3 Directions for Administering

the WPT
DAY ONE-FORM A OR B
Section 1:
Planning and Writing

Administration Time: 25 minutes

Materials Required: First Draft Booklet (Form A or B), Planning and Writing, pages 2-5
Pencil with an eraser
Say the following to the students:
This is an exercise to see how well you can write. You will be given 25 minutes to plan or think
about and then write on a topic.
Pass out the booklet titled First Draft Booklet (Form A or B) on the front cover and make certain
that each student has one. Say the following:
Put your name, grade, and the date on the cover of your booklet. Do not open the booklet.
Wait until the students have filled out their covers and then say:
Open your booklet to page 2. What do you see pictured here? That's right; it's a newspaper. Here's
your assignment.
Read either the prompt for Form A or the prompt for Form B, both immediately below.
Prompt for Form A:
Write about the most exciting thing and the
most boring thing you have ever done. You
will pretend you are writing for your school
newspaper [newsletter] specify name [the city
newspaper] specify name. Your writing will
be included in this issue about the experiences of students at specify school name. The
article will be printed in the newspaper
[newsletter] for others to read.

Prompt for Form B:

Write about this topic: Someone you know
just gave you a million dollars. Tell about
how and why you would most and least like
to spend the money. You will pretend you are
writing for your school newspaper [newsletter] specify name [the city newspaper] specify
name. Your writing will be part of an article
called "Millionaire Student Tells All." The
article will be printed in the newspaper
[newsletter] for others to read.

Continue by saying the following (for BOTH Form A and Form B):
You should think about what you would like your article to say and use this page of your booklet
to scribble or jot down any ideas that come to mind. You will not write your article on this page,
but you can use it to plan what you might say.
You will have a total of 25 minutes to plan and write your article. Take some of that time to plan
before you begin writing your article.
When you are ready, you should begin writing on page 3. Open a copy of the booklet to page 3 and
show it to the students. Pages 4 and 5 can also be used to write your article if you need them. Show
students these pages. Do not go past page 5 in your booklet. We will use the rest of the booklet later.

1O

Test Manual

41

Criteria for Forms A and B

DEVELOPMENT
the composition before rating Purpose/focus. Audience, \bcabulary, and Style/lone.

Fir?! Poss:

ic requirements of the task

i
4
3
2
1
0

Cctnfefcnt
jvurly Competent
Not V Competent
prookmafic

Addresses both preferences (exciting/boring or most like to/least like to); compares, contrasts, or unifies the two.
Addresses both preferences (not necessarily equally) but fails to relate the two tt each other.
Addresses one preference with no attention to the other.
Addresses a preference unrelated to the topic.
Little or no preference is related by (he writer.

of whether the composition addresses one or both preferences, the writer cm score 0 to 4 on each of the following scales.
2

/Vudienceusing techniques and making the necessary adjustments and choices to engage the reader.
4

Sophisticated
5 p
^
Partly Competent
Noc Vit Competent
proWcnatic

3
2
I
0

Uses techniques (.g., questions, humor, direct address, references to audience) effectively to engage audience throughout the writing.
Some evidence of techniques to engage the audience but not all are effective; a dear effort is made once but not carried throughout.
Vifeak evidence of awareness of undetermined audience; for example, an attempt to state the prompt is evident.
No evidence of awareness of audience or attention to audience; prompt is never stated (or deariy implied).
Addresses the wrong audience (c.g., writes a letter when an article is called for).

3. Vocabularyusing words to precisely communicate purpose and style.

Sophisticated

<

Partly Competent

Uses precise, fresh, vivid words to communicate purpose and style.

Almost all word choices are appropriate, with some fresh or vivid words or idiomatic expressions.
Uses mostly undistinguished words (including jargon specific to the topic); most word choices are appropriate but may be inexact, trite, or
flat.

Uses mostly undistinguished words, including incorrect word choices or unidioniatic expressions.
\bcabulary choices are inadequate, incorrect, or confusing.

