uses clearly appropriate details to support a thesis or illustrate ideas
- shows unity and consistent facility in use of language
- demonstrates a high level of syntactic variety and appropriate word choice
- is nearly free of error
A "5" essay demonstrates clear competence in writing on both the rhetorical and syntactic levels, though it may have occasional minor errors.
A "5" paper
- is generally well-organized and well-developed, though it may offer fewer details than a "6" paper
- may address some parts of the topic better than others
- shows unity, coherence, and progression
- demonstrates some syntactic variety and range of vocabulary
- displays facility in language
A "4" essay demonstrates competence in writing on both the rhetorical and syntactic levels.
A "4" paper
- is adequately organized
- addresses the topic adequately, though perhaps not complete
- uses some details to support a thesis or illustrate ideas
- demonstrates adequate but not distinguished facility with language and syntax
- may contain some errors that obscure meaning
A "3" essay, while it may demonstrate some developing competence in writing, remains flawed on either the rhetorical or syntactic level or both.
A "3" paper may reveal one or more of the following weaknesses:
- inadequate development or organization
- failure to support or illustrate generalizations with appropriate or sufficient detail
- multiple errors in sentence structure and/or usage
- inappropriate choice of words or word forms
A "2" paper suggests limited competence in writing.
A "2" paper may be seriously flawed by one or more of the following weaknesses:
- failure to organize or develop
- little detail or irrelevant specifics
- serious and frequent errors in usage and sentence structure
- problems with fluency and focus
A "1" paper demonstrates incompetence in writing. A "1" paper may reveal the writer's inability to comprehend the question, may be incoherent or impressively illogical. A paper that is severely underdeveloped falls into this category.
A "0" essay is off topic or shows no response.
How the WST Essay is Scored
- Each essay is read twice, by two separate readers.
- After a score (anywhere from 6 to 1) is assigned, the essay is passed to another reader, who then reads it and assigns another score.
- If the readers are more than one number apart, i.e., a 4 and a 6, then the essay will be read a third time to determine the correct score.
- The scores must be only one number apart, i.e., a 6 and a 5. Those scores would give the essay a final score of 11.
- A student must receive at least two 4's, because a score of 8 is the lowest passing essay score.
- The highest score an essay can receive is a 12 (two 6's). Along with a 12, the student must receive at least a score of 50 on the objective protion of the test.
- A score of 12 on the essay and 50 on the objective, or a score of 11 (6 plus 5) along with an objective score of 69 can allow the student to waive 100W (if his or her department allows it).
- Along with a score of 8 being passing, scores of 9 (5 plus 4), 10 (two 5's), and 11 are passing. Those scores must also be accompanied by a score of 50 on the objective portion of the test.
- If a student scores a 6 (two 3's) or a 7 (4 plus 3) on the essay portion, he or she must get a score of 60 or greater to pass with an essay score of 7, or a score of 63 or greater to pass with an essay score of 6.
- All other combinations of scores fail.
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