Distinguished - Thoroughly argues for or against the necessity of strong communication skills in every type of organization. The argument demonstrates a solid understanding of the article’s main points. 

Proficient - Argues for or against the necessity of strong communication skills in every type of organization. The argument demonstrates an understanding of the article’s main points.

Basic - Somewhat argues for or against the necessity of strong communication skills in every type of organization. The argument demonstrates a limited understanding of the article’s main points.

Below Expectations - Attempts to argue for or against the necessity of strong communication skills in every type of organization; however, the argument does not demonstrate an understanding of the article’s main points.

Non-Performance - The argument of how necessary it is to have strong communication skills in every type of organization is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Comprehensively discusses the type of organization to work for in the future and why.

Proficient - Discusses the type of organization to work for in the future and why. The discussion is slightly underdeveloped.

Basic - Minimally discusses the type of organization to work for in the future and why. The discussion is underdeveloped.

Below Expectations - Attempts to discuss the type of organization to work for in the future and why; however, the discussion is significantly underdeveloped.

Non-Performance - The discussion of the type of organization to work for in the future and why is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Clearly and thoroughly evaluates how having strong communication skills will help in specified career.

Proficient - Clearly evaluates how having strong communication skills will help in specified career field. The evaluation is missing minor details.

Basic - Minimally evaluates how having strong communication skills will help in specified career field. The evaluation is missing relevant details and/or is unclear.

Below Expectations - Attempts to evaluate how having strong communication skills will help in specified career field; however, the evaluation is missing significant details and is significantly unclear.

Non-Performance - The evaluation of how having strong communication skills will help in that career field is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Distinguishes probable implications of the text for contexts, perspectives, or issues outside the assigned task or beyond the author's explicit message.

Proficient - Uses the text and/or specific knowledge of the author’s context to draw more intricate inferences about the author’s message and approach.

Basic - Considers how textual features (e.g., sentence and paragraph structure or tone) contribute to the author’s message. Draws fundamental inferences about context and rationale of text.

Below Expectations - Inadequately captures vocabulary but makes an effort to paraphrase or summarize the information the text communicates.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Creates meaningful correlations among experiences outside of the classroom to demonstrate an understanding of the given field of study and to broaden one's own viewpoints.

Proficient - Compares life experiences and academic knowledge to distinguish differences and similarities while acknowledging perspectives other than one's own.

Basic - Recognizes correlations between life experiences, academic texts, and ideas perceived as similar and related to one's own interests.

Below Expectations - Briefly comments about the connections between one's life experiences and academic texts.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains no errors and is very easy to understand.

Proficient - Displays comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains only a few minor errors and is mostly easy to understand.

Basic - Displays basic comprehension of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains a few errors which may slightly distract the reader.

Below Expectations - Fails to display basic comprehension of syntax or mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains major errors which distract the reader.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Accurately uses APA formatting consistently throughout the paper, title page, and reference page.

Proficient - Exhibits APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout contains a few minor errors. 

Basic - Exhibits limited knowledge of APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout does not meet all APA requirements. 

Below Expectations - Fails to exhibit basic knowledge of APA formatting. There are frequent errors, making the layout difficult to distinguish as APA.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - The length of the paper is equivalent to the required number of correctly formatted pages. 

Proficient - The length of the paper is nearly equivalent to the required number of correctly formatted pages. 

Basic - The length of the paper is equivalent to at least three quarters of the required number of correctly formatted pages.

Below Expectations - The length of the paper is equivalent to at least one half of the required number of correctly formatted pages.   

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.

Distinguished - Uses more than the required number of scholarly sources, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Proficient - Uses the required number of scholarly sources to support ideas. All sources on the reference page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Basic - Uses less than the required number of sources to support ideas. Some sources may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are used within the body of the assignment. Citations may not be formatted correctly.

Below Expectations - Uses an inadequate number of sources that provide little or no support for ideas. Sources used may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are not used within the body of the assignment. Citations are not formatted correctly.

Non-Performance - The assignment is either nonexistent or lacks the components described in the instructions.