WrAP: Grades 3 - 12

Developed in close collaboration with Measurement, Inc., one of the foremost providers of writing assessment training and materials in the country, Educational Records Bureau’s Writing Assessment Program stands apart from nearly every other available writing assessment. Unlike other commercially available or state-produced instruments that provide only limited holistic scoring indices, the WrAP is scored analytically. Using a six-trait, six-point rubric, information is provided that can help target instruction in writing. Additionally, the rubric is designed to be fully applicable across content areas and, therefore, can be integrated easily into your school’s writing program and other subject area curriculum.

The ERB Writing Assessment is a direct measure of writing that lends itself to incorporation into writing portfolios. Students provide a writing sample based on a standardized prompt provided by ERB.

Students take the test in two sessions scheduled over two consecutive days. In the first session, they create a rough draft; in the second session, they revise that draft and produce their final essay. Students in grades 3 and 4 are tested in two 40-60 minute sessions; students in grades 5-12 must complete their work in two 40-50 minute sessions. The package of testing materials includes: A worksheet for the first draft and a writing booklet for the final essay.

The writing booklets are mailed to ERB’s scoring service, where two trained readers score each essay. After scoring has been completed, the following materials are sent to the school:

• the students’ writing booklets
• a report of individual student results showing the raw score on each criterion, a total raw score, a scale score that corresponds to the total raw score, percentile ranks, and stanines for independent and suburban norm groups
• the ERB rubric
• a set of anchor papers exemplifying the criteria used to assess each level
• an administrator’s summary composed of data for participating grades, self-stick labels for each student, providing raw scores, a scale score, percentile ranks, and stanines

Five Discourse Categories
The National Council Teachers of English recognizes five common modes of discourse in writing, and ERB includes them in its writing assessment:

Narrative Writing – The student tells a story or relates an incident or experience to entertain or to illustrate a point.

Informational Writing – The student portrays a person, place, or event with specific and well-chosen details to create a clear impression.

Expository Writing- The student clarifies or defines various points of view, positions or possible courses of action as viable solutions to a problematic situation, through supporting facts or arguments for each.

Persuasive Writing – The student makes the case for a specific course of action or point of view, through the marshaling of logical argument and telling facts in support of the recommended action or position.

Critical Thinking – The student incorporates higher order skills to produce writing intended to demonstrate readiness for college credit courses.

Writing Assessment Program Sequence
The Writing Assessment Program arranges these modes in a developmentally appropriate sequence that aligns with classroom practice at each level and provides for increasing challenge from one level to the next.

Dimensions of Writing
Across all five levels of the assessment, student writing samples are analytically scored using a well-defined, six-dimension rubric (WrAP Rubric). For each dimension the student can receive a score of from one (low) to six (high). The six scoring dimensions are:

Overall development – How well the writer communicates with the reader, shows awareness of the audience, task and purpose for writing, and writes in the appropriate mode of discourse.

Organization – The writer’s ability to choose a logical plan of organization, maintain coherence throughout the paper, and create paragraphs.

Support – The use of appropriate reasons, details, and examples to enhance the effect and/or support the generalizations and conclusions of the piece.

Sentence Structure – Completeness, correct usage, and variety or sophistication of sentences.

Word Choice – Specific vocabulary, freshness and vividness of language.

Mechanics – The correct and effective use of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.

The first three traits capture the substantive qualities of a paper; the last three emphasize stylistic and grammatical features, as well as usage and mechanics.

Monitoring Student Progress
All student responses are scored from one to six points on each of ERB’s six-dimensions. These raw scores are useful for developing student profiles and for making comparisons among students and grades within a program level. In order to make comparisons across levels and to monitor student progress in writing across the grades, a continuous scale score was developed for the total raw scale. The scale extends from 100 to 1477. This scale is helpful for setting grade level performance standards.

Normative Scores
In addition to providing you with raw scores – useful for developing student profiles -and scale scores that can be used to monitor year-to-year growth, ERB’s Writing Assessment program also produces comparative, normative information. Suburban, independent and international school stanines and percentiles are provided for each student and class through each of the five levels of the program, based on student performance within each grade. This information can be useful in making comparisons of local performance with important and appropriate reference populations.