Top 27 Grading Management Software Tools for Smarter Assessments

Picture this: It’s the end of the term, and you’re buried under a mountain of assignments. As you work through the stack of student submissions, you wonder how it got this overwhelming. Feeling stressed, you just want to get it done. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Grading is time-consuming, and many teachers struggle to simplify the process. Grading management, AI in the Classroom software offers a solution. This article will guide you through the benefits of grading management software and how to find the perfect grading solution for your classroom.

EssayGrader can help you achieve your grading goals. This intelligent grading software for teachers will lessen your workload so you can save time and focus on what matters: your students.

What Is a Grading Management Software

Grading management software is a game-changing tool for educators and schools looking to simplify grading. Also referred to as grade book software, this technology helps teachers and administrators track and manage student grades.

Using grading management software, educators can automate repetitive grading tasks, such as:

• Calculating totals and averages
• Exporting scores
• Organizing student feedback

This helps streamline the grading process, allowing teachers to save time and focus on improving student outcomes.

Exam Grading Software: The Future of Assessments

Online learning has changed the way that teachers develop and grade assessments. Teachers no longer need to sit down with a stack of papers and a red pen and manually mark incorrect answers one at a time. Exam grading software enables educators to grade assignments quickly and accurately while allowing teachers to look at student data more effectively. 

Challenges and Benefits of Exam Grading Software

Although exam grading software can be more efficient, it can also present new challenges, like moving scores from one platform to another or inflexibility in delivering student feedback. A robust exam grading software platform can simplify grading and providing student feedback without adding more work to the teacher’s plate. 

What Do Teachers Need to Manage Online Assessments?

Giving and scoring assessments is a large and essential part of a busy day for teachers. It can also become tedious, especially when assessing students using:

• Traditional multiple-choice
• Matching
• True/false assessment
  

To manage assessment scoring efficiently, teachers have a few needs regarding software tools:

• Save Time: Educators are busy, so teachers need any tool that saves time while yielding the same or an even better result.
• Be Flexible: All assessment tools need flexibility, which gives educators options for assessing and providing feedback in unique ways.
• Target Growth Data: The purpose of any assessment is to give feedback on what students understand and do not understand in a classroom, so educators need software tools to help them spot trends in their students’ performance.
  

The bottom line with any software tool is that teachers need it to make their lives easier. If the tool can’t do that, teachers will not use it.

5 Essential Features of Grading Management Software

1. Automatic Grading: Speed Up Your Workflow With This Time-Saving Feature

Some teachers prefer to keep track of all grades manually, but automatic grading is a feature that reduces workload and speeds up the end-of-year period. Many programs offer this feature, automatically pulling students' marks from specific assessment tools. When you update the grade in the assessment tool, it updates in the gradebook software. 

2. Calculating Average Grades: The Core Function of Grading Software

No grading system is complete without the ability to calculate final grades. This process will include:

• Taking attendance
• Calculating different grades for individual assignments and tests
• Adding up all these numbers
• Converting them into a letter or percentage grade

3. Assigning Points to Each Assignment and Test: A Must for Accurate Grade Calculations

Some schools prefer to track different grades based on the assignments and tests given. This makes it easier to compare different sets of grades rather than seeing a whole number of grades for finals. To calculate final grades, teachers need a place to record how many points each assignment or test is worth.

4. Making Up Assignments and Tests During The Year: A Critical Grading Feature

It’s not uncommon for students to miss out on making up assignments and tests during the school year due to:

• Weather-related closures
• Illness
• Other reasons

Some schools allow students to do this as extra credit, while others require teachers to create a specific assignment and test so all students have the same opportunity.

5. Tracking Attendance: An Essential Component of Grading

Many schools track attendance primarily because this affects final grades. There may be a separate grade for homework and another for regular class participation. Teachers keep track of this by entering a checklist, noting how many days the student attended each class.

