Students wrote on a topic and their papers were scored by a team of district teachers using state-defined criteria. There is effective sequencing and pacing, as well as smooth transitions. The text is lively, personal, and expressive.
Sentences are powerful, clear, and graceful with a variety of length and structure.
There is correctness in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization. Ratings on each trait range from 1 to 5. Scores from the six traits are combined into a writing composite score. In the combining, Ideas and Content and Organization each count three times, Voice and Word Choice each count two times, and Sentence Fluency and Conventions each count one time. At all three grade levels, the 1998 averages for Blue Valley students are well above the Kansas averages.