TXEIS Grade Reporting
Grade Averaging and Class Ranking
Training Guide
Table of Contents
District’s GPA Policy 1
Campus Control Options – Grade Averaging Information 2
Campus Control Options – Ranges and Conversions tab page 3
Grade Averaging – Table Maintenance 4
Course Type Table 4
Numeric Grade Average Operator/Value Table 5
Entering the Same Grade Average Table Type Code Multiple Times 6
Numeric Grade Averaging – Failing Grades, Blank, Incomplete (I), and No Grade (N/G) 6
Running both Numeric and Grade Point Grade Averaging 7
Grade Averaging Tables – Grade Point 7
Grade Point Grade Averaging–Failing Grades, Blank, Incomplete (I), and No Grade (N/G) 8
When High School Courses are Taken at Jr High AND the Grades are to be used in the High School’s Grade Averaging 8
Middle School Numeric Grade Average Table ‘J’ 9
High School Numeric Grade Average Table ‘J’ 9
Verifying the Numeric and Grade Point Tables 9
Code District Courses for Grade Averaging 11
Verify GA Coding in District Courses 12
Student’s GPA Override Codes 13
Verify Student’s GPA Override Codes 14
Grade Average and Class Ranking Utility Options 15
Select which Cycles or Semesters to Include in Grade Averaging 18
Grade Averaging and Class Ranking Early Computations 20
Early Computation for 2-Semester 6-Week Campus 20
Self-Paced Courses’ Grade Averaging for Regular and Early Computations 22
The Student’s Grade Averaging and Class Rank Record 23
Verifying Existing Student GPA Records 25
Print Grade Reporting Report SGR2070 Grd Avg Info – By Student 26
Use Report SGR1925 Student Course Information to Manually Calculate GPA 28
Run Cumulative Grd Avg and Class Ranking Utility 31
Cumulative Grade Average and Class Ranking Calculation 32
Clear Grade Average and Class Ranking Utility 33
ESC Region 20 Page 33 1/11/2013
IT, Support Services TXEIS Student
TXEIS Grade Reporting
Grade Averaging and Class Ranking
Training Guide
District’s GPA Policy
TEA provides no guidelines to districts for ranking their students. A district’s GPA policy is determined by its local district policy. For this reason, setting up and running Grade Averaging and Class Ranking will vary greatly between districts. The district’s GPA policy should be outlined in the Campus Student Handbook or a similar publication.
Grade Averaging and Class Ranking is a very important computer process for the students. The high school student’s cumulative grade average and rank determines the valedictorian and the salutatorian for the campus. It also determines the students graduating in the top 10% of their high school class. Texas law provides that any high school student graduating in the top 10% of their high school class is automatically eligible for admission at any Texas public college or university.[1]
The overall GPA and Rank is not only important for the top 10% of the class, but also for those students that fall within the first quartile. Colleges and universities also award scholarships to students who fall within the first quartile depending on their overall GPA, class rank, and other factors.
When setting up for Grade Averaging and Class Ranking information, be sure to reference the campus’s GPA Policy in the Campus Student Handbook to ensure accuracy.
The following GPA information should be contained in the Campus Student Handbook:
· Type of GPA: Numeric or Grade Point
· Weighted courses and their assigned weight
· Courses excluded from GPA
· The low grade for average
· The number of decimal places
· Policy for correspondence courses, distant learning courses, and college courses
· Policy for middle school courses taken for high school credit
Accuracy is essential in calculating the students’ GPA that is why the “top” students’ GPA should be hand-calculated and compared against the computer calculated GPA.
Credit Level is part of the student’s grade average records and the grade averaging utilities. This allows the middle school campus to run a “special” current year grade averaging to create records that include only those courses taken for high school credit. The current year grade averaging utility will create an ‘H’ grade average row in the middle school student’s records. This also allows the high school campuses to include high school credit courses taken at the middle school campus in the student’s high school cumulative grade averaging and class rank. In order for this to happen, several things must be in-place. Each of the following is discussed in detail in this document:
· Every course in the district Master Schedule must have the Credit Level field set.
