What is a College-ready English Student? Created by the ECC Writing Team of the Alliance for College Readiness

What are the minimum competencies for a What are the minimum competencies for a college-ready English student? college-ready English student? The purpose of this document is to answer the question of what the minimum competency skills are for a college ready English student. It is important to understand that a college-ready English student is sometimes defined differently by high schools than by colleges.

Ready for College English The ECC Writing Sub-Committee of the Alliance for College Readiness establishes the following English Standards for minimum competencies of a high school graduate/incoming college freshman student, as evidenced by a writing sample. Note: The writing sample is an in-class writing essay of words to be administered in the ECC Writing Placement Center.

The Essay’s Purpose 1. A clear purpose responds to the prompt with an emphasis on persuasion as the writing mode.

Organization & Development 1. The thesis is directly and appropriately stated within the introduction. 2. The essay has multiple paragraphs with a minimum of 3 paragraphs. 3. Each body paragraph begins with a directly stated topic sentence. 4. Each body paragraph is well-developed, consisting of 5-7 detailed, informative sentences. 5. Each body paragraph is logically developed, uses appropriate transitions, is supported by specific examples, and ends with a final/concluding sentence which directly connects to the topic sentence. 6. The conclusion re-addresses the thesis, summarizes the main points, and ends with a general closing statement.

Style 1. Sentence variety occurs through the use of simple, compound, and complex sentences. 2. Style is established through the use of concrete adjectives, appropriate adverbs, prepositional phrases, and purposeful and appropriate vocabulary.

Conventions Basic conventions provide readability and clarity; therefore, writing with more than 10 errors in basic conventions becomes unacceptable writing. (Each time an error occurs, it counts as one error). Basic conventions provide readability and clarity; therefore, writing with more than 10 errors in basic conventions becomes unacceptable writing. (Each time an error occurs, it counts as one error).

Basic Conventions Basic conventions include – the use of a comma with an introductory phrase or clause, the use of a comma with a coordinating conjunction, the use of a comma with a subordinating conjunction, the use of a comma with a non-restrictive clause, the use of a comma in a list the use of a comma with an introductory phrase or clause, the use of a comma with a coordinating conjunction, the use of a comma with a subordinating conjunction, the use of a comma with a non-restrictive clause, the use of a comma in a list Correct spelling, correct homonym use Correct spelling, correct homonym use Proper use of an apostrophe, correct use of a semicolon, proper end punctuation Proper use of an apostrophe, correct use of a semicolon, proper end punctuation Missing words, unclear wording Missing words, unclear wording (Note: Some accommodation for ELL students regarding basic conventions may occur).

Major Errors No more than 4 major errors are present in the essay: run-ons, comma splices, fragments, subject-verb agreement, and verb tense agreement. No more than 4 major errors are present in the essay: run-ons, comma splices, fragments, subject-verb agreement, and verb tense agreement. Note: Some accommodation for ELL students regarding subject-verb agreement and verb tense agreement may occur. Note: Some accommodation for ELL students regarding subject-verb agreement and verb tense agreement may occur.

While a student should be able to meet all of these standards upon completing his/her high school English curriculum, the ECC Writing instructor may use discretion if deemed appropriate. While a student should be able to meet all of these standards upon completing his/her high school English curriculum, the ECC Writing instructor may use discretion if deemed appropriate.

The English Department at Elgin Community College uses the following scoring number system to evaluate student essays for ECC placement. 6 Student is recommended for Honors English or CLEP test. Student may enroll in English Student may enroll in English Student is placed in Developmental English /2 Student is placed in Developmental English Student is placed in Developmental English No placement decision is made.

Correlation of the ACT Rubric to ECC Placement Scoring ACT ECC ACT ECC 6/5/ /1 3/2 2/1 3/2 1

Explanation of ECC 6 Essay has a thesis and is unified, coherent, and developed with concrete, specific details. It contains a complexity of ideas and demonstrates the student’s understanding of sentence form and variety. Student demonstrates the ability to edit for surface errors, spelling, and punctuation. Student may be eligible for honors English or CLEP test.

