What this rubric measures
The SBAC Explanatory Performance Task Writing Rubric, Grades 6–11 is the official scoring guide used to evaluate student writing on California CAASPP (SBAC) 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 California Department of Education CAASPP (SBAC) scoring guide.
1 Organization/Purpose
The response has a clear and effective organizational structure, creating a sense of unity and completeness. The organization is fully sustained between and within paragraphs. The response is consistently and purposefully focused:
- thesis/controlling idea of a topic is clearly communicated, and the focus is strongly maintained for the purpose and audience
- consistent use of a variety of transitional strategies to clarify the relationships between and among ideas
- effective introduction and conclusion
- logical progression of ideas from beginning to end; strong connections between and among ideas with some syntactic variety
The response has an evident organizational structure and a sense of completeness. Though there may be minor flaws, they do not interfere with the overall coherence. The organization is adequately sustained between and within paragraphs. The response is generally focused:
- thesis/controlling idea of a topic is clear, and the focus is mostly maintained for the purpose and audience
- adequate use of transitional strategies with some variety to clarify the relationships between and among ideas
- adequate introduction and conclusion
- adequate progression of ideas from beginning to end; adequate connections between and among ideas
The response has an inconsistent organizational structure. Some flaws are evident, and some ideas may be loosely connected. The organization is somewhat sustained between and within paragraphs. The response may have a minor drift in focus:
- thesis/controlling idea of a topic may be somewhat unclear, or the focus may be insufficiently sustained for the purpose and/or audience
- inconsistent use of transitional strategies and/or little variety
- introduction or conclusion, if present, may be weak
- uneven progression of ideas from beginning to end; and/or formulaic; inconsistent or unclear connections among ideas
The response has little or no discernible organizational structure. The response may be related to the claim but may provide little or no focus:
- thesis/controlling idea may be confusing or ambiguous; response may be too brief or the focus may drift from the purpose and/or audience
- few or no transitional strategies are evident
- introduction and/or conclusion may be missing
- frequent extraneous ideas may be evident; ideas may be randomly ordered or have unclear progression
Explanatory writing centers on a thesis/controlling idea about a topic, rather than a claim or opinion. The strongest responses maintain that focus from introduction through conclusion.
2 Evidence/Elaboration
The response provides thorough and convincing elaboration of the support/evidence for the claim and argument(s) including reasoned, in-depth analysis and the effective use of source material. The response clearly and effectively develops ideas, using precise language.
- comprehensive evidence (facts and details) from the source material is integrated, relevant, and specific
- clear citations or attribution to source material
- effective use of a variety of elaborative techniques
- vocabulary is clearly appropriate for the audience and purpose
- effective, appropriate style enhances content
The response provides adequate elaboration of the support/evidence for the claim and argument(s) that includes reasoned analysis and the use of source material. The response adequately develops ideas, employing a mix of precise with more general language:
- adequate evidence (facts and details) from the source material is integrated and relevant, yet may be general
- adequate use of citations or attribution to source material
- adequate use of some elaborative techniques
- vocabulary is generally appropriate for the audience and purpose
- generally appropriate style is evident
The response provides uneven, cursory elaboration of the support/evidence for the claim and argument(s) that includes some reasoned analysis and partial or uneven use of source material. The response develops ideas unevenly, using simplistic language:
- some evidence (facts and details) from the source material may be weakly integrated, imprecise, repetitive, vague, and/or copied
- weak use of citations or attribution to source material
- weak or uneven use of elaborative techniques; development may consist primarily of source summary
- vocabulary use is uneven or somewhat ineffective for the audience and purpose
- inconsistent or weak attempt to create appropriate style
The response provides minimal elaboration of the support/evidence for the claim and argument(s) that includes little or no use of source material. The response is vague, lacks clarity, or is confusing:
- evidence (facts and details) from the source material is minimal, irrelevant, absent, incorrectly used, or predominantly copied
- insufficient use of citations or attribution to source material
- minimal, if any, use of elaborative techniques
- vocabulary is limited or ineffective for the audience and purpose
- little or no evidence of appropriate style
Elaborative techniques may include the use of personal experiences that support the controlling idea.
3 Conventions
The response demonstrates an adequate command of conventions:
- adequate use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling
The response demonstrates a partial command of conventions:
- limited use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling
The response demonstrates little or no command of conventions:
- infrequent use of correct sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling
Holistic scoring considers Variety (range of error types), Severity (basic errors weighted more heavily than higher-level errors), and Density (proportion of errors to amount of writing done well).
How to score with the SBAC Explanatory Performance Task Writing Rubric, Grades 6–11.
