PECT Study Guide

Pre-service Academic Performance Assessment (PAPA)
Sample Extended Constructed-Response Assignment

The following materials contain:

Sample Test Directions for the Extended Constructed-Response Assignment

This section of the PAPA Writing module consists of one extended constructed-response assignment. The assignment can be found on the next screen. You should prepare a multiple-paragraph composition of approximately 600 words on the assigned topic. You may use the word-count feature in the lower left-hand corner of the answer box to monitor the length of your response. You will not be allowed to type more than 1,000 words.

For this assignment, you will be presented with a proposition or point of view, and asked to agree or disagree with the proposition/point of view and to defend your position in writing with reasoned arguments and relevant examples. Read the assignment carefully and think about how you will organize your response before you begin to write. You may use the booklet of yellow erasable sheets provided to make notes, write an outline, or otherwise prepare your response. However, your score will be based solely on the response that is typed in the response box provided for the assignment.

Your composition should effectively communicate a whole message to the specified audience for the stated purpose. You will be assessed on your ability to express, organize, and support opinions and ideas. You will not be assessed on the position you express.

Your response will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

Be sure to write about the assigned topic. You may not use any reference materials. Your response must be your original work, written in your own words, and not copied or paraphrased from some other work. Remember to review what you have written to ensure that you address all aspects of the assignment and make any changes you think will improve your response. The final version of your response should conform to the conventions of Standard American English.

Sample Extended Constructed-Response Assignment

It has been said that increased use of the Internet has led to a decrease in individual privacy. Write a composition, to be read by an audience of educated adults, in which you:

Sample Strong Response to the Extended Constructed-Response Assignment

A generation ago, the term "private citizen" meant that very little information about a person beyond births, weddings and obituaries was in the public domain. Our private information was known only by a small group of family and friends. The arrival of the Internet has changed everything. Anyone who goes online today is subject to all kinds of invisible and unauthorized data collection. Browsing history, buying habits, and political views are tracked by corporations without our knowledge and consent. In addition, we voluntarily give up our own privacy when we use social networks like Facebook and report on our own activities to a list of our closest one hundred "friends." The more we use the Internet, the more we lose our privacy through both involuntary and voluntary means.

The involuntary loss of privacy may be the most disturbing. Web sites attach "cookies," little data-collection programs, to Internet addresses stored on personal computers. In ways that the majority of users do not understand, a huge amount of information is constantly being gathered by Web sites with every stroke of the keyboard. Words, people, and questions searched through Google "personalize" later searches so that "related products" show up. But some information is not initiated by the Internet user at all. For instance, there are Web sites that display the values of houses, their mortgage histories, as well as current and former occupants. Google Street-view offers close-up looks at many homes, too. Political donations are posted. Photos or videos of us may be uploaded by news media, or by friends who have not thought to ask permission.

Email is another source of involuntary loss of privacy through Internet use: all someone has to do is hit "forward," and complete strangers may suddenly know about that fight with the roommate or an embarrassing secret. The "reply all" box may be hit accidentally and a private response is sent to everyone on the original list. These errors can be hugely painful or embarrassing. Other programs read email and use key words and phrases to send targeted advertising in the margins of messages sent and received. We have all seen this: an email from a friend with a reference to her vacation at a lake includes ads for boats, cruises, and portable grills in the margins. The tracking abilities of Web sites to collect personal information are staggering and largely unmonitored. The casual daily Internet user has no idea what is going on behind the scenes.

Many people voluntarily surrender privacy for a sense of social connection on social networking sites like Facebook, where they post everything from their birthdays to their relationship status, from photos of their families to favorite music and daily activities. "Friends" can get to know each other, not in person by spending time and having conversations, but by clicking through each other's posts and photos. There are pleasures and advantages to staying in touch this way, but also new kinds of risk, as when parents, professors or prospective employers gain access to some compromising item. It is hard to keep the different parts of our lives separated because information on the Internet escapes our control.

No Internet user is now a "private citizen" in the old-fashioned sense. Instead, we are bundles of data—trackable, targetable, constantly watched and overheard. Both without our knowledge and with it, our privacy is compromised every time we open a Web browser and click to our favorite sites. We enjoy the advantages—almost instantaneous sharing with friends, a world of information, convenient financial transactions—but at the cost of our privacy. Time will tell how much people really care.

Performance Characteristics

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the extended constructed-response assignment.

Appropriateness The extent to which the response addresses the assigned topic and uses language and style appropriate for the specified audience
Focus and Unity The extent to which the response clearly states, and maintains clear connections to, the main idea or thesis statement
Organization The extent to which the response is effectively and coherently sequenced from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph
Development The extent to which the response provides relevant, varied, and specific support to elaborate on the main idea or thesis statement
Grammar and Conventions The extent to which the response shows control of grammar, sentence structure, usage, and mechanical conventions (i.e., spelling, punctuation, and capitalization)

Score Scale

Scores will be assigned to each response to the extended constructed-response assignment according to the following score scale.

Score Point Score Point Description
4 The "4" response demonstrates a strong command of writing skills.
  • A: The response fully addresses the topic. Language and style are appropriate.
  • F: The main idea or thesis statement is clearly expressed. Connections to the main idea or thesis statement are effectively maintained.
  • O: The response is effectively organized. Connections from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph are clear and purposeful.
  • D: Support is strong and full. It is relevant, varied, and specific.
  • G: There are very few, if any, errors in grammar and mechanics. Usage and word choice are effective and precise. Sentence structure is correct, effective, and varied.
3 The "3" response demonstrates a general command of writing skills.
  • A: The response generally addresses the topic. Language and style are generally appropriate.
  • F: The main idea or thesis statement is expressed. Connections to the main idea or thesis statement are generally maintained.
  • O: The response is mostly organized. Connections from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph are generally clear.
  • D: Support is general. It is generally relevant. It may not be varied. There are some specifics.
  • G: There are minor errors in grammar and mechanics. Usage and word choice may be basic and contain minor errors. Sentence structure may contain minor errors and show only some variation.
2 The "2" response demonstrates a limited command of writing skills.
  • A: The response partially addresses the topic. Language and style may be inappropriate.
  • F: The main idea or thesis statement may have to be inferred. Connections to the main idea or thesis statement are only partially maintained.
  • O: The response is only partially organized. Connections from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph may be unclear.
  • D: Support is limited. It may be only partially relevant. It may not be specific.
  • G: Major and minor errors in grammar, mechanics, usage, word choice, and sentence structure are distracting and may interfere with meaning.
1 The "1" response demonstrates a weak command of writing skills.
  • A: The response attempts to address the topic. Language and style are inappropriate.
  • F: The main idea or thesis statement is not clear. Connections to the main idea or thesis statement are not maintained.
  • O: There is little or no organization in the response. Connections from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph are unclear.
  • D: Support is weak. There is little or no relevant development.
  • G: Numerous major and minor errors in grammar, mechanics usage, word choice, and sentence structure impede meaning.
U The response is unrelated to the assigned topic, illegible, primarily in a language other than English, not of sufficient length to score, or merely a repetition of the assignment.
B There is no response to the assignment.