Speakable allows you to automatically grade student responses—both spoken and written—and provide instant, targeted feedback. This guide explains each grading method, how to configure evaluation criteria, and how to customize what students see after they submit.
This article is part of the Getting Started series and is designed for teachers using auto-grading on Speakable for the first time.
Feedback-Only vs. Graded Activities
Speakable gives you two flexible options to review student speaking, depending on your goal.
Feedback-Only activities are ideal for practice. Students receive clear, actionable feedback on their speaking without a score attached. This option works well for skill-building, confidence-building, homework practice, warm-ups, or test preparation where the focus is improvement rather than evaluation.
Graded activities allow you to formally assess students using one of several grading options. You can choose the grading method that best fits your classroom, whether that’s a rubric-based score, pass/fail, or standards-aligned evaluation. Graded activities are useful for checkpoints, performance tasks, assessments, or assignments that need to connect to your gradebook.
You can choose the feedback style for each activity, making it easy to shift between practice and assessment without changing how students record or submit their responses.
Grading Methods
When creating an Open Response page in Speakable, you’ll choose from four grading methods:
Manual
You review and score each student response yourself. No criteria are required. Use this method when you want full control over how responses are assessed.
How do you use it? It's pretty simple, just turn off the AI Grading!
Pass/Fail
Speakable compares the student’s response to a reference prompt that is auto generated based on the page content or you can create it on your own. If it meets expectations, the response receives a “Pass.” If not, it receives a “Fail.” This method is best for short, specific answers.
Rubric
Responses are evaluated using a custom rubric you define. You set multiple criteria (e.g., fluency, completeness, accuracy), each with clear performance levels. Students receive a breakdown of scores per criterion along with descriptive feedback.
You can choose a different rubric just clicking into the Evaluation Criteria area, you can see more details about Rubrics here.
Standards-Based
Speakable estimates the student’s language proficiency level based on their response. You can choose a standard framework—ACTFL, WIDA, or a custom set of levels—and set a target proficiency level that students should aim to reach.
This method is ideal for standards-based grading, tracking student growth, and aligning assignments to program goals.
Setting Up Auto-Grading
To use auto-grading in your activity:
Add an Open Response page in the Speakable Builder.
Select a grading method (Manual, Pass/Fail, Rubric, or Proficiency-Based).
Configure evaluation criteria based on the selected method:
Pass/Fail: Write a sample or description of an acceptable answer.
Rubric: Define the scoring criteria and scale.
Proficiency-Based: Choose your standard framework and set a target level (e.g., Novice High).
Enable auto-grading to have Speakable evaluate responses automatically.
Choose whether to allow student retries to give learners a chance to improve.
Once submitted, responses are automatically scored and recorded in your gradebook.
Feedback Options
When students complete an auto-graded Open Response in Practice Mode, they receive instant feedback. You can customize which feedback elements are shown.
Feedback Based on Grading Method
Pass/Fail: Students see whether they passed and why their response did or did not meet expectations.
Rubric: Students receive detailed scores for each criterion, along with performance-level descriptions.
Proficiency-Based: Students see their estimated proficiency level and whether they met the target level (if set).
Additional Feedback Types (Optional)
You can also enable the following tools for added support:
Grammar Insights – Highlights and explains grammar issues in the student’s response.
Model Response – Shows an example of a strong response to guide improvement.
Proficiency Estimate (Add-On) – Available with any grading method to provide a language level estimate, even if not using proficiency-based grading.
All feedback options can be toggled on or off based on your instructional goals.
Reviewing and Adjusting Grades
After a student submits a response:
Results appear immediately in your gradebook.
You can review and adjust scores manually at any time.
Feedback is stored for future reference, including estimated proficiency levels when applicable.
If retries are enabled, students can submit again to improve their result.
Summary
Auto-grading in Speakable is designed to save you time and give students meaningful, immediate feedback. Whether you want quick pass/fail results, detailed rubric-based grading, or proficiency-aligned insights, Speakable makes it easy to customize your approach.
With auto-grading, you can:
Provide feedback faster
Track growth over time
Align instruction with ACTFL, WIDA, or your own standards
Empower students to reflect and improve
Next Steps
✅ To try it out, open the Builder and create an activity with an Open Response page.
⚙️ Choose your grading method, enable feedback options, and assign it to your students.
📊 Track progress in your gradebook and adjust settings as needed.