ELA I-II English Language Arts Performance Level Descriptors
Limited
A student performing at the Limited Level demonstrates a minimal command of Ohio’s Learning Standards for ELA I-II English Language Arts. A student at this level has an emerging ability to determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of a text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details while providing an objective summary of the text, delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient while identifying false statements and fallacious reasoning, and introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

When reading literary text, a student at the Limited Level can:

Reference basic textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly or support analysis of simple inferences drawn from the text;
Identify a simple theme or central idea; provide a retelling of the text;
Identify how characters develop, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme;
Determine, using textual support, the literal meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text;
Identify an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it, and manipulate time;
Describe an explicit point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States;
Describe depictions of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums;
Recognize that an author draws on source material.
When reading informational text, a student at the Limited Level can:

Reference textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly or support analysis of simple inferences drawn from the text;
Identify a simple central idea; provide a retelling of the text;
Identify how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order of points made and how they are introduced and developed;
Determine, using textual support, the literal meaning of words and phrases;
Describe how an author’s ideas or claims are presented by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text;
Identify an  explicit point of view or purpose in a text;
Describe various accounts of a subject told in different mediums;
Identify the argument and claims in a text, describing basic reasons and evidence that support the claim;

Identify basic aspects of seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance. When writing, a student at the Limited Level can:
Provide a claim with lapses in focus, use inconsistent or unclear organizational structure, may reference information that demonstrates a partial understanding of grade-level texts, employ simple sentence construction and word choice;
Demonstrate a lack of command of the conventions of grade-appropriate standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Basic
A student performing at the Basic Level demonstrates a partial command of Ohio’s Learning Standards for ELA I-II English Language Arts. A student at this level has a general ability to determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of a text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details while providing an objective summary of the text, delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient while identifying false statements and fallacious reasoning, and introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
When reading literary text, a student at the Basic Level can:

Cite basic textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as simple inferences drawn from the text;
Determine a theme or central idea and describe its development; provide a summary of the text;
Describe how characters develop over the course of the text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme;
Determine, using textual support, the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings;
Describe an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it, and manipulate time;
Describe a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on general knowledge of world literature;
Compare and contrast the differences of a subject or key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is included in each treatment;
Describe how an author draws on and transforms source material. When reading informational text, a student at the Basic Level can:
Cite basic textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as simple inferences drawn from the text;
Determine a central idea and describe its development; provide a summary of the text;
Describe how the author unfolds an analysis or a series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and basic connections between them;
Determine, using textual support, the meaning of words and phrases, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings;
Describe how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text;
Identify a point of view or purpose in a text and describe how basic rhetoric advances that point of view or purpose;
Compare and contrast various accounts of a subject told in different mediums, identifying explicit details emphasized in each account;
Delineate the argument and specific claims in a text, determine whether the reasoning is valid or the evidence is relevant and sufficient;
Describe specific aspects of seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance. When writing, a student at the Basic Level can:
Adequately sustain a focused claim, reference a counterclaim when appropriate, include an organizational structure that provides a sense of completeness, provide adequate support by citing evidence that demonstrates an understanding of grade-level texts, introduce some variation in sentence structure and adequate word choice;
Demonstrate a basic command of the conventions of grade-appropriate standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Proficient
A student performing at the Proficient Level demonstrates an appropriate command of Ohio’s Learning Standards for ELA I-II English Language Arts. A student at this level has a consistent ability to determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of a text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details while providing an objective summary of the text, delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient while identifying false statements and fallacious reasoning, and introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

When reading literary text, a student at the Proficient Level can:

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text;
Determine a theme or central idea and analyze in detail its development, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text;
Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of the text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme;
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone;
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it, and manipulate time create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise;
Analyze a particular view or cultural experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature;
Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment;
Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material. When reading informational text, a student at the Proficient Level can:
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text;
Determine a central idea and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text;
Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them;
Determine the meaning of words and phrases, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone;
Analyze in detail how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text;
Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how an author uses rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose;
Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums, determining which details are emphasized in each account;
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning;
Analyze seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance, including how they address related themes and concepts.
When writing, a student at the Proficient Level can:

Thoroughly sustain a focused claim and fully address a counterclaim when appropriate, utilize an effective organizational structure that creates a coherent argument or progression of ideas with relevant

and varied types of support by citing relevant and sufficient evidence that demonstrates a strong understanding of grade-level texts, and vary sentence structure with purposeful word choice to enhance meaning;
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Accelerated
A student performing at the Accelerated Level demonstrates a strong command of Ohio’s Learning Standards for ELA I-II English Language Arts. A student at this level has a superior ability to determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of a text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details while providing an objective summary of the text, delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient while identifying false statements and fallacious reasoning, and introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
When reading literary text, a student at the Accelerated Level can:

