ESSAYS

I. What are essays?

A. Essays are classified as non-objective tests.
B. Allow for the assessment of higher order thinking skills.
II. Essay can be used to measure attainment of a variety of objectives.
A. Comparing
1. Describe the similarities and differences between …
2. Compare the following methods for …
B. Relating cause-and-effect
1. What are the major causes of …
2. What would be the most likely effects of …
C. Justifying
1. Which of the following alternatives would you favor and why?
2. Explain why you agree or disagree with the ff. statement.
D. Summarizing
1. State the points included in …
2. Briefly summarize the contents of …
E. Generalizing
1. Formulate several valid generalizations from the following data.
2. State a set of principles that can explain the following events.
F. Inferring
1. In the light of the facts presented, what is most likely to happen when …
2. How would Senator X be most likely to react to the bomb explosion after the bar
examination last September?
G. Classifying
1. Group the following items according to …
2. What do the following items have in common?
H. Applying
1. Using the principles of _____ as guide, describe how you would solve the following
problem situation.
2. Describe a situation that illustrates the principle of __________.
I. Analyzing
1. Describe the reasoning errors in the following paragraphs.
2. List and describe the main characteristics of …
J. Evaluating
1. Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the following …
2. Using the criteria developed in class, write an evaluation of …
K. Creating
1. Make up a story describing what would happen if …
2. Design a plan to prove that …
3. Write a well-organized report that shows …
III. Types of Essay
A. Restricted Essay
1. It is also referred to a short focus response
2. Examples are asking students to “write an example”, “list three reasons”, or
“compare and contrast two techniques”.

Sample Short Response Question

(5th Grade Reading)

How are the scrub jay and the mockingbird different?

Support your answer with details and information from the
article.
 B. Non-restricted / Extended Essay
- Extended responses can be much longer and complex than short responses,
but students are encouraged to remain focused and organized.
Sample Extended Response Question
(5th Grade Science)

Robert is designing a demonstration to display at his school’s science fair.

He will show how changing the position of a fulcrum on a lever changes
the amount of force needed to lift an object. To do this, Robert will use a
piece of wood for a lever and a block of wood to act as a fulcrum. He plans
to move the fulcrum to different places on the lever to see how its
placement affects the force needed to lift an object.

Part A Identify at least two other actions that would make Robert’s
demonstration better.

Part B Explain why each action would improve the demonstration.

Source: https://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/constructed/constructb.html

IV. Rules of thumb which facilitate the scoring of essays

A. Rule 1 : Phrase the direction in such a way that students are guided on the key concepts
to be included. Specify how the students should respond.
B. Rule 2: Inform the students on the criteria to be used for grading their essays. This rule
allows the students to focus on relevant and substantive materials rather than on
peripheral and unnecessary facts and bits of information.
C. Rule 3: Put a time limit on the essay test.
D. Rule 4: Decide on your essay grading system prior to getting the essays of your students.
E. Rule 5: Evaluate all of the student’s answers to one question before proceeding to the
next question.
F. Rule 6: Evaluate answers to essay questions without knowing the identity of the writer.
G. Rule 7: Whenever possible, have two or more persons grade each answer.
H. Rule 8: Do not provide optional questions.
I. Rule 9: Provide information about the value/weight of the question and how it will be
scored.
J. Rule 10: Emphasize higher level thinking skills.