Alaska Writing Standards

Content and Performance Standards for Alaska Students

Content Standards

English/Language Arts

A student should be able to speak and write well for a variety of purposes and audiences.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. apply elements of effective writing and speaking; these elements include ideas, organization, vocabulary, sentence structure, and personal style;
2. in writing, demonstrate skills in sentence and paragraph structure, including grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation;
3. in speaking, demonstrate skills in volume, intonation, and clarity;
4. write and speak well to inform, to describe, to entertain, to persuade, and to clarify thinking in a variety of formats, including technical communication;
5. revise, edit, and publish the student’s own writing as appropriate;
6. when appropriate, use visual techniques to communicate ideas; these techniques may include role playing, body language, mime, sign language, graphics, Braille, art, and dance;
7. communicate ideas using varied tools of electronic technology; and
8. evaluate the student’s own speaking and writing and that of others using high standards.

A student should be a competent and thoughtful reader, listener, and viewer of literature, technical materials, and a variety of other information.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. comprehend meaning from written text and oral and visual information by applying a variety of reading, listening, and viewing strategies; these strategies include phonic, context, and vocabulary cues in reading, critical viewing, and active listening;
2. reflect on, analyze, and evaluate a variety of oral, written, and visual information and experiences, including discussions, lectures, art, movies, television, technical materials, and literature; and
3. relate what the student views, reads, and hears to practical purposes in the student’s own life, to the world outside, and to other texts and experiences.

A student should be able to identify and select from multiple strategies in order to complete projects independently and cooperatively.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. make choices about a project after examining a range of possibilities;
2. organize a project by
   • understanding directions;
   • making and keeping deadlines; and
   • seeking, selecting, and using relevant resources;
3. select and use appropriate decision-making processes;
4. set high standards for project quality; and
5. when working on a collaborative project,
   • take responsibility for individual contributions to the project;
   • share ideas and workloads;
   • incorporate individual talents and perspectives;
   • work effectively with others as an active participant and as a responsive audience; and
   • evaluate the processes and work of self and others.

A student should be able to think logically and reflectively in order to present and explain positions based on relevant and reliable information.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. develop a position by
   • reflecting on personal experiences, prior knowledge, and new information;
   • formulating and refining questions;
   • identifying a variety of pertinent sources of information;
   • analyzing and synthesizing information; and
   • determining an author’s purposes;
2. evaluate the validity, objectivity, reliability, and quality of information read, heard, and seen;
3. give credit and cite references as appropriate; and
4. explain and defend a position orally, in writing, and with visual aids as appropriate.

A student should understand and respect the perspectives of others in order to communicate effectively.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. use information, both oral and written, and literature of many types and cultures to understand self and others;
2. evaluate content from the speaker’s or author’s perspective;
3. recognize bias in all forms of communication; and
4. recognize the communication styles of different cultures and their possible effects on others.

Performance Standards

Ages 15 - 18 9th to 12th grade

Students know and are able to do everything required at the earlier ages (see below) and: can demonstrate or perform these following tasks in order to succeed in the High School Graduating Qualifying Examination beginning in the year 2004.

1.) Write a coherent composition with a thesis statement that is supported with evidence, well-developed paragraphs, transitions, and a conclusion; (E.A.4)

2.) Demonstrate understanding of elements of discourse (purpose, speaker, audience, form) when completing expressive (creative, narrative, descriptive), persuasive, research-based, informational, or analytic writing assignments; (E.A.2)

3.) Use the conventions of standard English independently and consistently including grammar, sentence structure, paragraph structure, punctuation, spelling, and usage; (E.A.2)

4.) Revise writing to improve style, word choice, sentence variety, and subtlety of meaning in relation to the purpose and audience; and (E.A.5)

5.) Cite sources of information using a standard method of documentation. (E.D.3)

Ages 11-14 to be assessed in 8th grade

1.) Write a coherent composition that includes a thesis statement, supporting evidence, and a conclusion; (E.A.1)

2.) Select and use appropriate forms of fiction and non-fiction to achieve different purposes when writing for different audiences; (E.A.4)

3.) Use the conventions of standard English including grammar, sentence structure, paragraph structure, punctuation, spelling, and usage in written work;(E.A.2)

4.) a. Revise writing to improve organization, word choice, paragraph development, and voice appropriate to the purpose; (E.A.5) 

      b. Form and explain own standards or judgments of quality of writing; (E.A.8)

5.) List and document sources using a given format and (E.D.3)

6.) Compose and edit a composition with a word processing program. (E.A.7)                                                                        

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