STAAR Grades 3-5 Extended Constructed Response (ECR) — Argument/Opinion Writing Rubric

3 points

Argument/Opinion: Clear and fully developed — clearly identifiable, focus is consistent, response is unified and easy to follow. Organization: Effective — purposeful structure, effective introduction and conclusion, appropriate and supports development of the idea, sentences/paragraphs/ideas connected purposefully and highly effectively. Evidence: Specific, well chosen, and relevant — text-based, clearly explained, consistently supports the 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 and contribute to the overall quality of the response.

2 points

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 and 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.

1 point

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.

0 points

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. (A score point of 0 in this trait automatically earns 0 in the Conventions trait.)

2 points

Command: Consistent, correct use of grade-level conventions (sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, spelling). Errors: Few; do not impact the clarity of the writing.

1 point

Command: Inconsistent, limited use of correct grade-level conventions. Errors: Several; reader can still understand the writer's thoughts.

0 points

Command: Little to none, limited use of correct grade-level conventions. Errors: Many; impact the clarity of the writing and the reader's understanding.