The English Department offers this Fall 2009 Manual as a reference for instructors of developmental reading and writing within the Composition Program. While the handbook provides information on policies and procedures, we have also endeavored to create a resource that will support the use of the WRAP and its rubric as teaching tools, which will enhance instruction and learning.

We hope that you will use this resource throughout the semester. We have sought to answer your procedural questions and to provide an array of training materials and resources for classroom use. Additionally, we have included all of the standard documents and forms used throughout the semester in an effort to ensure there will be no surprises for instructors or students. Please familiarize yourself with these documents and the procedures and timelines that they explain, and don’t hesitate to contact Josh, Hilary, or Irma with questions or concerns.

The Writing and Reading Assessment Profile (WRAP)

The Writing and Reading Assessment Profile (WRAP) encourages students to understand the nature of college work as text-based. As an integral part of the composition curriculum, it supports the achievement of English Department learning goals by articulating and assessing the specific skills students need to succeed in college-level composition courses and beyond.

The WRAP is administered at the end of each semester in all developmental writing courses, including Reading and Writing Across the Disciplines (RWAD), Reading and Writing Across the Disciplines II (RWAD II), and College Writing Independent Study (CWIS).

Students must receive a passing score on the WRAP to pass these courses and become eligible to take ECI (ENGL 101) and Writing Lab (ENGL 106) the following semester. (See below for detailed information on what constitutes a passing score in each of these courses.)

The WRAP includes a reading passage: students are required to read a passage and write an essay of approximately one-and-a-half to two pages in response to a question based on the reading. Students are instructed to focus on writing a well-organized, substantive, and thoughtful essay that responds specifically and directly to the reading passage and the question. They have two hours to complete the exam, including time for reading, note-taking, brain-storming, outlining, writing, and revising. They are asked to take a clear position and support it with reasons, examples, and ideas from the reading selection and from their experience, observations, and/or other reading; and they are reminded that their essays should make specific use of the reading passage to support their own position or argument.

The WRAP is scored according to criteria defined on the WRAP Essay Rubric which, alongside the exam itself, is designed to reflect the writing values and instructional goals of the NJCU writing program. As such, both the WRAP and the WRAP Essay Rubric are best understood not only as assessment instruments, but as tools to support the achievement of a variety of student learning outcomes and the development of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills required for success in college-level courses across the university curriculum.

The WRAP is administered by each individual instructor to his or her class, in his or her classroom, unless he or she has secured a computer lab beforehand. The test must be administered during the last week of classes before finals week. For Fall 2009, this means that the WRAP will be given Tuesday, Dec 8 through Monday, Dec 14, 2009. Please be sure to read the memo detailing the administration, submission, and scoring of the end-of Semester WRAP and the process for recording course grades. That memo is included on this website.

Instructors assign tentative final course grades for all students prior to the WRAP. However, students may only receive these passing grades (A - D) if and when they pass the WRAP. Students in all English Composition courses that culminate in a WRAP who do not pass the WRAP must receive non-passing final course grades. This policy must be included on all syllabi for courses that culminate in the WRAP.

A Note on Documents and Forms

To ensure proper English Composition course placement of all students, the English Department relies on the information provided on several documents and forms. We appreciate your carefully reviewing and completing them at appropriate times throughout the semester.

It is crucial that all instructors become familiar with the policies and procedures currently in effect so that students receive proper advisement, instruction, and placement—and so that, with the advice and support of their instructors, they are able to meet all requirements and make timely progress through the English Composition program.

The WRAP Essay Rubric

The WRAP Essay Rubric outlines the criteria used to score WRAP essays. It is intended as a teaching tool and faculty are strongly encouraged to review it regularly with students and to use it when scoring practice WRAPs and other writing assignments throughout the semester. Students must become familiar with the criteria used to score their WRAP essays and should be required to learn how to use the rubric for self-assessment purposes. A link to a blank copy of the WRAP Essay Rubric is included on this site.

WRAP Format

All WRAPs include three parts: the instructions, the reading selection, and the question. Please see the link to sample WRAPs included on this site.

The Writing Assessment Committee (WAC)

Scoring WRAP Essays

The WRAP is scored by the four members of the Writing Assessment Committee (WAC) of the English Department according to the criteria identified on the WRAP Essay Rubric. Two faculty members independently read and score each WRAP essay. If there is a discrepancy between theses scores, a third committee member reads and scores the essay.

