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The guide explains what performance tasks assess, how the WER differs as a full-write after reading multiple sources, and how writing purposes determine the assigned prompt across grade levels. It also describes the three-trait scoring rubric, including the Conventions trait and its point range, and clarifies meanings of zero scores such as insufficient, nonscorable language, off-topic, and off-purpose.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/understanding-the-smarter-balanced-writing-extended-response-question-purpose-structure-and-scoring/498719/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/understanding-the-smarter-balanced-writing-extended-response-question-purpose-structure-and-scoring/498719.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Aran","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-03",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does a Smarter Balanced performance task measure?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Performance tasks measure a student’s ability to apply knowledge and skills to complex, real-world problems and demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What is required in the WER question?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The WER requires students to read multiple sources and respond to a prompt with one extended written response.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What causes a student to receive a zero in a rubric category?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"A zero can result from insufficient responses, nonscorable language (not written in English), off-topic responses, or off-purpose responses that do not match the designated writing purpose.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},498719,1791736625,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":14,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":24,"preview_page_count":4},137455076865,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Understanding the Smarter Balanced Writing Extended Response Question  \nThe purpose of this document is to increase understanding of the Writing Extended Response (WER) question in performance task for the Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA) .  \nWhat Is a Performance Task?  \nPerformance tasks measure a student’s ability to demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving by challenging them to apply their knowledge and skills to complex, real-world problems. The performance tasks are not computer-adaptive and may take students one to two test sessions to complete.  \nWhat Is the WER Question?  \nThe performance task portion of the Smarter Balanced Assessment for ELA contains two questions. The first is a multiple-choice or short-answer question assessing a student’s research skills. The second is the WER question, also referred to as the full-write or essay question. The WER requires students to read multiple sources and respond to a prompt with one extended written response.  \nEach student is randomly assigned one WER question aligned with one of the following writing purposes:  \n• Narrative for grades three through eight: The writing contains a story with plot, setting, and characters.  \n• Opinion/Argumentative for all grade levels: The writing presents a central opinion or claim and supports the opinion or claim with evidence.  \n• Informational/Explanatory for all grade levels: The writing contains a main and controlling idea or thesis which is explained and elaborated upon.  \nWhere Can I Find Sample WER Questions and Responses?  \nSample WER questions with student responses and scoring annotations can be found on the Smarter Annotated Response Tool website at [https://smart.smarterbalanced.org](https://smart.smarterbalanced.org/. Sample)[/](https://smart.smarterbalanced.org/. Sample)[. Sample](https://smart.smarterbalanced.org/. Sample)[ ](https://smart.smarterbalanced.org/. Sample)tests with sample WER questions can be found on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Online Practice and Training Tests web page at [https://www.caaspp.org/practice-and-training](https://www.caaspp.org/practice-and-training/)[/](https://www.caaspp.org/practice-and-training/).  \nHow Is the WER Scored?  \nEach essay is scored using a scoring rubric with three traits. Traits are different dimensions of a student response that educators evaluate when scoring an essay. For example, an educator will assess grammar and spelling as part of the Conventions trait (worth a maximum of two points) but not take grammar or spelling into account when assessing the other traits (worth a maximum of four points each) . This approach ensures that scorers provide a comprehensive evaluation of student writing.  \nThe scoring rubrics used for each writing purpose can be found on the Smarter Content Explorer Test Development & Design web page at [https://contentexplorer.smarterbalanced.org/test-development](https://contentexplorer.smarterbalanced.org/test-development).  \nMy Student Received a Zero in a Rubric Category. What Does That Mean?  \nIf a student receives a score of zero in a rubric category, it will be indicated with one of the following reasons:  \nInsufficient: An insufficient response is one in which the essay rater cannot evaluate the student’s writing performance because the writing is too brief or may consist of the following:  \n• Random keystrokes or undecipherable text  \n• “I don’t know”, “IDK”, or “I like pizza!” (in response to a reading passage about helicopters) Nonscorable Language: To assess a student’s English language writing performance, written response items must be written in English to be scored.  \nOff-Topic: An off-topic response is unrelated to the task or sources, or it shows no evidence that the student has read the task or the sources.  \nOff-Purpose: An off-purpose response is clearly not written to the purpose (e.g., Narrative, Opinion, etc.) designated in the task. Off-p","cbCaifg1he4ATeII","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifg1he4ATeII","pdf",109331,"English","# Understanding the Smarter Balanced Writing Extended Response Question\n## What Is a Performance Task?\n## What Is the WER Question?\n## Where Can I Find Sample WER Questions and Responses?\n## How Is the WER Scored?\n## My Student Received a Zero in a Rubric Category. What Does That Mean?","[{\"question\":\"What does a Smarter Balanced performance task measure?\",\"answer\":\"Performance tasks measure a student’s ability to apply knowledge and skills to complex, real-world problems and demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving.\"},{\"question\":\"What is required in the WER question?\",\"answer\":\"The WER requires students to read multiple sources and respond to a prompt with one extended written response.\"},{\"question\":\"What causes a student to receive a zero in a rubric category?\",\"answer\":\"A zero can result from insufficient responses, nonscorable language (not written in English), off-topic responses, or off-purpose responses that do not match the designated writing purpose.\"}]","Understanding the Smarter Balanced Writing Extended Response Question - Purpose, Structure, and Scoring | PDF",1790987975]