The generic DBQ scoring rubric for the Grade 8 Intermediate-Level Social Studies test has been revised. This revised rubric will first be used with the June 2005 Grade 8 Intermediate Level Social Studies Test. This revised rubric provides the general criteria for scoring the DBQ essay question and forms the basis for the content-specific scoring rubric and scoring commentaries that are part of the rating guide for each examination. The revised rubric can be found in Appendix A.

The revisions to the generic rubric are drawn from comments and suggestions from social studies teachers and supervisors, and from Education Department staff reviews of the scoring criteria provided with past Regents-level and Intermediate-level examinations. The revisions for the Grade 8 Intermediate-Level Social Studies Test rubric were guided by six primary goals.

1. To reduce or eliminate overlap among the different scoring criteria (bullets) within the rubric;
2. To formally adopt minor changes previously made to specific rubrics that clarified scoring criteria
   within and between individual score points;
3. To clarify the issue of using information copied directly from documents in the DBQ essay;
4. To revise the score points of 1 and 0;
5. To revise the score point of 3 to require at least “some” outside information as one of the criteria;
6. To slightly modify the scoring criteria for a score of 5.

While most revisions only clarify existing scoring criteria, a few changes do modify the conditions under which different score points are evaluated. Appendix B provides a side-by-side comparison between the original social studies generic DBQ rubric first released in 2000 and the revised version now being released for the grade 8 test.

Click on the link below:

Grade 8 DBQ Rubric

Revised Generic Scoring Rubrics for the Grade 8 Intermediate-Level Social Studies Test. New York State Education Department, Office of Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education (EMSC). http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/osa/scostei/gr8_rubric_web.pdf accessed February 14, 2006.