School Improvement in Maryland
Public Release Item Scoring Information Return

Goal 1 Political Systems

Expectation 1.2 The student will evaluate how the United States government has maintained a balance between protecting rights and maintaining order.

Indicator 1.2.3 The student will evaluate the impact of governmental decisions and actions that have affected the rights of individuals and groups in American society and/or have affected maintaining order and/or safety.

Assessment Limits:

  • Presidential use of power and executive orders affecting rights, order, and/or safety.
  • National government agencies’ actions affecting rights, order, and/or safety.
  • State actions affecting rights, order, and/or safety.

Extended Constructed Response (ECR) Item - Released in 2006

Study the table below and use it to answer the EXTENDED CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE that follows.

SELECTED MAJOR CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION
YearLegislationDescription
1963Equal Pay Act Forbids wage discrimination based on race, sex, color, religion, or national origin
1967Age Discrimination in Employment Act Prohibits discrimination against employees forty years of age and older
1972Higher Education Act Forbids discrimination on the basis of gender in universities and colleges that receive federal aid
1990Americans with Disabilities Act Forbids discrimination in employment, transportation, and public accommodations against people with physical or mental disabilities
  • Explain how these government actions protect the rights of citizens.
  • Explain how these actions have expanded the role of government.
  • Do you believe these government actions were effective? Explain why or why not.
  • Include details and examples to support your answer.

Write your answer on the lines in your Answer Book.

The following 8 Anchor Papers represent a range of score points and are used in conjunction with the rubrics to assess student responses.

Anchor Paper #1

image of student response

Score for Anchor Paper #1: Rubric Score 1

Annotation: Although this student gives some incomplete, general ideas (keeps everyones rights equal; keep those acts from being broken), this response shows only minimal knowledge.


Anchor Paper #2

image of student response

Score for Anchor Paper #2: Rubric Score 1

Annotation: This response demonstrates only minimal knowledge. A few complete, but repetitive, ideas are presented (helping them to be equal with other citizens; letting every citizen to be able to participate; people of different races, religion, gender and etc. are allowed to go the sames places).


Anchor Paper #3

image of student response

Score for Anchor Paper #3: Rubric Score 2

Annotation: This response shows knowledge of Civil Rights and government actions. However, while several complete ideas are given (making sure they have all their inailiable rights given to them in the constitution; providing many more jobs for the government officials; keep the rights of the people fair and equal), very little support is supplied for these concepts.


Anchor Paper #4

image of student response

Score for Anchor Paper #4: Rubric Score 2

Annotation: This response demonstrates knowledge of Civil Rights legislation. Some key ideas are presented (all protect the rights of citizens; not protecting America, but protecting Americans) with a little support (public places have wheelchair enterences; businesses are hiring people with disabilities).


Anchor Paper #5

image of student response

Score for Anchor Paper #5: Rubric Score 3

Annotation: This response shows some understanding of the connections between the 14th Amendment and Civil Rights legislation. Concepts are accurate and supported, and the student demonstrates some evidence of higher order thinking by providing some analysis (government now also acts like a judge making sure everything is fair for every person; enforced the constitution).


Anchor Paper #6

image of student response
image of student response

Score for Anchor Paper #6: Rubric Score 3

Annotation: This response shows some understanding of the issues involved in Civil Rights legislation. The student provides accurate and supported concepts. Through the use of cause-and-effect analysis (as a result of these legislations…the groups of people protected by these laws now rely on the government; whenever someone is discriminated against for any of the reasons named by these government actions, there's a lawsuit), some evidence of higher order thinking skills is demonstrated.


Anchor Paper #7

image of student response
image of student response

Score for Anchor Paper #7: Rubric Score 3

Annotation: This response shows some understanding of the role of the government in Civil Rights legislation. Concepts are accurate and supported. The student demonstrates some evidence of higher order thinking skills through a discussion of this legislation's consequences (forces the government to be involved with more places of employment … also… education; this causes people to look to them for other things) and an appropriate example of a limitation of the acts (all they have to say if they don't like someone is we found someone more qualified) that supports the contention that the actions were not effective.


Anchor Paper #8

image of student response
image of student response

Score for Anchor Paper #8: Rubric Score 4

Annotation: This response shows understanding of the effectiveness and limitations of Civil Rights legislation. All the concepts are accurate, and evidence of higher order thinking is found throughout the response. By integrating knowledge of the various acts into a real life analysis of how they actually work, the student builds a powerful, well-supported argument for why such legislation has been largely ineffectual (because they offered little provision for enforcing the regulations that these laws established).


Extended Constructed Response (ECR) Rubric
Print: Scoring Rubric (pdf)
Score 4

This response shows understanding of the content, question, and/or problem. The response is insightful, integrates knowledge, and demonstrates powerful application.

  • The application shows powerful evidence of higher order thinking skills.
  • Concepts are accurate and well supported.
  • There are no misconceptions.
  • The response is comprehensive.
Score 3

This response shows some understanding of the content, question, and/or problem. The response includes appropriate application that demonstrates evidence of higher order thinking skills.

  • The application shows some evidence of higher order thinking skills.
  • Concepts are accurate and supported.
  • There are no interfering misconceptions.
  • The response may not develop all parts equally.
Score 2

This response shows knowledge of the content, question, and/or problem. The response is acceptable with some key ideas. The response shows little or no evidence of application.

  • The response includes some basic ideas.
  • The response provides little or no support.
  • There are minimal misconceptions.
Score 1

This response shows minimal knowledge of the content, question, and/or problem. The response is related to the question, but it is inadequate.

  • The response includes incomplete or fragmented ideas or knowledge.
  • There may be significant misconceptions.
Score 0

The response is completely incorrect or irrelevant. There may be no response.

Knowledge and Understanding indicate the degree to which the response reflects a grasp of the content, question, and/or problem presented in the stimulus. The response indicates mastery that progresses from knowledge to understanding.

Last Revised June 2001
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