# Prompt- and Trait Relation-aware Cross-prompt Essay Trait Scoring

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.16826 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16826/

## Key facts

- Cited by 24 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 36 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 May 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [On the Use of BERT for Automated Essay Scoring: Joint Learning of Multi-Scale Essay Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.03835/) (2022)
- [Equilibrated adaptive learning rates for non-convex optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1502.04390/) (2015)
- [Many Hands Make Light Work: Using Essay Traits to Automatically Score Essays](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.00781/) (2021)
- [Prompt Agnostic Essay Scorer: A Domain Generalization Approach to Cross-prompt Automated Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.01441/) (2020)
- [Co-Attention Based Neural Network for Source-Dependent Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.01993/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [Unleashing Large Language Models' Proficiency in Zero-shot Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.04941/) (2024)
- [Rationale Behind Essay Scores: Enhancing S-LLM's Multi-Trait Essay Scoring with Rationale Generated by LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.14202/) (2024)
- [Autoregressive Multi-trait Essay Scoring via Reinforcement Learning with Scoring-aware Multiple Rewards](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.17472/) (2024)
- [TRATES: Trait-Specific Rubric-Assisted Cross-Prompt Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.14577/) (2025)
- [Autoregressive Score Generation for Multi-trait Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.08332/) (2024)
- [LCES: Zero-shot Automated Essay Scoring via Pairwise Comparisons Using Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.08498/) (2025)
- [DREsS: Dataset for Rubric-based Essay Scoring on EFL Writing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.16733/) (2024)
- [Teach-to-Reason with Scoring: Self-Explainable Rationale-Driven Multi-Trait Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.20748/) (2025)
- [FeedEval: Pedagogically Aligned Evaluation of LLM-Generated Essay Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.04574/) (2026)
- [LAILA: A Large Trait-Based Dataset for Arabic Automated Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.24235/) (2025)
- [Activations as Features: Probing LLMs for Generalizable Essay Scoring Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.19456/) (2025)
- [Towards Prompt Generalization: Grammar-aware Cross-Prompt Automated Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.08450/) (2025)
- [Enhancing Automated Essay Scoring With Three Techniques: Two-Stage Fine-Tuning, Score Alignment, and Self-Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.01747/) (2026)
- [VerAs: Verify then Assess STEM Lab Reports](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.05224/) (2024)
- [Frustratingly Simple Prompting-based Text Denoising](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.15931/) (2024)
- [Multi-aspect Depression Severity Assessment via Inductive Dialogue System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.21836/) (2024)
- [Composable Cross-prompt Essay Scoring by Merging Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.18548/) (2025)
- [Leveraging AI Graders for Missing Score Imputation to Achieve Accurate Ability Estimation in Constructed-Response Tests](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.20119/) (2025)
- [TransGAT: Transformer-Based Graph Neural Networks for Multi-Dimensional Automated Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.01640/) (2025)
- [CLEAR: A Comprehensive Linguistic Evaluation of Argument Rewriting by Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.15027/) (2025)
- [Multilingual Embedding Probes Fail to Generalize Across Learner Corpora](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.07095/) (2026)
- [MAPLE: A Meta-learning Framework for Cross-Prompt Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.17569/) (2026)
- [MADRAG: Multi-Agent Debate with Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Training-Free Analytic Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.06754/) (2026)
- [A Unified Framework to Elicit Structured Feedback for Interpretable Multi-Trait Essay Scoring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.28407/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Automated essay scoring (AES) aims to score essays written for a given prompt, which defines the writing topic. Most existing AES systems assume to grade essays of the same prompt as used in training and assign only a holistic score. However, such settings conflict with real-education situations; pre-graded essays for a particular prompt are lacking, and detailed trait scores of sub-rubrics are required. Thus, predicting various trait scores of unseen-prompt essays (called cross-prompt essay trait scoring) is a remaining challenge of AES. In this paper, we propose a robust model: prompt- and trait relation-aware cross-prompt essay trait scorer. We encode prompt-aware essay representation by essay-prompt attention and utilizing the topic-coherence feature extracted by the topic-modeling mechanism without access to labeled data; therefore, our model considers the prompt adherence of an essay, even in a cross-prompt setting. To facilitate multi-trait scoring, we design trait-similarity loss that encapsulates the correlations of traits. Experiments prove the efficacy of our model, showing state-of-the-art results for all prompts and traits. Significant improvements in low-resource-prompt and inferior traits further indicate our model's strength.