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Sample Assignment | Figure 1 | Figure 2 | Sample Student Responses | Scoring Guide

Directions

On the following pages, you will see a brief reading selection and two graphs. You should assume that the reading and graphs come from different sources and therefore may not be consistent with one another.

Your task is to identify the claims made in the reading selection and to determine how relevant data in the graphs support, partially support, and/or contradict claims in the text. In your response, you should describe two or more claims from the reading and explain how specific numerical data in the graphs support, partially support, and/or contradict the claims. At least one claim must be discussed using relevant numerical data from the first graph, and at least one other claim must be discussed using relevant numerical data from the second graph.

Time Allotted

You will have one hour to read the text, examine the graphs, and write your response. You may use your dictionary at any time.

How to Prepare Your Response

You should use your time in this way:

• Identify the claims in the reading selection. (You may take notes and/or mark on the reading if it helps you to identify the claims.)
• Examine the data in the graphs. (You may take notes and/or mark on the graphs.)
• Determine how relevant data in each graph support and/or contradict claims in the reading.
• Plan a response in which you state two or more claims from the reading and explain the relationship between these claims and relevant data in the graphs, using specific numerical data from the graphs. You should use the unlined page to plan your response.
• Write your response on the lined pages.
• Re-read your response to ensure that it will be clear to a reader.

How Your Response will be Evaluated

Your response on the lined pages will be evaluated based on your ability to:

• Identify and state accurately the claims in the reading selection.
• Explain the relationship between these claims and the relevant data in the graphs with accuracy, clarity, and completeness.
• You can earn up to 4 points by identifying two claims and accurately explaining how relevant numerical data from the graphs support, partially support, and/or contradict those claims. One claim must be discussed using relevant data from the first graph and the other claim discussed using relevant data from the second graph. You can earn more points by identifying additional claims and accurately relating them to relevant numerical data from the graphs, or by insightfully discussing an additional aspect of a claim's relationship to specific numerical data from a graph.
• Your notes and marks on the reading or graphs will NOT be evaluated. Your work on the unlined page will NOT be evaluated. Only your work on the lined pages of the booklet will be graded, so be sure to write your response on the lined pages of the booklet.

Sample Assignment

Figure 1

The following chart was printed in a university bulletin

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Figure 2

The following graph was printed in a school district report

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CPE : Task 2 : Sample Student Responses

The responses on the following pages, printed with permission, were written by CUNY students at an earlier CPE administration. The examination question they responded to is reprinted here:

Response A

-Figure #1 coincides with some of the information in the first paragraph of the reading.

-in the reading: 30 years ago less than 40% of college graduating classes were comprised of women, and the graph (Figure 1) supports it by showing about 15% of degrees earned by women in 1974 (30 years ago)

-Figure 1 contradicts the reading by showing that 60% of all master's degrees and about 58% of all bachelor's degrees are earned by women and the reading states the opposite: today, women earn an average of 60% of all bachelor's and 58% of all master's degrees.

-Figure 2 supports the second paragraph of the reading in that boys are more than twice as likely as girls to be placed in remedial education class by showing that for every 3 girls in a remedial class there are 7 boys (in 2003).

-Figure 2 shows that the number of boys to the number of girls diagnosed with learning disability is 8 to 2. This means that boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with learning disability, which is supported in the reading (second paragraph).

-the reading says that twice as many boys drop out of school and the data in Figure 2 almost 100% agrees with this information because it shows that for every 3 boys only about 1.2 girls drop out of school. If we assume that the ratio from boys to girls is 3 to 1.2 then the reading and the figure would coincide by 90%.

-Figure 1 shows how only one of the two between a bachelor's and a master's will increase in the future, which is half in accordance with the reading which says that the United States Department of Education predicts that these rates (assuming both bachelor's and master's degrees) will continue to increase.