Explanation of ECC 5 Essay has a thesis and is unified, coherent, and developed with concrete, specific details, with some minor deviations. Essay contains some complexity of ideas and adequate vocabulary. Problems with grammar, mechanics, or spelling do not interfere with reader concentration/ understanding. Student may enroll in ENG 101.

Explanation of ECC 4 Essay may have a thesis which responds to the topic, but supporting ideas are not consistently concrete, specific, or adequately developed. The essay may demonstrate basic organizational skills but grammar, mechanics, and spelling errors are sufficient or serious enough to cause some problems with comprehension. Student needs one semester of developmental composition (ENG 098) to prepare for ENG 101

Explanation of ECC 3 Essay has same problems as a “4” but with serious organization or development problems or several types of grammar, mechanics and spelling errors, which will require more than one semester of college remediation. Student needs two semesters of developmental composition (ENG 097 and ENG 098) with recommended tutoring.

Explanation of ECC 2 Essay may have a thesis which responds to the topic, but supporting ideas are undeveloped, repeated, unclear, or incoherent. Essay has recurrent grammatical and syntactical problems. Student needs two semesters of developmental composition (ENG 097 and ENG 098) with recommended tutoring.

Explanation of ECC 1 Essay has same problems as a “2” but writer demonstrates little understanding of sentence boundaries and has consistent problems with syntax. Basic vocabulary and simple ideas predominate. Problems are severe enough to require individualized attention in ENG 094, along with recommended tutoring before attempting ENG 097 and 098.

No Placement Decision Essay is off the topic or the writing sample is too short to make a judgment. Student must retake the test.

The following two essays are examples of writing that is college-ready with a score of 5. These students would be placed into English 101 at ECC.

Sample Writing Test Prompt Many high school students consider taking a year off between high school and college. Those who believe this is a good idea note that students can earn money by working. Those who oppose this idea believe that students may lose valuable study skills. In your opinion, should students take a year off between high school and college? In your essay, take a position on the topic. You may choose one of the stances listed above or expand upon a unique stance.

