FCAT & FCAT 2.0 Writing
Writing Program Summary (2000-2014)
FCAT Writing measured student writing achievement in grades 4, 8, and 10. Beginning in 2000, the Florida Writing Assessment Program (FWAP), also known as Florida Writes, was called FCAT Writing, and writing summary scores were reported for all curriculum groups combined. The test required students to write responses to assigned topics in a single testing period. In 2006, a multiple-choice portion was added to the assessment, and the test was renamed FCAT Writing+. The test was administered in two sessions, and student Achievement Levels were calculated by combining performance on the prompt portion and the multiple-choice portion of the test. In 2009, the multiple-choice items were removed from the statewide writing assessment; therefore, the test name was changed back to FCAT Writing, and Achievement Levels are no longer reported for the statewide writing assessment. In 2012, scoring decisions included expanded expectations regarding the following: (1) increased attention to the correct use of standard English conventions, and (2) increased attention to the quality of details, requiring use of relevant, logical, and plausible support, rather than contrived statistical claims or unsubstantiated generalities. Beginning in 2012-13, the assessment was renamed FCAT 2.0 Writing to reflect the expanded scoring decisions.
In 2014-15, FCAT 2.0 Writing was replaced by the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA), which measures writing as a component of an English language arts (ELA) assessment. The FSA ELA is administered in grades 3–10, and the ELA Writing component is administered in grades 4-10.
Resources
The resources on this page provide the prompts administered, the rubrics used to score student responses, the calibration scoring guides used to keep the scoring decisions the same each year, and the anchor sets written to each prompt used to train scorers.
Writing Prompts
Scoring Rubrics
Rubrics are the scoring guidelines or criteria used to evaluate FCAT and FCAT 2.0 Writing essays. The rubric describes what is required for each possible score point.
Calibration Scoring Guides
Scoring guides establish the expectations used as the basis for scoring decisions for FCAT 2.0 Writing through 2014.
Anchor Sets
Writing anchor sets are student responses written to the prompt that are used to train scorers.
- 2014 FCAT 2.0 Writing Anchor Sets
- 2013 FCAT 2.0 Writing Anchor Sets
- 2012 FCAT 2.0 Writing Anchor Sets
- 2011 FCAT Writing Anchor Sets
- 2010 FCAT Writing Anchor Sets
- 2009 FCAT Writing Anchor Sets
- 2008 FCAT Writing+ Anchor Sets
Scores and Reports
- FCAT Writing Scores (1997-2012)
- FCAT 2.0 Writing Scores (2013-14)