How are essays or performance components scored?
Performance sections of a test, such as essays or recorded speaking sections of language tests, are holistically scored by two independent raters, and if required, by a referee (Chief Rater). Holistic scoring is used to assess responses that demonstrate a range of performance. Trained raters judge the overall effectiveness of each response while focusing on a set of performance characteristics that have been defined as important for each test. Each response is assigned a score based on a multi-point score scale that describes varying levels of performance, as described in the Department of Education’s Test Information Guide.
