GRADES 6-11
Simplified PARCC SCORING RUBRIC FOR PROSE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE
ITEMS (Revised July 29, 2014)***
Research Simulation Task and Literary Analysis Task
Construct
Measured
Score Point 4
Score Point 3
Score Point 2
Score Point 1
Score Point 0
COMPREHENSION/
ANALYSIS/EVIDENCE:
COMPREHENSION/
ANALYSIS/EVIDENCE:
COMPREHENSION/
ANALYSIS/EVIDENCE:
COMPREHENSION/
ANALYSIS/EVIDENCE:
COMPREHENSION/
ANALYSIS/EVIDENCE:



Reading/
Comprehension
of Key Ideas

and Details

Full comprehension of
ideas stated explicitly
and inferentially
Accurate analysis
Effective and
convincing textual
evidence


DEVELOPMENT/ REASONING/
EVIDENCE:

Mostly effective
development of the claim
or topic

Clear reasoning

Relevant textual evidence
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:

Purposeful coherence,
clarity, and cohesion

Easy to follow
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:

Coherent, clear, and
cohesive

Fairly easy to follow
STYLE:
Effective style
STYLE:
Mostly effective style while
attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline.
COMMAND OF CONVENTIONS:
Writing/
Knowledge
of Language
and
Conventions
(scored out
of 3)


DEVELOPMENT/
REASONING/ EVIDENCE:

Effective and
comprehensive
development of the
claim or topic

Clear and convincing
reasoning

Relevant textual
evidence
Writing/
Written
Expression
Comprehension of ideas
stated explicitly and/or
inferentially
Mostly accurate analysis
Adequate textual evidence

Full command of the
conventions of standard
English
MECHANICS/ CLARITY:


Few minor errors in
mechanics, grammar, and
usage
Meaning is clear.
Basic comprehension 
of ideas stated explicitly
and/or inferentially
Generally accurate

analysis
Basic textual evidence 
Limited comprehension
of ideas stated explicitly
and/or inferentially
Minimally accurate
analysis
Limited textual evidence



DEVELOPMENT/
DEVELOPMENT/
REASONING/ EVIDENCE:
REASONING/ EVIDENCE:

Some development of 
Minimal development
the claim or topic

Limited reasoning and
text-based evidence;

Some reasoning and
text-based evidence OR: is developed but does not
address the prompt
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:

Some coherence,
clarity, and/or cohesion

Progression of ideas
usually discernible but
not obvious
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:
Limited coherence, clarity,
and/or cohesion

Somewhat unclear
No comprehension of
ideas
Inaccurate or no
analysis
Little to no textual
evidence
DEVELOPMENT/
REASONING/ EVIDENCE:

Undeveloped
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:
Lacking coherence, clarity,
and cohesion
STYLE:
STYLE:
STYLE:
Inappropriate style, with
Somewhat effective,
Limited effectiveness, with
little to no awareness of
generally attending to the
limited awareness of the
the norms of the discipline.
norms and conventions of
norms of the discipline.
the discipline.
COMMAND OF
CONVENTIONS:

COMMAND OF
CONVENTIONS:
Some command of the 
conventions of
standard English
MECHANICS/ CLARITY:

May have errors in
mechanics, grammar,
and usage that
occasionally impede
understanding

Meaning is generally
clear.
COMMAND OF
CONVENTIONS:
Limited command of the 
conventions of standard
English
No command of the
conventions of standard
English
MECHANICS/ CLARITY:
MECHANICS/ CLARITY:


Errors in mechanics,
grammar, and usage
often impede
understanding.
Frequent and varied
errors in mechanics,
grammar, and usage
impede
understanding.
GRADES 6-11
Simplified PARCC SCORING RUBRIC FOR PROSE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE
ITEMS (Revised July 29, 2014)***
Narrative Task
Construct
Measured
Writing/
Written
Expression
Score Point 4
Score Point 3
Score Point 2
Score Point 1
Score Point 0
DEVELOPMENT & USE OF
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS:
 Effectively developed with
narrative elements
DEVELOPMENT & USE OF
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS:
 Mostly effectively
developed with narrative
elements
DEVELOPMENT & USE OF
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS:
 Developed with some
narrative elements
DEVELOPMENT & USE OF
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS:
 Minimally developed with
few narrative elements
DEVELOPMENT & USE OF
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS:
 Undeveloped
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:

Lacking coherence,
clarity, and cohesion
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:

Purposeful coherence,
clarity, and cohesion

Easy to follow
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:

Coherent, clear, and
cohesive

Fairly easy to follow
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:
COHERENCE/ CLARITY:

Some coherence,

Limited coherence,
clarity, and/or cohesion
clarity, and/or cohesion

Progression of ideas

Somewhat unclear
usually discernible but
not obvious
STYLE:
Effective style
STYLE:
Mostly effective style
while attending to the
norms and conventions
of the discipline.
STYLE:
STYLE:
STYLE:
Inappropriate style, with
Somewhat effective,
Limited effectiveness,
little to no awareness
generally attending to the
with limited awareness of
of the norms of the
norms and conventions of
the norms of the discipline.
discipline.
the discipline.
COMMAND OF
CONVENTIONS:
COMMAND OF
CONVENTIONS:

Writing/
Knowledge of
Language and
Conventions
Full command of the
conventions of
standard English
MECHANICS/ CLARITY:


Few minor errors in
mechanics, grammar,
and usage
Meaning is clear.

COMMAND OF
CONVENTIONS:
Some command of the 
conventions of standard
English
MECHANICS/ CLARITY:

May have errors in
mechanics, grammar,
and usage that
occasionally impede
understanding

Meaning is generally
clear.
Limited command of
the conventions of
standard English
COMMAND OF
CONVENTIONS:

No command of the
conventions of standard
English
MECHANICS/ CLARITY:
MECHANICS/ CLARITY:


Errors in mechanics,
grammar, and usage
often impede
understanding.
Frequent and varied
errors in mechanics,
grammar, and usage
impede
understanding.
NOTE:

The reading dimension is not scored for elicited narrative stories.

The elements of coherence, clarity, and cohesion to be assessed are expressed in the grade-level standards 1-4 for writing.

Tone is not assessed in grade 6.

Per the CCSS, narrative elements in grades 3-5 may include: establishing a situation, organizing a logical event sequence, describing scenes, objects or
people, developing characters personalities, and using dialogue as appropriate. In grades 6-8, narrative elements may include, in addition to the grades 3-5
elements, establishing a context, situating events in a time and place, developing a point of view, developing characters’ motives. In grades 9-11, narrative
elements may include, in addition to the grades 3-8 elements, outlining step-by-step procedures, creating one or more points of view, and constructing event
models of what happened. The elements to be assessed are expressed in grade-level standards 3 for writing.
A response is considered unscoreable if it cannot be assigned a score based on the rubric criteria. For unscoreable student responses, one of the following condition
codes will be applied:
A=No response
B=Response is unintelligible or undecipherable
C=Response is not written in English
D=Off-topic
E=Refusal to respond
F=Don’t understand/know
***NOTE from Sarah Tantillo, Ed.D, LLC on 12-9-14: I modified these rubrics to make them more user-friendly while still preserving the content. PARCC noted when releasing
the originals on 7-29-14 that they are “subject to further refinement based on research and study.” Stay tuned!