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Benefits of Grading Management Software

Grading Management Software Saves Teachers Time

Grading software allows for automatic scoring on exams that utilize several item types, including:

• Multiple-choice
• True/false
• Matching questions

This means that instead of going through question by question using a key, teachers can simply define questions that should be scored without human intervention and have exams for their entire class graded in a matter of seconds immediately after a student submits a response. 

Improved Feedback and Efficiency With Automated Scoring

With the time saved through automatic scoring, educators can focus on students and provide more targeted feedback. Exam grading software can utilize advanced scoring rules to allow for partial and customizable cut scores, giving students a better idea of what they have done well and where they missed the mark. All of this is done in a fraction of the time it would take a teacher to do manually.  

Custom Scoring Rules Define Your Grading Management Software Experience 

Flexibility and customization are critical when considering test grading tools. Assessment grading software that allows teachers to set custom scoring rules gives educators tremendous flexibility when grading. It also allows them to provide highly targeted feedback that students can act on rather than simply marking the question as incorrect. 

Exam grading software should allow for many scoring rules, including:

• Weighting questions
• Providing both traditional and rubric grading options
• Allowing teachers to set a minimum passing score before moving on to the next assignment or section. 

This gives students multiple opportunities for success and, in turn, multiple opportunities for learning.  

Manual Grading of Open-Ended Questions With Grading Software

Of course, not all assessments are multiple-choice-based. Teachers need to ask open-ended questions to get at the heart of what a student knows. While critical for identifying student strengths and areas for growth, these questions are also more difficult to grade because they must be scored manually. 

A testing software program that integrates manual grading for open-ended assessments gives teachers the option to place these questions in an evaluation that includes:

• Multiple-choice
• True/false
• Matching questions

The TAO Grader, for example, eliminates traditional issues with paper responses, such as:

• Illegible handwriting
• Printing out responses

Managing the large amount of paperwork typically required on open response tests. Rubric grading can also be integrated, allowing instructors to evaluate all written responses using a standardized rubric. This approach:

• Sets better expectations for students
• Simplifies the grading easier
• Helps eliminate bias by applying consistent criteria.

This makes digital grading software tools, like TAO Grader, extremely useful for teachers.

Efficient Data Management

An effective and efficient exam grading software allows teachers to grade an assignment and move on to the next one while feeding the data back to the assessment and learning ecosystem. 

This means instead of sitting at a computer and clicking from one window to the next and transcribing grades, teachers grade once, and all of the data goes where it needs to go. This frees up time for the teacher and reduces common frustrating redundancies when working between different education platforms.  

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27 Best Grading Management Software for Teachers

1. EssayGrader: A Game-Changer for Essay Assessment

EssayGrader is the most accurate AI grading platform trusted by 60,000+ educators worldwide. On average, a teacher takes 10 minutes to grade a single essay. With EssayGrader, that time is cut down to 30 seconds. That's a 95% reduction in the time it takes to grade an essay, with the same results. 

With EssayGrader, teachers can replicate their grading rubrics, so AI doesn't have to do the guesswork to:

• Set the grading criteria
• Set up fully custom rubrics
• Grade essays by class
• Bulk upload essays

Use our AI detector to catch essays written by AI and even summarize essays with our essay summarizer! Our AI tool helps primary school, high school, and college professors grade their students' essays. Over half a million essays were graded by 60,000+ teachers on our platform.

2. Quick Grader

Quick Grader is an app designed to make grading tests, quizzes, and homework easy for:

• Teachers
• Professors
• Anyone responsible for grading

It is a big improvement from traditional paper grading calculators, offering a completely customizable interface that includes a variety of valuable features such as the ability to grade with:

• Half-point values
• Adjustable decimal values
• Plus/minus grading

The interface is also user-friendly and easy on the eyes. QuickGrader has a feature that prevents the screen from dimming, allowing users to focus on grading. The app also includes point-based grading, enabling users to enter the maximum point value for a test or quiz. The app will automatically recalculate scores and directly calculate the number of points earned.