Not
Problematic

4. Style/Toneusing ideas and language structures and conventions to communicate the writer's individuality.
Sophisticated

Compefcnt
Partly Competent
Noc Yet Competent
Problematic

3
2
I
0

Interesting and original treatment of topic employs imaginative, humorous, insightful, or compelling ideas, or details integrated into the development of (he topic.
Portions of the writing are original and imaginative but not sustained throughout the development of the topic.
Vfeak evidence of original or imaginative effort but largely undeveloped or uruekted to topic.
Treatment of the topic is highly predictable and undistinguished so (hat little or no originality or imaginative treatment is evident.
The writing is so ineffective or flawed that no style or tone can be discerned.

Second Kiss: Reread the composition before rating Support/Development and Organization/Coherence.
5. Support/Developmentproviding original and interesting details to support ideas.
Sophisticated

Competent
Partly Competent
Not Yet Competent
Problematic

3
2
I
0

MANY details specify the nature of preferences), i.e., boring or exciting/least or most preferred; RICH support with relevant, specific
statements that present interesting and original details.
MANY details support preferences) and MOST are specific but NOT FULLY elaborated.
SEVERAL details about preferences) but some are inconsistently developed or elaborated.
SOME details are given tor preferences) but arc merely listed without elaboration or specificity.
LITTLE or NO supporting detail is provided.

6. Organization/Coherenceadhering to a discernible plan throughout the composition.

Sophisticated
Competent

4
3

Partly Competent

Not Yet Competent

Problematic

I
0

Composition contains beginning, middle, and end; transitions between or within paragraphs adhere to a discernible plan.
A plan is largely evident and adequately followed (e.g., attempt to narrate a preference; attempt to describe and explain a preference); ewcution may be weakened by lack of transitions or occasional digressions.
A plan is partly evident but inconsistently followed; consists of little more than a list of events or details; digressions, lack of transitions,
or ideas out of order make the writing hard to follow.
Poor, confusing, or unclear plan with support not clearly tied to major ideas.
NO discernible planapparently random order of statements.

FLUENCY
Tliird Fuss: Reread the composition and score Sentence Structure/Variety, Grammar/Usage, Capitalization/Punctuation, and Spelling.
Some raters may find it most efficient to score Sentence Structure/Variety and Grammar/Usage in one pass and complete the scoring in
3
second pass.
7- Sentence Structure/Variety using a variety of structurally correct sentence patterns and Icngtlis.
'mly Competent

4
3
2

Sophisticated variety of sentence patterns a f id lengths with no more than tv.-o structural erron>
Soil*: variety of futienis and varied sentence lengths, onJy occaiionaJ structural errors or unintenticHial fragments.
Little variety mostly simple or repetitive structures but FEW, If- ANY. structural errors

A If ^->- *t

TABLE 4.1
Continued

prlll^"' i totdtSSf0" M mp,e *"*"' "=nros"* xrat; R "* -^ ^ ~ ** <* ^"^ f-g*,
No ind.cat.on of Pledge of sentence beg.nn.ngs and end,ngs; almas all sentences are run.

^^nar/Usage-usil.correct Abject-verb and gender agreement, tense sequence, and word formation.
Oncor

'

C ns
(^( vert)'

Sevetal Minor

No problem, w,rh readatxl.ty; only occasionaj errors in vert^nse/gender agreement, word formaUon, uuppropriate word choices, or

...
. .-...
''omitted wx*. <* inappropriate usage choices occur several times but only minimally interfere
<im readabdity.
MJupfc instances of more than one grammatical error, usage problems, word formation errors, or omitted words; many errors or problems interfere with readability.
Multiple errors (hat seriously detract from readability.

Some Serious,
Many Minor
Many Serious
Excessive

"a**- ^ ^"^ Agreement; almost no wordformationerrors or wrJtted words; usage is almost always correct and ap-

9. Capitalization/Punctuationusing correct mechanical conventions.

None or Few
Several Minor
Some Serious,
Many Minor
Many Serious
Excessive

4
3
2

Few or no errors
Only occasional errors, which do r*X impair readabilitySome serious or several minor errors, which do not severely impair readability

1 Errors are numerous and serious enough to impair readability.

0 Utde or no consistency in capitalization or correct punctuation, severely impairing readability.

10. Spellingusing phonetic rules and conventions to spell common, difficult, and unusual words.
None or Few
Several Minor
Some Serious,
Many Minor
Many Serious
Excessive

4 Correct spelling of almost all common words and mostly correct spelling of other words.
3 Correct spelling of most common words and (lie majority of difficult or unusual words; misspellings do not detract from readability.
2 Correct spelling of most common words and phowtically logical approximations of difficult or unusual words; readability may or
may not be impaired.
I Frequent, inconsistent misspellings of many words interferes wi<h readability.
0 Frequency and severity of misspellings of all types of words make (hem unrecognizable or difficult to decipher.

