Starting in the 2024-2025 school year, the extended-response portion of SC READY will be a “Text-Dependent Writing” (or TDW) item. This type of item requires that students read a passage or passages and respond to a prompt or task while drawing upon the text(s) for their written responses. The mode of writing assessed by the TDW is grade-band and mode specific. Students in Grades 3 and 4 will receive and respond to a narrative TDW item. Students in Grades 5 and 6 will receive and respond to an argumentative TDW item. Students in Grades 7 and 8 will receive and respond to either an argumentative TDW item or an informative TDW item. 

Embedded within the TDW item, is a grade-band and mode-specific writer's checklist. The embedded writer's checklist will be available for students testing online and on paper. Students can use the embedded writer's checklist to help them plan, write, and proofread their response, as well as scratch paper on which to write a rough draft of their TDW response.

The TDW item is scored with a holistic rubric that has a point range of 1 (lowest) to 4 (highest). The maximum number of possible points is 4. Grade-band and mode-specific rubrics can be found below. 

Text-Dependent Writing Rubrics

The SC READY Text-Dependent Writing Scoring Guidelines, or TDW Rubrics, are listed below. 
 

• Grades 3-4 "To Convey an Experience" TDW Rubric
• Grades 5-6 "To Persuade" TDW Rubric
• Grades 7-8 "To Inform" TDW Rubric
• Grades 7-8 "To Persuade" TDW Rubric

Text-Dependent Writing Writer's Checklist

Translated checklists can be found on the Parent Resources page. 
 

• Grades 3-4 "To Convey an Experience" Writer's Checklist
• Grade 5 "To Persuade" Writer's Checklist
• Grade 6 "To Persuade" Writer's Checklist
• Grade 7 "To Persuade" Writer's Checklist
• Grade 8 "To Persuade" Writer's Checklist
• Grades 7-8 "To Inform" Writer's Checklist

Text-Dependent Writing Professional Learning

In order to provide equitable access across the entire state, all professional learning opportunities related to the Text-Dependent Writing item will be housed in this section. New recordings, documents, and other resources will be posted as they are available. 
 

SC READY ELA Grades 3-5

TDW-related professional learning for grades 3-5.

Writing Instruction and the TDW Item: Narrative (Part 2a)	This video is Part 1 in a 2-part session that show teachers how the narrative writing indicators are connected to the TDW item on SC READY in grades 3-5.
Writing Instruction and the TDW Item: Argumentative, 5th grade (Part 2b)	This video is Part 2 in a 2-part session that shows teachers how the argumentative writing indicators are connected to the TDW item on SC READY in grades 3-5.

SC READY ELA Grades 6-8

TDW-related professional learning for grades 6-8.

Argumentative Writing and the Argumentative TDW Item for Grades 6-English 2 (Part 2a)	This recording is designed for ELA teachers from grade 6 through English 2, focusing on the argumentative writing process and the argumentative TDW item on SC READY and the EOCEP for English 2. This is recording three in a series of four.
Informative Writing and the Informative TDW Item for Grades 6-English 2 (Part 2b)	This recording is designed for ELA teachers from grade 6 through English 2, focusing on the informative writing process and the informative TDW item on SC READY and the EOCEP for English 2. This is recording four in a series of four.

General SC READY ELA Support

TDW-related professional learning.

Using the SC READY ELA Assessment Specifications for Teachers Webinar	This video walks participants through the 2024 ELA Assessment Specifications for Teachers documents (see section below) and provides suggestions on how teachers may use the documents as part of classroom instruction and assessment.
Transitioning from Text-Dependent Analysis to Text-Dependent Writing Webinar	This webinar describes the changes associated with the transition from Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA) to Text-Dependent Writing (TDW) on the South Carolina ELA state summative assessments SC READY and EOCEP.
Online Tools Training (OTT)	The OTT allows students and teachers to practice interacting with the online testing platform. We highly encourage all teachers and students to practice using the OTT before testing.

NEW Sample Text-Dependent Writing Items

Due to the comprehensive process involved in preparing sample items for release, sample TDW items for grades 3, 6, and 8 only will be released during the 2024-2025 school year. Sample TDW items for grades 4, 5, and 7 will be released during the 2025-2026 school year. 
 

• SC READY Grade 3 Sample TDW - "To Convey an Experience"
• SC READY Grade 6 Sample TDW - "To Persuade"
• SC READY Grade 8 Sample TDW - "To Inform"