Writing 30 and 60 courses                                      Back to Resources Page

• Outcomes for Writing 30
• Outcomes for Writing 60
• Syllabus blurb about the exit exam
• Syllabus blurb about the new reading prerequisite
• Samples of writing that should NOT pass to Writing 91

Mandatory Exit Exam for Writing 60

The Exam
There are 3 sections for the final exit exam. The exam portions are in rich text format so you can copy and alter them easily if you need to:

• Part I: In-Class writing (given first during final exam period)
• Part II: Grammar Exam  (given second during final exam period)
• Part III: Out of class multi-paragraph writing (given about a week before the final exam, and due during the final exam period)
   
• Scoring Guide for Part I and III of the final exit exam

Giving the Exam

You should assign Part III about a week before the final so that students have time to work on this and revise/edit it.  You should devote some class time to discussing/prewriting/planning of this assignment and you might even conference with individual students on it.  You should not give extensive written comments on a draft because students need to demonstrate how they revise and edit independently for their final draft.  The final draft of Part III should be collected during the final exam period.

During the final exam period, you should distribute Part I (in-class paragraph writing) first and give students 20-25 minutes to begin work on it.  Then distribute the final grammar exam (Part II) and allow students to spend the rest of the time on Part I and Part II as they choose to divide it.   This should force students to devote time to the in-class writing, rather than spending all their time on the grammar exam (which they often give more "weight" to because it looks like a "real" test) and leaving only 10 minutes for the in-class writing.

During the in-class final exam, students should be allowed to use their books, notes and dictionaries.  The stress of Part I and Part II is to apply what they have learned --rather than on memorization.   Of course, they shouldn't do any prewriting for the in-class writing on Part I, so do not give them the paragraph prompts ahead of time.

Flexibility for Individual Instructors
Although we have a common exit exam, there is some flexibility so that individual instructors can adapt the exam for their purposes.  The following explains this flexibility...

Section I-- In-Class Writing: Instructors can make up two topic choices themselves for this section, though they need to adhere to basic criteria for prompts.

Section II-- Grammar: The grammar exercises section is based on discussion about what areas are crucial for Writing 60 students to demonstrate ability in in order to move on to Writing 91.  Editing for verb tense and clear syntax are key issues; comma and apostrophe use are not (Writing 91 and 101 instructors are still working on these issues with students).  Instructors should replicate the sections and directions for this portion of the exit exam, though individual instructors can develop their own sentences, words, and paragraphs to replace the sample suggestions.
    If an instructor has gone over comma, pronoun and apostrophe use with students during Writing 60 and would like to test students for these issues, the instructor might give an abbreviated exam on these issues on the last day of class.

Section III --Three Out-of-class Paragraphs on a Topic: The directions for this out of class writing needs to be very specific in terms of what the different paragraphs should do, but there is some flexibility in terms of the subject.  The sample assignment asks students to write about an object of personal significance.  Instructors might have students write about a specific person or place instead.  This should be your last assignment for the quarter (don't add on another assignment just for the exam).

How to weight the exam 

Overall: In terms of the overall exit assessment, the three parts should have equal weight.  Students must pass at least two out of the three portions of the exit exam to pass on to Writing 91.  

Individual parts: A pass on Part II (the grammar exercises section) means that the student earns 70% or better.   We are using a common holistic rubric (Pass/Fail) to score the writing for Part I and Part II (the in-class and out-of-class portions), but if you compute the grades for these portions numerically, they should be passing at a 70% or greater.

The blurb you should include in your syllabus:

To earn a 2.0 or higher in Writing  60, you must pass the final exit assessment (which means you must pass two out of three portions of the exam). The exam has three parts:

1) In-class paragraph writing
2) An in-class grammar exam
3) An out-of-class multi-paragraph assignment

If you pass, your grade will be based on your completion of the instructor's grading requirements.

You are not guaranteed a 2.0 or higher if you pass the exit exam. You must meet the course requirements at or above a 2.0 as defined by your instructor.

If you do not pass the final exit assessment, you can earn up to a 1.9 in the course; the assignment of a grade between 0.0 and 1.9 will be based on the completion of the instructors' grading requirements.

What to do with Writing 30 students:

 As the instructor, you have two options:

1. Give the Writing-30 students the same exam and score them more leniently.  It would be unfair to "fail" a Writing-30 student based on an exam given to a higher level.   On the other hand, if you have a 30-level student who seems to have 60-level abilities and passes the exam, you might change them to the 60-level or write a letter that would allow them to move on to Writing 91 (see the writing coordinator about this if you have questions).
2. Give the 30 students a different exam that is appropriate to the outcomes and activities at their level.