The Educational Testing Service Composition Scale was derived from a factor analysis of grades on 300 college freshman compositions, followed by further ratings using the scales with high school papers. This summary provides brief descriptions of the characteristics of student writing rated high, middle, and low on the eight subscales: ideas; organization; wording; flavor; usage and sentence structure; punctuation, capitals, abbreviations, and numbers; spelling; and handwriting and neatness. An addendum defines 31 common errors that may also be recorded in scoring student papers. (AA)