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Contemporary's GED Language Arts, Writing
Ellen Carley Frechette
Tim Collins


GED Essay Scoring Guide

Language Arts, Writing, Part II
Essay Scoring Guide

1

2

3

4

Inadequate

Marginal

Adequate

Effective

Reader has difficulty identifying or following the writer’s ideas.Reader occasionally has difficulty understanding or following the writer’s ideas.Reader understands writer’s ideas.Reader understands and easily follows the writer’s expression of ideas.
Response to the PromptAttempts to address prompt but with little or no success in establishing a focus.Addresses the prompt, though the focus may shift.Uses the writing prompt to establish a main idea.Presents a clearly focused main idea that addresses the prompt.
OrganizationFails to organize ideas.Shows some evidence of an organizational plan.Uses an identifiable organizational plan.Establishes a clear and logical organization.
Development and DetailsDemonstrates little or no development; usually lacks details or examples or presents irrelevant information.Has some development but lacks specific details; may be limited to a listing, repetitions, or generalizations.Has focused but occasionally uneven development; incorporates some specific detail.Achieves coherent development with specific and relevant details and examples.
Conventions of EAEExhibits minimal or no control of sentence structure and the conventions of EAE (Edited American English).Demonstrates inconsistent control of sentence structure and the conventions of EAE.Generally controls sentence structure and the conventions of EAE.Consistently controls sentence structure and the conventions of EAE.
Word ChoiceExhibits weak and/or inappropriate words.Exhibits a narrow range of word choice, often including inappropriate selections.Exhibits appropriate word choice.Exhibits varied and precise word choice.

Source: GED Testing Service