The Grade Posting Averaging screen allows districts and individual schools to define how student grades are calculated and posted for quarters, semesters, and full-year final grades. These grade posting schemes can be customized to fit specific policies, with options for weighting grades by category (e.g., homework, exams), applying numeric or letter-based scales, and handling incomplete assignments. The screen provides a framework for flexible grade calculation across different reporting periods, ensuring consistency while accommodating unique needs at both the district and school levels.
The configuration of System Preferences plays a critical role in how grade posting schemes are set up and what options appear on the Grade Posting Averaging screen. Preferences can be set at both the district and school levels, affecting various aspects of grading calculations.
District and School-Level Configuration:
District Preferences: Configured in Setup > System Preferences > Default School Preferences > Grading tab, these options impact how grading schemes function across the entire district.
School Preferences: Configured in Setup > System Preferences > School Preferences > Grading tab, these options allow individual schools to tailor grading schemes to their needs.
Key System Preferences for Grade Posting Averaging:
Use Final Semester Exams: Allows for semester exam grade calculation percentages to be added on the Grade Posting Averaging screen.
Use Full Year Exams: Adds an option for entering Full Year Exam grade percentages.
Use Quarter Exams: Allows for entering Quarter Exam grade percentages, integrated into both quarter and semester grade calculations.
Don't Change Year/Semester Exam Weight if a Grade is Not Posted: Controls how semester grades are calculated when a student is missing a marking period grade. If unchecked, ungraded periods are excluded from the calculation.
Semester Exams in Grade Posting Schemes: Allows semester exams to be part of the full-year grade calculation. If not selected, exams will only factor into semester grades.
Quarter Grades Calculated as Average of Progress Periods: Enables the use of progress periods in quarter grade calculations.
Enable Special Double-Blocked Posting Averaging: Enables a double-block grading feature for schools on 4x4 or block schedules. This setting allows for halving the Course History Term for flagged sections.
1. In the Setup menu, click Grade Posting Averaging.
2. Click Add a Grade Posting Scheme.
3. Enter a Title for the grade posting scheme.
4. Select the Default Scheme check box to assign this grade posting scheme to newly created sections if a grade posting scheme was not assigned to the course in the Course Catalog.
5. Click Save.
The setup fields are displayed for the grade posting scheme.
6. Enter a Short Name for the grade posting scheme.
7. Select the Round GPA Points Under 1 check box to round up averaged grades when the GPA points are less than 1 when pulling or posting grades.
8. In the Blank Exam Score Treatment pull-down, select how blank exam scores should be treated when calculating grades.
Selecting Excluded will exclude the exam score from the grade calculation. Selecting Zero will give the exam a zero score in the calculation. Selecting Incomplete will give the student a final grade of Incomplete. The applicable grading scale must have a grade marked as Incomplete.
For example, if the full year grade is calculated by giving the semester 1 final grade a weight of 35%, semester 2 final grade a weight of 35%, and the full year exam a weight of 30%, the full year grade will be calculated as follows for each of the options, assuming the student had a semester 1 final grade of 90 and a semester 2 final grade of 95.
Excluded - [90(.35) + 95(.35)]/.7 = 92.5% --> rounds to 93%
Zero - [90(.35) +95(.35) + 0(.3)]/.1 = 64.75% --> rounds to 65%
Incomplete - Student receives an Incomplete grade
9. Complete the sections for Full Year Grade Calculation, Semester Grade Calculation, Quarter Grade Calculation, and double-blocked schemes as needed. See the procedures below for more information.
10. Click Save.
1. In the Setup menu, click Grade Posting Averaging.
2. On the left side of the screen, click the grade posting scheme to edit.
The setup fields are displayed.
3. Edit any of the fields as needed and click Save.
1. In the Setup menu, click Grade Posting Averaging.
2. On the left side of the screen, click the minus sign next to the grade posting scheme to delete.
3. In the confirmation message, click OK.
An existing grade posting scheme can be duplicated to create a new grade posting scheme.
1. In the Setup menu, click Grade Posting Averaging.
2. On the left side of the screen, click the grade posting scheme to duplicate.
The setup fields are displayed.
3. At the top of the screen, click Duplicate Grade Posting Scheme.
4. Enter the New Scheme Title.
5. Click Save.
The setup fields for the new grade posting scheme are displayed.
6. Make any changes to the new grade posting scheme as needed and click Save.
There are two options available when setting up a full year grade calculation, using a weighted average of semester grades or using a weighted average of quarter grades. Use only one of these options in the grade posting scheme.
1. In the Full Year Grade Calculation section, enter the percent value (1-100) that each term or exam will be weighted in the calculation. The sum should equal 100. Leave blank the terms/exams that are not applicable.