3. Groovy Grader

Groovy Grader is an app that aims to replace the traditional paper grading calculator with more flexibility and convenience. It can handle many questions and display grades as a whole number or with one decimal place. It also shows the number of correct and incorrect answers. Its design focuses on usability, allowing users to view up to 50 grades at once and can turn off the auto-dim feature for ease of use. Overall, it aims to make the grading process more efficient and user-friendly.

4. BookWidgets

BookWidgets is an app that offers a wide range of activity types for teachers to create interactive and engaging digital activities and quizzes. They can include their own:

• Text
• Images
• Questions
• Creativity

The created “widget” can be shared privately with a simple link or embedded in any learning management system and works on any device. This app is suitable for:

• Blended learning
• Flipped classrooms
• Traditional classrooms

The analytics feature tracks learner activity, making it easy for teachers to review and grade student work.

5. Flubaroo

Flubaroo is a free tool designed to help teachers quickly grade multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank assignments. Flubaroo is not just a grading tool; it also provides additional features to assist teachers in their grading process. It does the following:

• Calculates the average assignment score and average score per question
• Highlights questions that received low scores

It also provides a grade distribution graph, visually representing the class's performance. The tool allows teachers to email each student their grade and an answer key and send individualized feedback to each student.

6. Gradebook Wizard

Gradebook Wizard is an app that helps teachers create and manage 

grade books. It allows teachers to:

• Easily record and calculate student grades for assignments, exams, and overall performance.
• Track attendance and homework completion
• Use multiple grading methods to assess students

The app automatically calculates grades based on assignment weightings, saving time and minimizing errors. Gradebook Wizard generates reports to:

• Track student progress
• Communicate with parents
• Identify areas where students may need extra support. 

7. Planbook

Planbook is an app that helps teachers:

• Plan lessons
• Organize class materials
• Schedule their lessons effectively

It also helps with grading by allowing teachers to:

• Create and manage lesson plans, including assignments, quizzes, and exams
• Grade assignments, quizzes, and exams while tracking student performance
• Customize grading scales, weight assignments, and exams, and add custom categories to fit specific needs.

9. Google Forms

Google Forms is a versatile tool that can be used to create:

• Surveys
• Quizzes
• Other types of assessments

In the classroom, it allows teachers to:

• Create quizzes or tests for students to take online
• Quickly and easily grade multiple-choice and short-answer questions
• Provide instant feedback to help students identify areas for improvement
• Share quizzes and tests with students and track their progress

Google Forms enables the creation of self-grading quizzes, saving teachers time and effort in grading.

9. Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms is a web-based application that allows users to create:

• Surveys
• Quizzes
• Other types of assessments

Creating and Administering Online Quizzes and Tests

It can be used in the classroom to create quizzes or tests that students can take online. This can help teachers quickly and easily grade multiple-choice and short-answer questions. The teacher can also receive instant feedback on the student’s performance. 

Tracking Student Progress and Providing Support

Microsoft Forms also allows for easy sharing of quizzes and tests with students and tracking of their progress. Teachers can also use the built-in analytics to monitor student progress and identify areas where they need additional support.

10. Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a web-based learning management system created by Google. It allows teachers to:

• Create and manage assignments
• Provide feedback
• Communicate with students

Google Classroom can be used in the classroom to create and distribute assignments and quizzes to students. These can be completed and submitted online, helping teachers quickly and easily grade and provide feedback on student work. 

Google Classroom allows for:

• Easy sharing of assignments, quizzes, and other resources with students.
• Tracking of their progress

11. Cloud Assess

Cloud Assess is a learning management platform designed for:

• Registered Training Organisations (RTOs)
• Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers
• Businesses

While primarily an LMS and assessment platform, Cloud Assess offers features that simplify student management, including:

• Enrollment engine and automated workflows
• Tools for tracking learner progress
• Personalized learner paths
• Digital badging to enhance engagement

The platform also helps reduce educational institutions' administrative workload. With plagiarism-checking tools and integrations with popular student management systems, Cloud Assess is practical and easy to implement.