The WRAP is scored blindly so faculty readers do not know the names of the students whose essays they are reading. In order to preserve anonymity, students must not write their names on their WRAP essays. Only Gothic ID numbers and instructor names may be included on WRAP essays.

Conversion to Placement Exam-Style Scores

WRAP scores are converted to the Placement Examscale (1-5) before being entered on GothicNet. This eases comparison with Placement Exam scores received by students upon entering NJCU.

Please click on the following link to view the WRAP to Placement Exam-Style Score Conversion Chart.

WRAP to Placement Exam-Style Score Conversion Chart

English Composition Course Eligibility Chart

Please click on the following link to see how students progress through the English Composition Program at NJCU.

This chart details the WRAP score and course requirements that determine eligibility for each course in the sequence.

English Comp Eligibility Chart

Course Grades

Instructors are responsible for entering final grades for the students on their rosters, but instructors must assign the final grades listed by the WAC on the completed Information Sheet. These are based on the instructors’ tentative grades and WRAP results.

Students receive the final grade of R in the first semester in which they fail RWAD or RWAD II. The second time a student fails RWAD or RWAD II, he or she must receive a final grade of F.

There are different “passing” WRAP scores for RWAD, RWAD II, and CWIS:

Students in RWAD must receive a WRAP score equivalent to an English Placement Test score of 3 to pass the WRAP and the course and move into RWAD II, or a WRAP score equivalent to a Placement Test score of 4 to move into English Composition I and Writing Lab.
Students in RWAD II must receive a WRAP score equivalent to a Placement Test score of 4 to pass the WRAP and the course and move into ECI and Writing Lab.
Students in CWIS must receive a WRAP score equivalent to a Placement Test score of 4 to pass the WRAP and the course and move into ECI and Writing Lab.

Students in their first semester of RWAD or RWAD II who fail the WRAP but were passing the course according to the instructor’s criteria receive the non-punitive final course grade of R (Repeat).

Students who fail RWAD or RWAD II for the second time receive the final course grade of F.

After scoring the WRAPs for a given section of RWAD or RWAD II, the WAC reviews the preliminary final course grades entered by the instructor on the Information Sheet. If a student has failed the WRAP, the WAC enters a failing final course grade of F or R based on whether the student has failed the course only this once or also previously. If a student is failing for the course for the first time, then the student is eligible to receive the non-punitive failing final grade of R; if a student has also failed the course in a previous semester, then the student must receive the failing final grade of F.

The following items are of the utmost importance:

· Instructors must enter the final course grades on the Final Grade Roster on GothicNet exactly as indicated by the Writing Assessment Committee on the completed Information Sheet.

· Students in RWAD I and RWAD II must receive the same final grade in both the degree and non degree portions of these courses.

Reviewing WRAP Essays

After checking their WRAP scores on GothicNet, students are encouraged to schedule an appointment at the Writing Center to review their recent WRAP essays with a professional tutor.

Writing Center appointments can be scheduled online via the English Department website or by clicking here.

After reviewing their WRAP essays with a member of the Writing Center staff, students who believe they should have received a passing score on the WRAP may submit appeals to the Assistant Chair of English (Composition). Only in rare cases are WRAP essay scores reconsidered by the Writing Assessment Committee (WAC). It is extremely rare for a score to be changed as a result of WAC review.

The WRAP is designed to assess student writing as a means to ensure proper composition course placement. However, it is also designed as a teaching tool: students can learn a lot from reviewing their WRAP essays and completed Essay Rubrics. To facilitate student learning, the Writing Assessment Committee will make student WRAP essays available to instructors upon request. Instructors are encouraged to collect their students’ scored WRAP essays and to meet with them to review their WRAP essays.

The English Department is collecting a library of WRAP exams for use in future semesters and the free circulation of previous WRAP exams would undermine the efficacy of such a library. Therefore, we depend upon and greatly appreciate the assistance of all instructors in respecting and upholding the essential policy that students are not permitted to remove or keep WRAP essays after reviewing them in the presence of their instructors. While students are encouraged to review their WRAP essays for pedagogical purposes in the presence of their instructors, they are expressly not permitted to remove or keep copies of their WRAP essays.

Retest Information

WRAP retests are offered to students recommended for retests by their instructors. Instructors indicate the students they are recommending for a retest in the appropriate column of the end-of-semester Information Sheet.

