Texas · STAAR · Grades 3–8, English I and English II
STAAR Reading Short Constructed Response (SCR) Rubric
A STAAR reading short constructed response is worth 2 points. A 2 gives an accurate answer and supports it with at least one piece of text evidence. A 1 gives an accurate answer without support, or evidence without an accurate answer. A 0 is incorrect, not text-based, or blank.
STAAR Reading Short Constructed Response (SCR) Rubric: score points for each criterion
Score
What the response shows
Reading Short Constructed Response0–2 pointsWhether the answer to the question is accurate and is supported with evidence from the text.
2 points
An accurate, text-based answer supported by at least one relevant piece of evidence from the passage.
The answer responds to what the question asks and matches one of the answers the item accepts.
At least one quotation or paraphrase from the passage supports that answer.
1 point
Half of the job: an accurate answer with no support, or evidence without an accurate answer.
The answer is acceptable, but there is no evidence from the text or the evidence does not back it up.
Or: the response cites relevant text but never states an accurate answer to the question.
0 points
The answer is incorrect, not based on the text, or missing.
The answer is wrong or does not address the question.
The response relies on personal experience or opinion instead of the passage, or is blank.
About the STAAR rubric
Short constructed responses are the open-ended reading questions on STAAR Reading Language Arts in grades 3–8 and on the English I and English II end-of-course exams. Students type a few sentences that answer one question about a passage, such as why a character changes, what a word suggests, or how two texts treat the same idea.
Every SCR on the real test has its own scoring rubric, written for that question, with a short list of answers TEA will accept. Those item-specific rubrics all follow the same logic, which is what this page captures: one point for answering correctly, one point for proving it with the text. Teachers use this generic version to score class practice questions they wrote themselves.
The difference between a 1 and a 2 is almost always the evidence. Students who understand the passage often lose a point because they explain the answer in their own words and never point to the text.
How to score with it
What earns 2 points
Check two things. Is the answer accurate for this question? Is there at least one quotation or specific paraphrase from the passage that supports it? If both are yes, it is a 2. Length does not matter: two well-chosen sentences can earn full credit.
For your own questions, write down the two or three answers you would accept before you score. That is what TEA's item-specific rubrics do, and it keeps scoring consistent across a stack of papers.
What earns 1 point
A 1 covers two different situations. The first is an accurate answer with no support from the text, or with a detail that does not back the answer. The second is the reverse: the student quotes a relevant part of the passage but never states an answer, or states one that does not fit. Both show partial understanding.
What earns 0
Give a 0 when the answer is wrong, when it answers a different question, or when it is built from personal experience instead of the passage ("I would be scared too because..."). A blank response is also 0, and so are responses the test's scoring engine flags as off topic.
Evidence: quotation or paraphrase?
Either can work. The scoring guides ask for evidence from the text, not quotation marks. A paraphrase counts when it refers to a specific moment or detail. A vague summary such as "the story shows she was brave" is not evidence.
A sample response scored with this rubric
A fictional Grade 6 response written by EasyClass to show how the score points apply. It is not a real student’s work and not an official anchor paper.
Fictional sample · Grade 6
Prompt
Fictional source (written by EasyClass): In "The Last Lap," Nora trains all summer to beat her rival, Jess, in the 800-meter race. During the race Jess trips; Nora stops to help her up, and both finish last. In the final paragraph Nora's coach hands her a ribbon he made that says "Best Teammate," and Nora says, "I'd rather have this one." Question (grade 6): What does Nora's reaction to the coach's ribbon show about how she has changed? Support your answer with evidence from the story.
Nora's reaction shows that she cares more about being a good person than about winning now. At the beginning of the story all she wanted was to beat Jess, but by the end she is happy even though she came in last. She learned that kindness matters more than first place.
Your first 50 papers are free. You review and approve every score.
Teacher tools for this rubric
A checklist to hand to students, comments you can reuse when you give feedback, and the mistakes that cost points most often.
Student checklist
I read the question twice and answer exactly what it asks.
I state my answer in the first sentence.
I include at least one detail or quotation from the passage.
The evidence I chose proves my answer.
I use the passage, not my own experiences.
Common mistakes
Taking a point off for spelling or grammar. Reading SCRs are scored for the answer and evidence, not conventions.
Giving 2 points for a quotation that is accurate but does not support the answer.
Expecting more than one piece of evidence for full credit.
Scoring a long response higher just because it is long.
Feedback comment bank
Reading Short Constructed Response
2 points
Accurate answer, and your quotation from paragraph 6 proves it. Full credit.
1 point
Your answer is right, but where in the text did you see that? Add one detail or quotation that proves it.
1 point
You found an important part of the passage, but you didn't answer the question. Start with a sentence that answers it, then use this quotation as proof.
0 points
This answer comes from your own experience. Reread the passage and find what the author says about the question.
Where this rubric comes from
We compared this page with Texas Education Agency’s STAAR Reading Language Arts released test scoring guides (Grade 5 and English II), item-specific SCR rubrics on October 14, 2026: every criterion name, point value, score level and the order they come in. The criteria, points and score levels match Texas Education Agency's rubric exactly. The descriptors are written in our own words so we can share them; read the official document for the exact wording.
EasyClass is not affiliated with or endorsed by Texas Education Agency. How we check rubrics.
Checked against STAAR Reading Language Arts released test scoring guides (Grade 5 and English II), item-specific SCR rubrics on
Wording
Official structure, our wording
What differs from the official version
TEA does not publish a single generic reading SCR rubric; every item has its own rubric listing the acceptable answers. We wrote this generic version, in our own words, from the 2/1/0 pattern shared by the item-specific rubrics in the 2026 Grade 5 and English II scoring guides.
Level headlines and bullets are ours. TEA marks the scoring guides "All rights reserved."
Also compared: 2026 STAAR English II scoring guide, https://tea.texas.gov/data-reports/staar/released-test-questions/2026-staar-english-ii-scoring-guide.pdf
Good to know
HB 8 (2025) replaces STAAR with the Student Success Tool starting in the 2027–28 school year (TEA HB 8 FAQ, August 2026: https://tea.texas.gov/data-reports/staar/hb-8-faq-update.pdf). TEA has not yet said how short constructed responses will be scored on the new test.
Not affiliated with the Texas Education Agency. STAAR® is a registered trademark of the Texas Education Agency.
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Questions teachers ask
How many points is a STAAR SCR worth?
Reading short constructed responses are worth 2 points. Writing short constructed responses, the sentence-revision items, are worth 1 point and use a different rubric.
Does the student need to use quotation marks?
No. Evidence can be a direct quotation or a specific paraphrase of the text. What matters is that it comes from the passage and supports the answer.
Is there one official STAAR SCR rubric?
No. TEA writes an item-specific rubric for every reading SCR. The released scoring guides show these rubrics with scored student samples, and they all follow the 2/1/0 pattern described on this page.
Do spelling and grammar count on a reading SCR?
Not directly. The score depends on the accuracy of the answer and the evidence. Errors only matter if they make the answer impossible to understand.