Living in a world where a college education is cheap to come by is a dream to most people. With the rising costs of college, some four year tuitions costing more than a house can, people are trying to come up with more ways to fund their aspirations. One of the solutions that some students consider is taking time off between high school and college to get a full time job and earn money before going off to college. Although this may seem like a plausible solution, there are many negative aspects to taking time off between college and high school. Transitioning right from high school to college will help most people in retaining more knowledge from high school, keeping good study habits, and graduating earlier to join the workforce. Living in a world where a college education is cheap to come by is a dream to most people. With the rising costs of college, some four year tuitions costing more than a house can, people are trying to come up with more ways to fund their aspirations. One of the solutions that some students consider is taking time off between high school and college to get a full time job and earn money before going off to college. Although this may seem like a plausible solution, there are many negative aspects to taking time off between college and high school. Transitioning right from high school to college will help most people in retaining more knowledge from high school, keeping good study habits, and graduating earlier to join the workforce. Remembering information taught from grade to grade in high school is hard enough, even though there is only a three month break between grades. Imagine if there were six months, a year, or even several years between each grade in high school, very little information would be easily retainable. When students cannot remember skills taught in the past, time must be wasted reviewing previously taught items, with less time spent on newer information. If one were to take time off between high school and college the amount of information one would need to review just to get to the basic level of where they stood before would be immense. This would make already difficult college classes more rigorous, as you would be spending time on catching up your old skills along with learning new ones. Removing oneself from the education process for a period of time after high school would serve to only make the transition to college life more difficult, with less of a chance of doing well in college studies. Remembering information taught from grade to grade in high school is hard enough, even though there is only a three month break between grades. Imagine if there were six months, a year, or even several years between each grade in high school, very little information would be easily retainable. When students cannot remember skills taught in the past, time must be wasted reviewing previously taught items, with less time spent on newer information. If one were to take time off between high school and college the amount of information one would need to review just to get to the basic level of where they stood before would be immense. This would make already difficult college classes more rigorous, as you would be spending time on catching up your old skills along with learning new ones. Removing oneself from the education process for a period of time after high school would serve to only make the transition to college life more difficult, with less of a chance of doing well in college studies. Many students find a way to balance their life and studies by the end of their high school careers. The easiest technique students generally find to keeping up good study skills is to make it a continuous habit, so that one does not fall into the trap of becoming lazy. Students who make a habit out of doing their work in high school are also the students who excel. The same can obviously be said for college, in fact, college requires students to work even more rigorously and to persistently rely on their study skills. Taking a break between high school and college would no doubt break these well developed study habits that one has learned to use throughout their high school career. Many students find a way to balance their life and studies by the end of their high school careers. The easiest technique students generally find to keeping up good study skills is to make it a continuous habit, so that one does not fall into the trap of becoming lazy. Students who make a habit out of doing their work in high school are also the students who excel. The same can obviously be said for college, in fact, college requires students to work even more rigorously and to persistently rely on their study skills. Taking a break between high school and college would no doubt break these well developed study habits that one has learned to use throughout their high school career. The largest issue for most students gong to college is clearly how to finance it. While the proposed option of taking time off between high school and college to get a job and earn money is conceivable, it is probably not ones’ best option. Receiving financial aid, scholarships, and saving up money throughout high school with a part time job is an easy way to help get your college education paid for. Even though those actions may not completely cover tuition, loans are great option. Loans are still a better option that taking off time between high school and college because once one graduates from college their pay scale and salary increases greatly. With a larger salary it would be much easier to pay off college loans that it would be to pay for college in advance, working for trivial pay. The largest issue for most students gong to college is clearly how to finance it. While the proposed option of taking time off between high school and college to get a job and earn money is conceivable, it is probably not ones’ best option. Receiving financial aid, scholarships, and saving up money throughout high school with a part time job is an easy way to help get your college education paid for. Even though those actions may not completely cover tuition, loans are great option. Loans are still a better option that taking off time between high school and college because once one graduates from college their pay scale and salary increases greatly. With a larger salary it would be much easier to pay off college loans that it would be to pay for college in advance, working for trivial pay. Overall, students must consider which options for college hold their best interest. Choosing to take a break between college and high school does not have solid reasoning behind it, other than wanting to take a break from education, which would only make college harder. On the other hand, making a immediate transition to college from high school is the ideal option for many reasons. Not taking a break will aid in keeping good study habits, information taught in previous education, and will – in the long run – make tuition easier to pay for. Overall, students must consider which options for college hold their best interest. Choosing to take a break between college and high school does not have solid reasoning behind it, other than wanting to take a break from education, which would only make college harder. On the other hand, making a immediate transition to college from high school is the ideal option for many reasons. Not taking a break will aid in keeping good study habits, information taught in previous education, and will – in the long run – make tuition easier to pay for.

Senior year is without a doubt the most important year of high school, but the summer after that year is equally important. It is during this time that your prepare for the adult world. It is also during this time that you get ready t o move out of your childhood home and move out. Immediately following that summer is when you should go off to college if college is in your future. It is not wise to take a long break after high school before you go to college because educational skills that have been learned and practiced may be lost or damaged, and you may lost your will for further education if you do not go to college right away. The educational skills that are learned in high school are very critical to succeeding in college. If these skills are not continually used, they will lose efficiency. First of all, writing skills may be severely compromised. For example, the proper way to write a research paper probably won’t be used outside of the classroom. Therefore, that skill will deteriorate over the summer. Secondly, mathematical skills will suffer as well. After high school is over with, for instance, it is very hard to get access to the text and resources needed to maintain the skills learned. This means that it is highly likely to forget what has been learned. If college is not attended right away, these skill will deteriorate further and it will have to be relearned through remedial courses. Many high school graduates say that they are going to college, but they want to take a break first. The reality remains that many of these people will end up losing their passion for further education over time. First of all, they may want to take a break to earn more money. But then they may not want to leave their job once they have sufficient funds. Many of them think that since they have done so well so far, without college, they may as well just keep going at their job and forget about going to college all together. Next, many professions require further education, so college is mandatory. Therefore, college should be looked at as an extension of high school, where a summer break of 3 months or so is given, before school is mandatory once again. In the end, if college is wanted after high school, it is more beneficial to go straight there than to take a break of more than a few months. The reality will always remain this: college is hard, and college is expensive. If you have dreams of going to college, then don’t put them on hold. It is not a smart choice to wait any more than you have to. If you want to wait because of a lack of money, then take out student loans and/or apply for scholarships. If you want to wait just to take a break, then you are risking your own future. If you wait, your passion and your skills will decrease, and chances of having to pay for remedial classes will increase. All in all, it is more beneficial in the long run to go straight from high school to college.

