Based in the philosophy of the North Carolina English Language Arts Standard
Course of Study, five features have been identified by North Carolina educators
as key to effective writing. Not only will these features be assessed on state
writing tests, but they also provide a framework and common vocabulary for teachers
to discuss writing within their own classroom assignments.
In Understanding the North Carolina Writing Assessment Scoring Model at
Grades 4, 7, & 10, the NCDPI Testing Section provides the following
descriptions of each feature:
Focus is the topic/subject established by the writer in response to the writing
task. The writer must clearly establish a focus as he/she fulfills the assignment
of the prompt. If the writer retreats from the subject matter presented in the
prompt or addresses it too broadly, the focus is weakened. The writer may effectively
use an inductive organizational plan which does not actually identify the subject
matter at the beginning and may not literally identify the subject matter at
all. The presence, therefore, of a focus must be determined in light of the
method of development chosen by the writer. If the reader is confused about
the subject matter, the writer has not effectively established a focus. If the
reader is engaged and not confused, the writer probably has been effective in
establishing a focus.
Organization is the progression, relatedness, and completeness of ideas. The
writer establishes for the reader a well-organized composition, which exhibits
a constancy of purpose through the development of elements forming an effective
beginning, middle, and end. The response demonstrates a clear progression of
related ideas and/or events and is unified and complete.
Conventions involve correctness in sentence formation, usage, and mechanics.
The writer has control of grammatical conventions that are appropriate to the
writing task. Errors, if present, do not impede the reader's understanding
of the ideas conveyed.
Support and Elaboration is the extension and development of the topic/subject.
The writer provides sufficient elaboration to present the ideas and/or events
clearly. Two important concepts in determining whether details are supportive
are
the concepts of relatedness and sufficiency. To be supportive of the subject
matter, details must be related to the focus of the response. Relatedness has
to do with the directness of the relationship that the writer establishes between
the information and the subject matter. Supporting details should be relevant
and clear. The writer must present his/her ideas with enough power and clarity
to cause the support to be sufficient. Effective use of concrete, specific details
strengthens the power of the response. Insufficiency is often characterized
by undeveloped details, redundancy, and the repetitious paraphrasing of the
same point. Sufficiency has less to do with amount than with the weight or power
of the information that is provided.
Style is the control of language that is appropriate to the purpose, audience,
and context of the writing task. The writer's style is evident through
word choice and sentence fluency. Skillful use of precise, purposeful vocabulary
enhances the effectiveness of the composition through the use of appropriate
words, phrases and descriptions that engage the audience. Sentence fluency involves
using a variety of sentence styles to establish effective relationships between
and among ideas, causes, and/or statements appropriate to the task.
*Please also note that the composing features that are to be observed assume
specific meanings when applied to student responses. In order to demonstrate
a reasonable level of control in any of the features above, the student must
have written a sufficient amount.
