You're grading the first batch of essays and three of them immediately stand out as significantly more sophisticated than the others. These students arrived already advanced as writers. If you treat them like everyone else, you'll bore them and waste their potential. If you push them too hard, you'll crush their confidence. The September essay tells you who your advanced writers are. Use that information to differentiate instruction.

Advanced writers in September often look like this: sophisticated vocabulary used naturally, complex sentence structures that work, ideas explained at depth, evidence integrated smoothly, and attempts at rhetorical moves beyond basic persuasion. Grading them well means pushing them further, not grading them harshly for minor imperfections.

Identifying Advanced Writers in Your September Stack

Advanced writers show themselves in four ways: first, they use sophisticated vocabulary accurately in context, not awkwardly. Second, they write varied sentences that show control, not just length. Third, they explain their ideas, not just assert them. Fourth, they seem to be thinking about the reader's perspective. When you see these things, you've found an advanced writer.

How to Feedback for Advanced Writers

Don't give them the same feedback as everyone else. Don't focus on comma splices and subject-verb agreement if they don't have those errors. Push them on deeper issues: Are they taking intellectual risks? Are they acknowledging counterarguments? Are they exploring nuance? Give them feedback that challenges their thinking, not feedback that fixes surface-level mistakes.

• Challenge them to go deeper: Instead of 'good analysis,' ask 'what does this analysis reveal that most people miss?'
• Push them toward risk-taking: 'Your essay is strong. Now try arguing something your evidence doesn't fully support and defend it.'
• Connect them to advanced texts: Recommend articles or essays that model sophisticated thinking aligned with their interests.
• Create opportunities for independent work: Allow them to design their own writing projects or assess their own work using your rubric.

Avoiding the Trap of Ignoring Advanced Students

It's easy to focus all your energy on struggling writers, leaving advanced students to fend for themselves. Resist this. Advanced writers need you too. They need feedback that's as thoughtful as what you give struggling writers, just aimed at different goals. The feedback should be rare and high-value, not voluminous.