The following three essays are examples of writing with a score of 4 and, therefore, are not college-ready. These students would be placed into English 098 at ECC. The first essay is a high 098, the second a medium 098, and the last a low 098.

Taking time off of school is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. Students should choose to not take time away from school because it will get them off task and detour them from what their main career goals are. The students will not want to go back to the way things used to be after they have had a break from it. They will also see that they can get their careers on a better path by starting sooner rather than later. Many students consider taking time off from school to get a break from the hard studying and long homework hours. But if you were to really think about it you would not want to go back to that sort of environment after you have been taking a break from it. It would become harder than it would off been had you started right after the summer of high school. The reasons for that are you would start to enjoy the life of a part time working teenager and not have to worry about the things that are associated with school. Then you would start to dread the time when college is upon you and you have to change your life-style again. But if you are the kind of person who dreads school but you still want to get a college degree you know that it would be easier for you to start right after high school. For many reasons and many different kinds of people, starting college after high school is the thing to do. Everyone has a dream of what there ideal career is and how they want to achieve that dream. To start out you want to get to work on that dream as soon as possible, and for most people their dream job has to do with some years in college. If you are one of these people, then taking a break from school is not the answer. You will delay the day when you can go into work doing the job you love, with the suit or uniform that has been in your dreams. But if you take a break, you might loose that dream. The job that you want might have slim employment opportunities, and you want to get there before that other guy does. If that does happen to you then you will have regrets and thoughts of what could’ve been if I had started school earlier. There are so many different reasons to why you should start college after high school. You will not have to go through the change in your life again when you start over from relaxed life into study life. The opportunity to start your career is there. So there is just no reason I see is to why it is good to take a break. Taking time off of school is a bad idea for a lot of reasons. Students should choose to not take time away from school because it will get them off task and detour them from what their main career goals are. The students will not want to go back to the way things used to be after they have had a break from it. They will also see that they can get their careers on a better path by starting sooner rather than later. Many students consider taking time off from school to get a break from the hard studying and long homework hours. But if you were to really think about it you would not want to go back to that sort of environment after you have been taking a break from it. It would become harder than it would off been had you started right after the summer of high school. The reasons for that are you would start to enjoy the life of a part time working teenager and not have to worry about the things that are associated with school. Then you would start to dread the time when college is upon you and you have to change your life-style again. But if you are the kind of person who dreads school but you still want to get a college degree you know that it would be easier for you to start right after high school. For many reasons and many different kinds of people, starting college after high school is the thing to do. Everyone has a dream of what there ideal career is and how they want to achieve that dream. To start out you want to get to work on that dream as soon as possible, and for most people their dream job has to do with some years in college. If you are one of these people, then taking a break from school is not the answer. You will delay the day when you can go into work doing the job you love, with the suit or uniform that has been in your dreams. But if you take a break, you might loose that dream. The job that you want might have slim employment opportunities, and you want to get there before that other guy does. If that does happen to you then you will have regrets and thoughts of what could’ve been if I had started school earlier. There are so many different reasons to why you should start college after high school. You will not have to go through the change in your life again when you start over from relaxed life into study life. The opportunity to start your career is there. So there is just no reason I see is to why it is good to take a break.

