What this rubric measures
The ATLAS Informative/Explanatory Text-based Writing Rubric, Grades 3–5 is the official scoring guide used to evaluate student writing on Arkansas ATLAS assessments. It is an Analytic rubric that scores responses across 3 distinct criteria, allowing teachers to give precise, targeted feedback on each area of writing.
All 3 scoring criteria
Click any criterion to expand its score level descriptors. The language below is taken verbatim from the official Arkansas Department of Education ATLAS scoring guide.
1 Purpose, Focus, and Organization
The response is fully sustained and consistently focused within the purpose, audience, and task; and it has a clearly stated controlling idea and effective organizational structure creating coherence and completeness. The response includes most of the following:
- Strongly maintained controlling idea with little or no loosely related material
- Skillful use of a variety of transitional strategies to clarify the relationships between and among ideas
- Logical progression of ideas from beginning to end, including a satisfying introduction and conclusion
The response is adequately sustained and generally focused within the purpose, audience, and task; and it has a controlling idea and evident organizational structure with a sense of completeness. The response includes most of the following:
- Maintained controlling idea, though some loosely related material may be present
- Adequate use of transitional strategies with some variety to clarify the relationships between and among ideas
- Adequate progression of ideas from beginning to end, including a sufficient introduction and conclusion
The response is somewhat sustained within the purpose, audience, and task but may include loosely related or extraneous material; and it may have a controlling idea with an inconsistent organizational structure. The response may include the following:
- Partially focused controlling idea, but insufficiently sustained or unclear
- Inconsistent use of transitional strategies with little variety
- Uneven progression of ideas from beginning to end and may include an inadequate introduction or conclusion
The response is related to the topic but may demonstrate little or no awareness of the purpose, audience, and task; and it may have little or no discernible controlling idea or organizational structure. The response may include the following:
- Confusing or ambiguous ideas
- Frequent extraneous ideas impeding understanding
- Few or no transitional strategies
- Too brief to demonstrate knowledge of focus or organization
Score points within each domain include most of the characteristics listed at that score point. A response does not need to demonstrate every bullet to earn the score; the rubric instructs raters to match the predominant evidence.
2 Evidence and Elaboration
The response provides thorough and convincing support/evidence for the controlling idea or main idea that includes the effective use of sources, facts, and details. The response includes most of the following:
- Relevant evidence integrated smoothly and thoroughly with references to sources
- Effective use of a variety of elaborative techniques (including but not limited to definitions, quotations, and examples), demonstrating an understanding of the topic and text
- Clear and effective expression of ideas, using precise language
- Academic and domain-specific vocabulary clearly appropriate for the audience and purpose
- Varied sentence structure, demonstrating language facility
The response provides adequate support/evidence for the controlling idea or main idea that includes the use of sources, facts, and details. The response includes most of the following:
- Generally integrated evidence from sources, though references may be general, imprecise, or inconsistent
- Adequate use of some elaborative techniques
- Adequate expression of ideas, employing a mix of precise and general language
- Domain-specific vocabulary generally appropriate for the audience and purpose
- Some variation in sentence structure
The response provides uneven, cursory support/evidence for the controlling idea or main idea that includes ineffective use of sources, facts, and details. The response includes most of the following:
- Weakly integrated evidence from sources and erratic or irrelevant references
- Repetitive or ineffective use of elaborative techniques
- Imprecise or simplistic expression of ideas
- Inappropriate or ineffective domain-specific vocabulary
- Sentences possibly limited to simple constructions
The response provides minimal support/evidence for the controlling idea or main idea, including little if any use of sources, facts, and details. The response includes most of the following:
- Minimal, absent, erroneous, or irrelevant evidence from the source material
- Expression of ideas that is vague, lacks clarity, or is confusing
- Limited or inappropriate language or domain-specific vocabulary
- Sentences limited to simple constructions
3 Conventions of Standard English
The response demonstrates an adequate command of basic conventions. The response may include the following:
- Some minor errors in usage, but no patterns of errors
- Adequate use of punctuation, capitalization, sentence formation, and spelling
The response demonstrates a partial command of basic conventions. The response may include the following:
- Various errors in usage
- Inconsistent use of correct punctuation, capitalization, sentence formation, and spelling
The response demonstrates a lack of command of conventions, with frequent and severe errors often obscuring meaning.
The 2-point Conventions rubric begins at score point 2. A response with frequent and severe errors that obscure meaning earns 0 in this domain.
How to score with the ATLAS Informative/Explanatory Text-based Writing Rubric, Grades 3–5.
A practical guide for teachers and norming teams. How to apply each descriptor consistently, the pitfalls that hurt inter-rater reliability, and a workflow for calibrating with colleagues.
Three-domain analytic, scored independently
- Score Purpose/Focus/Organization (0 to 4) first, then Evidence and Elaboration (0 to 4), then Conventions (0 to 2). Sum for the rubric total out of 10.
