7/29/2019 General Education Development Essay Scoring Questions & Answers

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NYSED 02/22/2010 1

NYSED Responses to

OPT Essay ScoringQ and A

February 2010

Q 1. The GED Official Essay Scoring Guide (chart format) lists ability to understand the writers

idea at the top of the chart and then breaks down five points:1. Response to Prompt2. Organization3. Development and Details4. Conventions of Edited American English (EAE)5. Word choice

Is this a hierarchy of importance? Some of the scorers saw it as such but were confused how toput all the different components togetherespecially if they conflicted with one another. Forexample syntax, if the essay is written in non-standard syntax does that impact the scoring? Itwould seem to fall under Conventions of EAE, which is low on the list, but could really make anessay hard to understand.

A 1. It is not an exact hierarchy of importance, as holistic scoring asks you to consider allof these components in an overall impression. The definition of holistic scoring used by the GEDTesting Service (GEDTS) is, Holistic Scoring is a method of evaluating writing in which a reader

judges a piece of writing for its overall effectiveness. No one factor neither grammar,organization, spelling, etc. is weighted more than another in determining the overalleffectiveness of the piece of writing. However, if the essay has no clear focus and lacksorganization and development, then the conventions of Edited American English (EAE)/wordchoice may not even need to be considered. From the GEDTS Scoring Pointstraining materials,There are three key factors from the scoring guide to consider: focus (response), organization,and development. Usually, if focus, organization and development are lacking, the issues ofEAE and word choice wont factor into the score.

Another critical point to remember from the GEDTS Guidelines for Holistic Scoring: Thisis only a 45 minute test. Remember, examinees had only 45 minutes to read the prompt, write afirst draft, and write the final draft. Do not compare the finished product with your writingassignments for which students have longer preparation time.

Regarding the specific syntax issue, it really depends on the impact of the errors - askyourself, Does the use of language (sentence structure, EAE and word choice) cause thereader to have difficulty identifying and followingthe writers ideas? So, it is certainly possiblethat non-standard syntax that does notcomplicate the readers comprehension of the essay maynot negatively impact the score at all. Conversely, syntax usage that really makes an essayhard to understand - per the question - would certainly affect the scoring.

Q 2. One of the attendees had read an OPT essay that was well written but used textingabbreviations like U for you and R for are. Is this just a spelling mistake?

A 2. To date, GEDTS has not issued specific guidance regarding this new trend.However, when asked for clarification by our essay scoring staff, they indicated that at this time,texting abbreviations should be considered much like misspellings - errors in the use ofConventions of EAE.

Q 3. It was understood by the scorers that the perspective of the essay should not be taken intoaccount when scoring. That is to say if the perspective is racist or negative in someway, that

7/29/2019 General Education Development Essay Scoring Questions & Answers

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this should not be reflected in the scoring. However, in at least one scorers experience whenlooking at how his students score on the essay on the actual GED there does seem thatessays that are more positive or have a better message get a higher score. Is this somethingthat is talked about when scoring the actual GED essays?

A 3. Since OPT scorers do not see what testers write on the actual GED test, thisassertion is very questionable.Yes, Reader Objectivity Issues are a key part of the GEDTScertified essay reader training and are also included under their Guidelines for Holistic Scoring.Specifically, readers are instructed to be aware of and avoid potential biasing factors, such aspersonal reactions to the persona or tone of the response and reactions to the content of theresponse.

Q 4. If the essay is well written but the writer obviously ran out of time so there is no conclusionetchow is that scored?

A 4. The reader should score a response based solely whats on the paper assumenothing. From GEDTS Scoring Points, Scoring holistically, the reader cannot project what awriter might have meant or might have included. The reader can only score what the words onthe paper communicate or fail to communicate.

Q 5. What if the writer wrote a very good essay but obviously misunderstood the prompt, how is

that scored?A 5. As long as the response is connected/related to the prompt, it should not impact the

scoring. Ask yourself, Does the paper respond to the prompt? Note that while in discussionswe often use the words topic and essay, the GEDTS only uses the terms prompt andresponse when discussing actual testing. The prompt is given to elicit a response, or, a writingsample. The current prompts are deliberately general so there cannot be a right or wrongresponse, and it is extremely difficult to be considered off topic. Many GED Language Arts,Writing, Part II preparation materials contain a wide variety of essay topics which may ask forcomparison and contrast, to support/disagree with a statement, etc. While practicing writing for avariety of audiences/purposes is a critical component of writing skills development, the prompton the actual test will be general. Remember, this is not an essay but only a writing sample.

Q 6. Is there a minimum length?A 6. No, there is no minimum length. Its possible for a short response to adequately

address the areas of response to the prompt, organization, conventions of EAE and wordchoice, but it may not be effective enough in development and detailsto achieve coherentdevelopment with specific and relevant details and examples. However, as part of trainingreaders are instructed, Dont assume that all short responses are 1s and all long responses are3s or 4s. From GEDTS Scoring Points, A 1-score may have five paragraphs, but if thesentences in those paragraphs fail to establish a focus, organize the information and provide asufficient amount of detail, then the reader will have difficulty identifying and following thewriters ideas.

Q 7. How does the complexity of topic covered affect the scoring? Example: One essay talksabout wearing a seat belt as the most important rule, and another essay tackles the golden ruleas the most important rule.

A 7. As the tester has no choice in what topic he or she receives, the topic should in noway impact the scoring. Readers are trained to not compare a paper to another paper or rankpapers in terms of quality. When in doubt, refer to the scoring guide criteria.