FREEPORT - As spring approaches and the end of the school year draws near, many teachers find themselves swamped with papers to grade.

This can be an especially time-consuming task for instructors of writing classes who have to read and grade dozens of papers.

Teachers in the Freeport School District have had extra help for nearly the whole year in grading such papers.

This year the district added a new computer program designed to help teachers grade essays written by students in the fourth through 12th grades. The district is using the program mainly at Freeport High School.

The high school is one of 535 schools in the country to use the Criterion Online Essay Evaluation Service, a Web-based program for students looking for a way to practice their writing skills.

"The students like it because they get instant feedback from the computer," said Toneanne Biesuz, chairwoman of the English Department at Freeport. "They compete with themselves and push each other."

The program allows students to practice their writing skills by grading their papers and correcting mistakes.

In numbers released earlier this month, 97 percent of the senior class scored either proficient or advanced on the Pennsylvania School System Assessment tests taken in the fall.

Eighty-six percent of the ninth-graders also scored proficient or advanced, with the greatest number performing at the advanced levels of the test, said Stan Chapp, program director for the district.

Freeport students always have had high proficiency scores on these tests, so it's difficult to determine the impact of this computer program, Chapp said.

But the program is helpful because it makes the work fun, allows students to work at their own paces, and also allows them to grade their papers before the teacher sees them.

Plus, it's easy for everyone to use.

"The software is user-friendly for students and teachers alike," Biesuz said.

Four sophomores agreed the Criterion program is better than another program used last year.

"This one gives us a lot more comments back," said Katie Winning of Sarver.

Lori Beth Palko of South Buffalo said she liked getting immediate feedback from the program: "This works so much better. Right away we know what we are doing wrong."

Since everything is saved in the computer, students also can go back in and look at their complete body of work. They also can see examples of what the program considers a perfect paper.

"I like having access to all of my essays," said Justine Rotto of Sarver.

Biesuz said the program helps students who are trying to grasp the writing process.

"This program is suited for the children who struggle a little bit," she said. "It makes the work into a game and makes the student want to beat the system."

Biesuz said freshmen began using the program this year for the first time.

The cost to the district is between $4.50 and $6.50 per student, based on the number of students signed up for a particular year.

She said the school concentrated on getting freshmen and sophomores involved this year, partly because the national SAT tests will change next March to include essay writing and critical thinking.

The program helps teachers like Biesuz and Jeanna Masters by analyzing students' grammar, usage, mechanics, style and organizational and development skills in writing a five-paragraph essay.

The program offers several essay topics according to grade level, but also allows the teacher to enter different topics.

After the student chooses a topic and writes the essay, the program grades the writing as soon as the student saves it and the student can then look up his or her work and see what needs to be worked on.

The teachers have access to all of the students' work and can offer suggestions by posting notes in their work.

The program allows the students to work on the assignments from home during off-hours from school. On the flip side, the teacher can open a student's file and see how much time that student spent on the assignment outside of class.

Instructors can set a time limit for the work while in class, or limit how much time a student can spend on the assignment at home.

The program grades the papers on a scale of 1 to 6, with six being the highest.

Biesuz said part of the growing popularity of the program is that many states are going to institute standardized writing tests as part of the overall testing.

Biesuz said there are a few drawbacks to the program. For example, it can't pick up the tone of an essay, which could mean the difference between a good essay and a great one.

Also, teachers instruct students to plan, organize, write and then edit their essays, but that's not how the program works.

"It doesn't check what we teach the students to do," she said.

As a result, Biesuz uses the score given by the program as a starting point before she personally reads an essay and gives it a grade.

Biesuz said the teachers she knows who use the program like it.

"You still need to use it with a teacher, but it lets the kids get in some extra practice and gives them that instant feedback," she said. "It's not a replacement for the stuff we do in class, but rather an enhancement."

Currently Criterion is only available as an aide for writing classes. Biesuz and the students all agreed the next place they would like to see it implemented would be in a social studies program.