The Paper Graduation Project

The basics… A 6-8 page research paper in 11 th grade English. The final draft is graded by a board of “ghost graders,” i.e. you! You and your partner ghost grader will come to a consensus on the score using a CMS-created rubric. The score you give counts for 20% of the student’s second-quarter grade.

How will the grading work? You will be given papers today. You should read and score the papers on your own. After scoring the papers alone, prior to the next faculty meeting (Dec. 19 th ), you will need to meet with your partner and decide on your consensus score. You will turn in your papers at the Dec. 19 th faculty meeting; there will be no box in the mailroom (ignore directions on consensus sheet).

Understanding the Rubric You will give each paper a score between 0 to 4 in seven categories: – Thesis Statement – Sources – Synthesis (counts twice!) – Graphic – MLA Documentation – Style – Writing Conventions You will ADD the scores for each category together to arrive at your final score.

Thesis Statement Presents the major idea or argument of the paper Should be concise and very clear Bolded, in the first paragraph A thesis statement whose topic does not match the content of the paper should be deemed to be insufficient.

Sources What you’re looking for: Existence: Facts that aren’t common knowledge should reference a source. Number: An adequate number of sources to sufficiently support the topic. Minimum of five. Diversity: Students shouldn’t overuse sources by the same author. Relevance: Sources should have a clear connection to the topic or argument, and should not be outdated. Authority: Sources should be authoritative. No Wikipedia; no Mama’sHealthBlog.com. Primary Source: There should be at least one primary source. This should be bolded in the Works Cited page.

Synthesis The most important and weighty category—it counts TWICE! What you’re looking for: Cohesion: You see a logical connection among all ideas in the paper, and all parts work together to reinforce the thesis. If the paper is argumentative, arguments are logical, supported by evidence, and convincing. Balance: Lots of textual evidence, but you should clearly see some of the student’s own thoughts and voice interpreting the textual evidence. Length: Must reach six full pages, including graphic, and must not exceed eight pages. A paper that does not reach six full pages cannot receive higher than a 3 in the synthesis category.

Graphic What you’re looking for: Examples: Chart, Graph, Map, Diagram, Illustration, Photograph that reinforces and/or clarifies important points. Student-Generated: Entirely created by the student—not copy and pasted! **Exception: Non-student generated outlines of common knowledge figures (i.e. a basic U.S. map) that are heavily annotated or altered by the student are acceptable. Size: It should take up no less than ¼ of a page and no more than ½ of a page. Title and Source: It should have a title and should give the source of any data used, if applicable. Integration: The graphic should be referenced in the text of the paper.

MLA Documentation What you’re looking for: Internal parenthetical or in-text citations for all factual information. All parenthetical or in-text citations should match a Works Cited entry on the Works Cited page. Formatting and punctuation of internal citations and Works Cited entries should be consistent and error- free. **Please do not deduct from this category for mistakes that apply to the Sources category, and vice versa.

Style What you’re looking for: Academic word choice Sentence variety: They shouldn’t all sound the same! Appropriate and consistent voice: The student’s language when interpreting factual evidence is formal but not arrogant or pretentious. Sentences aren’t wordy or awkward. Transitions: Smooth shifts between ideas, and clear references to ideas from other parts of the paper.

Writing Conventions What you’re looking for: Grammar: No run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, capitalization mistakes, errors in agreement, punctuation, capitalization, etc.

Differentiating Between Scores in Each Category 4: Distinguished Expert-level work A-quality 3: Effective Good work B-quality 2: Minimal The student did the bare minimum Low C or D-quality 1: Insufficient There is a clear attempt, but the student is mostly unsuccessful. Low D-quality 0: Unsatisfactory The element is nonexistent, random, or no clear attempt has been made. The student is entirely unsuccessful. F-quality

Plagiarism! Characteristics of a plagiarized paper: There are no citations or Works Cited entries. Some words are oddly-colored or highlighted (indicates copy-and- paste). Vocabulary and voice are impossibly advanced, even for the best high school student. **If you are suspicious of plagiarism, please do the following: Do not score the paper. Attempt to verify the plagiarism (a quick Google search!) Indicate on the consensus sheet that you believe the paper to be plagiarized. Include the ID number and topic of the paper and a printout of any evidence. Send an to Stacey McClain or Jennifer Goodson