Gradescope

Gradescope is an AI-powered grading and assessment platform developed by Turnitin, used by over 140,000 instructors at 2,600+ universities worldwide to streamline the grading of paper-based assignments, online submissions, and programming projects. Unlike traditional grading where instructors mark each paper individually from start to finish, Gradescope enables question-by-question grading with dynamic rubrics that can be modified mid-grading and automatically applied retroactively to all previously graded submissions. For ESL teachers in higher education and intensive English programs, Gradescope transforms writing assessment from an overwhelming time sink into a systematic, data-driven process that produces consistent feedback across dozens or hundreds of student essays. What makes Gradescope particularly valuable for ESL writing instruction is its rubric-based grading system combined with detailed analytics. Teachers create rubrics with specific criteria for grammar accuracy, vocabulary range, organization, and content development, then apply rubric items with a single click while annotating directly on student work. The platform tracks which rubric items appear most frequently across the class, revealing patterns like "75% of students lost points for article errors" or "weak thesis statements affected 60% of submissions." This data transforms grading from an isolated evaluation task into diagnostic information that directly informs lesson planning, allowing ESL teachers to address actual student weaknesses rather than assumed ones. The platform's AI-assisted grading feature (available in Institutional plans) automatically groups similar answers together, allowing teachers to grade all identical or near-identical responses simultaneously. For ESL contexts, this proves especially useful for short-answer assessments, vocabulary quizzes, and grammar exercises where multiple students make the same errors. Gradescope also supports anonymous grading to reduce bias, collaborative grading among teaching teams, and seamless LMS integration with Canvas, Blackboard, and other platforms. The combination of efficiency tools, detailed analytics, and professional-grade assessment infrastructure makes Gradescope essential for ESL programs that need to maintain rigorous writing standards while managing heavy grading loads across multiple sections.

• Essay Portfolio Assessment with Consistent Rubrics: Create a comprehensive ESL writing rubric with categories for thesis clarity, paragraph organization, grammar accuracy, vocabulary sophistication, and citation formatting. Apply the same rubric across all essay types (argumentative, compare/contrast, research papers) throughout the semester, building a data trail that shows individual student growth and class-wide patterns over time. • Diagnostic Grammar Quizzes with Error Pattern Analysis: Upload scanned grammar quizzes or have students submit online, then grade question-by-question to identify which grammatical structures cause the most difficulty. Use Gradescope's statistics to discover that, for example, 80% of your B1 students struggle with present perfect vs. past simple, then design targeted mini-lessons addressing those specific gaps. • Collaborative Grading for Multi-Section Programs: In intensive English programs with multiple instructors teaching the same course, use Gradescope's collaborative grading to ensure all teachers apply identical standards. One instructor creates the rubric, the team grades together with real-time visibility into each other's work, and program administrators can verify consistency across sections. • Timed Writing Assessments with Handwritten Responses: For placement tests or timed essay exams where students write by hand, scan all responses and upload them to Gradescope. The platform handles page separation, student identification, and organizes submissions for efficient grading. Teachers annotate directly on handwritten work while applying standardized rubric criteria. • Regrade Request Management for Large Classes: When students dispute grades on writing assignments, Gradescope's built-in regrade request system creates a documented workflow. Students submit requests with specific justifications, teachers respond within the platform, and the entire exchange is logged for transparency and accountability, eliminating email chaos and ensuring fair treatment across all requests.