12. PowerSchool

PowerSchool is a comprehensive platform offering various solutions for educational institutions. While its primary focus is on K-12 learning, solutions are also available for higher education. On top of popular features of student management systems like:

• A student information system
• Grade book management
• Behavior tracking

Integrated Learning Management Tools

PowerSchool also incorporates learning management tools. You can easily create and manage courses with multimedia elements and develop online assessments, ensuring a seamless integration of teaching and learning processes. 

Challenges and Limitations of PowerSchool

PowerSchool can be complex and requires significant training to fully use advanced features. While the platform does offer a customized eLearning solution, it can be complex and challenging to implement. A lack of offline capabilities can also restrict learners in low-connectivity areas.

13. FACTS

FACTS is another well-rounded platform that aims to enhance learner experiences while simplifying admin for educators and support teams. It offers tools for tuition management alongside effective communication features, allowing better alignment between:

• Students
• Teachers
• Parents

Blended Learning Capabilities

The platform also supports blended learning, offering options for virtual learning environments and hybrid courses alongside instructor-led lessons. Like PowerSchool, FACTS focuses on K-12 education but doesn’t offer options for higher education. 

Limitations and Challenges of FACTS

The LMS features are also more targeted at course delivery than course creation. These factors, and reports of occasional sync issues and inconsistent software performance, make FACTS a less reliable and versatile solution than the other platforms on this list.

14. Gradelink

Gradelink is praised for its user-friendly interface and good customer support. It provides essential student management features like tracking:

• Grades and attendance
• Parent-teacher communication tools

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Alongside these are LMS features like:

• Course management
• Assignment tools
• Integration with Google Classroom

Its comprehensive reporting tools also make it an attractive option for various institutions. Despite its strengths, Gradelink has limited advanced features and basic customization options. The platform also faces occasional performance issues and has limited third-party integrations.

15. Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

Blackbaud is another comprehensive platform offering a variety of tools for managing students and delivering online courses. Blackbaud Education Management solutions include options for:

• K-12 schools and higher education
• School management features
• Attendance tracking and scheduling tools

It also boasts LMS features like:

• Course management
• Interactive assignments
• Automated grading

Challenges and Limitations

Blackbaud Education Management solutions require significant training to utilize advanced features fully. Reviews also suggest that reporting features are basic compared to its competitors, and the platform offers limited offline functionality.

16. Infinite Campus

For over 30 years, Infinite Campus has advanced its student management systems to incorporate many new features, including learning management options. Alongside tools for attendance management and grade book submissions, Infinite Campus’s LMS functionality includes:

• Online course management and delivery
• Assessment tools and advanced reporting

However, Infinite Campus doesn’t offer as many customization options as its competitors. Reviews also suggest that occasional technical issues can impact overall usability.

17. Ellucian

Unlike many options, Ellucian focuses more on higher education than K-12 learning. It’s a powerful student management software suite offers extensive tools for simplifying administration. These include features for:

• Student information management
• Financial aid management
• Enrollment process 

Alongside LMS functionality like:

• Course creation
• Online assessments
• Learning analytics

Customization and Performance Issues

The platform is also highly customizable, allowing educators to create branded multimedia courses. However, institutions using the platform report occasional performance issues when processing large datasets. Alongside these reports of inconsistent performance are those of poor customer service, which makes it more difficult to resolve any problems you may encounter.

18. Skyward

Skyward offers cloud-based software for student, learning, and school management tools. Founded in 1980, the company aims to streamline students' learning experiences while saving time spent on administration. It supports student management tasks like tracking attendance and grades and effectively manages student information. 

