UNR English 101 Credit-by-Exam Evaluation Criteria

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Score of 4: A Passing Portfolio that Demonstrates High Competence

• The writer makes and supports a claim and/or has a clear purpose.
• The writer selectively and purposefully uses and organizes knowledge, experiences, examples, and/or anecdotes.
• The writer’s awareness of the audience shows in the consistent use of appropriate tone, diction, examples, and level of formality.
• Quality details consistently inform, surprise, or delight the reader, or expand his or her thinking.
• Sentences are well-crafted, with strong and varied structure and length.
• The writer clearly understands invention, composing, and revising processes. This is evident from the multiple drafts and invention notes included with the portfolio.
• The text is clean, edited, and polished.
• The writer has met or exceeded the assignment.
• The portfolio follows directions; there is nothing missing.

Score of 3: A Passing Portfolio that Demonstrates Competence

• The writer makes and mostly supports a claim, and/or has a purpose that is clear with only minor problems.
• The writer uses and organizes knowledge, experiences, examples, and/or anecdotes most of the time.
• The writer’s awareness of the audience shows in the use of appropriate tone, diction, examples, and level of formality most of the time.
• Quality details sometimes inform, surprise, or delight the reader—or expand his or her thinking.
• Most sentences are well-crafted, with strong and varied structure and length.
• The writer clearly understands invention, composing, and revising processes. This is evident from the multiple drafts and invention notes included with the portfolio.
• The text is clean, edited, and polished with minimal, if any, errors.
• The writer has met or exceeded the assignment.
• The portfolio follows directions; there is nothing missing.

Score of 2: Failing Portfolio that Demonstrates a Mixture of Competence and Incompetence

• The claim and/or purpose are difficult to identify and/or not supported.
• The writing only occasionally includes knowledge, experiences, examples, and/or anecdotes, and/or lacks a clear organizational structure.
• The writing’s inappropriate tone, diction, examples, and/or level of formality show inconsistent or weak audience awareness.
• Sentences lack varied structure and length and are rarely well-crafted.
• The writer does not demonstrate understanding of invention, composing, and revising processes. There are minor changes between drafts.
• Errors are sufficiently frequent and/or serious as to be distracting; it is hard for the reader to focus on the writer’s message.
• The writing does not fully meet the assignment.
• The portfolio follows directions; there is nothing missing.

Score of 1: Failing Portfolio that Demonstrates Incompetence

• The claim and/or purpose are missing, difficult to identify, and/or not supported. The writer still needs to clarify the topic.
• The writing rarely uses knowledge, experiences, examples, and/or anecdotes, and/or lacks a clear organizational structure.
• The tone, diction, examples, and/or level of formality indicate lack of audience awareness.
• The writer does not demonstrate understanding of invention, composing, and revising processes. There are minor or no changes between drafts.
• Extensive editing is required; the reader may need to read once to decode, then again to interpret and respond to the text.
• The writing does not meet the assignment.
• The portfolio follows directions; there is nothing missing.