CAASPP Smarter Balanced Informational Performance Task Writing Rubric | Grades 3-5

CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

• Jun 24, 2023 • 10 min read

✨ Summary: CAASPP Smarter Balanced Informational Performance Task Writing Rubric for Grades 3-5. Detailed scoring criteria for organization/purpose, evidence/elaboration, and conventions, essential for students, teachers, and parents in elementary education.

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CAASPP Smarter Balanced Informational Performance Task Writing Rubric for Grades 3-5

Key Points

This rubric guides informational writing assessment for grades 3-5
It helps teachers evaluate students’ ability to inform and explain topics effectively
It’s essential for CAASPP Smarter Balanced writing task preparation
It aims to improve elementary students’ informational writing skills

Full Rubric

Score	4	3	2	1	NS
Organization/Purpose	The response has a clear and effective organizational structure, creating a sense of unity and completeness. The organization is fully sustained between and within paragraphs. The response is consistently and purposefully focused: • controlling/main idea of a topic is clearly communicated, and the focus is strongly maintained for the purpose and audience • consistent use of a variety of transitional strategies to clarify the relationships between and among ideas • effective introduction and conclusion • logical progression of ideas from beginning to end; strong connections between and among ideas with some syntactic variety	The response has an evident organizational structure and a sense of completeness. Though there may be minor flaws, they do not interfere with the overall coherence. The organization is adequately sustained between and within paragraphs. The response is generally focused: • controlling/main idea of a topic is clear, and the focus is mostly maintained for the purpose and audience • adequate use of transitional strategies with some variety to clarify the relationships between and among ideas • adequate introduction and conclusion • adequate progression of ideas from beginning to end; adequate connections between and among ideas	The response has an inconsistent organizational structure. Some flaws are evident, and some ideas may be loosely connected. The organization is somewhat sustained between and within paragraphs. The response may have a minor drift in focus: • controlling/main idea of a topic may be somewhat unclear, or the focus may be insufficiently sustained for the purpose and/or audience • inconsistent use of transitional strategies and/or little variety • introduction or conclusion, if present, may be weak • uneven progression of ideas from beginning to end; and/or formulaic; inconsistent or unclear connections between and among ideas	The response has little or no discernible organizational structure. The response may be related to the topic but may provide little or no focus: • controlling/main idea may be confusing or ambiguous; response may be too brief or the focus may drift from the purpose and/or audience • few or no transitional strategies are evident • introduction and/or conclusion may be missing • frequent extraneous ideas may be evident; ideas may be randomly ordered or have an unclear progression	• Insufficient (includes copied text) • In a language other than English • Off-topic • Off-purpose
Evidence/Elaboration	The response provides thorough elaboration of the support/evidence for the thesis/controlling idea that includes the effective use of source material. The response clearly and effectively develops ideas, using precise language: • comprehensive evidence (facts and details) from the source material is integrated, relevant, and specific • clear citations or attribution to source material • effective use of a variety of elaborative techniques* • vocabulary is clearly appropriate for the audience and purpose • effective, appropriate style enhances content	The response provides adequate elaboration of the support/evidence for the thesis/controlling idea that includes the use of source material. The response adequately develops ideas, employing a mix of precise and more general language: • adequate evidence (facts and details) from the source material is integrated and relevant, yet may be general • adequate use of citations or attribution to source material • adequate use of some elaborative techniques* • vocabulary is generally appropriate for the audience and purpose • generally appropriate style is evident	The response provides uneven, cursory elaboration of the support/evidence for the thesis/controlling idea that includes uneven or limited use of source material. The response develops ideas unevenly, using simplistic language: • some evidence (facts and details) from the source material may be weakly integrated, imprecise, repetitive, vague, and/or copied • weak use of citations or attribution to source material • weak or uneven use of elaborative techniques*; development may consist primarily of source summary • vocabulary use is uneven or somewhat ineffective for the audience and purpose • inconsistent or weak attempt to create appropriate style	The response provides minimal elaboration of the support/evidence for the thesis/controlling idea that includes little or no use of source material. The response is vague, lacks clarity, or is confusing: • evidence (facts and details) from the source material is minimal, irrelevant, absent, incorrectly used, or predominantly copied • insufficient use of citations or attribution to source material • minimal, if any, use of elaborative techniques* • vocabulary is limited or ineffective for the audience and purpose • little or no evidence of appropriate style	• Insufficient (includes copied text) • In a language other than English • Off-topic • Off-purpose
Conventions	N/A	N/A	The response demonstrates an adequate command of conventions: • adequate use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling	The response demonstrates a partial command of conventions: • limited use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling	The response demonstrates little or no command of conventions: • infrequent use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling NS • Insufficient (includes copied text) • In a language other than English • Off-topic

