Grade Calculation Options (Instruction)

PATH: Campus Instruction > Grade Book > Settings > Grade Calc Options

PATH: Campus Instruction > Progress Monitor > Settings > Grade Calc Options

The grade calculation options are the preferences you select to determine how the Grade Book calculates In Progress grades and proficiency estimates.

This is where you apply grading scales.

The calculation options for grading tasks and standards are different. Select calculation logic for individual tasks or standards or to multiple items using the Fill option. Grade Calc Options may be established at the Course or Course Master level and may therefore be read-only.

Screenshot highlighting accessing the Grade Calc Options tool from the Grade Book Settings menu. 

Grade Calculation Options for In Progress Grades of Grading Tasks and Proficiency Estimates of Standards

Grade Calc Options can also be accessed from the Progress Monitor Settings menu: 

Screenshot highlighting accessing the Grade Calc Options tool from the Settings button in the Progress Monitor.

Manage Grade Calc Options from the Progress Monitor as well. 

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If a task or standard was added to the section since the last time you modified these options, a notification appears notifying you that the Options records need to be updated. Click Continue to proceed.

Screenshot of the validation information that may display. 

Viewing In Progress Grades and Proficiency Estimates in the Grade Book

The options selected in this tool determine how In Progress Grades are calculated in the Grade Book. If No Calculation is selected, no data calculates in the In Progress section of the Grade Totals.

Screenshot of the In Progress Grades columns of the Grade Book. 

In Progress Grades in the Grade Book

Fill and Filter Options

To apply a specific grading setup to multiple tasks or standards, select Fill Options. From there, filter using the Type, Term, and Task dropdown lists and then select the Calculation Type and other options to apply to all standards or tasks that fit the filter criteria. For example, in the image below, I'm setting the Term Grade task to calculate the same way in all terms.

Screenshot of the fill options modal. 

Use the Fill and Filter options to apply grade calculation options to multiple standards or tasks. 

Additionally, the filter options are available in the main Grade Calc Options screen to filter the individual standards and tasks displayed.

In Progress Proficiency Estimates for Standards

Establish calculation preferences for multiple standards using the Fill options or for each Term/Standard combination individually.

Screenshot of the Method dropdown list showing the options for calculating grades for Standards. 

The following options are available for calculating grades for standards. 

The following table describes the Types of calculations available for Standards. See the Additional Options section for other types of setup completed in Grade Calc Options.

Type

Description

No Calculation

Select this option to exclude the standard from calculation of students' In Progress proficiency estimate in the Grade Book. This option allows teachers to manually enter grades without an In Progress grade being calculated.

This option is pre-selected and cannot be modified when a standard is marked as Post-only on the Course Standards tab or the Course Masters Standards tab. No assignments or categories can be assigned to post-only standards.

In Progress Grade

Select this option to calculate an In Progress grade for this standard using a Grading Scale. Use this option if you're scoring the standard with Points or Marks. Additional options appear when this option is selected:

  • Grading Scales - Choose a scale to convert student score percentages into grades in the scale, such as A-, B+, D, etc.
  • Weight Categories - Marking this checkbox indicates the Weight values entered for the Category should be included in the calculation of the In Progress grade.
  • Use score's % value - Marking this checkbox calculates scores based on the percentage of points earned for each assignment rather than the raw point value across all assignments. For example, two assignments are scored as 8/10 and 100/100. The point value calculated for these two assignments would be 108/110, or 98%. The percent value calculated would be 80% and 100%, or 90% for the Category. If this option is chosen, all assignments aligned to the Standard must be worth more than zero points.

Proficiency Estimate (Rubrics)

Select this option if the standard is scored using a rubric. Rubrics are used to described quality of work, rather than a numerical score. Choose a Method to calculate grades:

  • Power Law: Power Law is a mathematical calculation that converts proficiency levels into numeric values and determines a trend based on the student's scores. Power Law works on the assumption that standards are assessed at consistent intervals, such as weekly. See Posting Grades when Using Power Law for an example of using Power Law.
  • Highest Score: Determines the highest proficiency level the student has achieved. Sequence must be entered for items on the Rubric for this option to calculate correctly.
  • Mode: Determines the most common score for the student across scores. Enter a value in Limit Assignments to Last ____ to limit the calculation to the x number of recent assignments. 
  • Most Recent: Populates the most recent proficiency level.
  • Mean: Calculates the grade as the average of all scores entered based on the Mean % Value entered for the Rubric. To calculate a grade, rubric scores are converted into numeric values using the Mean % Value field on the rubric. Those values are then averaged and converted back into a rubric score using the Minimum % and Mean % values.
  • Decaying Average: Calculates the grade as the average of all scores entered, but with more recent scores weighted more heavily. The most recent score is calculated at full weight, with the next most recent score worth 65%, the score previous to that worth 65%2 (42%), then 65%3 (27.5%), etc. The average is calculated by converting scores into numeric values and back based on Rubric values as described above. 

    Image of a mathematical formula where decaying average equals the SUM of rubric score value multiplied by decay weight, over the SUM of the decay weight.

In the grade book, hover over a student's proficiency estimate to see each of these values calculated.

In Progress Grades for Grading Tasks

Establish calculation preferences for multiple tasks using the Fill options or for each Term/Task combination individually.

Screenshot of the options for calculating grades for grading tasks. 

The following options are available for calculating grades for tasks. 

The following table describes the Types of calculations available for Grading Tasks. See the Additional Options section for other types of setup completed in Grade Calc Options.

Option

Description

No Calculation

Select this option to exclude the task from calculation of students' In Progress grades in the Grade Book.

Calculate In Progress Grade

Select this option to calculate an In Progress grade for this task. Additional options appear when this option is selected:

  • Grading Scales - Choose a scale to convert student score percentages into grades in the scale, such as A-, B+, D, etc.
  • Weight Categories - Marking this checkbox indicates the Weight values entered for the Category should be included in the calculation of the In Progress grade.
  • Use score's % value - Marking this checkbox calculates scores based on the percentage of points earned for each assignment rather than the raw point value across all assignments. For example, two assignments are scored as 8/10 and 100/100. The point value calculated for these two assignments would be 108/110, or 98%. The percent value calculated would be 80% and 100%, or 90% for the Category. If this option is chosen, all assignments aligned to the Standard must be worth more than zero points.

Post-only Tasks

Categories and assignments cannot be aligned to tasks marked as Post-only on the Course > Grading Tasks or Course Masters > Grading Tasks tabs. However, calculation options can be set up for these tasks to allow a Grade to be calculated in the Posted column when a Percent is entered for a student.

Additional Options in Grade Calc Options

The following options are available for standards and tasks:

OptionDescription
CompositeA composite task or standard is a parent task that is grade based on the child tasks that make it up. For example, a semester task may be a composite of two quarter tasks. See the Composite Grading article for more information.
RollupA parent standard or task can be calculated by "rolling up" child tasks. See the Rollup Grade Calculations article for more information.
Limit Assignments to Last ___This option limits the grade calculation to only include the most recent x number of assignments. For example, proficiency in a standard may be calculated as the mode of the most recent 5 assignments.
Cumulative Grading Starting inThis option allows teachers to set a starting term for calculating grading across multiple terms. See the Cumulative Grading article for more information.

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