Learning Management Features and Communication Tools

From a learning management perspective, Skyward offers assignment and assessment tools, helping educators track learner progress and manage and deliver online courses. One feature that sets Skyward apart from other platforms is its parent-teacher-student communication solutions, which enable all parties keep track of progress and developments.

19. Jenzabar

Jenzabar offers a range of features for higher education, including student management systems and learning management solutions. These features help educational institutions track the following:

• Student demographics
• Manage student information
• Enrollment processes
• Finances

Jenzabar allows institutions to:

• Create and deliver online courses and assessments
• Utilize customization options for a flexible solution

20. Alma

Alma is a user-friendly student management system known for its good customer support. In addition to features like grade tracking and effective parent-teacher communication, it allows for course and assignment creation and integrates with Google Classroom, making it a comprehensive educational solution. 

Limitations and Areas for Improvement

Alma has limited advanced features, particularly in learning management. It also offers only basic customization, and reviews suggest that the mobile app could be improved to better support user needs.

21. ThinkWave

ThinkWave is a cloud-based gradebook and classroom management tool for teachers. Signing up involves steps to help users set their:

• Calendars
• Grading preferences
• Assignment categories
• Category weights

Teachers can manually add students to classes, upload them from CSV files, and send them a link with a login code. Students sign up with their:

• Email addresses
• Username
• Password

From there, teachers can:

• Assign content
• Attach files
• View student uploads
• Track attendance
• Send messages and more

Built-in video tutorials appear on each page to help users get started.

22. FreshGrade Classic

FreshGrade Classic is an app- and web-based portfolio platform that helps teachers and students quickly:

• Capture
• Document
• Communicate student learning

A combination of a grading program, a portfolio site, and a learning management system (LMS), it enables educators to:

• Create standards-based assignments
• Monitor student progress
• Provide feedback or grades

Teachers can choose from a variety of assessment tools, including:

• Effort
• Learning progression
• Mastery
• Anecdotal notes
• Conventional grades

While working on the activities, teachers and students can use their mobile devices to capture:

• Photos
• Videos
• Audio recordings
• Other notes

This data can be linked to individual students, groups, or the entire class. Students can review the teacher-collected data and comment on it, and they can assemble the information into a digital portfolio to document learning.

23. JumpRope

JumpRope is a platform to help teachers tackle the challenges of mastery-based data collection and analysis. The planning tool helps teachers set up high-level units of study and learning targets, each aligned to the Common Core State Standards. 

After entering the appropriate targets, assessments can be linked to each. Teachers can then categorize and weight various assessment types, such as:

• Homework
• Quizzes
• Classwork

Once the assignments are added to the system, teachers can get to work entering grades.

24. Markboard

Markboard is a free assessment and feedback tool for teachers. After setting up classes and loading rosters, teachers:

• Create assignments
• Add learning standards
• Apply an assessment procedure such as scoring, binary, rubric, or observation.

Teachers can leave feedback in the comments when returning work to students or attach documentation. Assignments are not automatically marked:

• Late
• Not turned in

Teachers must do that manually using the tool. Markboard's dashboard integrates with Planboard for teachers using that lesson-planning tool.

25. MasteryConnect

MasteryConnect provides tools for teachers to track mastery of standards in real time and serves as a repository for teacher-created formative assessments. The "mastery" part of the website helps teachers plan assessments linked to standards and analyze data collected from the assessments. 

Teachers can create customized curriculum maps linked to formative assessments with a premium account. Common Core State Standards are color-coded by domain and can be:

• Rearranged
• Rewritten
• Compiled from various subject areas

Grades can be entered as raw scores, using:

• Rubrics
• Performance sources
• Bubble sheets
• Built-in GradeCam support

Customization and Data Integration

Users can customize the mastery levels to match school criteria. The detailed reports are shared with parents and students using an online portal. School and district users can also import data into a school-based SIS. 