Comments on Response A: Score = 6
This response clearly states six claims from the reading passage and accurately supports four of them with specific evidence from both figures. Notice that it is not written in essay form, but rather clearly separates each claim into a discreet paragraph. Despite some writing problems, the evidence is usually clear and unambiguous. The first two bullets isolate claims from the first paragraph: the initial one has weak support because the 15% figure cited corresponds to master's degrees in figure 1, not the "college graduating classes" in the reading. The next four bullets succinctly show the relationship between the claims (one from paragraph one and figure 1, three from paragraph two and figure 2) and the numerical information in the figures. Examples: "for every 3 girls in a remedial class there are 7 boys"; "boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with learning disability"; "Figure 1 contradicts the reading by showing that 60% of all master's degrees and about 58% of all bachelor's degrees are earned by women and the reading states the opposite: today, women earn an average of 60% of all bachelor's and 58% of all master's degrees." The last bullet is a somewhat awkward and sketchy attempt to analyze future trends. Because four claims have been successfully supported four times with evidence from both figures, this response is a 6.

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Response B

Figure One can be compared to the claim that "thirty years ago less than 40% of college graduating classes wee comprise by women." Figure one definitely supports the claim. Exactly 30% of Bachelor's degrees were conferred to women thirty years ago in 1974. Only 15% of Master's degrees wee conferred to women in 1974. Both of these percentages are less than 40%

Figure two can be compared to the claim that "boys are more than twice as likely as girls to be placed in a remedial education class." Figure two supports the claim. If we look at the amount of girls who are at risk of being placed in a remedial class, the number is 3 million girls. If we look at the amount of boys who are at risk of being placed in remedial classes, the number is 7 million boys. This is more than twice as many girls.

Finally, figure two can also be compared to the claim that boys "are four times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability". Figure two accurately supports the claim. If we compare the number of girls diagnosed with learning disabilities, which is 2 million, to the number of boys, which is 8 million, it is exactly four times as many boys.

Comments on Response B: Score = 5
This response gets a 5 because it identifies three claims from the reading and explains their relationship with Figures 1 and 2. The first claim, that 30 years ago less than 40% of college graduating classes were women, is supported by the reference to Figure 1, where we were told that in 1974 women earned only 30% of Bachelor's degrees and 15% of Master's degrees. The second claim, that says that boys are more than twice as likely as girls to be placed in a remedial class, is supported by noting that Figure 2 has 3 million girls but 7 million boys in remediation. The third claim, that boys are four times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability, is supported by citing in Figure 2 that 8 million boys but only 2 million girls are so diagnosed. Though the writing may be recognizably that of a non-native English speaker, it in no way prevents recognition of the matched claims and data.

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Response C

The article, "The Education Gender Gap," makes two very distinct and clear claims about education in the U.S. as it relates to boys and girls.

The first claim is that women presently earn an average 60% of all Bachelors Degrees and 58% of all Masters Degrees. When looking at a chart printed in an unnamed university bulletin I found that that claim is generally true. Though the chart shows that women actually earn 60% of all Masters (not 58%) and roughly 58% of all Bachelors Degrees (not 60%).

The second claim in the article is that boys are four times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability than girls. Based on a graph that was printed in n unnamed school district report this claim is very true. According to the graph, this district had 2 million girls at risk versus 8 million boys at risk with being diagnosed with a learning disability. That would equal the boys being four times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability.

Comments on Response C: Score = 4
There are two paragraphs in this response. In each, one claim from the text is clearly stated and then supported by numerical analysis of the appropriate figure. Since in order to earn a score of 4, both figures must be used successfully, this is a good example of an upper level response that could have potentially scored higher if the student had found more claims and supported them with the same specificity. After a brief introduction, both paragraphs succinctly show how the numbers in the passage and in the figures are related.

Example: "The second claim in the article is that boys are four times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability than girls. Based on the graph . . . [there were] 2 million girls at risk versus 8 million boys at risk." Even with an error (the millions of at-risk students were not all in the school district publishing the graph!) the correspondences are clear. Note how the student accurately identifies the source of each figure.

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Response D

The article The Education Gender Gap reads "The gender bias against girls that education specialists identified in school in the early 1980s appears to have been eliminated". This statement is untrue because the "University Degrees Conferred on Women in the US" chart captures data in 10 year intervals (1974-2014), therefor the data in 1980 was not specified.

Another line I find to be incorrect is "Today, women earn an average 60% of all bachelor's degrees and 58% of all Master's degrees". According to the chart, today, women earn an average 60% of all master's degrees and 58% of all bachelors.

