PCTI Stem Academy Gradebook Review

Gradebook Review

Trimesters & Final Grade

• The school year is divided into 3 trimesters.

  • Designated as R1, R2, & R3 in PowerSchool.

• Each course has a Final Exam at the end of the year in June.

  • Designated as E2 in PowerSchool.

• The Final Grade you get for each course depends on your trimester grades and Final Exam grade.

Trimesters & Final Exam Weights

Below is the percentage of your final grade that each trimester and the final exam is worth:
R1 - 25%
R2 - 30%
R3 - 35%
E2 - 10%

Notice that each trimester is worth more of your final grade as the school year progresses.

Categories & Weighting

• Categories are used to group assignments in the grade book for each trimester.

• Each category has a different weight, meaning it is worth a different percentage of your trimester grade.

• The higher the percentage, the more the assignments in that category affect your trimester grade.

• If there are NO assignments in any particular category, then your overall trimester grade is not accurate.

Categories for Math Courses

Below are the four categories that all assignments in your math classes will be classified under in the PowerSchool Gradebook, along with their percentage of your trimester grade:

• Exams - 45%

• Projects - 25%

• Quizzes - 20%

• HW/CW - 10%

Fill in the Blanks

How many trimesters are there in the school year?

Multiple Choice

Which trimester is worth the highest percentage of your final grade?

• R1

• R2

• R3

• E2

Letter Grades & Percentages

Your grade in each course depends on the scale provided here. To pass each class, a grade of D or higher is required as your final grade.

Fill in the Blanks

What is the minimum percentage final grade you need to pass each class?

Sample Gradebook

Look at and familiarize yourself with the sample gradebook below, as you will need it to answer some upcoming questions.

Calculating a Trimester Grade

To calculate a student's trimester grade, you must find the average score for each category and multiply it by that category's percentage weight. Then, you find the sum of these points for all the categories.

Calculating the Average Score for each Category

Finding the R3 Grade for Student #1

Finding the R3 Grade for Student #4

Fill in the Blanks

Calculate the R3 grade for student #2.

Fill in the Blanks

Calculate the R3 grade for student #3.

What's the Deal with Grades not Changing??

Students #1, #2, and #3 are good friends and start chatting about their grades after having handed in the last homework assignment (HW #5). Students #3 states that their trimester grade went up a little bit after submitting HW #5, but Student #2 said their trimester grade stayed the same.

Multiple Choice

What is the best reason for why the trimester grade for Student #2 did not change after submitting HW #5, even though it changed for Student #3?

• The teacher likes Student #3 better.

• Student #3 is probably not telling the truth.

• Homework is only 10% of your trimester grade, so it doesn't even matter if you do it or not.

• Student #2 already had a 100% average for their HW/CW category so it wouldn't change their grade when they got another grade of 100%.

New Scenario:
One More Assignment

The teacher mentions giving one more assignment before the end of the trimester but has not yet said which category it will fall under. In the following few slides you should be able to determine how certain grades would affect the trimester grade for each student.

Multiple Select

If the next/last assignment falls under the HW/CW category, a score of a 0 would negatively affect which student(s) the most?

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY.

• Student #1

• Student #2

• Student #3

• Student #4

Predicting the Future

Let's assume Student #4 is trying to finish the trimester with a 65%, and the next/last assignment falls under the Quiz category. What is the minimum grade Student #4 would have to get on that quiz to finish with at least a 65%? Below is one way how you can calculate that required score.

Fill in the Blanks

Let's assume Student #3 is trying to finish the trimester with an 80%, and the next/last assignment falls under the Project category. What is the minimum grade Student #3 would have to get on that project to finish with at least an 80%? Round to the nearest whole number.

Fill in the Blanks

Let's assume Student #2 is trying to finish the trimester with a 90%, and the next/last assignment falls under the Exam category. What is the minimum grade Student #2 would have to get on that exam to finish with at least a 90%? Round to the nearest whole number.

Fill in the Blanks

Let's assume Student #4 is trying to finish the trimester with a 70%, and the next/last assignment falls under the Exam category. What is the minimum grade Student #4 would have to get on that exam to finish with at least a 70%? Round to the nearest whole number.

As you can see from your answers to the last couple of slides, sometimes, students trying to reach a particular grade could be impossible or nearly impossible when only a couple of assignments are left in the trimester. In the previous slide, Student #4 needed a grade of well over 100% on the last exam in order to reach the desired trimester grade. Since PCTI Stem Academy has a NO EXTRA CREDIT policy, achieving a grade on an exam above 100% will not be possible. Students should, however, take advantage of the one reassessment allowed per trimester to help boost their grades.

NO Extra Credit = Mission Impossible??

Draw

Student Objectives (Place a check next to each objective below to show that you have read and understood it.

Open Ended

I, _______________, acknowledge that I have reviewed the syllabus and grading policy with my math teacher. I have checked off the objectives listed on the previous slide and answered all the questions in this presentation regarding the way grades are calculated. Furthermore, I acknowledge that I am doing work to understand what I am learning and NOT just to raise my grade.

(Sign this statement by typing your name below.)