What this rubric measures
The CMAS Research Simulation and Literary Analysis Writing Rubric, Grade 3 is the official scoring guide used to evaluate student writing on Colorado CMAS assessments. It is an Analytic rubric that scores responses across 2 distinct criteria, allowing teachers to give precise, targeted feedback on each area of writing.
All 2 scoring criteria
Click any criterion to expand its score level descriptors. The language below is taken verbatim from the official Colorado Department of Education CMAS scoring guide.
1 Reading Comprehension and Written Expression
The student response:
- demonstrates full comprehension by providing an accurate explanation/description/comparison;
- addresses the prompt and provides effective development of the topic that is consistently appropriate to task, purpose, and audience;
- uses clear reasoning supported by relevant, text-based evidence in the development of the topic;
- is effectively organized with clear and coherent writing;
- uses language effectively to clarify ideas.
The student response:
- demonstrates comprehension by providing a mostly accurate explanation/description/comparison;
- addresses the prompt and provides some development of the topic that is generally appropriate to task, purpose, and audience;
- uses reasoning and relevant, text-based evidence in the development of the topic;
- is organized with mostly clear and coherent writing;
- uses language in a way that is mostly effective to clarify ideas.
The student response:
- demonstrates limited comprehension;
- addresses the prompt and provides minimal development of the topic that is limited in its appropriateness to task, purpose, and audience;
- uses limited reasoning and text-based evidence;
- demonstrates limited organization and coherence;
- uses language to express ideas with limited clarity.
The student response:
- does not demonstrate comprehension;
- is undeveloped and/or inappropriate to the task, purpose, and audience;
- includes little to no text-based evidence;
- lacks organization and coherence;
- does not use language to express ideas with clarity.
RST and LAT combine comprehension and written expression into a single construct because students are responding to source text(s) and the analysis of those texts is part of the scored work.
2 Knowledge of Language and Conventions
The student response to the prompt demonstrates full command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be a few minor errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage, but meaning is clear.
The student response to the prompt demonstrates some command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage that occasionally impede understanding, but the meaning is generally clear.
The student response to the prompt demonstrates limited command of the conventions of standard English at an appropriate level of complexity. There may be errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage that often impede understanding.
The student response to the prompt does not demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English at the appropriate level of complexity. Frequent and varied errors in mechanics, grammar, and usage impede understanding.
The Knowledge of Language and Conventions construct is scored on a tighter 0 to 3 scale at every CMAS grade band. Top score allows a few minor errors as long as meaning is clear.
How to score with the CMAS Research Simulation and Literary Analysis Writing Rubric, Grade 3.
A practical guide for teachers and norming teams. How to apply each descriptor consistently, the pitfalls that hurt inter-rater reliability, and a workflow for calibrating with colleagues.
Two-construct analytic, scored independently
- Score Reading Comprehension and Written Expression (0 to 3) first, then Knowledge of Language and Conventions (0 to 3). Sum for the rubric total out of 6.
- Each construct is scored independently. A response can earn 3 on Reading Comprehension and Written Expression but only 1 on Conventions, or vice versa.
- Unlike Texas STAAR, CMAS does NOT zero out Conventions when the first construct scores 0.
Five elements folded into the first construct
- Reading Comprehension and Written Expression at Grade 3 folds five elements into one construct, comprehension accuracy, appropriateness to task and audience, reasoning supported by text-based evidence, organization and coherence, and language use.
- To earn a 3, the response must satisfy all five elements at the top descriptor level. A strong response that lacks text-based evidence typically caps at 2.
- Start at the lowest score point and ask, does the response meet all five elements at this level? Move up only when it clearly does.
Common pitfalls to avoid
- Awarding a 3 to a response with strong reasoning but no text-based evidence. Text-based evidence is one of the five required elements.
- Counting words instead of weighing comprehension. A short response that accurately explains the source can earn 3; a long response that misses the source can earn 1.
- Forgetting the Knowledge of Language and Conventions descriptor allows a few minor errors at score 3, the bar is meaning is clear, not zero errors.
Tips for norming with your team
- Anchor with 3 to 5 sample responses scored by your most experienced grader before the session.
- Score the first 5 silently, then compare. Discuss any construct where graders are more than one point apart.
- Re-norm halfway through a long batch. Drift is real.
Notes for the CMAS RST/LAT Rubric, Grade 3
Grade 3 RST and LAT prompts are the first time Colorado students see Prose Constructed Response items on CMAS. The grade 3 Reading Comprehension and Written Expression construct is scored on a 4-point scale (0 to 3) rather than the 5-point scale (0 to 4) used at grades 4 to 5 and 6 to 8.
RST and LAT differ in source type. RST pairs informational text(s) with a writing prompt that asks students to research the topic and explain or compare. LAT presents a literary text and asks students to analyze the literature. The scoring rubric is identical for both, so the construct language is shared.
Knowledge of Language and Conventions uses the same 0 to 3 scale at every CMAS grade band. The descriptors apply at an appropriate level of complexity for grade 3, more lenient on advanced punctuation, stricter on basic capitalization and sentence formation.
The CDE rubric was developed collaboratively with PARCC. The descriptor language matches the PARCC framework adopted by Illinois (IAR) and other states that share the construct structure.
See this rubric in action.
EnlightenAI scores student writing on this exact rubric, with per-criterion feedback that mirrors how you grade by hand. The sample response below shows how the rubric applies to a real piece of student writing, scored against every criterion.
How bats use sound at night
Bats use sound in two important ways. They send out high sounds and listen for echoes to find food, and they use echoes to fly safely through the dark. Without sound, bats would have a very hard time getting around at night.
Finding food in the dark
The article says that bats make a high squeak that humans cannot hear. When the sound hits a bug, it bounces back to the bat as an echo. The bat uses the echo to know exactly where the bug is. This is called echolocation. The article says one little bat can catch hundreds of bugs in one night this way.
Flying without bumping into things
The article also explains that bats use echoes to fly. When a sound bounces off a tree or a wall, the bat can hear how far away it is. That is why bats can fly through dark caves and forests without hitting anything. The article says some bats can even tell the difference between a leaf and a moth using only sound.
Why this matters
The article ends by saying that without echolocation, bats would not be able to live in the dark. Sound is more important to a bat than sight is to most other animals. Bats are small, but the article shows that what they can do with sound is amazing.
Full comprehension, effective development, text-based evidence
Response accurately explains the two main ways bats use sound. Each body paragraph develops one explanation with specific text-based evidence (echolocation, hundreds of bugs per night, distinguishing leaf from moth).
Full command at the grade 3 level
Sentence formation, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling are correct throughout. There are a few minor errors in mechanics that do not impede meaning. Meets the grade 3 standard for full command on the CMAS Knowledge of Language and Conventions construct.
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About the CMAS Research Simulation and Literary Analysis Writing Rubric, Grade 3
What is the CMAS RST/LAT Writing Rubric for Grade 3?
Why is Reading Comprehension combined with Written Expression at Grade 3?
How is CMAS Grade 3 different from CMAS Grades 4 to 5 and 6 to 8?
Is the CMAS rubric the same as the PARCC rubric?
Is this rubric the official version from CDE?
Where can I find the source document?
Can EnlightenAI score student writing using this rubric?
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