“A” — An “A” grade is reserved for excellent work. Response to assignment: The student’s work is an exceptional response to the assigned task. It meets or exceeds the stated objectives of the assignment and is executed in a manner in keeping with the assignment criteria. Course content: This work demonstrates that the writer understands the concepts, principles, and issues of the class and the reading assignments (including those not discussed in class) and applies them appropriately, when relevant, to the assignment. Complexity: It shows complexity of thought and demonstrates critical thinking. It is a thorough and, in some cases, creative response. Writing and organization: It is an example of proficient formal writing. The tone and word choice are appropriate. The writing is logical, and information is organized effectively. The response shows evidence of thorough planning. The work demonstrates a strong command of the standard rules for American English.
“B” — Response to assignment: The student’s work is a competent response to the assigned task. It uses elements skillfully to meet assignment objectives. It shows promise of excellent work. Course content: This work demonstrates that the writer understands the concepts, principles, and issues of the class and the reading assignments (including those not discussed in class) and applies them appropriately, when relevant, to the assignment. Complexity: It is competent in complexity of thought and critical thinking. It is a relatively thorough and, in some cases, creative response. Writing: This work is an example of good formal writing. The tone and word choice are appropriate. The writing is logical, and information is organized effectively. The response shows evidence of thorough planning. The work demonstrates that the student can write and edit according to standard rules for American English.
“C” — Response to assignment: The student’s work meets the stated requirements of the assignment, but the student could complete the assigned task better with further preparation and care. Course content: This work may need substantial elaboration on major and/or minor points. It may illustrate minor problems in understanding the concepts, principles, and issues. It incorporates readings but may benefit from further or better incorporation. Complexity: The complexity of thought or critical thinking may be weak. Although the response covers some major points, it may not be thorough. Writing: This work may have characteristics that detract from it as a piece of formal writing. Tone or word choice may not be appropriate for the intended audience. The logic in the writing may be problematic, or the organization may need improvement. The response may not show evidence of thorough planning. This work may show patterns of minor grammatical or spelling errors, typos, or weak wording.
“D” — Response to assignment: The student’s work is below average for the assigned task. The work may miss criteria. There may be no logical correlation between this work and the assignment. Course content: This work may illustrate poor understanding of the concepts, principles, and issues. It may insufficiently incorporate readings. Complexity: The work may show very little complexity of thought, and critical thinking may be weak. Writing: This work may have characteristics that seriously detract from it as a piece of formal writing. It may have recurrent distracting stylistic errors. The logic in the writing may be problematic, or the organization may need substantial improvement. The response may not show evidence of planning. This work may have recurrent and distracting grammatical errors, spelling errors, or typos and not have been proofread adequately. It may have patterns of weak wording.
“F” — Response to assignment: The student’s work does not respond satisfactorily to the assigned task and is ineffective. The work shows no conscious attempt to state or meet assignment objectives and poor attention to the assignment criteria. Course content: The content is far from complete. It may illustrate poor understanding of the concepts, principles, and issues. It may insufficiently incorporate readings. The work is nearly first-draft material. Complexity: The work may show no complexity of thought. Critical thinking may be very weak. Writing: This work may have characteristics that make it unacceptable as a piece of formal writing. It may have multiple distracting stylistic errors. The logic in the writing may be highly problematic, or the organization may need substantial improvement. The response may not show evidence of planning. This work may have unacceptable grammatical errors or spelling errors. It may have typos and not have been proofread adequately. It may have patterns of weak wording.