Gaming the robo-reader. Don’t worry about the truth.
The NY Times’ Michael Winerip has an article about robo-readers, computer scanners that read and score test essay answers.
My old friend Les Perelman of MIT is quoted.
Mr. Perelman enjoys studying algorithms from E.T.S. research papers when he is not teaching undergraduates. This has taught him to think like e-Rater.
While his research is limited, because E.T.S. is the only organization that has permitted him to test its product, he says the automated reader can be easily gamed, is vulnerable to test prep, sets a very limited and rigid standard for what good writing is, and will pressure teachers to dumb down writing instruction.