The tanning procedures were designed for two specific purposes: first, to ensure consistency required
of raters participating in the development of the WPT norms and, second, to help users of the WPT
attain similarly high levels of consistency with the raters in the norming. Thus, the training method
outlined is the same one used during the norming of the WPT.
As a part of the training, raters learn to score a set of writing samples (provided in Appendices A-I
and B-l of this Tea Manual). These samples have already been scored and represent a set of models,
or standards, with which raters in training should work to agree. These samples are organized into
several levels that take raters from initial training on only a few of the scales through practice in scoring samples on all features. Throughout the training and later, while scoring student work independently, raters are required to calibrate with the scores of experienced raters on sample compositions to ensure that they remain consistent with the scoring criteria originally established. Participation m this series of training activities either individually or as a member of a group is imperative.
The reliability of scores assigned to the draft or revision of a student's composition can be markedly
improved by learning to reach consensus with the experienced raters involved in the norming studies
of the WPT.
Group training is the preferred method for learning to apply and internalize the 10 analytic scales
of the WPT. This format for training provides the following advantages over individually guided training:
1. Group members can discuss their differences in ratings and see the examples other members
cite as the bases for arriving a( their ratings.
2. Members can negotiate agreement to reconcile their personal systems of rating student work
and still arrive at a common understanding of what constitutes good writing, regardless of age
or grade placement.
3. Group discussions aboul each member's ratings can provide clarification about some of the
more difficult or confusing distinctions required to rate some of (he features evaluated by the

\Jorms Table If
^rcentile Ranks of Rater's Analysis Scores for Total Score, by Age, Form A

Raw Score

40

99

39
38
37
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
IS
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
98
97
%
95
93
91
88
82
75
68
61
54
46
39
j 32
26
22
18
14
11
8
6
4
3
2
2
1
1
1
1

9
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
98
97
96
95
92
90
86
81
75
67
59
52
44
35
28
23
18
14
11

8
6
5
4

3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

10
99
99
99
99
99
99
98
98
97
96
95
93
89
86
80
72
66
57
48
39
30
25
18
14
10
7
5
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

11
99
99
99
99
99
98
97
%
94
92
89
85
80
73
65
57
49
41

33
26
21
17
13
9
5
4
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Percentile Ranks by Age

14
12
13
99
99
99
99
99
99
98
99
99
99
97
97
95
99
95
97
93
93
90
87
95
87
93
83
90
83
79
86
79
73
81
73
68
77
66
63
71
58
59
65
52
50
57
45
43
38
36
49
41
32
31
34
24
26
28
21
19
22
14
15
11
11
16
12
8
8
9
6
6
7
4
4
5
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

15
99
99
97
95
93
91
87
82
78
72
67
62
54
48

16
99
99
97
94
91
88
84
79
75
68
62
53
45

41

30
28
22
17

35
30
22
17
12
10
7
6
4
3
2
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1

40

14
10

8
6
5
4
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

17
99
98
96
94
90
86
80
77
71
64
58
50
42
36
29
24
19
16
12
9
7
6
4
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

18-19 Raw Score

99
40
97
39
94
38
90
37
86
36
83 j
35
34
78
73
33
68
32
57
31
30
52
44
29
38
28
33
27
25
26
21
25
17
24
14
23
10
22
21
6
4
20
3
19
2
18
1
17
1
16
1
15
1
14
1
13
I
12
1
11
1
10
1
9
1
8
7
1
1
6
1
5
1
4
1
3
1
2
1
1

tandard Errors of Measurement for Raw Scores, Rater's Analysis, by Age, Form A

jvelopment
uency

"iting Process Test

8-9
1.4
1.6
2.6

SEM by Age
10-12
13-15
1.7
1.6
1.4
1.5
2.7
2.6

16-19
1.8
1.4
2.7

N-5