2. Select the Hide check box next to Full Year Exam to hide the option to post grades for the full year exam from teachers. This is often used when exam grades are going to be set by running Process Assessments and not posted by teachers.
3. Select the Hide check box next to Full Year to hide the option to post full year grades from teachers. This is often used when grades will be pulled by administrators and not posted by teachers.
The "Hide" options only impact what marking periods are available for teacher grade posting.
1. In the Semester Grade Calculation section, enter the percent value (1-100) that each term or exam will be weighted in the calculation. The sum should equal 100. Leave blank the terms/exams that are not applicable.
2. Select the Hide check box next to the semester exam to hide the option to post grades for the exam from teachers. This is often used when exam grades are going to be set by running Process Assessments and not posted by teachers.
3. Select the Hide check box next to the semester title to hide the option to post semester grades from teachers. This is often used when grades will be pulled by administrators and not posted by teachers.
The "Hide" options only impact what marking periods are available for teacher grade posting.
If quarter exams are enabled in System Preferences, they will appear in both the semester and quarter grade calculation setup. If no weight is assigned in the setup, the quarter exam column will not display on the teacher Post Final Grades screen.
1. In the Quarter Grade Calculation section, enter the percent value (1-100) that each term or exam will be weighted in the calculation. The sum should equal 100. Leave blank the terms/exams that are not applicable.
2. Select the Hide check box next to the quarter exam to hide the option to post grades for the exam from teachers.
3. Select the Hide check box next to the quarter title to hide the option to post quarter grades from teachers. This is often used when grades will be pulled by administrators and not posted by teachers.
The "Hide" options only impact what marking periods are available for teacher grade posting.
If your district is a mixture of standard and blocked schools, the grade calculations for double-blocked sections can be defined in the grade posting scheme. The area for setting up double-blocked schemes only displays on the Grade Posting Averaging screen if the system preference "Enable Special Double-Blocked Posting Averaging" is enabled. When pulling grades for sections marked "Double Blocked" in Courses & Sections, the Course History Term will be halved. For example, if the Course Catalog has a Course History Term of Full Year for a course and the Credits Per CH Term is 1, the student will receive full credit at the semester marking period.
Set up the Full Year Grade Calculation, Semester Grade Calculation, and Quarter Grade Calculation in the double-blocked section of the screen as described in the above procedures. This must be set up for final grades to be calculated correctly.
Objective: Configure a new grade posting scheme using quarter, semester, or full-year exams.
Steps:
- Go to Setup > Grade Posting Averaging.
- Click the Add New button to start a new grade posting scheme.
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Set Up the Grade Calculation
- In the appropriate section (Full Year, Semester, or Quarter), enter the percentage weights for each term or exam. Make sure the total adds up to 100.
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Enable Exam Options
- To include exams in the grade calculation, ensure the relevant System Preferences are enabled:
- For quarter exams, enable Use Quarter Exams.
- For semester exams, enable Use Final Semester Exams.
- For full-year exams, enable Use Full Year Exams.
- To include exams in the grade calculation, ensure the relevant System Preferences are enabled:
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Assign Weights to Exams
- Once exam options are enabled, additional fields will appear on the Grade Posting Averaging screen. Enter the percentage weights for each exam (e.g., 20% for the semester exam).
- Ensure the total percentage for all components adds up to 100.
- Select the Hide check boxes if you want to prevent teachers from posting grades for specific exams or terms (e.g., Full Year Exam or Full Year grades) if grades will be pulled or imported by administrators.
- Once all percentages and preferences are set, click Save.
Objective: Configure a new grade posting scheme to calculate full-year grades using a weighted average of terms and exams.
Steps:
- Navigate to Setup > Grade Posting Averaging.
- Click Add New to start a new grade posting scheme for the full year.
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Configure Full Year Grade Calculation
- In the Full Year Grade Calculation section, decide whether you will calculate the full year grade using:
- A weighted average of semester grades.
- A weighted average of quarter grades.
- Enter the percentage weights for each term, ensuring the total equals 100%.
- In the Full Year Grade Calculation section, decide whether you will calculate the full year grade using:
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Enable Full Year Exams (Optional)
- If full year exams are part of the grading policy, make sure the Use Full Year Exams option is enabled in System Preferences.
- Enter the exam percentage weight (e.g., 30%) in the Full Year Grade Calculation section. Adjust the weights of the other terms accordingly so the total is 100%.
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Configure Semester or Quarter Exams (Optional)
- If semester or quarter exams are part of the calculation, ensure that Use Final Semester Exams or Use Quarter Exams is enabled in System Preferences.