26. Schoology

Schoology is a web-based learning management system (LMS) that allows teachers to create and assign both traditional and creative tasks. Some of the most often-used features include:

• Assignment creation and submission
• Grade book
• Links to outside content
• PDF markup
• Student progress reports
• Messaging

Schoology's Enterprise plan also includes features for IT staff to manage hundreds or even thousands of users as well as many courses. This includes integration with PowerSchool, Schoology's parent company, which can sync courses, sections, and users as needed.

27. PowerSchool

PowerSchool is a cleverly designed LMS that extends learning beyond the classroom. The system lets teachers embed content from over 40 websites into pages they can custom-design for their classes. 

In addition to creating and managing their classes, teachers can create:

• Rubrics
• Assessments
• Tasks using sophisticated but straightforward built-in creation tools

Keep up a gradebook, attendance rosters, and interclass communications in this centralized, cloud-based learning hub. The site integrates well with dozens of websites and online tools, and it's especially well integrated with Google Apps for Education; teachers and students can use their Google log-ins to access the service. Features for standards-based grading are also built in.

How to Pick the Best Software for Grading and Assessment

Look for Grading Software That Goes Beyond Right and Wrong

Does the grading software mark student answers as incorrect or correct, or does it facilitate student growth? It’s important to have a solution that facilitates meaningful feedback loops between students and educators to support the learning process. The more detailed feedback a tool provides, the better.

Find a Solution That Accommodates Paper and Digital Assessments

Does the grading software accommodate paper exams and enable students and teachers to digitize work? Can students take tests on paper-based exams that can then be assessed in a digital format? Digitized work allows instructors flexibility in grading. It also supports meaningful discussions when both parties have a copy of the work.

Look for Scoring Flexibility

Does the grading software provide scoring flexibility for markers that can allow a grading team to work from anywhere at any time? A grading team should not have to work in the same room simultaneously. At the same time, grading teams should work equitably so that marking is fair across the team. 

A grading solution should provide dynamic rubrics so that any changes in grading standards are implemented across the team in real time and across all assessments.

Choose a Tool That Accommodates Various Assessments

Does the grading software accommodate a wide variety of assessment formats? It’s important to provide a variety of assessment formats throughout a course to highlight different components of learning and accommodate different learning styles. The solution should accommodate:

• Short-answer and long-answer questions
• Essays
• Programming assignments
• Multiple-choice questions

This will ensure accurate measurement of students' understanding of concepts.

Prioritize Data Insights

Does the grading software provide data insights (item analysis) into student answers? Knowing what students do and do not know is critical to future exam design. Furthermore, data insights can inform teaching interventions to support students.

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Save Time While Grading Schoolwork With EssayGrader's Grading Software for Teachers

EssayGrader is the most accurate AI grading platform trusted by over 60,000 educators worldwide. On average, a teacher takes 10 minutes to grade a single essay. With EssayGrader, that time is cut down to 30 seconds. That's a 95% reduction in the time it takes to grade an essay, with the same results. 

With EssayGrader, teachers can replicate their grading rubrics so AI doesn’t have to do the guesswork to:

• Set the grading criteria
• Set up fully custom rubrics
• Grade essays by class
• Bulk upload essays

Use our AI detector to catch essays written by AI and even summarize essays with our essay summarizer! Primary school, high school, and even college professors grade students' essays with the help of our AI tool. Over half a million essays were graded by 60,000+ teachers on our platform. 

Save Time With AI Essay Grading Software to Focus on What Matters

Writing is a complex and time-consuming task that requires teachers to provide constructive feedback to help students improve their writing skills. Grading essays takes away from class time and pressures teachers to rush through the process. EssayGrader is an AI grading software that accurately grades student essays in seconds, allowing educators to focus on what matters. 

Streamline your grading process with EssayGrader, our AI-powered grading software for teachers that provides fast, accurate feedback on essays, freeing up time for what truly matters. Try it today!