Kate McLaughlin’s Assignment Grading Rubric

Work will be graded on four categories. Each is worth about ¼ of the total points available for that assignment.
For instance, each category in a 20-point assignment is worth about 5 points. I reserve the right to weigh any
one category more heavily or more lightly (by 2 or 3 points) depending on the individual situation.

If you feel you have been graded incorrectly, please come see me during office hours, and show up to the
meeting prepared with the original assignment and your graded work.

Full points will be given to work that meets all of the following criteria:

Presentation:
• Is formatted exactly according to the guidelines: Times New Roman 12-point font, double-spaced, black
ink, white paper, margins not changed, etc. See syllabus for full formatting guidelines.
• Is neat and professionally put together, not crinkled, ripped or stained; has your name on it; is stapled,
etc.

Content:
• Is of high quality; shows effort, thought and significant engagement with the material.
• Follows the basic journalistic guidelines for leads, stories, paragraphs and attributions, including
accuracy, structure and style.
• Has been edited.
• Is factually accurate.
• Does not contain any gross factual errors.
• Is not plagiarized.
• Does not contain basic grammar, punctuation, typos, syntactical errors, etc.,
• Has an appropriate lead that adheres to the guidelines (see checklist!)
• Adheres to the inverted pyramid style.

Completion:
• Includes the 5w’s and the H.
• Includes any death, injury, property damage or action (such as a vote) in the lead.
• Does not include the first person “I” or include any opinion or judgment whatsoever.
• Uses quotes throughout the work.
• Presents every sentence as its own paragraph.
• Follows AP Style faithfully throughout.

Mechanics:
• Contains complete sentences that make sense.
• Is free of basic grammatical errors.
• Does not contain any spelling errors whatsoever (with spell check and dictionaries available, there is no
excuse for misspelled words).
• Contains no errors of punctuation.
• Is organized and communicates the information clearly.
• Is syntactically correct.
• Makes logical sense.