Grading Criteria

The Grading Criteria for Business and Professional Writing (355:303) are intended to promote fair and relatively uniform standards for evaluating papers and for determining final grades. These standards are important not only so that students in one section of the course can expect to be evaluated by the same criteria as students in another section, but so that teachers can know that they are evaluating students by the same criteria used by their colleagues. Generally, those teachers who have the highest expectations and the highest standards help their students produce the strongest work (relative to other sections). Teachers should especially try to maintain a high standard for "A" level work and take care to identify nonpassing work.

General Principles of Commenting and Grading
Teachers' remarks should be directed toward revision and should focus on the writer's awareness of the social context of writing (i.e.: purpose and audience), engagement with facts or research, and overall logic or organization. The writer's ability to polish the document for proofreading and appearance should also be reflected in the grade but should not receive as much stress as content and should not be the primary focus of teacher remarks (except, perhaps, in the case of the resume and cover letter, where strict standards should be maintained). Since comments on the final paper will come too late to influence student performance, teachers should give as much feedback as possible on the initial white paper, the midterm paper, and the presentation. These comments should always be focused more toward revision than evaluation. Teachers often hold individual conferences early in the term or as they return the midterm paper so that they can give concrete advice on the project in dialogue with the student, rather than writing out long comments that might urge an inappropriate direction.

Some questions you might ask yourself when grading the midterm and final assignments include the following: Does the student recognize the reader's situation and concerns? How challenging is the task that the student has set for him or herself? Does the writer define and document an issue or problem that needs to be addressed (or, alternately, does the writer specify a goal to be achieved)? Does the writer use sources well to support the proposed solution or plan? Is there a clear fit between the research and the specific proposal? Does the writer point to the research explicitly and put it into a logical order? Does the paper meet all formal criteria? Is the bibliography prepared according to an approved style? Is the overall appearance attractive? Are visual aids useful to the paper and attractively presented? Is the writing sufficiently error-free? Does the writer incorporate stylistic improvements that have been covered in the course?

Dealing with Problems of Error
While teachers are encouraged to note errors and to use issues of error to some degree in determining grades (especially in the case of the resume and cover letter), the primary focus of teacher comments should be directed toward issues of logic, purpose, and audience. Also, no paper should be failed based on grammar alone, unless the level of error is so severe that it renders the paper's meaning unintelligible. All writers who show problems with grammar should be referred to the Writing Center early in the term and offered extra help in dealing with error.

Generally, it is more helpful to students when teachers note patterns of error than when they pick out and highlight every error equally.

Determining Grades on Resumes and Cover Letters
Since students are always in the process of revising the resume, teachers should direct their comments toward revision. Initial emphasis, especially in comments, should be placed on issues of audience. Problems of error and imperfect proofreading should be emphasized in the grade -- though comments should be directed toward identifying specific patterns of error.

Students must attach the job advertisement, since without it peers and instructors cannot judge audience expectations. The resume should be ordered in a way that best responds to the potential employer's needs, and the cover letter should offer significant details distinguishing the candidate and highlighting aspects of the resume in a way that clearly responds to those needs. Instructors should try to require a high level of detail in the cover letter, since most students will write letters that are too short or that lack detail. You might, for example, require that students fill the entire page with writing in the cover letter.

Some teachers find it helpful to get the students themselves to develop a grading criteria during the class discussion of the resume and cover letter -- perhaps as you examine a few specific sample resumes and letters very closely. If you generate a list of general principles in this way, you place more authority in the students' hands while emphasizing that quality, like form, is not an absolute standard but is determined by our common expectations as part of a culture of writers.

While comments should emphasize issues of audience and overall presentation, we may find it useful with these particular documents to use a point system of grading, perhaps based on a criteria determined by students themselves. You might then grade these documents based on point values set to a standard curve. A point system also helps in separating comments from the grade.

Teachers should try to distinguish the strongest resumes from the merely sufficient by rewarding very few "A" grades. Most grades will fall into the low "B" range. Only the most abysmal performances should be given an "F" grade. Also, those documents which reveal a level of error that interferes with basic sense should never be awarded a passing grade.

