Assignment Grading Types

How Many Grading Types?

The Genesis Gradebook has 6 Grading Types that "count up", one Grading Type designed to "count down" and two ungraded Grading Types.  

When you are adding an Assignment, you can give it any of the nine Grading Types.  

Once a Grading Type has been picked and the Assignment has been created, for the most part you can not change its Grading Type.

If you chose the wrong Grading Type, you will have to delete the Assignment and start over.

"Count Up" Grading Types

There are 6 "count up" Grading Types. These can work whether you are using either the"Total Points" or  the "Category Weighted" grading scheme.  

They are all designed to award students a percentage of the points an Assignment is worth.

Students begin the Marking Period with a "no grade":  zero points attempted and zero points awarded.  

As they complete Assignments, students are awarded a percentage of all the points they attempt, based on the "count up" grades they receive.

The six "count up" Grading Types include:

• Numeric
• Alpha
• Checks
• O-S-U
• Pass/Fail
• Custom Grades

Numeric Grading

The Numeric Grading Type is just that:  you create an Assignment with a Grading Type of Numeric that is worth a specific number of points (e.g. 100 points).  

When you grade the Assignment, you give the student the specific number of grades they earned: you award the students not a percentage of the points, but the actual number of points they have earned.

Alpha Grading

The "Alpha Grades" Grading Type grades Assignments with a "letter grade". 

Each letter grade (e.g. B+) corresponds to a certain percentage.   For example, if B+ is worth 85%, then a student earning a B+ would be awarded 85% of the points the Assignment is worth.  

If the Assignment is worth 100 points, a B+ earns the student 85 points (i.e  85 out of 100).   

The set of Alpha Grades is flexible: typically you will have your school's Alpha Grade scale.
 

Check Marks

The Checks Grading Type has five fixed grades:  Check++ (Check plus plus), Check+  (check plus), Check, Check- (Check minus) and Check-- (Check minus minus).  

As with the Alpha Grading type, each of these five grades is worth a percentage of the points the Assignment is worth. 

O-S-U

The O-S-U Grading Type is a fixed set of three grades:  O (Outstanding), S (Satisfactory) and U (unsatisfactory).  

You cannot alter this set.  Each grade (O, S or U) is worth a percentage of the Assignment's point value.   "O" should always be worth 100%.

The other two grades can be set as to local policy.

Pass / Fail

The Pass / Fail Grading Type has two fixed grades:  Pass (P) and Fail (F).   This is a fixed set.  

The "Pass" grade should be worth 100% of the points an Assignment is worth. 

The "Fail" grade is typically worth the highest possible Failing value (e.g. 65%), however, it can be set to any "failing value" (e.g. 55).

Custom Grading Type

The Custom Grading Type is designed for you to be able to create your own set of Grades.

Initially, there are no Custom Grades defined - the Grading Type is empty.  

You can add as many Custom Grades as necessary.  For example, you can define a set of 4 grades:  V, G, S, N.  

Each Custom Grade corresponds to a percentage of Assignments' Points.  

Your "highest" Custom Grade should always be worth 100% of points.  All other grades can be flexible.  

The Count Down Grading Type and Categories

There is only one "count down" Grading Type:  "Pre-set Points".  

The Pre-Set Points Grading Type can only be used with Count Down Categories.

It cannot be used with Total Points grading schemes.  When you create a Count Down Category, students start each Marking Period with a fixed, positive set of points (e.g. 100 points).

Students then gain or lose points as they earn "Pre-Set Points" Grades.  

When a student earns a grade (e.g. "Not Handed In"), that grade's value (e.g -5 points) is applied directly to the student's point total: 

Assignments are not worth points.   Each grade is "absolute" and not a percentage. 

A grade of "-10" directly subtracts ten points from a student's MP "average" for the Count Down Category.  

A grade of +5 directly adds 5 points to the student's MP 'average'.

Regular 'count up' Grading Types (Numeric, Alpha, Checks, O-S-U and Pass / Fail, cannot be used with "Count Down Categories".