Prison Terms and Essay Grading: The Technology Gap Widens

This article discusses the stark contrast between a new software program that can automatically and instantly grade essays and incarceration systems’ lack of software that would enable clerical work to be done by computer instead of by hand. The fact that jails and prisons still do calculations manually results in miscalculated sentences and recording errors, ultimately leading to inmates being lost or not properly attended to in the correctional system. 

This article discusses the stark contrast between a new software program that can automatically and instantly grade essays and incarceration systems’ lack of software that would enable clerical work to be done by computer instead of by hand. The fact that jails and prisons still do calculations manually results in miscalculated sentences and recording errors, ultimately leading to inmates being lost or not properly attended to in the correctional system. 

Michela Bowman, NCCD senior program associate and co-director of the National PREA Resource Center, is quoted in the article and was interviewed on NPR to talk about people lost in the correctional system. Click here to listen to the interview.