The Communication and Literacy in Writing test measures academic skills in writing needed to prepare successfully for a career in education. All skills assessed have been identified as needed for college and career readiness, in alignment with the Common Core State Standards for Writing.

The Writing test is 100 minutes in length and has three separately timed sections: a 40-minute selected-response section containing 40 selected-response questions and two 30-minute essay sections that each require a response based on an essay topic. This test may contain some questions that will not count toward your score.

The selected-response section is designed to measure examinees’ ability to use standard written English correctly and effectively. This section is divided into four parts: usage, sentence correction, revision in context, and research skills. In the usage questions, examinees are asked to recognize errors in mechanics, in structural and grammatical relationships, and in idiomatic expressions or word choice. They are also asked to recognize sentences that have no errors and that meet the conventions of standard written English. The sentence correction questions require examinees to select, from among the choices presented, the best way to restate a certain phrase or sentence by using standard written English; in some cases, the phrase or sentence is correct and most effective as stated.

Examinees are not required to have a knowledge of formal grammatical terminology. In the revision-in-context questions, examinees are asked to recognize how a passage with which they are presented can be strengthened through editing and revision. Revision-in-context questions require examinees to consider development, organization, word choice, style, tone, and the conventions of standard written English. In some cases, the indicated portion of a passage will be most effective as it is already expressed and thus will require no changes.

In the research skills questions, examinees are asked to recognize effective research strategies appropriate to a particular research task, recognize the different elements of a citation, recognize information relevant to a particular research task, and assess the credibility of sources.

The two essays assess examinees’ ability to write effectively in a limited period of time. The Argumentative essay topic invites examinees to draw from personal experience, observation, or reading to support a position with specific reasons and examples. The Informative/Explanatory essay topic asks examinees to extract information from two provided sources to identify important concerns related to an issue. The topics for the Argumentative and Informative/ Explanatory essays attempt to present situations that are familiar to all educated people; no topic will require any specialized knowledge other than an understanding of how to write effectively in English.