This lesson will guide you through grading a constructed response item on an assessment administered online. This means that students typed in a response, which is stored but does not grade for a user. The user must manually enter these scores.
Before you begin this lesson, make sure to:
- Have administered an assessment online to students
- Have items or questions to enter scores for such as constructed response or question with a rubric value
- Permission to Enter/Edit scores in the accessed assessment

- Use the search filters to find the students you wish to enter/edit grades for. Depending on your role, you may need to select a school, teacher, course and section from the filters.
- You can also choose to view all students or students with/without data using the View dropdown.
- Click Find Students.
The user must manually enter these scores. There are two ways to see these scores for grading: by Question or by Grid. Each one has unique abilities based on your needs to review and grade student scores.
This recommended view allows for a multiple of tasks and review options in one screen.
- Click By Question at the top of the page. This view will show you written responses one student at a time.
- Use the question dropdown to jump to the question you need to score.
- Click the student's name to see his/her written response.
- Review the question rubric (Itembank assessments only): Click Question Info and the question/rubric will display in a separate window.
- Enter the student's score in the scoring column to the right of the student's name. You can use the dropdown or type the score directly into the box.
- Autosave: Once you Enter/Edit scores, the page will Autosave if the Autosave box is checked. If this is unchecked, you can manually save by pressing the blue Save button after you are done entering your scores.
4. Optional - Add Annotations
- Go to the by Question or by Student view.
- With your cursor, highlight a word or group of words to annotate.
- Enter a comment, or choose for the available menu of predetermined options.
- Comments appear in red or green to potentially indicate a positive or constructive comment.
- Be sure to select Save to maintain the feedback.
Scores will be instantly rescored and updated within the assessment's Overview page and Reports. in addition to the student's portal information, if using Illuminate's Home Connection Parent/Student Portal.
Next Steps
Visit the guide Reviewing My Test Results to learn how students can access the Student Portal to review their assessment results.