Client story. This case study describes a real employmagic client. The company is not named.
At a glance
- The client: a K 12 education technology company
- The problem: more student work coming in than its team could grade
- The team today: 30 specialists across four roles
- The output: at least 16,000 graded assignments every week
- The timeline: from one specialist in late January 2026 to thirty by late September
The situation
For an education technology company, grading is the product. Students submit work, teachers and families wait for scores and feedback, and every assignment that sits in a queue is a promise running late.
This company had more student work coming in than its team could grade. Assignments were piling up in a backlog. It needed more graders, quickly: people who could learn its grading guidelines and hold the same standard week after week.
How we started
The company began with a single specialist in late January 2026 and added a second in February. That gave it a chance to see how the work ran before committing to a larger team.
Once the first hires were working, the company moved fast. In March, sixteen more specialists started, in small groups of two to five at a time across the month rather than all at once, which kept training on the company's guidelines manageable.
How the team grew
- January: 1 specialist
- February: 2
- End of March: 18
- End of April: 22
- July: 25
- August: 28
- September: 30
The team grew in steps that followed the company's volume, not in one big hire.
The team
- 20 Scoring Assistants grade student assignments against the company's guidelines. This is the heart of the engagement and the team that took on the backlog.
- 7 Customer Support Reps handle the company's support queue, so questions get answered while the scoring team stays focused on grading.
- 2 Academic Course Content Editors review and update course content.
- 1 Compliance Assistant supports the company's compliance work.
Each specialist works 40 to 48 hours a week, inside the company's own tools.
The results
- At least 16,000 assignments graded every week. Each Scoring Assistant has a weekly quota of 800 graded assignments. That is the minimum, and many go beyond it, up to about 1,200.
- Output that is measured, not estimated. The quota is tracked every week, so the company sees exactly how much work each person delivers.
- One specialist to thirty in about eight months, across four roles.
- Recruiting and replacement handled by employmagic, so the company's own staff stayed on teaching, product and customers instead of hiring.
What made it work
Clear guidelines and a clear quota. Grading against a rubric is rules based work with a measurable output. The company set the standard and the weekly number; the specialists meet it.
Starting small. One or two specialists first, then a larger team once the work was proven. The company never had to bet on thirty people at once.
Growing in small groups. Adding a few specialists at a time in March kept training manageable during the fastest growth.
One partner for several roles. Scoring, support, course content and compliance all come from the same partner and the same process.
Is this a fit for you?
This model works best for high volume work with clear rules and a measurable output: grading, data labeling, review queues, support tickets. If a backlog is growing faster than you can hire for it, start with one or two specialists, prove the process, then scale.