The statement "Boys' reading and writing skills are a full 1 1/2 years behind their female classmates." There is no chart that captures this information to support this statement. We cannot determine if this is true.

The chart shows that boys are 6 times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability. The reading states that boys are 4 times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability. The last sentence in that paragraph states, "It is not surprising, then, that twice as many boys drop out of school." This is contradicting because this is right according to the chart, however, the other data was wrong, but the result is the same.

Comments on Response D: Score = 3
This response gets a 3 because it only successfully links one claim with the appropriate data while stating but not supporting an additional claim. The successful claim states that women earn 60% of all Bachelor's degrees and 58% of all Master's degrees while pointing out that Figure 1 shows 58% of Bachelor's degrees and 60% of Master's degrees. The claim that since the early 80's the gender gap has been eliminated is correctly stated but not adequately discussed in Figure 1. The statement that neither figure helps us to determine if boys are 1= years behind prevents that claim from increasing the score. The claim that boys are 4 times as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disability has neither a clear discussion nor a sufficiently articulated use of data.

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Response E

In the United States everybody goes to school and many go on to college. The article discusses male and female academic performance at various levels of education. The reading selection states "Today, women earn an average 60% of all bachelor's degrees and 58% of all master's degrees. However, the claim contradicts Figure 1 because the figure actually states that 58% of bachelor's degrees and 60% of master's degrees were earned by women.

Comments on Response E: Score = 2
This brief response is clearly a 2 because one claim is clearly related to one figure, and no attempt is made to do anything more, even find additional claims. The one claim, about the percentages of women's Bachelor's and Master's degrees, is shown to be contradicted by the corresponding numbers in figure 1.

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Response F

The claims made in "The Education Gender Gap" that "Girls improvement is especially marked at the college level" is supported by the University Degree conferred on women in the United States chart. The chart does show the percentage of degrees earned by women. It shows an increase that is still on the rise and as mentioned in the claim by the United States Department of Education that the "rates will continue to increase".

However this chart does not give us the full picture or facts. It does not allow us to see the claims for boys. It does not compare the two together. For all I can see I would have to say yes women are on the rise in education.

Women have been on the rise since 1974 as it shows on the chart. They are both rising in Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

The article also claims that boys are performing worse. The graph shows the number of students at risk by the millions, and this graph clearly shows and supports the claims made to support the claim it shows that a higher number of boys are/will be diagnosed with learning disability. In addition, they (boy) are have a higher number of drop-outs, twice as much than boys.

In conclusion girls will always tend to do better in school and will and have exceeded beyond their past generations.

Comments on Response F: Score = 1
This response gets a 1. The claim that rates of women graduating will continue to rise gets no specific discussion of data in Figure 1. The claim that "boys are performing worse" also does not use specific data from Figure 2.

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CPE : Task 2 : Scoring Guide

6 Accurately identifies two or more claims from the reading selection and explains the relationship of Figure 1 and 2 to these claims with accuracy, a high degree of complexity, and insight. Examinees can demonstrate a high degree of complexity or insight by successfully meeting the standards for a "5" AND by:

• introducing an additional claim and adequately discussing its relationship to one of the figures; or
• explaining an additional aspect of a figure's relationship to a claim; or
• discussing the relationship between one or more figures and the reading using perceptive analysis

5 Accurately identifies two or more claims from the reading selection and explains the relationship of Figure 1 and Figure 2 to these claims with accuracy and a degree of complexity. Examinees can demonstrate a degree of complexity by successfully completing one of the following:

• introducing a third claim and adequately discussing its relationship to one of the figures
• explaining an additional aspect of a figure's relationship to a claim

4 Accurately identifies two claims from the reading selection and adequately explains the relationship of Figure 1 to one of these claims and Figure 2 to the other.

3 Accurately identifies two claims from the reading selection and adequately explains the relationship of one claim to one figure, but the connection between the other claim and a second figure is missing or inadequate (e.g., the connection is based on a misreading of the figure or simply repeats the language of the claim).

2 Accurately identifies one claim from the reading selection and adequately establishes a relationship between that claim and one or both of the figures.

1 Makes an attempt but does not accurately identify any of the claims or identifies one or more claims without establishing an adequate connection to either of the figures.

0 Blank, completely off-topic, illegible, or written in a language other than English.

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