| Attributes | 1 point | 2 points | 3 points | 4 points |
| Three essential structural elements are present — introduction, body text, and conclusion | Lacks two of the essential elements. | Lacks one of the essential elements. | Has introduction, adequate body text and conclusion. | All elements are present at high level of skill – appropriate proportions; high comprehension. |
| Interest level | Simplistic in style and content — uses simple sentence structures; not original in ideas nor execution. | Addresses the topic in cursory manner. Mixes simple and some compound sentences. Has adequate content. | Intersperses higher level content with adequate content. Uses compound and complex sentences as appropriate. | Excels in content and creative content with original ideas. Skillful use of sentence types. |
| Use of details and descriptive phrases | Has only basic details – uses few descriptive terms, and they are mostly concrete. | Has basic details with some descriptive terms, a few descriptive phrases, and some abstract descriptive terms. | Skillfully uses more descriptive terms and phrases and other modifiers. | Exceptional use of abstract and concrete modifiers, phrases and descriptive language. |
| Use of transitions — coherence | Little flow of ideas. Blocky and disjointed. Relevance not always clear. | Ideas have some flow, and are mostly on topic. | Ideas flow with transitional words, yet organization remains evident. Included parts address the topic. | Exceptional use of vivid transitions. Topical flow and organization are evident. All parts highly relevant. |
| Use of supporting ideas | Expresses ideas with few supporting facts or opinions. | Expresses ideas with some supporting details and/or opinions. | Ideas are well supported with adequate detail and facts/opinions. | Exceptional use of supporting detail. Facts and opinions are distinguished. |
| Mechanics and grammar are correct – end-marks, capitals, punctuation, subject/verb agreement | More than seven errors per 100 words. | Four to six errors per 100 words. | Two to three errors per 100 words. | Error free, or one error per 100 words. |
| Spelling (this may not be a graded element for some special need groups) | More than seven errors per 100 words. | Four to six errors per 100 words. | Two to three errors per 100 words. | Error free, or one error per 100 words. |
