I allow students to evaluate their rough draft using a checklist with yes, not yet, or no as their criteria. This gives them a tool for bettering their work, and allows me to see what kind of work they think they are doing. When I grade their final copy, I also have them turn in their rough drafts and this checklist. I can see who simply copied their rough draft without revisions, and who took the "not yet" and "no" pieces and improved upon them.

I believe that students should be graded at both the rough draft and final draft. Just because we grade the rough draft does not mean we need to record the grade. When I taught writers workshop, I graded the rough draft, then sat down and had a student/teacher conference with the students and we would go over the paper and the rubric and talk about what was good about the paper and what needed improvement. This would give the students the feedback they needed to write a successful paper for their final draft. I had success with this conference, it gave the students the confidence and feedback they needed to write. It also allowed them to understand the process of writing because I talked to them and allowed them to ask questions. Grading the rough draft also gives the teacher pre-assessment data to form mini lessons around editing or the writing process, whichever part the students maybe struggling with.

I personally grade the student's rough draft and provide them with feedback; I treat the rough draft as if it were the final, so that the students rise to my standards. However, I only put a grade on the essay as a communication piece for the student. Basically like a "if you turn this in as the final draft, here is what you will get" kind of message. The grade is often lower than what the student wants, so this motivates them to re-visit the essay and make revisions. It also requires them to study and understand the rubric in order to improve. NOTE: I do not count the rough draft grade as the final essay grade in the gradebook. Like I said, it is used only as feedback for the student, so I will enter it as a classwork grade so they can see their improvement from rough to final draft.