(Student name) scored at the Advanced level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally exhibit the following skills:

• demonstrate thorough understanding of what they read and describe abstract themes and ideas;

• analyze texts for meaning and form and support their analyses with specific examples;

• extend ideas in texts by relating them to their experiences and to the world; and

• research topics by selecting and evaluating information from various sources.

• express analytical, critical, and/or creative thinking in response to a writing task;

• develop effective responses that demonstrate sharply focused central ideas, cohesive organization, and elaboration with illustrative, supporting details;

• demonstrate audience awareness through the use of rich vocabulary and a clear personal style or voice; and

• demonstrate consistent command of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.

(Student name) scored at the Mastery level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally exhibit the following skills:

• demonstrate overall understanding of what they read, including inferential and literal information;

• analyze an author’s use of literary devices;

• extend ideas in texts by making inferences, drawing conclusions, and making clear connections to personal experiences and other readings; and

• research topics by selecting and analyzing information from various sources.

• express critical, analytical, and/or creative thinking in response to a writing task;

• develop effective responses with focused central ideas, logical organization, and convincing elaboration;

• demonstrate awareness of the intended audience through use of varied word choice (vocabulary) and sentence structure; and

• demonstrate reasonable command of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.

(Student name) scored at the Basic level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally exhibit the following skills:

• demonstrate overall understanding of what they read and make some interpretations;

• identify elements of texts and an author’s style;

• extend ideas in texts by making simple inferences and some connections to personal experiences; and

• research topics by selecting and using information in various sources.

• demonstrate some evidence of critical, analytical, and/or creative thinking in response to a writing task;

• develop responses with central ideas, evidence of conscious organization, and some supporting details;

• demonstrate audience awareness through a sense of personal style or voice and some variety in vocabulary and sentence structure; and

• make some errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization that interfere with communication to the reader.

(Student name) scored at the Approaching Basic level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally exhibit the following skills:

• demonstrate partial understanding of what they read;

• identify some elements of an author’s style;

• make simple or broad connections between texts and their personal experiences; and

• research topics by locating information in commonly used sources.

• demonstrate a limited response to a writing task;

• develop responses with unfocused central ideas, some evidence of organization, and minimal elaboration or supporting details;

• demonstrate limited audience awareness through use of weak personal style or voice, simple or inappropriate vocabulary, and simple sentences; and

• demonstrate inconsistent or little command of spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.

(Student name) scored at the Unsatisfactory level in English Language Arts. Students scoring at this level generally have not demonstrated the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for the next level of schooling.

• demonstrate an understanding of what they read;

• identify simple elements of an author’s style;

• make connections between ideas in texts and personal experiences; or

• research topics by locating information in commonly used sources.

• express ideas in response to a writing task;

• develop a central idea with focus, observable organization, or sufficient elaboration;

• show audience awareness through the use of appropriate vocabulary and varied sentence structure; or

• demonstrate acceptable command of spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.