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Grading criteria
The documents below (all from Northwestern) provide examples for instructors seeking methods to systematize their grading of papers and to explain their grading criteria to students. The documents illustrate three principles about grading criteria: (1) The criteria depend on the nature of the assignment (e.g., reflective essay, technical report). (2) The criteria are grouped in categories (e.g., clear purpose, logical organization, grammar/style). (3) The criteria can be presented to students in different forms (e.g., table, list, etc.).
Analytical and research paper grading guide Details the criteria--including compelling argument, logical organization, awareness of audience, sophisticated style, and evidence of revision--used to determine grades
Grading criteria for a reflective essay A list of grading criteria distributed to students before they revise their first assignment, a reflective essay. The handout is intended both to inform students of what I will be looking for in assessing their revisions and to reinforce the general suggestions I gave them in our conferences about their first drafts.
Grading criteria freshman engineering essays (doc) A two-column chart, with evaluation criteria listed in one column and space for specific comments in the other. Each student receives this chart back with his or her graded essay.
ESL grading symbols What is most useful about this handout on symbols for ESL (English as a Second Language) writers is that it divides the errors into those that interfere with a reader comprehending the writer’s intended meaning and the more superficial errors.
Criteria for letter grades Grading standards that can be distributed to students and then referred to in giving students feedback on working drafts so they can understand what they need to do to improve their writing.
Freshman seminar grading chart A chart that explains the criteria (purpose, content, organization, mechanics, and style) used to determine grades.
Freshman seminar grading sheet final essay A detailed checklist of strengths and areas for improvement returned to each student with his or her graded paper.
Freshman seminar assessment rubric A rubric developed by Northwestern's WCAS freshman assessment group to assess how well the freshman seminar program meets its goal of improving student writing. Instructors may find it a useful way to evaluate each student's writing on individual papers and throughout the course.
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Topic 10: MEE Grading & Scoring: What You Need to Know
Mee grading & scoring: what you need to know.
In this post, we cover how the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) is graded and scored. We tell you the grading standards and what you should aim for when you write a MEE answer.
A few notes about MEE graders
- Keep in mind who your bar exam grader is. A typical bar exam grader oftentimes is a practicing attorney or judge (rather than, say, a law professor). Thus, an MEE grader will not be impressed by the same things that your law school professor was impressed by (i.e., detailed policy analysis, references to obscure cases, etc.).
- Graders often are given a checklist which tells them how to award points.
- Importantly, graders are often paid per essay, which means they have an incentive to read essays quickly. It is important to make it easy for graders to award points to your essay.
- After a grader grades enough of the same essay, the grader naturally begins to “scan” essays rather than reading them word-for-word. Thus, it is important to bold or underline key words to quickly draw the grader’s attention to what you know.
Scaling of MEE scores
- Each jurisdiction sets their own grading scale. Most MEE jurisdictions use a 1–6 scale, while some use a 1–10 scale, and some use different scales altogether (e.g., New York uses a 20–80 scale).
- Each jurisdiction has their own grading policies, re-grading policies, and standards for essay graders.
- The MEE is worth 30% of your score in a Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) jurisdiction. It is added to your Multistate Performance Test (MPT) score (which is worth 20% of your score in a UBE jurisdiction). Your overall raw score is scaled in comparison with how other examinees in your jurisdiction did. So if the exam is harder, the scale should be more generous. If the exam is easier, and students did better than average, the grading scale may be less generous.
MEE grading rubric
Below we have an MEE grading rubric which is released by the state of Washington. Many states do not release grading rubrics, but this is a good indication of approximately what each score means.
What MEE score do I need to pass?
Naturally, you may be wondering what average score you need on each MEE answer to pass the MEE portion of the bar exam. In UBE jurisdictions, you need an average score somewhere between 3.9 and 4.2 to pass. Specifically:
- An average score of 3.9 is passing for jurisdictions that require a 260 .
- An average score of 4 out of 6 is passing for jurisdictions that require a 266.
- An average score of 4.1 out of 6 is passing for jurisdictions that require a 273.
- An average score of 4.2 out of 6 is passing for jurisdictions that require a score of 280.