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support a deep analysis of what the text says as well as complex inferences drawn from the text;
Determine and evaluate a theme or central idea and analyze in detail its development, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide a comprehensive, objective summary of the text;
Analyze the effectiveness of the development of complex characters, including how they interact to advance the plot or shape the theme;
Determine the meaning of complex words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze and evaluate the rhetorical impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone;
Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within it, and manipulate time create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise, and examine their impact on the text as a whole;
Analyze competing points of view or cultural experiences reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature;
Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment, and evaluate its effect on the reader’s or viewer's interpretation;
Analyze the effectiveness of how an author draws on and transforms source material. When reading informational text, a student at the Accelerated Level can:
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support a deep analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as complex inferences drawn from the text;
Determine and evaluate a central idea and analyze in detail its development, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide a comprehensive, objective summary of the text;
Evaluate the rhetorical effect of how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and connections drawn between them;
Analyze the meaning of words and phrases, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; evaluate the cumulative rhetorical effect of specific word choices on meaning and tone;
Analyze and explicate how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text;
Analyze an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and evaluate the effectiveness of an author's use of rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose;
Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums, evaluating the effect of the emphasis of different details in each account;
Explicate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, citing specific language from the text in an assessment of whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify subtle instances of false statements and fallacious reasoning;
Evaluate the reasoning and rhetorical strategies employed in seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance, including how they address related themes and concepts.

When writing, a student at the Accelerated Level can:

Thoroughly sustain a compelling, focused claim and a fairly treated and fully addressed counterclaim when appropriate, utilize a purposeful organizational structure that creates coherence with specific, appropriate, and integrated support that demonstrates a strong and nuanced understanding of grade- level texts, and purposefully employ sentence structure and word choice to enhance the argument or progression of ideas;
Demonstrate a strong command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Advanced
A student performing at the Advanced Level demonstrates a distinguished command of Ohio’s Learning Standards for ELA I-II English Language Arts. A student at this level has a sophisticated ability to determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of a text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details while providing an objective summary of the text, delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient while identifying false statements and fallacious reasoning, and introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
When reading literary text, a student at the Advanced Level can:

Cite strong textual evidence as well as complex inferences from multiple parts of the text to support a deep analysis of the text;
Evaluate multiple themes or central ideas and analyze in detail how they are developed and shaped by specific details; provide an objective, comprehensive summary of the text;
Evaluate the effectiveness of the author's subtle development of complex characters over the course of the text, including how nuanced interactions serve to advance the plot or shape the theme;
Determine the meaning of complex words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative, connotative, and nuanced meanings; analyze and evaluate the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies and allusion;
Analyze how an author structures a text, orders events, and manipulates time, evaluating the impact these choices have on the text as a whole;
Evaluate competing views or cultural experiences across works of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world literature;
Analyze a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is subtly emphasized or absent in each treatment, and evaluate how these differences affect the reader’s or viewer's interpretation;
Evaluate the effectiveness of how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work, including the effect of details not included in the transformation.

When reading informational text, a student at the Advanced Level can:

Cite strong textual evidence as well as complex inferences from multiple parts of the text to support a deep analysis of the text;

Evaluate multiple central ideas and analyze in detail their development, including how they emerge and are shaped and refined by specific details; provide a comprehensive, objective summary of the text;
Evaluate the rhetorical effect of how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and subtle connections between them;
Analyze the meaning of complex words and phrases, including figurative, connotative, technical, and nuanced meanings; evaluate the cumulative rhetorical effect of specific word choices on meaning and tone;
Evaluate the rhetorical impact of how an author’s ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text;
Analyze an author’s implicit point of view or purpose in a complex text and evaluate the effectiveness of an author's use of rhetoric to advance that point of view or purpose;
Analyze various accounts of a complex subject told in different mediums, evaluating the effect of the emphasis and absence of different details in each account;
Explicate and evaluate the arguments and specific claims in a text, citing specific language from the text in an assessment of whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify additional support that can be drawn from existing evidence; identify subtle instances of false statements and fallacious reasoning;
Evaluate the reasoning and rhetorical strategies in seminal U.S. documents of historical and literary significance, including how they address related themes and concepts, including references and allusions within provided historical documents.

When writing, a student at the Advanced Level can:

Thoroughly sustain a compelling, focused claim and a fairly treated and fully addressed counterclaim when appropriate, utilize a purposeful and efficient organizational structure that creates coherence with specific, appropriate, and integrated support that demonstrates a mature and nuanced understanding of grade-level texts, and purposefully and effectively employ sentence structure and word choice to enhance the argument or progression of ideas;
Demonstrate a mature command of the conventions of standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics.

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