WIDA is housed within the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
© 2020 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of WIDA
ACCESS
for ELLs
Last revised 3/1/2020
Score Point 6
D: Sophisticated organization of text that clearly demonstrates an overall sense of unity throughout, tailored
to context (e.g., purpose, situation, and audience)
S: Purposeful use of a variety of sentence structures that are essentially error-free
W: Precise use of vocabulary with just the right word in just the right place
5+
Score Point 5
D: Strong organization of text that supports an overall sense of unity, appropriate to context (e.g., purpose,
situation, and audience)
S: A variety of sentence structures with very few grammatical errors
W: A wide range of vocabulary, used appropriately and with ease
4+
Score Point 4
D: Organized text that presents a clear progression of ideas, demonstrating an awareness of context (e.g.,
purpose, situation, and audience)
S: Complex and some simple sentence structures, containing occasional grammatical errors that don’t
generally interfere with comprehensibility
W: A variety of vocabulary beyond the stimulus and prompt, generally conveying the intended meaning
3+
Score Point 3
D: Text that shows developing organization including the use of elaboration and detail, though the
progression of ideas may not always be clear
S: Simple and some complex sentence structures, whose meaning may be obscured by noticeable
grammatical errors
W: Some vocabulary beyond the stimulus and prompt, although usage is noticeably awkward at times
2+
Score Point 2
D: Text that shows emerging organization of ideas but with heavy dependence on the stimulus and prompt
and/or resembles a list of simple sentences (which may be linked by simple connectors)
S: Simple sentence structures; meaning is frequently obscured by noticeable grammatical errors when
attempting beyond simple sentences
W: Vocabulary primarily drawn from the stimulus and prompt
1+
Score Point 1
D: Minimal text that represents an idea or ideas
S: Primarily words, chunks of language, and short phrases rather than complete sentences
W: Distinguishable English words that are often limited to high frequency words or reformulated expressions
from the stimulus and prompt
D: Discourse Level S: Sentence Level W: Word/Phrase Level
WIDA Writing Scoring Scale
GRADES 112
For scoring only. To interpret ACCESS for ELLs and WIDA Screener scores
or to evaluate classroom performance, see the WIDA Writing Rubric.
WIDA is housed within the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
© 2020 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of WIDA
ACCESS
for ELLs
Last revised 3/1/2020
WIDA Writing Scoring Scale GRADES 112
Scoring process
The 11 possible score points are as follows:
1 1+ 2 2+ 3 3+ 4 4+ 5 5+ 6
After reading the entire response, make an initial decision about which score point best captures the response as a
whole (e.g., Score Point 3). Then, check the three descriptors (discourse, sentence, and word/phrase) for that score
point.
• If all three descriptors are a good fit for the response, award the whole score point (e.g., Score Point 3).
• If there is clear evidence that one or two descriptors at a higher score point are a better fit, award a plus score
point (e.g., Score Point 3+).
• If there is clear evidence that one or two descriptors at a lower score point are a better fit, go down one score
point and award a plus score point (e.g., Score Point 2+).
Additional scoring rules
Nonscorable: The response is blank; consists only of verbatim copied text; consists only of text that is completely off
task; or is entirely in a language other than English.
Completely off-task response: The entire response shows no understanding of or interaction with the prompt. It may
be a memorized, previously practiced response or appear to answer another, unrelated prompt. A response that is
entirely off task is nonscorable.
Completely off-topic response: The entire response shows a misinterpretation or misunderstanding of the prompt.
An off-topic response is related to the prompt, but does not seem to address it as intended. However, the response is
clearly not a memorized, previously practiced response. These responses are scored in their entirety using the scoring
scale; however, the maximum holistic score for a completely off-topic response is 2+.
Partially off-task response: The response contains both off-task and on-task writing. These responses are scored by
ignoring the off-task portion (which may be memorized and previously practiced) and scoring only the on-task portion
using the scoring scale.
Partially off-topic response: The response contains both off-topic and on-topic writing (i.e., a portion of the response
shows a misinterpretation or misunderstanding of the prompt). These responses are scored in their entirety using the
scoring scale.
WIDA is housed within the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
© 2020 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of WIDA
ACCESS
for ELLs
Last revised 3/1/2020
WIDA Writing Scoring Scale GRADES 112
Glossary
Awareness of audience: Words, sentence structures, and text forms that are deliberately selected to suit the intended
readers of a response
Awareness of purpose: Words, sentence structures, and text forms that are deliberately selected to serve the purpose
of a writing task
Awareness of situation: Words, sentence structures, and text forms that are deliberately selected for the situation in
which the writing task is taking place
Chunks of language: Memorized strings of very simple language
Complex sentence structures: Sentences with more than a subject, verb, and possible object (for more information,
see the Sentence Complexity Guidelines)
Discourse: Extended written language conveying multiple connected ideas
Minimal text: Letters, words, or chunks of language
Overall sense of unity: Unity within text and across ideas
Reformulated expressions: Paraphrasing and adaptation of language used in the prompt and stimulus
Simple sentence structures: Subject and verb, may include a direct or indirect object (for more information, see the
Sentence Complexity Guidelines)
Vocabulary: Words and phrases
