A number of options for evaluating papers exist; evaluating a paper need not involve correcting every surface error and writing voluminous comments at the end.

• Give separate grades for form and content.
• Use "performance" grading: if students do the assignment, they get credit (or points). You make no value judgments about the quality of the work, merely decide what's an acceptable amount of work.
• Use "impression marking:" scan the paper and mark it based on your general impression of paper's effectiveness. Again, have a clear set of criteria in mind--or even written down--as you read.
• Use portfolio evaluation: rather than evaluating individual papers, evaluate a student's entire output at the end of the course.
• Evaluate based strictly on clearly defined criteria, which may be set out in the form of:
  • Contracts: you create a contract which spells out how much work and/or what sort must be done to receive a particular grade. The student chooses what grade to work for.
  • Checksheets: you list the criteria for an acceptable piece of work and evaluate based on how many criteria are met.
  • Scales: rank a student's work based on your criteria. Analytic and Dichotomous are just two of a variety of scales; examples are below.