What is MGWA?

The writing assessment for grade eight consists of an evaluation of each student response to an assigned prompt. Students are assigned a topic from a prompt bank representing two genres: expository and persuasive. Students are allowed 100 minutes to write their essays. The writing assessment must be administered in one day.

The goal of the assessment is to ensure that students improve writing and writing instruction across the curriculum. To ensure this goal is achieved, the state has developed a Writing Assessment Advisory Council that creates and oversees developmentally appropriate assessment procedures that enhance writing  and writing instruction.

When do the students take the MGWA?

The Grade 8 Writing Assessment is administered during the third week of January. All grade eight students will take the assessment on the same day.

The testing time includes 100 minutes for student-writing.

Student Assessment Test Schedule

Scale Scores Needed for Passing the MGWA

The three performance levels of the scoring is:

Does Not Meet	100  to  199
Meets	200  to  249
Exceeds	250  to  350

There are four domains each consisting of several writing components that are evaluated and scored in grade eight: Ideas, Organization, Style, and Conventions. Each composition is scored by multiple raters who independently rate the composition on the four domains of writing.