This table tells you exactly what score you need to pass in your jurisdiction.
(If you are curious about the math, check out this post .)
If you are not sure what a passing score is in your jurisdiction, check out this post on passing UBE scores by state .
Remember that you do not technically “need” to get these scores to pass the MEE in the vast majority of jurisdictions, including UBE jurisdictions. Rather, these scores will lead to an overall passing score on the MEE, so it is good to be aware of them. If you are in New York (where a 266 is a passing score) you could technically score higher on the MBE and as long as you got that overall score of 266, you could still “fail” the MEE and pass the bar exam.
How do I write a high-scoring MEE answer?
If you are studying the rubric above, it is clear there are a few things you want to focus on in order to write a high-scoring MEE answer:
- First, learn the rules of law. Focus on the highly tested MEE topics . If you do not know the rules, you will have nothing to apply!
- Make sure to address the issues posed. You should closely focus on the call of the question and also reread the facts to make sure you’ve addressed issues in the fact pattern.
- Make sure you are using enough facts to support your conclusions in your MEE answer.
- Arrive at an accurate and well-reasoned conclusion using the law and facts provided.
Additional MEE posts you may find helpful:
- Highly Tested MEE Topics : You cannot learn everything for the bar exam—nor do you need to know everything! So, study efficiently when you study for the MEE by reviewing the highly tested MEE topics!
- How to Write an MEE Answer : in this post, we tell you how to approach the MEE portion of the bar exam.
- How to Structure a Multistate Essay Exam Answer : we give you several excellent tips on structure and format in this post.
- 15 MEE Tips From a 99th Percentile Scorer : these are excellent tips that you should definitely check out if you want to maximize your MEE score.
- Where to find past MEE questions and analyses : here, we give you some online resources for past MEE questions and model answers, and most of them are free!
- Invest in our MEE Essay Course , MEE One-Sheets and/or Multistate Essay Exam Seminar if you are looking for top-notch MEE preparation!
Go to the next topic, Bonus: 15 MEE Tips from a 99th Percentile Scorer .
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The Smart Guide to the MEE
- MEE Jurisdictions
- Format & Overview of the MEE
- A Step-by-Step Approach on How to Read, Organize, & Draft Your Answer to an MEE Essay Question
- 15 MEE Tips to Increase Your Essay Score
- How to Study & Prepare for the MEE
- MEE Practice: How to Use Model Essay Answers & Sample Examinee Answers Effectively
- Where to Find Past MEE’s
MEE Grading & Scoring
- What’s Next?
- Download the PDF
A Guide to Mastering the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE)
What you’ll learn:.
- How the MEE is Graded & Scored
- MEE Grading Standards… with MEE Grading Key
- How an MEE Score is Determined – Raw Scores and Scaled Scores
- The Total Percentage Weight of an MEE Score (in each jurisdiction)
What You REALLY Need to Know About MEE Grading and Scoring
All written scores are combined, and then scaled using a complex formula. For UBE jurisdictions, the written portions of the exam (MEE + MPT) are combined and scaled to a number between 1-200.
Other than that, you shouldn’t really worry about the specifics of grading and scoring . Your main focus should be on studying the law, essay practice so you write an excellent essay answer, and comparing your practice essays to the MEE Analyses released by the NCBE.
How an MEE Score is Determined (Raw Scores → Scaled Scores)
- Graders use a process called Calibration to ensure fairness when grading and rank-ordering papers. Calibration is achieved by test-grading “calibration packets” of 30 student papers to see what the range of answers is, and then resolving any differences in grading among those graders and/or papers. This process ensures graders are using the same criteria so grading judgments are consistent for rank-ordering.³
- For UBE Jurisdictions , an examinee’s scores for the MEE and MPT are combined, which comprises the examinee’s combined written “raw score” for the exam. This combined written “raw score” is then scaled putting the written raw score on a 200-point scale . Specifically, the combined “raw score” is scaled to the mean and standard deviation of the Scaled MBE Scores for all examinees of the examinee’s respective jurisdiction (the state in which you take the bar exam). This means that an examinee’s written portion is scaled “relative” to the other examinee answers in that jurisdiction.