Detailed Criteria Descriptions

Organization/Purpose Rubric

Score	Description and Structure
4	Description: The response has a clear and effective organizational structure, creating a sense of unity and completeness. The organization is fully sustained between and within paragraphs. The response is consistently and purposefully focused. Structure: • controlling/main idea of a topic is clearly communicated, and the focus is strongly maintained for the purpose and audience • consistent use of a variety of transitional strategies to clarify the relationships between and among ideas • effective introduction and conclusion • logical progression of ideas from beginning to end; strong connections between and among ideas with some syntactic variety
3	Description: The response has an evident organizational structure and a sense of completeness. Though there may be minor flaws, they do not interfere with the overall coherence. The organization is adequately sustained between and within paragraphs. The response is generally focused. Structure: • controlling/main idea of a topic is clear, and the focus is mostly maintained for the purpose and audience • adequate use of transitional strategies with some variety to clarify the relationships between and among ideas • adequate introduction and conclusion • adequate progression of ideas from beginning to end; adequate connections between and among ideas
2	Description: The response has an inconsistent organizational structure. Some flaws are evident, and some ideas may be loosely connected. The organization is somewhat sustained between and within paragraphs. The response may have a minor drift in focus. Structure: • controlling/main idea of a topic may be somewhat unclear, or the focus may be insufficiently sustained for the purpose and/or audience • inconsistent use of transitional strategies and/or little variety • introduction or conclusion, if present, may be weak • uneven progression of ideas from beginning to end; and/or formulaic; inconsistent or unclear connections between and among ideas
1	Description: The response has little or no discernible organizational structure. The response may be related to the topic but may provide little or no focus. Structure: • controlling/main idea may be confusing or ambiguous; response may be too brief or the focus may drift from the purpose and/or audience • few or no transitional strategies are evident • introduction and/or conclusion may be missing • frequent extraneous ideas may be evident; ideas may be randomly ordered or have an unclear progression
NS	• Insufficient (includes copied text) • In a language other than English • Off-topic • Off-purpose

Evidence/Elaboration Rubric

Score	Description and Evidence
4	Description: The response provides thorough elaboration of the support/evidence for the thesis/controlling idea that includes the effective use of source material. The response clearly and effectively develops ideas, using precise language. Evidence: • comprehensive evidence (facts and details) from the source material is integrated, relevant, and specific • clear citations or attribution to source material • effective use of a variety of elaborative techniques* • vocabulary is clearly appropriate for the audience and purpose • effective, appropriate style enhances content
3	Description: The response provides adequate elaboration of the support/evidence for the thesis/controlling idea that includes the use of source material. The response adequately develops ideas, employing a mix of precise and more general language. Evidence: • adequate evidence (facts and details) from the source material is integrated and relevant, yet may be general • adequate use of citations or attribution to source material • adequate use of some elaborative techniques* • vocabulary is generally appropriate for the audience and purpose • generally appropriate style is evident
2	Description: The response provides uneven, cursory elaboration of the support/evidence for the thesis/controlling idea that includes uneven or limited use of source material. The response develops ideas unevenly, using simplistic language. Evidence: • some evidence (facts and details) from the source material may be weakly integrated, imprecise, repetitive, vague, and/or copied • weak use of citations or attribution to source material • weak or uneven use of elaborative techniques*; development may consist primarily of source summary • vocabulary use is uneven or somewhat ineffective for the audience and purpose • inconsistent or weak attempt to create appropriate style
1	Description: The response provides minimal elaboration of the support/evidence for the thesis/controlling idea that includes little or no use of source material. The response is vague, lacks clarity, or is confusing. Evidence: • evidence (facts and details) from the source material is minimal, irrelevant, absent, incorrectly used, or predominantly copied • insufficient use of citations or attribution to source material • minimal, if any, use of elaborative techniques* • vocabulary is limited or ineffective for the audience and purpose • little or no evidence of appropriate style
NS	• Insufficient (includes copied text) • In a language other than English • Off-topic • Off-purpose

Conventions Rubric

Score	Criteria and Usage
2	Criteria: The response demonstrates an adequate command of conventions. Usage: adequate use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling
1	Criteria: The response demonstrates a partial command of conventions. Usage: limited use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling
0	Criteria: The response demonstrates little or no command of conventions. Usage: infrequent use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling
NS	Criteria: Insufficient (includes copied text), In a language other than English, Off-topic. Usage: N/A

Holistic Scoring:

Variety: A range of errors includes sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling.
Severity: Basic errors are more heavily weighted than higher-level errors.
Density: The proportion of errors to the amount of writing done well. This includes the ratio of errors to the length of the piece.

How to Use This Rubric

For Teachers: Use this rubric to assess your students’ informational writing skills. It can help you identify areas where students excel and where they need improvement. Incorporate these criteria into your writing instruction to help students develop strong informational writing skills.
For Students: Familiarize yourself with this rubric to understand what’s expected in your informational writing. Use it as a checklist when revising your work to ensure you’ve covered all the important aspects of effective informational writing.
For Parents: Review this rubric to understand how your child’s informational writing is evaluated. Use it as a guide to support your child’s writing development at home.

Tips for Success in CAASPP Smarter Balanced Informational Writing

Clear Organization: Ensure your writing has a clear, well-focused organizational structure that is consistently maintained throughout the essay.
Strong Controlling Idea: Introduce a clear controlling idea and maintain focus on it throughout your writing.
Effective Transitions: Use varied transitional strategies to connect ideas within and between paragraphs.
Thorough Elaboration: Provide comprehensive evidence from source material, integrating it smoothly and relevantly into your writing.
Proper Citations: Always cite your sources appropriately to support your ideas and avoid plagiarism.
Appropriate Language: Use vocabulary and style that are clearly appropriate for your audience and purpose.
Convention Mastery: Demonstrate adequate command of sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling.

By focusing on these areas, students can improve their informational writing skills and perform better on the CAASPP Smarter Balanced Writing task. Remember, practice makes perfect! Regular writing practice using this rubric as a guide can significantly enhance your performance.

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