Is there an automated homework grading system available for elementary school teachers?

Question

My wife is a teacher and a huge chunk of her time is spent grading papers. I thought to myself, if there was a way to automate the paper grading, it would spare a lot of time for her to focus on other things such as creating lessons plans, etc.

So I was wondering, does anyone know of any type of grading system and/or device like Scantron, where the classwork and homework materials are multiple choice and can be inserted into some type of recognition device to automate the grading?

Answer 1

There are ways to grade multiple choice assignments, but honestly, these shouldn't make up the bulk of what she assigns.  If they do, then she's probably not getting a fair assessment of what her students are learning.

As a teacher, I know that the time spent grading papers is a lot; however, without that time, and without that type of assignment, I have no way of knowing whether my students are actually dealing with and learning the material, or whether they're good at faking it on tests.  As the teacher above me stated, maybe there's a way you could help her grade some of the papers?

As an elementary teacher, much of what she teaches deals with foundational skills - reading comprehension, spelling, handwriting, sentence formation, arithmetic...none of these can be adequately evaluated using multiple choice assignments.

I know it's a pain at times, but it really is a valid part of the job.  Without it, she can't effectively teach her students.

Answer 2

I don't remember the name of it, but I've seen teachers use this card that you choose the amount of questions and it tells you what the grade would be for each incorrect answer.

Answer 3

A large part of teaching elementary grades is teaching reading and writing skills and math skills.  It's important for the elementary teacher to see the work the students are doing, not just check multiple choice answers.  Your wife might also find her job in danger if she went to the type of grading system you are suggesting as she would not be teaching the students the skills they need.

Instead, maybe you can help her with grading papers or hire someone to help her.  Some schools have classroom aides who can do some grading of papers.  As a teacher, there were always papers I preferred to check myself.  As a substitute teacher, there are some kinds of papers I leave for the regular teacher as I don't always  know what they may be grading - some take off points for poor penmanship or grammar on some papers.  

Depending on the grade level of the students, some teachers have students help with grading papers or they have a buddy that they exchange papers with and then grade the papers as a class.