- Step # 3: The total written “scaled score” is weighted accordingly, depending on how much the written component is worth for that jurisdiction’s bar exam . For UBE jurisdictions, the total written “scaled score” is 50% of the total exam score (30% for the MEE + 20% for the MPT).
Total Weight of MEE Score
In other jurisdictions, the MEE/essays is normally worth between 30% and 45% . Some jurisdictions have additional state essays and/or have a minimum passing score for the MEE/essay portion.
MEE Grading Standards
Many jurisdictions do not release their grading standards or grading scale, but a few states do.
Here are the grading standards and scale for Washington State.
For other MEE jurisdictions, we have confirmed the following raw essay grading scales (see chart below). The NCBE recommends a six-point (0 to 6) raw grading scale , 4 but jurisdictions can use another scale. If you know a grading scale that isn’t listed, we would appreciate that you contact us so we may include it.
Additional Resources on MEE Grading & Scaling
If you’re interested in more details on MEE grading and scaling, please see the following articles:
- 13 Best Practices for Grading Essays and Performance Tests by Sonja Olson, The Bar Examiner, Winter 2019-2020 (Vol. 88, No. 4).
- Essay Grading Fundamentals by Judith A. Gundersen, The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, March 2015.
- Q&A: NCBE Testing and Research Department Staff Members Answer Your Questions by NCBE Testing and Research Department, The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, Winter 2017-2018.
- It’s All Relative—MEE and MPT Grading, That Is by Judith A. Gundersen, The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, June 2016.
- Procedure for Grading Essays and Performance Tests by Susan M. Case, Ph.D., The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, November 2010.
- Scaling: It’s Not Just for Fish or Mountains by Mark A. Albanese, Ph.D., The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, December 2014.
- What Everyone Needs to Know About Testing, Whether They Like It or Not by Susan M. Case, Ph.D., The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, June 2012.
- Quality Control for Developing and Grading Written Bar Exam Components by Susan M. Case, Ph.D., The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, June 2013.
- Frequently Asked Questions About Scaling Written Test Scores to the MBE by Susan M. Case, Ph.D., The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, Nov. 2006.
- Demystifying Scaling to the MBE: How’d You Do That? by Susan M. Case, Ph.D., The Testing Column, The Bar Examiner, May 2005.
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³See, 13 Best Practices for Grading Essays and Performance Tests by Sonja Olson, The Bar Examiner, Winter 2019-2020 (Vol. 88, No. 4), at Item 5.
4 See Id ., at Item 3.
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The next step is to take each of the other criteria and define success for each of those, assigning a value to A, B, C and D papers. Those definitions then go into the rubric in the appropriate locations to complete the chart.
Each of the criteria will score points for the essay. The descriptions in the first column are each worth 4 points, the second column 3 points, the third 2 points and the fourth 1 point.
What is the grading process?
Now that your criteria are defined, grading the essay is easy. When grading a student essay with a rubric, it is best to read through the essay once before evaluating for grades . Then reading through the piece a second time, determine where on the scale the writing sample falls for each of the criteria. If the student shows excellent grammar, good organization and a good overall effect, he would score a total of ten points. Divide that by the total criteria, three in this case, and he finishes with a 3.33. which on a four-point scale is a B+. If you use five criteria to evaluate your essays, divide the total points scored by five to determine the student’s grade.
Once you have written your grading rubric, you may decide to share your criteria with your students.
If you do, they will know exactly what your expectations are and what they need to accomplish to get the grade they desire. You may even choose to make a copy of the rubric for each paper and circle where the student lands for each criterion. That way, each person knows where he needs to focus his attention to improve his grade. The clearer your expectations are and the more feedback you give your students, the more successful your students will be. If you use a rubric in your essay grading, you can communicate those standards as well as make your grading more objective with more practical suggestions for your students. In addition, once you write your rubric you can use it for all future evaluations.
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Essay Rubric
About this printout
This rubric delineates specific expectations about an essay assignment to students and provides a means of assessing completed student essays.
Teaching with this printout
More ideas to try.