· All existing student GPA records must have appropriate Credit Level information.
· Jr. Highs must establish Numeric Operators or GP tables which use the same values as the high school for any high school level course taken at the Jr. High.
· Middle Schools must run the same type of GPA (numeric or GP) as the high school for those high school courses taken at the Jr. High level.
Campus Control Options – Grade Averaging Information
To access the Campus Control information, select: Grade Reporting > Maintenance > Tables > Campus Control Options > H Roll & Gr Avg tab. The following screen is displayed:
The following describes the Grade Averaging Information fields:
· Grds Used for Grade Avg: Select which type of grades to use for grade averaging and class ranking calculation. The options are C for Cycle Grades, S for Semester Grades and F for Final Grades. (High school campuses usually run Grade Averaging based on semester averages. Middle School campuses usually run Grade Averaging for the 8th grade to identify the top 10 students.) Base Grade Averaging on cycle grades ONLY if there are NO semester exams!!!
· Low Grade for Average: This field specifies the lowest grade a student can receive to be used in the Grade Averaging calculations. If a student’s grade is lower than the “Low Grade for Average”, which is set to 50 for this campus, then the Grade Averaging utility will use 50 as the student’s grade. (Campuses usually set this field to 50 or 00.)
· Grade Average 4 point Scale: Select if you also want a 4-point scale to be calculated when the Grade Average utility is run. Select from options: 0 – Don’t print, 1 – Print and exclude zero weight courses, or 2 – Print and include zero weight courses. This is a non-weighted 4 point average and is often referred to as the College Grade Point Average. The student’s grades are converted from the Campus Control Options on the Ranges and Conversions tab page. The following screen displays the Grade Conversion Information:
Campus Control Options – Ranges and Conversions tab page
The following table shows the points awarded for each grade range assigned to the alphabetical grades:
Grade Ranges / Points AwardedA: 100 - 090 / 4.0
B: 089 – 080 / 3.0
C: 079 – 075 / 2.0
D: 074 - 070 / 1.0
F: 069 – 000 / 0.0
The following table shows the grade conversions for a student’s 4 Point Average using semester 1 grades:
Semester 1 Grades / Points Awarded92 / 4.0
89 / 3.0
77 / 2.0
74 / 1.0
65 / 0.0
95 / 4.0
80 / 3.0
# Courses / Total Points
7 / 17
This student’s 4 Point Average is calculated as follows:
Student’s Total Grade Points / Number of Courses = 17/7 = 2.42857
· Number of Decimal Points: The number of decimal places to the right of the decimal point used for the computed grade averages. The decimal places can be set from 1 to 5.
· Include Withdrawn Students in Average: Click the check box if you want to include withdrawn students in grade averaging. Normally, withdrawn students are not included in grade averaging.
· Include Withdrawn Students in Rank: Click the check box if you want to include withdrawn students in the grade average rank. You can select to include withdrawn students in the grade averaging without including them in ranking. Withdrawn students are not normally included in the grade average rank.
· Include Withdrawn Courses in Rank: The options are: A – Include, G – Include if there is a grade and N – Don’t Include. Withdrawn courses are not normally included in grade averaging.
Note: Withdrawn self-paced courses with a semester grade will be included in grade averaging regardless of how this option is set as long as it is an eligible course (i.e. has a GA Weight other than zero).
Grade Averaging – Table Maintenance
Course Type Table
To access the Course Type table, select: Grade Reporting Maintenance > Tables > Course Type. The following screen is displayed:
A campus has the option of using 0-9 and A-Z grade averaging table codes. The Course Type table is used to identify the table codes used for grade averaging and provide a description of the type of coursework for each table. To change the default table name, User Defined, highlight and enter the new description.
Don’t forget to save your changes.
The following is an example of table code descriptions: 2=Dual Credit Coursework, 4=Advanced Coursework and B=Modified Coursework. This table is used to define the grade averaging table codes for numeric or grade point.
