How do you guys think the new essay will be graded?
The old method made sense. Two people read the essay, each giving it a score out of 6. You then get a combined score out of 12. But now what? Do they just multiply your combined score by 3 to receive a score out of 36?
Lets say you write an 8/12 essay. Normally, that’s pretty good. But now what is it? A 24/36? That’s no where near as good.
I, personally, feel an 8/12 on the old test should equate to a 28 range on the new test, but again, I don’t know how it works.
The optional Writing Test does NOT count towards your composite score.
ACT will generate an ELA score (English Language Arts) that is the average of your Reading, English and Writing scaled scores ONLY for students who take the optional writing test.
The essay is now scored now from 1-6 in these 4 areas:
Ideas and Analysis
Development and Support
Organization
Language Use and Conventions
The max score is 24/ per reader.
Example: I scored your essay 19, and the other reader also scored it a 19 that would be a raw score of 38.
This raw score is then compared to a scale. In this example, a raw score of 38 equals a scaled score of 30.