Grading rubrics can be of great benefit to both you and your students. For you, a rubric saves time and decreases subjectivity. Specific criteria are explicitly stated, facilitating the grading process and increasing your objectivity. For students, the use of grading rubrics helps them to meet or exceed expectations, to view the grading process as being “fair,” and to set goals for future learning. In order to help your students meet or exceed expectations of the assignment, be sure to discuss the rubric with your students when you assign an essay. It is helpful to show them examples of written pieces that meet and do not meet the expectations. As an added benefit, because the criteria are explicitly stated, the use of the rubric decreases the likelihood that students will argue about the grade they receive. The explicitness of the expectations helps students know exactly why they lost points on the assignment and aids them in setting goals for future improvement.
- Routinely have students score peers’ essays using the rubric as the assessment tool. This increases their level of awareness of the traits that distinguish successful essays from those that fail to meet the criteria. Have peer editors use the Reviewer’s Comments section to add any praise, constructive criticism, or questions.
- Alter some expectations or add additional traits on the rubric as needed. Students’ needs may necessitate making more rigorous criteria for advanced learners or less stringent guidelines for younger or special needs students. Furthermore, the content area for which the essay is written may require some alterations to the rubric. In social studies, for example, an essay about geographical landforms and their effect on the culture of a region might necessitate additional criteria about the use of specific terminology.
- After you and your students have used the rubric, have them work in groups to make suggested alterations to the rubric to more precisely match their needs or the parameters of a particular writing assignment.
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The documents below (all from Northwestern) provide examples for instructors seeking methods to systematize their grading of papers and to explain their grading criteria to students. The documents illustrate three principles about grading criteria: (1) The criteria depend on the nature of the assignment (e.g., reflective essay, technical report).
Unlike a math problem that has a single correct answer, an essay consists of a number of variables. Below are listed some guidelines that instructors follow when grading essays. Please use this sheet as a checklist before submitting an essay. A is an exceptional essay in all categories of rhetoric, style, and correct usage. It is
MEE Grading & Scoring: What You Need to Know. In this post, we cover how the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) is graded and scored. We tell you the grading standards and what you should aim for when you write a MEE answer. MEE Grading & Scoring: What You Need to Know A few notes about MEE graders. Keep in mind who your bar exam grader is.
All MEE jurisdictions use “relative grading”, which means scoring and ranking the essay answer “relative” to other examinee answers in that jurisdiction. Under relative grading, each essay question is graded on a numbered scale based on the quality of the answer. The grading scale varies per jurisdiction (e.g. 0-6, 1-10).
Freshman seminar grading chart.doc; Freshman seminar grading sheet final essay; Grading BME 307/308 lab reports (advice for TAs, P. Hirsch 2009) Grading criteria for a reflective essay (C. Yarnoff 2009) Grading criteria in freshman engineering essays; Grading sheet for lab reports - BME 307 (E. Perrault & D. Scheeweis 2009)
What is the grading process? Now that your criteria are defined, grading the essay is easy. When grading a student essay with a rubric, it is best to read through the essay once before evaluating for grades. Then reading through the piece a second time, determine where on the scale the writing sample falls for each of the criteria.
The essay • displays phrasing that is concise, original, and highly specific; • includes varied and effective sentence • demonstrates an understanding of basic terminology. In regard to syntax and mechanics, the essay is free of errors in usage, punctuation, and sentence structure. The essay • delivers relevant and interesting
Or, in an essay that otherwise would rate a grade of a B, the sentences are consistently awkward, imprecise, or ungrammatical. The essay does not meet the minimum page requirement or may not directly address the prompt. D--The essay shows serious and consistent problems in formulating a thesis (in a comparison/contrast
II. Short Grading Rubric While the grade you earn on an essay is based partly on your understanding of the course materials, it also depends heavily on how well you follow the above guidelines. The brief grading rubric below shows the numerical grade equivalents based on the standard UW grade scale. For more information, see also the
For students, the use of grading rubrics helps them to meet or exceed expectations, to view the grading process as being “fair,” and to set goals for future learning. In order to help your students meet or exceed expectations of the assignment, be sure to discuss the rubric with your students when you assign an essay.