The Course Type table is optional. If completed, the table’s descriptions are displayed in the drop down for the Grade Average (GA Table) field, in the District Course screen, and in the student’s GPA Override field; which is documented later in this training guide.
Numeric Grade Average Operator/Value Table
To access the Numeric Grade Average Operator/Value Table, select: Grade Reporting > Maintenance > Tables > Grade Reporting Tables > Num Grade Avg Operator/Value tab. The following screen is displayed:
The Numeric Grade Average Operator/Value Table is used for processing when on the Grade Averaging and Class Ranking utility screen, the option Process Numeric Point Grade Averaging is selected.
The Grade Averaging Tables to be used are defined in the district course records in the field, GA Table. Any table codes for courses in the GA Table field of the District Master Schedule must be entered in the Numeric Grade Average Operator/Value table. This table specifies the weighted value that is applied by the Grade Average Type code to the student grades used for grade averaging. Choose +Add to create a record and the Trashcan icon is used to delete a record. The following defines the table fields for this table:
· Type Code: The Type Code is the GA Table code specified in the courses in the District Master Schedule. The Type Code in this table specifies what weight, if any, will be applied to the student’s grade when running numeric grade averaging. In the Type Code field, select one of the table types that is defined in the courses GA Table field. The Type Code drop-down list will display the description for the table code added in the Course Type table.
Note: IF there is course with a GA Table code, but no weight is to be applied to the course, then the Table Type code must be entered in this table with an operator of + (add) and a value of zero (0). This will include the course in grade averaging and it will use the student’s grades at face value (i.e. “as-is”).
· Operator: You may select from four different operators: (+) add, (-) subtract, (%+) percent add, or (%-) percent subtract. The following page shows the calculation for the percentage operators. When using the + or – Operator the program uses whatever is placed in the Value field as a Whole Number. If the +% or -% Operator is used, the program uses whatever is placed in the Value field as a Percent (up to 2 digits).
Type / Operator / Value / Grade / Calculation / Weighted Grade2 / %+ / 10 / 85 / (85 x .10 = 8.5) (85 +8.5) = / 93.5
B / %- / 5 / 85 / (85 x .05 = 4.25) (85 – 4.25) = / 80.75
Note: The percentage operator’s calculation may produce a decimal place in the weighted grade, which is NOT rounded up or down. The value in the decimal place is used in calculating the student’s current year GPA.
· Value: Enter the value to be applied for this table type and the operator selected. The value is the amount that will be applied to the student’s grades for grade averaging. The value entered must be numeric à NO decimal places allowed here for addition or subtraction operators. Use the Grade Averaging Tables if that’s the school policy.
· Low Grade: In this field specify what the lowest grade is assigned to students that will have the value applied to the grade. Enter the lowest grade that can be weighted.
· High Grade: In this field specify what the highest grade is assigned to students that will have the value applied to the grade. Enter the highest grade that can be weighted.
Entering the Same Grade Average Table Type Code Multiple Times
Some districts’ GPA policy provides that different ranges of grades for a course will have different weights applied to them. The Numeric Grade Average Operator/Value table allows for this policy. The following is an example of using the same table code for different ranges of grades:
Type / Operator / Value / Low Grade / High GradeH / + / 10 / 090 / 100
H / + / 5 / 075 / 089
In the example above, students taking courses with the GA Table code of H would receive 10 points added to their grade if their original grade is between 90 and 100. If their grade is between 89 and 75, they would only receive 5 points added to their grade. A grade below 75 would receive no points added to the grade.
Numeric Grade Averaging – Failing Grades, Blank, Incomplete (I), and No Grade (N/G)
Failing Grades are processed differently when running numeric grade averaging versus running grade point grade averaging. Numeric grade averaging will use the grade at face value if it falls outside the high or low grade range. If the Low Grade on the Numeric table is set to 070 and the student’s grade is 65 à then the student will not receive the weighted value for the course, but the student’s grade of 65 will be used in calculating the GPA. If the Low Grade for Average on the campus control is set to 50 à and the student’s grade is lower, the grade will be adjusted to 50 for calculation purposes.