Does Aspen average by numerical or letter grade for final grade?
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Anonymous
| DC has a 80.5 (B-), 93 (A), 98 (A) and 98 average currently for 4th quarter in one class. I'm trying to figure out if they will end up with an A- or A in the course. Is it the letter grade that is averaged out or the numerical average that determines the final grade? |
Anonymous
| I believe they average the grade equivalents on the 4.0 scale. So in your kid’s case, that’s 2.7, 4.0, 4.0, 4.0, which is a 3.675 average, which rounds up to 3.7 (A-). |
Anonymous
|
The school grading policy tells you how. Typically this is in the school handbook (I know it is for our school)
But to tell you the quick answer, it is the letter not the #. Your child will get an A- The policy states "Greater than 3.3 and less than or equal to 3.7 " is an A- |
Anonymous
| How would a B+, A-, A-, A average out? |
Anonymous
A- 3.3+3.7+3.7+4= 3.675 rounds up to A- |
Anonymous
| How about a 3.775 or 3.85 based on the grades? Does the former around down to 3.7/A- or does it become an A for both? |
Anonymous
Ugh, if this knocks my kid out of contention for school without walls... |
Anonymous
A for both. DCPS loves grade inflation! 3.71 is an A. |
Anonymous
OP here. Good to know, thanks! |
Anonymous
|
The above is not how DCPS calculates the grade. They publish a manual but it is odd.
They award a 96 for an A…I don’t know the number they award a B- but the guide should have it. So you would take 96*3 plus the number for the B- and divide by 4. I do know that 3 A- and one A equals A. Two B+ and two As = A. They do round up…I think the 3 A- and 1 A is 92.5 which rounds up to 93 which is an A. |
Anonymous
Is this 2016 Beacon article about the system you are describing? https://thejackson-reedbeacon.com/6703/news/automatic-calculations-of-final-grades-concerns-teachers/ |
Anonymous
| So, if several kids end up with the same GPAs, is class rank then determined numerically? |
Anonymous
JR, at least, officially doesn’t do class rank. But it is listed on the transcript; apparently DCPS requires it. I assume that if kids have the same weighted GPAs, they are tied. |
Anonymous
It shouldn't. If your kid only has one A- and the rest are As, they'd have a 3.95 GPA. While it's admittedly a safer bet to have a 4.0 GPA, the Walls GPA cutoff apparently has been around 3.8 or so in the last couple years. |
Anonymous
Thank for posting the article -- if it's from 2016, is it really still accurate? My understanding from reading the DCPS published grade reporting policy is that the numerical scale only matters for coverting a students' term performance into a term letter grade. Such as, anything from a 90% - 92% performance for the term becomes an A-. But after that, the term letter grade is converted to a grade point value on a 4 point scale which is all that is used for computing the final letter grade after four terms. https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/Secondary-Grading-and-Reporting-Policy-8621.pdf (page 4), see also http://dcrules.elaws.us/dcmr/5-e2200. For example, three A-'s and one C+ would be valued at (3.7 x 3.7 + 3.7 + 2.3) = 13.4, and 13.4 divided by 4 = 3.35 = a final grade of A-. In contrast, based on the 2016 article, each term grade is converted to its highest possible numerical value regardless of what the actual score was. So three A-'s and one C+ would be 92 + 92 + 92 + 79 = 355, and 355 divided by 4 = 88.75 which only rounds up to an 89 or a final grade of B+. |