An instructor should recommend a student for a retest only if, during the semester, the student has written at least one practice WRAP essay under test conditions that suggests that the student is ready for the more advanced work of the next level writing course. Before the essay is revised based on the instructor’s comments, the essay must meet the standards required to achieve a passing score on the WRAP in the course based on the criteria identified on the WRAP Essay Rubric.

Sometimes faculty members mistakenly recommend all, or the majority, of their students for a retest in the event that the students fail the WRAP. However, this practice is a clear violation of the English Department guidelines on retest recommendations: faculty must only recommend students for a retest who have demonstrated their readiness for success in the next composition course.

Please note that readiness for success in the next level composition course is demonstrated by a student if and only if he or she has received a passing score on a practice WRAP given by the instructor during class time under actual test conditions. If a student has not met this criterion, he or she must not be recommended for a retest.

Realistic Expectations: Faculty and Students

It is very important the instructors give students realistic feedback on the quality of their writing throughout the semester. Assessment of student writing must involve careful use of the WRAP Essay Rubric so that students are not allowed to develop unrealistic expectations about their chances of passing the end-of-semester WRAP.

The most common complaint among students who do not pass the WRAP is that instructors have told them that they would definitely pass the WRAP. However, it should be clear to every instructor and student that there are no guarantees when it comes to passing the end-of-semester WRAP.

Detailed feedback on student writing, when tied to the criteria outlined on the WRAP Essay Rubric, will provide an honest and accurate assessment of student progress on the basis of the quality of student writing. However, anyone can have a bad day, and no instructor is in a position to make promises to students that they will pass the WRAP—no matter what the quality of their writing during the semester.

The best we can do as instructors is to provide positive encouragement and detailed, honest feedback on student writing. Our students are best served when we adopt a strategy of tough love, offering support and assistance without raising their expectations that they will pass the WRAP beyond a cautiously optimistic level.

In addition, instructors should always keep in mind that the WRAP is scored by a committee of objective readers, and that committee members rely solely on the quality of writing and the degree to which that writing meets the criteria outlined on the WRAP Essay Rubric. It is helpful to remember that the WAC has no knowledge of, nor can it consider, the level of a student’s dedication, hard work, or improvement throughout the semester.

While instructors may take into account a variety of other considerations, including effort, participation, interest, and progress, the WRAP score is based solely on the quality of student writing.

Once a student has passed the WRAP, instructors are free to consider these other aspects of student performance in the calculation of the final grade. However, if a student does not pass the WRAP, these other aspects of student performance must be considered irrelevant to the final grade.

Far too often, well-meaning faculty members encourage their students to have false hopes that they will pass the WRAP and the course. While encouragement is always important, giving students false hope in their abilities does far more harm than good. Students should receive realistic feedback on their writing throughout the semester and should have a clear sense of the likelihood that they will pass or fail the WRAP based on their scores on practice WRAPs taken during the second half of the semester. Instructors must be clear on this point at all times: the Writing Assessment Committee (WAC) reads and scores all WRAP essays and instructors have no way of knowing for sure whether a student will write a passing essay on the day of the WRAP. Even members of the WAC do not make such promises to students. In fact, WAC members are all too aware of the disappointment and frustration to which false hopes and promises can lead.

WRAP Exemptions

Students who have already passed the WRAP in a previous semester are considered exempt from the WRAP. When appropriate, the English Department circulates a list of current students who are exempt from the WRAP. Please discreetly notify any students of yours whose names appear on this list that they are exempt from the WRAP. However, please do not announce WRAP exemptions or results in front of the class.

In addition, if you decide to use the WRAP as a final exam in your course, please do not submit to the Writing Assessment Committee any essays written by students who are exempt from the WRAP.

Practice WRAPs

All students who in courses that culminate in the WRAP must be given an opportunity to take several practice WRAPs under actual test conditions throughout the second half of the semester.

RWAD and RWAD 2 are not conceptualized as WRAP-preparation courses. They are developmental reading and writing courses that culminate in the WRAP. However, due to the importance of the WRAP score, the English Department recommends that students take up to five practice WRAPs in preparation for the end-of-semester WRAP. However, under no circumstances should students be required to take fewer than three (3) practice WRAPs under actual test conditions in any given semester. On the other hand, passing the WRAP should not be understood as the exclusive goal of RWAD and RWAD 2, and course work throughout the semester should not be limited to WRAP-style assignments.

