How AI essay grading can remedy the high costs of teacher burnout

The costs of teacher turnover underline the profound value of the profession—and make viable solutions a priority. Here, Learnosity Product Manager Monet Slinowsky runs the numbers and traces the path ahead.

As the daughter of an elementary school teacher, some of my earliest memories involve marking. My mom, who was a teacher, took essays and word problems, my dad tackled math, while I marked spelling and the occasional worksheet, our whole dining room table strewn with paper bins and piles of student assignments. 

Studies show that teachers work over 52-54 hours per week, well over the contracted 40, between classroom instruction, lesson planning, grading, parent communication, and other responsibilities. 

It’s an overwhelming workload, often requiring that teachers bring their work home: in my case, enlisting family help to cover the workload in providing learners with the feedback they needed to excel. 

Studies find that teacher burnout correlates with significantly lower student achievement. For learners to succeed, teachers must also thrive. Share on X

Understanding the teacher shortage 

In February 2024, the UN declared a global teacher shortage, an attention-grabbing headline with real consequences: increased strain on remaining educators, less access to quality education, and more difficult pathways to success for learners. 

In the US, over one third of educator job postings are going unfilled. While shortages are multifactorial, the statistics paint a clear picture: 

• 74% of teachers report taking on extra work to cover staff shortages
• Teachers earn about 23% less than other college graduates
• Teachers in the US are 40% more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety in comparison with healthcare workers
• 85% of teachers define their workload as unsustainable

It’s clearly an excessive workload, inducing high stress, which, combined with comparatively low pay, results in burnout, something that significantly contributes to the annual teacher turnover rate of 16%. 

The real cost of teacher turnover 

Teacher shortages are more than a matter of vacant positions. They have far-reaching consequences for both students and remaining staff. 

While some districts have pursued creative solutions to stem the flood—such as cash incentives and hiring emergency-certified teachers—these also come at a cost: inexperienced teachers who lack skills in classroom management and pedagogy. Newly or emergency-certified teachers require mentorship from experienced educators to thrive, increasing the burden on them in turn. 

According to the Learning Policy Institute, it costs an average of $20,000 to fill each educator vacancy, leading to an $8 billion annual cost in teacher turnover in the US. 

This financial burden comes from recruiting, hiring, and training new teachers—costs that could be reduced by addressing the root causes of why teachers leave in the first place.

Beyond finances, high teacher turnover affects learners. 

More learners than ever are being taught by teachers with less than five years’ experience. Beyond educational skill set, turnover affects the all-too-important community aspect of a school, of teachers knowing students and their families personally over years, which further affects education quality. 

Studies find that teacher burnout correlates with significantly lower student achievement. For learners to succeed, teachers must also thrive. 

In comparing Feedback Aide to a human grader, it achieves a QWK of 0.88 on K20 essays–meaning its accuracy is on par with a very good human grader.  Share on X

AI-assisted essay grading

One pathway towards lessening the burnout among teachers is reducing their workload to a more manageable size. AI offers a promising solution here: automated grading. 

Learnosity’s Feedback Aide is an AI-powered rubric-based scoring tool that acts as an assistant to save teachers time while grading. If two teachers were to grade the same set of responses, their level of agreement can be expressed as the Quadratic Weighted Kappa (QWK) where a QWK of 0.8 is considered good. In comparing Feedback Aide to a human grader, it achieves a QWK of 0.88 on K20 essays–meaning its accuracy is on par with a very good human grader. 

Combining an accurate scoring engine with personalized, AI-generated feedback ensures that learners get the guidance they need for improvement, while reducing the time burden of marking for educators. 

Through Feedback Aide, districts can:

• Reduce the grading burden while still providing learners with the feedback necessary for their success, saving teacher time and reducing their workload
• Provide new or emergency-certified teachers with an expert helper to assist them as they learn how to grade and adjust to their new job, reducing the load on experienced teachers (teachers with <5 years experience leave at rates over 20% in NYC)
• Prioritize teacher wellbeing, thereby fostering strong student performance

Breaking down the numbers

Around 75,000 teachers work in the New York City Department of Education. With the estimated turnover rate of 15%, we can calculate that some 11,000 teachers leave their schools each year, resulting in a $220 million annual cost to replace them. If Feedback Aide could reduce turnover by just 1%, the NYC district could save $2.2 million a year, while benefiting its students and school communities.

Texas is a large state that employs over 370,000 teachers. Prior to the pandemic, teacher turnover was a steady 10% per year. In 2022, the number jumped to 13.4%: meaning nearly 50,000 teachers left the profession. Replacing them would cost in the region of $990 million. A 1% reduction in turnover could therefore save that district alone $9.9 million a year. 

The path ahead

Feedback Aide offers a practical way to reduce the time spent marking at the kitchen table, allowing districts to reduce teacher workload, improve retention, and save money—resources that can be reinvested into creating more equitable and accessible educational opportunities for all students. 

By easing the burdens on teachers, we can create a more sustainable education system that supports both educators and learners, ultimately leading to improved educational outcomes nationwide.

Interested in AI-powered essay scoring and grading? Learn more about Feedback Aide here.