Grade Calculation

The following documentation is meant to help teachers and parents reconcile some areas of confusion in the way grades are calculated and reported in GradeQuick, Edline and Administrator's Plus.

A Note about Edline and GradeQuick
Generally speaking, there is no point in "balancing" the Edline grade against the GradeQuick grade.  This is because the grade on the Edline report is not generated on its own.  This grade is simply a picture of what a teacher has in the GradeQuick gradebook at the point in time that the report is sent to Edline.

The math behind grade calculations
In its simplest explanation, Final Average and Semester grade calculations are based on the actual weighted score divided by the potential weighted score. 

In term 1, if a student earns an 83.56, this value is multiplied by the term weight (42.5), giving a result of 3551.30.  His potential score is 100, and this is also multiplied by the term weight (42.5), giving a result of 4250.00.  The actual score (3551.30) is then divided by the potential score (4250.00).  The term 1 scenario is the easiest to understand because the final average and the Semester 1 average is the same as the original actual score for term 1 (.8356, which when multiplied by 100 is 83.56).

In term 2, the same student earns a 72.31.  This value is multiplied by 42.5 (result: 3073.18).  The term 2 result is then added to the term 1 result (3551.30), giving an actual  score of 6624.48.  This number is then divided by the student's potential score at the end of term 2 (4250.00 + 4250.00 = 8500.00).  So the calculation for the final average and the Semester 1 average at the end of term 2 looks like this:  6624.48 / 8500.00 = .7794 (multiply .7794 by 100, and the grade is 77.94).

After the midterm is entered, the Semester 1 grade is complete.  However, the midterm has a weight of 15.  If the student has a midterm grade of 98.48, the calculations are as follows:

Actual:
(83.56*42.5)+(72.31*42.5)+(98.48*15)=8101.68

Potential:
(100*42.5)+(100*42.5)+(100*15)=10000.00

Semester 1 and Final Average:
8101.68/10000.00 = .8102
(.8102*100=81.02)

Semester 2 is calculated the same way, but considers only Term 3, Term 4 and the final exam. 

The Final Average, however, is an accumulated total of ALL terms and special scores (i.e. the midterm and final) up to the given point in time.  Therefore, the final average calculation is as follows if the term 3 grade is 65.42 at the time deficiencies are sent out:

Actual
(83.56*42.5)+(72.31*42.5)+(98.48*15)+(65.42*42.5)=10882.025
Potential
(100*42.5)+(100*42.5)+(100*15)+(100*42.5)=14250
Actual / Potential
10882.025 / 14250 = .7637
(.7637*100=76.37)

When sending the score to Edline, Gradequick will truncate (not round) the second decimal.  Currently, the Final Average field is not included in the Edline report, whereas the semester average is.  Because of truncation, the Edline score is almost always a few hundredths lower than the actual grade that exists in GradeQuick and that is also sent to the report card.  The Edline grade will never be higher than the GradeQuick grade (at the point in time that the report is sent to Edline), and the two would only be the same if the grade calculated to a 0 on the second decimal (e.g. 82.00).

Additionally, the Edline report shows both the truncated semester percentage grade, and the semester letter grade at the top of the report.  Term and special score (midterm and final exam) subtotals are shown at the bottom of the report.  They DO NOT fall in the intuitive order (Term 1, Term 2, Midterm, etc.)  Terms are shown first, then special scores.

When the grades are imported into Administrator's Plus, the letter grade will be translated from the second decimal: 

If the student received a 92.54, the grade would be translated as an A on the RC  
If the student received a 92.48, the score would be translated as a B on the RC

The tables below show a full year of GradeQuick calculations in more detail: