What's changed
Kira now uses AI to automatically grade submissions as they come in — no more manually triggering it yourself. Automatic AI grading is controlled at the organization level but is enabled by default. This article walks you through what automatic AI grading means and how to use it.
How to navigate the new grading flow
1. Check what grading mode you're in
Look at the top-right corner of a lesson. If it says “AI grades all submissions,” you are using Automatic AI Grading.
If instead you see a "Grade all with AI" button available, you are using Manual Grading. Manual Grading also applies to any lesson assigned before Automatic AI Grading existed, or where it's been turned off for a specific assignment.
If you are using Manual Grading, you can still use AI to grade. Click "Grade with AI" to grade one response, or "Grade all with AI" to grade an entire lesson at once. This will not override any question you've already graded manually and your manually assigned grade will not change. If you want AI to regrade a specific question you already graded yourself, you can do that individually using the “Re-grade with AI” option on that question.
2. In the new grading flow, submissions are automatically graded in a queue. Kira AI will automatically grade every submission as they come in without a teacher needing to trigger it. As a result, when you enter Grading Studio, you will find some or all submissions with an AI-assigned grade waiting for your review.
Don't see AI-assigned grades waiting for you? Automatic AI Grading is controlled at the organization level. If you're not finding submissions already graded, check with your admin.
3. Opening Grading Studio. This is your new starting point and it's designed so you land on the right place with what’s ready for review. It's grouped by Class, with your Courses laid out as kanban-style columns, so you can see at a glance what's ready for review across every class you teach. Standalone assignments and individual assignments each have their own section, so they're not mixed in with regular coursework.
Understanding your board:
Past due: the assignment's due date has passed. This reflects the assignment's due date only, not a personal grading deadline or a student late-submission flag.
Due [date]: the assignment is due on that specific date.
X to release: Kira AI has already graded these responses and they're ready for you to review and release to students.
X failed to grade: AI attempted to grade these responses but wasn't able to complete grading.
Grading: Kira AI is actively grading responses right now.
By default, you'll only see submissions in Grading Studio that need an action from you — grade it, if Automatic AI Grading is off, or release it, if Automatic AI Grading is on. Submissions you've already released, and questions students haven't submitted yet, are hidden from this default view. To see those too, use the search bar's filter and select "Show released" or "Show not submitted."
4. Decide how you want to review: by question, or by student. From the Grading Queue, you'll see a toggle to switch between two review modes:
By Question: shows every student's answer to one question at once. Good for when you want to see how the whole class did on a specific question before moving to the next one.
By Student: shows one student's full submission at a time, the way grading worked before. Good for when you want the complete picture of one student's work. In this view, you can sort by student first name or last name.
The same visibility rule applies here too — the side panel will only show you the questions or students that need an action from you (grading or releasing). Already-released items and not-yet-submitted work stay hidden unless you use the "Show released" or "Show not submitted" filters in the search bar.
5. Check the Response Summary before diving into individual submissions. The Response Summary looks different depending on which review mode you're in and is visible automatically; you don't need to click anything to see it:
In By Student view: you'll see that student's overall score (e.g., "91% — 21/23 pts") alongside a per-question breakdown — each question shown as a small tile with its point value, color-coded by status (Ready to release, Released, Grading in progress / not submitted, or Failed to grade).
In By Question view: you'll see class-wide stats for that question, like the average score across the class and how many students answered correctly.
6. Review and, if needed, override a grade. As you go through submissions — whether By Question or By Student — you can accept the AI-assigned grade as-is, or change it. If you override a grade, the original AI-assigned grade is preserved and stays visible, so there's a record of both the AI's original grade and your final decision.
7. Release grades on your own timeline. There's no change here. Automatic AI grading only affects when a submission is graded, not when it's released to students. You still choose when to release grades, and whether to release a full assignment all at once, or only part of it — by question or by student.
If you're an admin: configuring Automatic AI Grading for your organization
Automatic AI Grading is turned on by default for every organization. As an admin, you can enable or disable Automatic AI Grading for your organization from Settings > Features & AI > AI Grading & Feedback.
If you disable the setting, teachers can still grade with AI manually by clicking "Grade with AI" — it just won't happen automatically unless Automatic AI Grading is enabled.
For teachers: overriding this setting on a specific assignment. When you assign a lesson, you'll see a grading mode set to Automatic or Manual — it defaults to whatever your organization's setting is, but you can switch it for that one assignment. This choice only applies to that assignment; your next assignment goes back to following the organization default automatically.
Frequently asked questions
Will "Grade all with AI" override grades I already gave manually? No. If you've manually graded a question, using "Grade with AI" or "Grade all with AI" will not overwrite it. To have AI regrade a specific question you already graded, use the “Modify grade” option on that question individually.
Can automatic AI grading be applied to submissions made before the new flow is enabled? The new automatic AI-grading flow applies only to work submitted after the setting is enabled. It does not automatically process prior submissions. Teachers can still use “Grade all with AI” to grade past work across an entire lesson rather than requiring a teacher to process each student individually.
Is grading instant? No. Submissions are graded through a background queue, in order of when it was submitted. There may be a short delay between submission and a grade being ready for your review.
Does this mean grades go out to students automatically? No. Automatic AI Grading only affects when a submission is graded. It does not release grades to students. You still choose when to release grades, and at what scope (a full assignment or partial release, By Question or by student), the same as before.
Does this release include Gradebook updates too? This update is scoped specifically to the grading workflow and experience — automatic grading, review modes, and navigation. Gradebook-related fixes are being worked on separately and will be coming soon.
Why did Kira fail to grade with AI? This is usually a temporary issue on the AI model's end — for example, if the model we use for grading is briefly unavailable or experiencing intermittency. You can retry all failed responses in a submission at once, or grade them manually while it resolves.
Do I have to change how I grade if I liked the old way? No. By Student review works the way full-submission grading always has. By Question is a new option, not a replacement — use whichever fits how you work.
Can I turn off automatic AI grading? This is configured at the organization level by your admin. If you're not sure what your school or district has set, check with your admin or your Kira account contact.
Does this change how strict or lenient AI grading is on free-response or coding questions? No. AI grading strictness is not affected.
Does this support grading video, image, or presentation attachments? At this time, video, image or presentation attachments are not currently supported for AI grading.