NoRedInk rolls out AI grading for all premium teachers

NoRedInk, a provider of online writing curriculum used in more than 60% of U.S. school districts, has announced that its AI-powered Grading Assistant will be available to all NoRedInk Premium teachers from the start of the 2024–2025 school year. 

The expansion aims to improve the efficiency of grading and provide more feedback to students.

The Grading Assistant is designed to evaluate student writing submissions against various rubric items, suggesting scores and providing specific, actionable feedback. By automating the most time-consuming aspects of grading, it enables teachers to focus more on instruction and student engagement.

During a two-month beta testing phase, 95% of teachers reported an increase in the amount of feedback provided to students, with 50% noting a significant increase. The tool also reduced the time teachers spent on grading by half. 

Students whose teachers used the Grading Assistant were over five times more likely to receive feedback on their written work compared to those whose teachers did not use the tool.

Becca Bachmann, an ELA Teacher at Aspen Creek Middle School in Omaha, Nebraska, discussed the challenges of providing feedback:

“It’s time-consuming to leave feedback on each student’s writing. Either I have to spend a ton of time working outside normal hours or I have to conference with students in class, and the students who don’t ask questions are left without feedback.

“NoRedInk’s Grading Assistant drastically reduces the amount of time it takes to give feedback and ensures that each student gets the feedback they need.”

The Grading Assistant is intended to assist teachers rather than replace them. Teachers can review and adjust the suggested feedback and add overarching comments. During the beta testing phase, teachers agreed with the Grading Assistant’s scores and feedback more than 90% of the time. Students will only see feedback after teacher approval.

Jeff Scheur, Founder and CEO of NoRedInk, expressed optimism about the tool's expanded availability:

“Our Grading Assistant has been helping teachers improve their writing instruction while saving them significant time, and we’re thrilled to expand these benefits to all our customers this Fall

“Students need frequent feedback in order to build confidence in their skills, so it’s exciting to see schools achieve such strong results when incorporating our AI functionality into their instructional practice.”