- Each domain is scored independently. A strong response can earn 4 on Purpose/Focus/Organization and 2 on Evidence and Elaboration if the controlling idea is clearer than the evidence integration.
- Conventions has only 3 score points (0, 1, 2) on a tighter scale than the other two domains.
Apply descriptors literally
- The rubric says score points include MOST of the characteristics, not all. Match the predominant evidence in the response to the predominant descriptor at each level.
- Start at the lowest score point and ask, does the response meet this descriptor? Move up only when it clearly satisfies the next level's bullets.
- Score what is on the page, not intent, not potential. If a response sits between two score levels, default to the lower one.
Common pitfalls to avoid
- Awarding a 4 on Purpose/Focus/Organization for a strong topic sentence and weak development. The descriptor requires a strongly maintained controlling idea AND a satisfying introduction and conclusion.
- Counting source mentions instead of asking whether the writer used elaborative techniques (definitions, quotations, examples) to develop the controlling idea.
- Penalizing surface errors in Purpose/Focus/Organization or Evidence and Elaboration when the rubric only scores them under Conventions.
Tips for norming with your team
- Anchor with 3 to 5 sample responses scored by your most experienced grader before the session.
- Score the first 5 silently, then compare. Discuss any domain where graders are more than one point apart.
- Re-norm halfway through a long batch. Drift is real.
Notes for the ATLAS Informative/Explanatory Text-based Writing Rubric, Grades 3–5
ATLAS Grades 3-5 Informative/Explanatory asks students to explain a topic using evidence from one or more provided sources. The rubric uses controlling idea language rather than the opinion or claim language used in the Opinion and Argumentation rubrics.
The Evidence and Elaboration descriptor at the top score level explicitly names elaborative techniques (definitions, quotations, examples). Responses that present source content without elaboration typically cap Evidence and Elaboration at 2 or 3 regardless of how much source material is included.
Conventions uses the 3-point sub-scale (0, 1, 2) shared across all ATLAS rubrics. The lowest score is reserved for responses with frequent and severe errors that obscure meaning.
If a response is off-topic, off-purpose, not in English, or otherwise unscorable, the Arkansas DOE rubric framework still applies the standard scale. Local administration documents may apply condition codes for non-scorable responses.
See this rubric in action.
EnlightenAI scores student writing on this exact rubric, with per-criterion feedback that mirrors how you grade by hand. The sample response below shows how the rubric applies to a real piece of student writing, scored against every criterion.
Why monarch butterflies fly south
Monarch butterflies migrate south every fall for three main reasons: to escape the cold weather, to find food, and to reach the special forests where they can survive the winter. Without this long journey, the monarchs would not live to the next spring.
Escaping the cold
The article explains that monarchs are cold-blooded, which means their body temperature changes with the air around them. When the temperature drops below freezing, monarchs cannot fly or warm up on their own. By flying south to Mexico, the monarchs reach a place where the winter weather stays cool but not freezing, which is what their bodies need to stay alive.
Finding food
The article also explains that monarchs eat nectar from flowers, especially milkweed, and milkweed dies in northern winters. Without milkweed and other nectar plants, the butterflies would have no food. The mountain forests in Mexico have flowers blooming during the winter months, so monarchs can keep eating.
Reaching the special forests
The article describes the oyamel fir forests high in the Mexican mountains. Millions of monarchs cluster together on the same trees, year after year. The article calls these forests the only place in the world cool enough but not too cold, and the trees shield the butterflies from rain. This is one specific place the whole monarch population travels to.
Conclusion
Monarch butterflies migrate south to escape freezing weather, to find food, and to reach the oyamel fir forests in Mexico. All three reasons together explain why such a small creature flies thousands of miles every fall.
Strongly maintained controlling idea, satisfying intro and conclusion
Controlling idea is stated at the start (three reasons) and maintained across three body paragraphs that each address one reason. Transitions are varied (escaping, finding, reaching, all three reasons together).
Multiple source references, mostly integrated, light on elaborative techniques
References to the article appear in each paragraph (cold-blooded fact, milkweed dies, oyamel fir forests). One pulled quote ("only place in the world cool enough"). Domain vocabulary is appropriate.
Adequate command at the grade 5 level
Capitalization, punctuation, sentence formation, and spelling are correct. No patterns of errors. Sentence structures show some variety. Earns full credit on the ATLAS 0-2 Conventions sub-scale at the grade 5 level.
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About the ATLAS Informative/Explanatory Text-based Writing Rubric, Grades 3–5
What is the ATLAS Informative/Explanatory Text-based Writing Rubric for Grades 3 to 5?
How is ATLAS Informative/Explanatory different from ATLAS Opinion at Grades 3-5?
What are elaborative techniques on this rubric?
How many sources do ATLAS Grades 3-5 informative prompts give students?
Is this rubric the official version from the Arkansas Department of Education?
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