FCAT scores are obtained from a combination of machine and handscoring. All of the answer documents that students complete are scanned using a process called "imaging," which takes an electronic picture of the entire page including students’ answers in their own handwriting. Students’ multiple-choice and gridded-response answers are scored using computer programs that read the student’s bubbled answers and evaluate them based on an answer key. Students’ answers to the performance tasks, however, must be scored by trained evaluators using a process commonly called "handscoring."

The handscoring of students’ written responses is conducted by professional readers who are trained to score papers using answer keys and criteria, called rubrics, that have been established and validated by teams of Florida educators. After each performance task is field tested with a group of over 2,000 Florida students, a team of Florida teachers and administrators work with Department staff to score a sample of these papers. A complete and correct response for the task is defined and then papers are identified that represent the possible scores for the task: 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 for long-answer questions, and 2, 1, and 0 for short-answer questions. In this way, clear definitions of each score point are developed and model papers are selected to represent the range of responses for each possible score. Examples of FCAT scoring rubrics can be found in the sample test scoring guide and answer key booklets that are available for each grade and subject.