- Add the percentage weights for these exams in the appropriate section (either semester or quarter).
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Set Display Preferences
- Decide whether to hide specific terms or exams from teachers. Check the Hide box next to:
- Full Year Exam if exam grades will be imported or managed by administrators.
- Full Year if the full year grade will be pulled by administrators and not posted by teachers.
- Decide whether to hide specific terms or exams from teachers. Check the Hide box next to:
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Double-Check the Total Weights
- Verify that the sum of all weights (terms and exams) equals 100%.
- Once all terms and exam percentages are configured, click Save to finalize the scheme.
Objective: Configure a new grade posting scheme for calculating semester grades using term and exam weights.
Steps:
- Go to Setup > Grade Posting Averaging.
- Click Add New to start creating a new grade posting scheme for the semester.
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Configure Semester Grade Calculation
- In the Semester Grade Calculation section, decide how the semester grade will be calculated:
- Quarter grades: Enter the percentage weights for the quarters (e.g., 50% for each quarter in a two-quarter semester).
- Semester exams: If semester exams are used, make sure to allocate the appropriate percentage to the exam (e.g., 20% exam, 40% per quarter). Ensure the total equals 100%.
- In the Semester Grade Calculation section, decide how the semester grade will be calculated:
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Enable Semester Exams (Optional)
- If semester exams are part of the grading calculation, ensure that Use Final Semester Exams is enabled in System Preferences.
- Enter the weight for the semester exam in the Semester Grade Calculation section.
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Include Quarter Exams (Optional)
- If quarter exams are used as part of the semester grade, make sure the Use Quarter Exams option is enabled in System Preferences.
- Enter the quarter exam percentage within the semester calculation (e.g., 10% for the quarter exam, 45% per quarter).
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Set Display Preferences
- Choose whether to hide certain grades from teachers:
- Hide Semester Exam: Check this box if semester exam grades will be imported or handled by administrators.
- Hide Semester Grades: Check this box if semester grades will be pulled by administrators and not posted by teachers.
- Choose whether to hide certain grades from teachers:
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Verify Weights
- Ensure the total weights of the quarters, exams, and any other components add up to 100%.
- Once all percentages and preferences are configured, click Save to apply the new semester grade posting scheme.
Objective: Configure a new End-of-Course (EOC) grade posting scheme using semester grades and an EOC exam score, while handling different blank exam score scenarios.
Scenario:
- A student has semester grades of 88% and 93%.
- The EOC exam score is 80%.
- You'll explore how blank exam scores are treated in three scenarios: excluded, treated as zero, and marked as incomplete.
Steps:
1. Go to Setup > Grade Posting Averaging.
2. Click Add New to start creating a new grade posting scheme for an EOC course.
3. Set Up the EOC Grade Calculation
- Configure the scheme so that the final full-year grade will be calculated as:
- Semester 1: 35%
- Semester 2: 35%
- EOC exam: 30%
- Enter these percentage values in the Full Year Grade Calculation section. Ensure the total equals 100%.
4. Enter the Student's Grades
- Semester 1 Grade: 88%
- Semester 2 Grade: 93%
- EOC Exam Score: 80%
5. Explore the Three Blank Exam Score Scenarios
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Scenario 1: Exclude Blank Exam Scores
- In this scenario, any missing exam score is excluded from the final grade calculation.
- Example:
- Semester 1: 88%
- Semester 2: 93%
- EOC Exam (Blank): Excluded from the calculation
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Final Grade Calculation:
- [(88 × 0.35) + (93 × 0.35)] / 0.7 = 90.5%, rounds to 91%
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Scenario 2: Blank Exam Score as Zero
- In this scenario, any missing exam score is treated as a zero.
- Example:
- Semester 1: 88%
- Semester 2: 93%
- EOC Exam (Blank): 0%
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Final Grade Calculation:
- [(88 × 0.35) + (93 × 0.35) + (0 × 0.30)] = 63.55%, rounds to 64%
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Scenario 3: Blank Exam Score as Incomplete
- In this scenario, a missing exam score results in an Incomplete (I) grade.
- Example:
- Semester 1: 88%
- Semester 2: 93%
- EOC Exam (Blank): Incomplete
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Final Grade Calculation:
- The final grade will be marked as Incomplete and cannot be posted until the missing score is resolved.
6. Configure the Blank Exam Score Treatment
- Go to the Blank Exam Score Treatment setting.
- Choose one of the three options: Excluded, Zero, or Incomplete, depending on district policy.
7. Save the EOC Grade Posting Scheme
- Once the weights and the blank score scenario are set up, click Save to finalize the scheme.