Issue 5 of ETS Research Spotlight focuses on automated scoring. It features a research synopsis by Jill Burstein, Joel Tetreault, and Slava Andreyev, who examined an approach to improving the set of characteristics that automated scoring systems are able to analyze when evaluating student writing. Such research has benefits not only for the testing programs that use the e-rater Scoring Engine — ETS’s automated system for scoring essay-length writing; it also has instructional benefits, potentially leading to tools that help teachers maximize their use of classroom time and resources.