Welcome to PAWS Writing

A Framework for Assessing Writing Skills

"A writer has the duty to be good, not lousy; true, not false; lively, not dull; accurate, not full of error. He should tend to lift people up, not lower them down." E.B. White

The Wyoming Writing Standards are anchored in the writing process (generate ideas, draft, revise, edit and publish) in both expressive and expository writing. The Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS) provides time for a classroom embedded writing assessment where students use the writing process of idea generation and drafting during the first session; revise, edit, and publish during a second class session.

Wyoming's framework for assessing writing is based on the Six-Traits of Writing.

Purpose/Voice: How well does the writer address the intended purpose and audience, and how well did the writer engage the reader?

Idea Development: How well does the writer develop the idea or theme, together with relevant supporting details?

Organization: How well does the writer address the internal structure of the writing through a coherent, logical organization?

Sentence Fluency: How well does the writer address the flow of the language through correct sentence structure and the use of varied sentences?

Word Choice: How well does the writer use words to convey the intended message in a correct, appropriate, and effective way?

Conventions: How well does the writer address the mechanics of the writing through usage, spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation?

Writing Resources

• Writing Assessment Descriptions/Writing Scoring Guides
  • Grade 3
  • Grade 4
  • Grade 5
  • Grade 6
  • Grade 7
  • Grade 8
  • Grade 11
• Alignment of PAWS to Writing Standard
• Draft Writing Copy
• Final Writing Copy
• Writing Anchors - Grade 3 & Grade 4
• Interpreting PAWS Writing Results