Practice WRAPs should be read and scored by instructors in a timely manner according to the criteria outlined on the WRAP Essay Rubric. Students should receive completed rubrics so that they may become aware of their strengths and weaknesses in writing WRAP essays under test conditions. Detailed feedback should be provided by instructors and students should be given opportunities to revise and resubmit practice WRAP essays in an effort to enable them to build on their writing and critical thinking skills throughout the semester.

Eight practice WRAPs are included on this website. In addition, instructors are encouraged to develop new practice WRAPs for their students. Please use the included practice WRAPs as models. The English Department greatly appreciates when instructors share their new practice WRAPs with the department, and will gladly include new practice WRAPs in future versions of this Handbook for the benefit of other instructors and their students.

English as a Second Language (ESL)

The Writing Assessment Committee refers students whose English Placement Test essays appear to contain patterns of error consistent with second-language learners to the ESL Department for consultation and possible placement in the ESL Program. However, students eligible for the ESL Program occasionally do take non-ESL English Composition courses. This may be a result of improper placement, misunderstanding or miscommunication between students and advisors, or student reluctance to enter the ESL Program. If you believe that one or more of your students might be better served in an ESL course specifically designed for second-language learners of English, please contact Professor Marion Leonor, ESL Testing Coordinator, at mleonor@njcu.edu for further information.

Students with Disabilities

In some cases, instructors will receive confidential memos from the Office of Specialized Services for Students with Disabilities (OSSSD) indicating that one or more students in their classes are entitled to reasonable accommodations as a result of having been diagnosed with a learning or other disability. It is essential that instructors protect the privacy of all students in this circumstance and that every care be taken to provide such reasonable accommodations as indicated in the memo.

Students with learning disabilities are not required to disclose their diagnoses. However, once an official disclosure has been made, instructors may wish to contact the OSSSD, or the Office of Project Mentor of the OSSSD, for further clarification of an individual student’s rights and needs. Many students with learning disabilities elect to take their exams, including the WRAP, in the OSSSD, which is set up to provide all necessary accommodations to the students entitled to their services.

In cases in which students “test separately” (i.e. test with the OSSSD or Project Mentor), the Writing Assessment Committee will have no knowledge of the students’ status as learning disabled. The essays of students to test separately will be returned to the WAC by the OSSSD or Project Mentor and blindly filed among the rest of the essays written for the appropriate instructor’s section. In this way, all student essays are assessed and scored according to the criteria outlined on the WRAP Essay Rubric.

Contacts

For further information about the English Composition Program, please visit our website at

http://web.njcu.edu/sites/dept/english/Content/english_composition.asp or contact:

Joshua Fausty

English Composition Program Coordinator

jfausty@njcu.edu

201-200-3338

Karnoutsos 304

For further information about the First Year Experience Program learning communities, please contact:

Hilary Englert

First Year Experience Program Coordinator

henglert@njcu.edu

201-200-3099

Karnoutsos 304

For further information about the English Department, please visit the department website at http://web.njcu.edu/sites/dept/english/Content/default.asp or contact:

Irma Maini Co-Chair, Department of English	Hilary Englert Co-Chair, Department of English
imaini@njcu.edu 201-200-3077 Karnoutsos 304	henglert@njcu.edu 201-200-3099 Karnoutsos 304

For further information about the English as a Second Language (ESL) Department, please contact:

Professor Marion Leonor

ESL Testing Coordinator

mleonor@njcu.edu

201-200-3087

WRAP Directions

The official Directions page for WRAPs for Spring 2009 appears before the first sample WRAP. Please click the Practice/Sample WRAPs link below to view the Directions.

Practice/Sample WRAPs

Following the Directions page, we have included eight (8) Practice/Sample WRAPs for use in your classes. In addition, please use these documents as models if you to create new practice WRAPs for use in your classes.

We would greatly appreciate receiving a copy of any new practice materials you may create. Please forward new practice WRAPs to Joshua Fausty or Hilary Englert for possible inclusion in future versions of this manual.

Training Materials

Following the Practice/Sample WRAPs included here, we have included a section of training materials used at recent English Composition faculty workshops. These materials include several student responses to a recent WRAP and modified WRAP Essay Rubrics complete with detailed score explanations.

We hope you will find these training materials helpful as you become more familiar with the official scoring criteria outlined on the WRAP Essay Rubric and used by the Writing Assessment Committee.

Sample_WRAPs

Faculty Training_Materials

End-of-Semester Procedures Memo -- Fall 2009

Sample Information Sheet for End-of-Semester WRAP

WRAP Essay Rubric (for Faculty/Student use)

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