Grade Posting Averaging

The Grade Posting Averaging screen is used to set up grade posting schemes, which determine how quarter, semester, and full year final grades for a course are calculated. Multiple grade posting schemes can be set up for a school to accomodate the needs for various courses. Grade posting schemes are assigned to sections in the Course Catalog, Courses & Sections, and the Master Schedule Report.

Several system preferences in Setup > System Preferences > Grading tab affect the options that are available in Grade Posting Averaging and how grades are averaged:

  • Use Final Semester Exams
  • Use Full Year Exams
  • Use Quarter Exams
  • Semester Exams can be used in Grade Posting Schemes
  • Quarter grades are calculated as average of progress periods
  • Don't round up averaged grades with GPA points < 1
  • Don't change year/semester exam weight if a grade is not posted (blank/40/20 > 80/20)
  • Enable Special Double-Blocked Posting Averaging

Review these system preferences before setting up grade posting schemes.

Adding a New Grade Posting Scheme

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.

Grade Posting Averaging

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.

Editing a 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 edit.

The setup fields are displayed.

3. Edit any of the fields as needed and click Save.

Deleting a Grade Posting Scheme

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.

Duplicating a Grade Posting Scheme

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.

Setting Up a Full Year Grade Calculation

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.

Setting Up a Semester Grade Calculation

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.

Setting Up a Quarter Grade Calculation

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.

Setting Up Double-Blocked Grade Calculations

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.