I am always surprised by the level of error on the resume, which ought to have absolutely no errors of syntax, grammar, consistency, or sense. Errors in consistency (in spacing, parallel form, layout, capitalization, etc.) are especially prevalent. General sloppiness or failure to adhere to generally accepted principles (such as using active verbs) should also be considered.

Determining Grades on the Midterm Paper

Nonpassing work
Nonpassing work on the midterm paper generally exhibits some of the following problems:

• Fails to fulfill the basic requirements of the assignment (e.g.: minimal or missing bibliography, no in-text citations)
• Develops a very personal argument without sufficient reference to others (so that it should really be a letter to the editor rather than a project proposal)
• Fails to use or cite research, or uses inappropriate research
• Focuses on the methods (how) while ignoring the researched justification (why)
• Presents an overly broad, or unfocused, or inappropriately large topic
• Follows a "report of information" format, without a clear objective or application structuring the paper
• Fails to address a specific audience
• Exhibits a high level of error which interferes significantly with meaning
  

C level work
C-level papers not only address a reader's concerns but begin to use or reference research to justify an approach to those concerns. Often, they are making the appropriate gestures without reaching full potential. Often, they try to define a problem and offer a somewhat justified solution, but the research is not yet fully sufficient or well enough deployed to make a solid case. The research does not yet begin to gel into a paradigm, and sometimes the paper still exhibits some residue of the "report" format. Alternatively, student may rely too heavily on summary of sources and research findings, rather than having the summary directed toward a specific goal. Sometimes a C-level paper relies too heavily on pathos rather than logos, which is usually a sign of insufficient research. We should not award higher than C-grades (or even passing grades) based on fluency alone, since often the students who do the least research have the easiest time writing fluently at this point, while they will be in danger later. We should try to encourage those students who are doing strong research but are struggling to put it into usable form, while chastising those students whose research is weak -- even if they exhibit naturally strong writing. C papers generally are poorly researched or, alternately,exhibit a somewhat higher than average level of error or sloppiness (but a level of error that does not interfere with meaning). You may reduce a grade to the C-level based on error alone.

B level work
B-level papers have a clear understanding of audience and purpose. They describe a problem and offer a solution that is justified by research. They should also begin to set forth (or at least suggest or point toward) a consensus view (or paradigm) that will justify the project objective. They are generally well presented and relatively error free.

A level papers
A-level papers have a strong understanding of audience, purpose, and the means of persuasion at hand. They should offer a clear paradigm, where the student uses good research and presents it with confidence. There should be very few errors in writing. We should distinguish the best performances from others by awarding few "A" grades, especially at midterm.

Determining Grades on the Oral Presentation
The oral presentation is both an "oral draft" of the final paper and an exercise in public speaking. Therefore, we need to balance the sometimes competing issues of content (including research, organization, and visual aids) with recognition of the form or style (including delivery, eye contact, and polish). We should focus most, though, on how well the presentation gives evidence that the student is prepared to write the final paper for the class, and our comments should focus most on how the student can revise the project for the final paper.

Generally, teachers should return comments on the presentation by the following class. First time teachers may find it useful to return only comments while withholding grades until all presenters have gone, so that they may be judged by comparison. Teachers who are more familiar with student presentations should probably return grades and comments together.

The strongest presentations (A- and B-level) feature clear organization, convincing logic, excellent references to evidence, clear and useful visual aids, and a confident delivery style. Weak (or C-level) presentations tend to have weak evidence, few or weak visual aids, poor organization, or an especially problem-ridden delivery.

