Texas - STAAR Extended Constructed Response Rubric - Grades 6-8, English I & II

Controlling Idea/Thesis: Clear and Fully Developed - Clearly Identified • Focus is Consistent • Response Unified and Easy to Follow Organization: Effective - Purposeful Structure • Effective Introduction and Conclusion • Appropriate and Supports Development of Idea • Sentences, Paragraphs, or Ideas Connected Purposefully and Highly Effectively Evidence: Specific, Well Chosen, and Relevant - Text-Based • Clearly Explained • Consistently Supports Argument/Opinion • For Paired Texts, Evidence Drawn from Both Texts • Reflective of a Thorough Understanding of the Writing Purpose Expression of Ideas: Clear and Effective - Word Choice is Specific, Purposeful, and Enhances the Response • Almost all Sentences and Phrases are Crafted to Convey the Writer's Ideas, Contribute to the Overall Quality of the Response

Argument/ Opinion: Present and Partially Developed - Presented but Not Clearly Identifiable or Fully Developed • Focus is Inconsistent • Response Not Easy to Follow Organization: Limited - Purposeful but Inconsistent Structure • Introduction and Conclusion Present • Does Not Support the Logical Development of Ideas • Lacking Sentence-to-Sentence Connections and Clarity Evidence: Limited and may Include Some Irrelevant Information - Some Text-Based Evidence • Insufficiently Explained or Irrelevant • For Paired Texts, Evidence Drawn from at least one Text • Reflective of a Partial Understanding of the Writing Purpose Expression of Ideas: Basic - Word Choice is general and Imprecise, Does Not Clearly Convey the Writer's Ideas • Sentences and Phrases are Ineffective and Interfere with the Writer's Intended Meaning and Weaken the Message

Argument/ Opinion: Evident but not Developed - Not Appropriately Developed Organization: Minimal and/or Weak - Introduction or Conclusion May be Present • does not Support Logical Development of Ideas • Not Appropriate to the Task Evidence: Insufficient and/or Mostly Irrelevant - Little is Text-Based • Mostly Extraneous and/or Repetitious • Explanations are insufficient and Vaguely Related to the Task • Reflective of a Limited Understanding of the Writing Purpose Expression of Ideas: Ineffective - Word Choice is Vague or Limited and Impedes the Quality and Clarity of the Essay • Sentences and Phrases are Ineffective, Interfere with the Writer's intended Meaning, and Impact the Strength and Clarity of the Message

Argument/ Opinion: May be evident Organization: Lacks an Introduction and Conclusion • Structure is Not Evident Evidence: Not Provided or is Irrelevant - Reflective of a Lack of Understanding of the Writing Purpose Expression of Ideas: Unclear and/or Incoherent

Command: Consistent • Correct Use of Grade-Level Conventions • Errors: Few • Do Not Impact the Clarity of the Writing

Command: Inconsistent • Limited Use of Correct Grade-Level Conventions • Errors: Several • Reader can still Understand the Writer's Thoughts

Command: Little to None • Limited Use of Correct Grade-Level Conventions • Many • Impact the Clarity of the Writing and the Reader's Understanding Note: A score of 0 in Organization and Development automatically results in a 0 for Conventions.