The table below shows the percentage of twelfth-graders within each achievement level whose responses were rated as "Excellent." For example, 15 percent of students performing at the Proficient level were able to write well-organized essays in which they took clear positions and consistently supported those positions, using transitions to lead the reader from one part of the essay to another. These students also consistently varied their sentence structure and made good word choices, doing so with minimal errors.

See additional student responses and the scoring criteria used for this writing prompt in the NAEP Questions Tool. See an illustration of each rating level plotted on the NAEP scale in the writing item maps.

Percentage rated as "Excellent" for twelfth-graders at each achievement level
in 2007

Overall	Below Basic	At Basic	At Proficient	At Advanced
5	#	1	15	‡

# Rounds to zero.
‡ Reporting standards not met. Sample size is insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.

The response shown below was rated "Excellent" because it is focused and well-organized. The position that the larger inventions are more important in the student’s life is clearly stated and consistently supported. The response begins with a well-developed section about the utility of the internet and then moves into an argument about the convenience and environmental virtues of fuel-efficient cars. The response uses contrast effectively to make its point ("Once, a student had to spend hours searching through books for a research paper. Now it takes..."), and demonstrates consistently varied sentence structure and good word choices. Errors are minimal.