Determining Grades on the Final Paper

F Range
Reasons why a paper might not pass include:

• The paper is plagiarized, in whole or in part (BRING TO COORDINATOR'S ATTENTION).
• The paper does not meet the basic requirements of the assignment (e.g.: no visual aids or no bibliography, missing crucial sections).
• The writer does not use sufficient or appropriate documentation (i.e.: very few, very old or completely inappropriate sources) or does not support points with references.
• The paper is written in the form of a report, and fails to focus information toward action.
• The paper depends largely on undirected summary.
• The level of basic organization interferes dramatically with the paper's meaning -- for example, the paragraphs do not follow logically or there is no apparent organizational structure.
• Problems of sentence-level error (especially grammar and syntax) are so severe that they interfere with the paper's meaning and appear to be both serious and irremediable without another semester of work. Examples of serious error include sentence fragments, subject-verb agreement errors, or an over reliance on simple sentences without transitions between them. Less severe (and passable) problems include spelling errors, misused apostrophes, and bad proofreading.
• The writer does not project a basic competence in writing.

C Range
Papers usually fall into the C range if they have some of the following characteristics:

• The level of research, organization, and logic are sufficient to demonstrate a basic competency.
• The paper puts information in action and is not merely a report or summary.
• The argument shows signs of promise even if it is not fully unified or fully developed.
• The research, while sufficient to pass, does not seem to fulfill all of the needs of the student's argument. Perhaps certain essential facts are missing from an otherwise acceptable paper.
• The writer ignores important difficulties or avoids dealing with salient issues.
• The writer has not fully engaged with or considered the audience's concerns about this project.
• The solution does not follow logically from the problem.
• The paradigm does not mesh with the practice, or is not clearly delineated.
• Generally, a paper that is competent but fails to organize the research into a paradigm will receive a C+ grade.
• The visual aids are especially weak or carelessly prepared.
• The level of error is high or shows signs of general and repeated carelessness.

B Range
A paper in the B range generally does most of the following to some extent:

• Clearly describes or quantifies the problem or need to be addressed.
• Has a sense of the paradigm or theoretical frame used to define the project.
• Engages (and does not ignore) the difficulties suggested by the research or the plan.
• Uses source materials well and places them in a logical relation to other sources and the thesis.
• Responds to the needs or concerns of the likely audience (or funding source).
• Strives to persuade the reader.
• Seems feasible as a real world project.
• Uses visual aids that are well explained and integrated into the proposal.
• Guides the reader through the argument (using good transitions, signposts, forecasting, etc.)
• Has mostly error free writing.

Often, a B range paper has a strong literature review but a weak plan, or -- alternately -- an imaginative and well developed plan of action that is insufficiently supported by research.

A Range
We should distinguish only the best papers in the class with an "A" grade. An A paper has all of the qualities of a B paper, and distinguishes itself in at least some of the following ways:

• Sets an especially challenging or original task that the student fulfills.
• Demonstrates excellent or innovative research, which is well ordered and cited.
• Organizes the research into a clearly and carefully delineated paradigm.
• Uses graphics that are highly effective at conveying information.
• Has almost completely error free writing.
• Has a degree of stylistic polish that exceeds the commonplace (though this alone does not make an A paper, it is often a contributing factor).
• Exhibits a remarkably attractive appearance and visually appealing design.
  

The best A-level projects are those in which the writer does more than merely import an existing paradigm into a new situation. There should be some attempt to modify the model and make it case-specific, expanding the paradigm. Although this is not an absolute requirement, it is one sign of A-level work.

Some teachers find that students want a more definitive quantification of how the different parts of their project are rated. It might be helpful to consider how you want to weigh each section, or you could develop a scheme similar to the one Ellen Morrison uses (70 points for content, 15 points for writing skills, and 15 points for format/APA style). The most important thing is to have an idea of your own criteria so that you can explain your grading system to students should they require an explanation.

Determining Final Grades for the Course
There are two main criteria for determining final grades: the work on the project (as determined primarily by the grade on the final paper) and the student's sustained level of performance for the course. We generally weigh these two criteria almost equally (in fact, by the end of the semester the two grade values are usually almost equivalent), with slightly more emphasis on the final project.

Here is how instructor Ellen Morrison explains the breakdown:

Final Grade Point Equivalents

• A: 90 and above
• B+: 87-89
• B: 80-86
• C+: 77-79
• C: 70-76
• F: 69 and below

You should feel free to modify this grading scheme to fit your own assignments and priorities, as long as the final project remains the main determinant of the final grade. If you have any questions, please talk to the course coordinator.