STAAR EOC English I (Texas): complete guide to the redesigned reading and writing assessment, item types, and the constructed-response rubrics

The STAAR End-of-Course (EOC) assessment in English I is the most-taken Texas high school English exam, administered by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Since the STAAR redesign (first fully in place for spring 2023), it is a single online assessment that combines reading and writing into one test rather than the old separate reading and writing papers. It assesses transferable skills applied to unseen texts: close reading, evidence-based writing, and command of conventions. This page is the index for our STAAR English I content: a map of the redesigned assessment, the item types, the constructed-response rubrics, the TEKS behind it, and the study approach, with links to every dot point.

The assessment at a glance

STAAR English I is delivered 100 percent online and combines what used to be two separate tests. You read a set of texts and answer questions about them, and the writing tasks are woven in rather than sitting in a standalone writing paper.

• Reading. Several texts across genres: literary (fiction, drama, poetry, literary nonfiction) and informational (frequently cross-curricular, drawing topics from science, social studies, or the arts).
• Question formats. Multiple choice, now capped at 75 percent of the points, plus technology-enhanced items: multiselect, inline choice, hot text, drag-and-drop, hot spot, and multipart.
• Short constructed responses (SCR). Typed answers of a sentence or two, scored on a 2-point item-specific rubric.
• Extended constructed response (ECR). One evidence-based essay tied to a reading passage or paired texts, scored on a 5-point rubric.
• Revising and editing. Multiple-choice questions on a draft passage, testing the writing process and conventions.

Raw points from all parts add together and convert to a scale score and a performance label (Did Not Meet, Approaches, Meets, Masters) using TEA's conversion for that administration.

Reading literary texts

The assessment presents unseen literary texts and asks you to analyze them. Questions test theme and central idea, plot and structure, character, the craft of fiction and poetry, and the conventions of drama. The reliable approach is to read actively, then answer with the text in front of you, returning to the lines a question points to.

• Analyzing theme in literary texts
• Plot and structure in fiction
• Character and characterization
• Reading poetry on STAAR
• Reading drama on STAAR
• Figurative language and literary devices

Reading informational and argumentative texts

Informational passages are usually cross-curricular: the topic comes from science, history, or the arts, but the questions only test reading skill. You analyze central ideas, the structure of an argument, an author's purpose and craft, and how two texts relate.

• Central ideas in informational texts
• Analyzing argument and claims
• Author's purpose and craft
• Reading cross-curricular passages
• Synthesizing paired texts
• Text evidence and inference

The extended constructed response (essay)

The ECR is the essay: one evidence-based response to a reading passage or paired set, scored on a 5-point rubric. You establish a controlling idea, develop it with specific text evidence and analysis, organize it coherently, and (in an argument) refute a counterargument.

• Understanding the extended constructed response
• Writing a controlling idea
• Using text evidence in the essay
• Organizing and developing ideas
• Refuting a counterargument
• The ECR rubric and scoring

Short constructed responses

A short constructed response is a typed answer of a sentence or two, scored on a 2-point rubric. The signature move is answer plus evidence: state the answer, then prove it with a line from the text.

• Understanding the short constructed response
• The answer plus evidence structure
• The SCR 2-point rubric
• Reading short constructed response types
• Common short-response mistakes

Composition, revising, and editing

Revising and editing questions present a student draft and ask you to improve it. Revising targets clarity, development, and organization; editing targets grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling. The same conventions are scored on the ECR.

• Revising for clarity and organization
• Editing for grammar and usage
• Sentence boundaries and punctuation
• Word choice and precision
• The revising and editing question types

Exam strategy

Knowing the online format, the new item types, the timing, and the rubrics is its own skill. These pages cover how to navigate the test and budget your time.

• The redesigned online format
• The new technology-enhanced item types
• Navigating tech-enhanced items
• Pacing the assessment
• Reading the task and rubrics

The constructed-response rubrics

The two writing tasks use different rubrics, and learning them is one of the highest-leverage things you can do.

• Short constructed response (2 points). An item-specific rubric: 2 for a correct answer supported by relevant text evidence, 1 for the answer without evidence or evidence without the answer, 0 for neither.
• Extended constructed response (5 points). A two-trait rubric: Development of Ideas (0 to 3) for a clear controlling idea, organization, specific evidence, and analysis, plus Use of Conventions (0 to 2) for grammar, usage, and mechanics. A 0 on Development of Ideas forces a 0 on Conventions, so ideas come first.

The standards behind the assessment

STAAR English I is aligned to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR), revised 2017. The English I TEKS include Foundational Language Skills, Comprehension and Response skills, the multiple-genres strand (analyzing literary and informational texts), Author's Purpose and Craft, Composition (the writing process and the argumentative, informational, and correspondence modes), and Inquiry and Research. Reading questions assess the reading strands; the constructed responses and revising and editing questions assess Composition.

How to study STAAR English I

1. Treat reading and writing as one connected skill, because the redesigned test integrates them and the essay is evidence-based.
2. Read unseen texts widely (literary prose, drama, poetry, and informational), practicing close analysis and inference.
3. Write toward the rubrics. Know the 5-point ECR rubric and the 2-point SCR rubric so your controlling idea is clear, your evidence is specific, and your analysis goes beyond summary.
4. Drill the answer-plus-evidence move on short responses; it is the difference between 1 and 2 points.
5. Practice the online item types (multiselect, inline choice, hot text, drag-and-drop) and use released STAAR materials to rehearse the format and pacing.

For the official exam materials

TEA publishes released STAAR tests, scoring guides, the constructed-response rubrics, blueprints, and information on the new item types on the STAAR Reading Language Arts resources page and the broader STAAR redesign page. The English I TEKS are published on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading page. Always study from the current rubrics and released tests, because the item types and scoring are set by TEA.