Texas STAAR Grading Toolkit

The CoGrader STAAR Toolkit includes six tools: the STAAR TEKS essay grading tool, the STAAR ECR Grader for Extended Constructed Responses, the STAAR SCR Grader for Short Constructed Responses across grades 3-5, 6-8, and EOC, the STAAR Rubric Library, a STAAR practice and prep tool, and a DMAC integration for district workflows.

Pick the tool that matches the response type you are scoring. Use the ECR Grader for STAAR Extended Constructed Response essays scored on the 5-point rubric (0-3 Organization & Development + 0-2 Conventions). Use the SCR Grader for Short Constructed Responses scored on the 1-point Writing or 2-point Reading SCR rubrics. Use the STAAR TEKS essay grading tool for longer essays graded against TEKS standards.

Yes — every tool in the toolkit scores against rubrics derived directly from the Texas Education Agency's published STAAR rubrics. That covers the 5-point ECR rubric (0-3 Organization & Development + 0-2 Conventions), the item-specific 2-point Reading SCR rubric, the generic 1-point Writing SCR rubric, and the Spanish informational and argumentative rubrics for grades 3-5. The current source documents are on the TEA STAAR Reading Language Arts Resources page.

Yes — the toolkit includes Spanish STAAR rubrics for grades 3-5 dual-language and bilingual programs. The Rubric Library carries the Spanish Informational rubric and Spanish Argumentative/Opinion rubric, and both rubrics are selectable inside the ECR Grader and SCR Grader from the same rubric picker as the English rubrics — no separate workflow.

The toolkit covers the full STAAR writing footprint: grades 3-5, grades 6-8, English I, and English II, plus Spanish writing rubrics for grades 3-5. The SCR Grader exposes three grade bands — 3-5, 6-8, and EOC (End-of-Course) — and the Rubric Library lists every grade-and-genre variant in one index, so a Texas teacher of any grade band can find the matching tool.

Yes — the toolkit ships a native DMAC integration that reads STAAR practice responses directly from DMAC. Districts and campuses already on DMAC score practice tests inside the toolkit without manual upload, and results flow back into DMAC reports. The DMAC workflow walkthrough covers the step-by-step setup. No other STAAR grading tool on the market ships a native DMAC connector.

No — they are two different systems. Since 2024, the Texas Education Agency has used its Automated Scoring Engine (ASE) to score roughly 75% of STAAR constructed responses, with the remaining 25% scored by human raters plus quality-control reviews (Texas Tribune, 2024). The CoGrader STAAR tools are separate practice-grading tools for teachers and districts, built on the same TEA rubrics but used on your students' practice work, never on the live exam.

The 2026 STAAR continues the redesign's new question types — hot text, multi-select, inline choice, and equation editor — alongside the same ECR and SCR rubric structure carried over from prior administrations. The tools in this toolkit focus on the constructed-response side: ECR essays scored on the 5-point rubric and SCR responses scored on the 1- or 2-point rubrics. Spring 2026 testing windows are April 7-17 (RLA), April 14-24 (Science and Social Studies), and April 21-May 1 (Math).

Yes — individual Texas teachers can use the STAAR grading tools on a free tier. Paid tiers add higher monthly volume, classroom analytics, multi-class management, and district-wide rollouts with admin controls and DMAC integration. Current tier limits and what is included on each are on the CoGrader pricing page.

The Texas Education Agency publishes the current STAAR rubrics on the STAAR Reading Language Arts Resources page, including the grades 3-5, 6-8, English I, and English II rubrics, the Spanish writing rubrics, and the annual scoring guides with scored student samples. Every CoGrader STAAR tool is wired to the same rubric criteria, so the score a teacher gets in the toolkit maps cleanly back to the published TEA rubric.