Many people think that it is a good idea to take some time off school before going to college, but is this a good idea? Taking time off from school before school is a good idea. Many students find this time a good opportunity to work and earn money to go to college during this time is also good to relax before heading back to the stress of school. If students are planning to go out of state this time could be used get used to their new town. First main reasons is that students take time off is to earn money for college and to relax before going back to school. Many students who aren’t able to get scholarships take this time off firm school before college to be able to earn money. Some students take off one or two years to work hard to get enough money to be able to attend college. While only being two years students don’t forget their study habits and self-discipline. During this time students also find it good to relax while only dealing with work. It is very stressful to be dealing with both school and work at the same time. Some students still continue to work while attending college, but it is less of stress knowing that college is paid. Other students have enough earn, but still take time to relax from all the stress of school. Second reason is that some students go to colleges out of state. Taking some time off can be used to get used to the new town. Some students decide not to live in the school dorms and use the time off to settle themselves in the new town. While some students look for apartments to live in others use the time to get a secure job. Moving out of state means leaving your job, some students make sure that before going to college they have a secure job. So is it a good idea to take time off before going to school? While some students find this as an opportunity to earn money for college, others find it as time to relax from all the stress of school. Other students also use this to time to get to know the towns were they are moving to and get secure jobs. So taking some time off from school can be a good idea. Many people think that it is a good idea to take some time off school before going to college, but is this a good idea? Taking time off from school before school is a good idea. Many students find this time a good opportunity to work and earn money to go to college during this time is also good to relax before heading back to the stress of school. If students are planning to go out of state this time could be used get used to their new town. First main reasons is that students take time off is to earn money for college and to relax before going back to school. Many students who aren’t able to get scholarships take this time off firm school before college to be able to earn money. Some students take off one or two years to work hard to get enough money to be able to attend college. While only being two years students don’t forget their study habits and self-discipline. During this time students also find it good to relax while only dealing with work. It is very stressful to be dealing with both school and work at the same time. Some students still continue to work while attending college, but it is less of stress knowing that college is paid. Other students have enough earn, but still take time to relax from all the stress of school. Second reason is that some students go to colleges out of state. Taking some time off can be used to get used to the new town. Some students decide not to live in the school dorms and use the time off to settle themselves in the new town. While some students look for apartments to live in others use the time to get a secure job. Moving out of state means leaving your job, some students make sure that before going to college they have a secure job. So is it a good idea to take time off before going to school? While some students find this as an opportunity to earn money for college, others find it as time to relax from all the stress of school. Other students also use this to time to get to know the towns were they are moving to and get secure jobs. So taking some time off from school can be a good idea.

Many high school students consider taking so time off from school before going to college. But me personally don’t think that’s a good idea. A lot of students make excuses like they need that time off to find them self’s and to find out what want to do in life. To me all this is just a bunch of excuses to not move on into “adult hood”. One reason why I don’t think it’s a good idea to move in life. I mean when you heading to college is because you are never going to move in life. I mean when you finally decide that you want to work for a year and in that year to save money for future education, most people end up just working for years until they see how the real world is out there and they end up going back to school like five years later. This is a disadvantage because if you would have gone of to college right after high school, you would be set for sure by five years later. You could maybe have your own mortgage already and maybe even little kids running around in your house hold. Another good reason why students should not take time off before heading of to college is because they end up in bad foot steps. What I mean by this is that teens think that just because they are out of high school and out working, they could just go party every night. Teens that are not involved in college seem to go out more and drink even thought college kids do get a little crazy at times. This is a high risk of teens turning into alcoholics or drugs abusers. All in all, I think that these two reason say it all why you shouldn’t take some time off before heading to college. I mean teens end up not doing anything in life but working in a job they don’t even like or enjoy, and some end up abusing drugs or drinking alcohol as a daily habit.

ECC English Writing Team Members (Comprised of English teachers and administrators of District 503) Co-chairs Jeff Weisman, Elgin Community College Debby Fralick, Streamwood High School Team Members Michele Machowicz, Michele Noel, Michele Albano, Cecilia Carreon, Andrea Fiebig, Shawn Harms, Lindsay Hert, Jeff Horler, Pat Parks, Lindsay Pearson, Christine Schmidt, Jason Schmidt, Theresa Ulrich, Patty VanLehn, Marcie Smith, Elisa Biancalana, Kimberly Wiedmeyer, Carolyn Forgue, Valerie Pierce, Britany Goodman, and Effie Rouse