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-trait analytic, scored independently
- Score Organization/Purpose (1 to 4) and Evidence/Elaboration (1 to 4), then Conventions (0 to 2). Sum for the rubric total out of 10.
- Each trait is scored independently. A response can earn 4 on Organization but 1 on Evidence, or vice versa.
- Conventions uses a tighter 3-point scale (0, 1, 2). Most teacher-scored Performance Tasks fall in the 1 to 2 range.
Explanatory, not argumentative
- Explanatory writing centers on a thesis/controlling idea that explains a topic. It does NOT make a claim or argue a position.
- Responses that argue rather than explain often score lower because they miss the genre purpose.
- Counterarguments are NOT scored on Explanatory. The Argumentative rubric is the one with the counterargument bullet.
Holistic Conventions scoring
- Variety: count error types across sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling.
- Severity: basic errors (subject-verb agreement, missing capitals) weigh more than higher-level errors (parallel structure).
- Density: the ratio of errors to length. A short response with two errors may score lower than a long response with five errors of the same severity.
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 trait where graders are more than one point apart.
- Re-norm halfway through a long batch. Drift is real.
Notes for the SBAC Explanatory Performance Task Rubric, Grades 6–11
The SBAC Explanatory rubric scores responses that EXPLAIN a topic using source material, rather than argue a position. The genre cue is a thesis/controlling idea, not a claim. Strong responses develop the controlling idea across multiple paragraphs with supporting evidence and clear transitions.
The rubric has the same three traits and scoring scales as the SBAC Argumentative rubric (Organization/Purpose 1-4, Evidence/Elaboration 1-4, Conventions 0-2), but the Organization/Purpose descriptors center on the thesis/controlling idea and there is no counterargument expectation at any grade.
Evidence/Elaboration rewards integration of source material with citations or attribution, AND the use of elaborative techniques (definitions, concrete details, examples, quotations) that develop the explanation. Personal experiences may be used as elaborative technique where they support the controlling idea.
Conventions is scored holistically using Variety, Severity, and Density. The Conventions descriptors are identical across all SBAC writing rubrics.
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.
How ocean warming affects coral reefs
Coral reefs cover less than one percent of the ocean floor but support roughly a quarter of all marine species. Recent decades of ocean warming threaten that biodiversity in a specific way: rising temperatures cause coral bleaching, a stress response that, if it lasts too long, kills the coral and collapses the ecosystem around it.
What bleaching actually is
Source 1, from NOAA, explains that corals get most of their energy from microscopic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside them. When water temperatures rise more than one or two degrees above normal for an extended period, the coral expels the algae, turning white. Without the algae, the coral cannot photosynthesize the food it needs to survive.
How long matters as much as how hot
Source 2, an oceanography review, reports that brief temperature spikes (a few days) rarely kill coral; the coral can reabsorb its algae after the water cools. But sustained warming over weeks pushes most coral past recovery. The 2016 Great Barrier Reef event lasted nine months and killed about 30 percent of the northern reefs.
Why the effect cascades
Both sources emphasize that coral reefs are foundational species. When the coral dies, the fish that depend on them lose habitat, predators of those fish lose prey, and the entire reef community collapses within years. Source 2 notes that the loss is not just biological. About 500 million people worldwide depend on reefs for fishing, tourism, and coastal protection.
Conclusion
Ocean warming damages reefs through bleaching, and the damage compounds when warming persists. The science is consistent across sources: small temperature changes have outsized effects on these ecosystems, and the human consequences extend far beyond the water.
Clear thesis, organized topic-by-topic across three body sections
Thesis is established in the intro and maintained throughout. The response moves logically from defining bleaching to explaining the duration variable to laying out the cascade. Strong transitions and a satisfying conclusion. Organization is fully sustained.
Thorough source integration with precise evidence
Evidence is drawn from both sources with specific details (one to two degree threshold, nine-month 2016 event, 30 percent mortality, 500 million people). Attribution is clear. Elaborative techniques include definition (zooxanthellae) and concrete example (Great Barrier Reef).
Adequate command of conventions
Sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, grammar usage, and spelling are accurate throughout. Few errors and none impact clarity. Earns full credit on the 0-2 Conventions sub-scale.
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About the SBAC Explanatory Performance Task Writing Rubric, Grades 6–11
What is the SBAC Explanatory Performance Task Writing Rubric for Grades 6 to 11?
How is the Explanatory rubric different from the Argumentative rubric?
Can personal experience count as elaboration on Explanatory?
Is this rubric the official version from the California Department of Education?
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