Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Common Core State Standards, Grades 11-12, Writing: History, Science & Technical Subjects · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026
What WHST.11-12.4 Means in Plain English
Seniors shape writing for the reader who will use it. A lab write-up for a teacher shows method first; a technical report for a dairy farmer leads with the finding and what to do, keeps only the numbers that matter, and drops classroom habits like “In conclusion, I learned.”
The wording matches WHST.9-10.4, so the change is in the work it governs: grades 11 to 12 lab reports, document analyses and technical reports, often for readers outside the classroom. This is the last band, the college and career readiness goal for clear, fitted writing in the disciplines.
WHST.11-12.4 I Can Statements
I can name the task, purpose and reader before I draft.
I can lead with what my reader needs to decide.
I can cut classroom habits from writing meant for outside readers.
WHST.11-12.4 Worked Example
A junior in agricultural science tracked a dairy herd’s milk quality for her work-based project. Here are two versions of the report she owed the farmer.
Prompt
For your supervised agricultural experience, you tracked milk quality on the Vanderlaan family’s 80-cow dairy for twelve weeks. At the start of week 7, the farm switched its freestall bedding from sand to recycled manure solids, which cost less. In the six weeks before the switch, the bulk-tank somatic cell count averaged 170,000 cells per milliliter; in the six weeks after, it averaged 290,000, and clinical mastitis cases rose from 2 to 9. Those later weeks were also the hottest of the summer. The co-op pays a quality premium only below 200,000. Write a one-page report for Dirk Vanderlaan, who knows his cows far better than you do and reads reports at the kitchen table after evening milking.
Not YetHypothesis: I predicted that changing the bedding would affect milk quality. Materials: bulk-tank records, a laptop and a spreadsheet. Over the twelve weeks I learned a lot about somatic cells and how important milk quality is to a dairy. In conclusion, the bedding may or may not have made a difference, and more research is needed.Every line answers the class assignment, not the farmer’s question. The headings and the materials list belong to a school lab report, the 290,000 figure and the lost premium never appear, and “more research is needed” leaves a busy reader with nothing to decide.
Meets the StandardSince the switch from sand to recycled manure solids in week 7, the herd’s milk has fallen below the co-op’s premium line. The bulk-tank somatic cell count averaged 170,000 cells per milliliter in the six weeks before the switch and 290,000 in the six weeks after, and clinical mastitis cases rose from 2 to 9. At that average, the herd is losing the premium paid below 200,000. The bedding is the likeliest cause but not the only one: those six weeks were also the hottest of the summer, and heat stress alone can raise cell counts. To tell the two apart, you could bed half the freestalls with sand again for a month as the weather cools and compare mastitis cases on the two sides. If the sand side recovers and the other does not, the cheaper bedding is costing more than it saves.The finding and its cost come first, because that is what the farmer has to act on. Development is cut to the numbers that matter (two averages, the mastitis cases, the premium line), the heat is named as a rival cause without a lecture on somatic cells to a man who knows his cows, and the report closes on a test he can run. The style is plain and direct, with no headings or classroom phrases.
Moves to Use
Write the reader, the task and the decision at the top before drafting.Lead with the finding and what it costs this reader.Keep only the numbers the decision needs.Name the limits of the data in one sentence, then give a way to test them.Match the style to the reader: plain, direct and free of school headings.
Common Mistakes with WHST.11-12.4
The class template in a real report
Hypothesis, Materials and “In conclusion, I learned a lot” in a report for a farmer
Try this: Have students name the real reader and the decision that reader faces, then delete every heading that reader would not use.
Burying the finding
The key number appears in the last paragraph, after the method
Try this: Ask students to write the report’s first sentence as the finding plus why it matters to the reader, then build down from it.
Explaining what the reader already knows
A paragraph defining mastitis for a dairy farmer
Try this: Have students list what their reader already knows well, then cut any sentence that only explains one of those things.
Rubric GeneratorFree ToolBuild a rubric for one technical occasion, such as a report to a farm owner or a client memo, so the criteria name the reader.Technical reportAudienceOrganization