Distinguished - Thoroughly revises the working thesis, fully incorporating instructor feedback from Week 1.

Proficient - Revises the working thesis, incorporating instructor feedback from Week 1. The working thesis requires minimal improvement.

Basic - Partially revises the working thesis, somewhat incorporating instructor feedback from Week 1.  The working thesis requires some improvement.

Below Expectations - Attempts to revise the working thesis; however, does not incorporate instructor feedback from Week 1, and the working thesis requires significant improvement.  

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

Distinguished - Identifies the required number of primary and secondary scholarly sources. Sources directly relate to the working thesis.

Proficient - Identifies the required number of primary and secondary scholarly sources. Sources mostly relate to the working thesis. 

Basic - Identifies the required number of primary and secondary sources. One source is not scholarly, and/or the sources minimally relate to the working thesis. 

Below Expectations - Identifies fewer than the required number of primary and secondary sources, and/or the sources are not scholarly and do not relate to the working thesis.

Non-Performance - The primary and secondary sources are either nonexistent or lack the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Thoroughly summarizes each source.

Proficient - Summarizes each source. The summaries are slightly underdeveloped.

Basic - Partially summarizes each source. The summaries are underdeveloped.

Below Expectations - Attempts to summarize each source; however, does not include all sources, and/or the summaries are significantly underdeveloped.

Non-Performance - The summaries each source are either nonexistent or lack the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Thoroughly explains how each source supports the working thesis.

Proficient - Explains how each source supports the working thesis. The explanations are slightly underdeveloped.

Basic - Minimally explains how each source supports the working thesis. The explanations are underdeveloped.

Below Expectations - Attempts to explain how each source supports the working thesis; however, does not include an explanation for all sources, and/or the explanations are significantly underdeveloped.

Non-Performance - The explanations of how each source supports the working thesis are either nonexistent or lack the components described in the assignment instructions.

Distinguished - Appraises tactics for relating ideas, text structure, or other textual features in order to gain knowledge or insight within and across texts and disciplines.

Proficient - Recognizes connections among ideas, text structure, or other textual features to analyze how they support a sophisticated understanding of the text as a whole.

Basic - Recognizes the connections among portions of a text in considering how these connections contribute to a fundamental understanding of the text as a whole.

Below Expectations - Makes an effort to recognize portions of a text as needed to respond to inquiries posed in the assignment.

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 words.

Proficient - The length of the paper is nearly equivalent to the required number of words.

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

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

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