In a Standards-Based Grading (SBG) environment, "mastery" is not determined by a single test score, but by how we interpret a body of evidence. Otus provides five mastery settings that allow districts to choose a calculation method that aligns with their grading philosophy.
🔑 Key Features
Otus offers five primary mastery settings. Each serves a different pedagogical goal:
Setting | How it Works | Best For... |
Decaying Average | Weights the most recent scores more heavily than older ones. | Tracking growth and current proficiency. |
Most Recent | Only the very last attempt counts toward the score. | Skills where only the final outcome matters. |
Highest | The student's best-ever score is their mastery level. | High-stakes summative attempts. |
Mode | The score that appears most frequently in their attempts. | Identifying consistent performance patterns. |
Mean | A traditional average of all attempts. | Situations where every attempt is equally vital. |
🛠️ How It Works
Calculation Definitions
Explore the specific mechanics and research-based reasoning behind each calculation method to ensure your grading strategy aligns with your district’s goals.
Decaying Average
The Definition: This setting calculates a weighted average where the most recent attempts carry more significance. In Otus, the default is a 65/35 split: 65% of the score is based on the most recent attempt, and 35% is based on the average of all prior attempts.
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Decaying Average?
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Decaying Average?
The "Accuracy Over History" Principle (Ken O'Connor): Traditional averaging treats a student's initial struggle with the same importance as their final mastery. Decaying average prioritizes what the student knows now over what they used to not know.
The Power Law of Learning (Robert Marzano): Learning accelerates as concepts click into place. A 65/35 weight provides a curve that closely approximates Marzano’s recommended "Power Law" algorithm for predicting final performance.
Safety to Fail (Thomas Guskey): This removes the "mathematical trap." Because the most recent effort is weighted so heavily, students always have a meaningful path to success, fostering a growth mindset.
Mean (Traditional Average)
The Definition: The Mean calculates the mathematical average of all performance levels achieved across all attempts.
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Mean?
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Mean?
Total Accountability: This setting is best for scenarios where every single data point is considered equally vital to the final outcome.
Familiarity: It is the most recognizable calculation for stakeholders transitioning from traditional points-based systems, though it may not reflect the "growth" of a student as accurately as other methods.
Mode (Most Frequent)
The Definition: The overall performance level is determined by the score that occurs most frequently in the student's history.
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Mode?
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Mode?
Identifying Consistency: This setting answers the question, "What is the student's most typical performance?" It ignores "outliers" (one-time mistakes or one-time lucky guesses) and rewards consistent demonstration of a skill.
Tie-Breaking: In the event of a tie, Otus defaults to the higher score. (Contact your Client Experience Partner to adjust this to the lower score).
Most Recent
The Definition: Mastery is determined solely by the very last performance level recorded.
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Most Recent?
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Most Recent?
The Summative Goal: This is often used when a curriculum builds toward a final, high-stakes assessment that is intended to show the culmination of learning.
Pure Proficiency: It disregards the learning path entirely and focuses strictly on the student’s final state of knowledge at the end of a unit or term.
Highest
The Definition: The student’s overall performance level is set to the highest score they have ever achieved on that standard.
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Highest?
💡 The Deep Dive: Why use Highest?
Encouraging Risk: This setting allows students to attempt difficult tasks without fear of "ruining" their grade. If they achieve mastery once, they have "unlocked" that level.
Best for Evidence-Based Portfolios: This is ideal for competency-based programs where the goal is to prove you can do the work at a high level.
Additional Considerations
There are additional ways to customize your grading set up in Otus to best fit your grading philosophy.
Using Term Conversion
For settings involving calculations (specifically Mean and Decaying Average), your Term Conversion settings are vital. Otus converts mastery labels to numeric values to perform the math. If your calculations look unexpected, check your Term Conversion settings in the Main Administrator account.
Controlling Visibility of Mastery Settings
The district team also has the ability to set a default mastery setting and to choose which mastery settings are available to each grade level. This allows you to customize which mastery settings are available across each grade level.
🚀 Getting Started
Main Administrators can configure these settings in the Control Center. To adjust your calculation weights or discuss which setting is right for your district's philosophy, contact your Client Experience Partner for a guided consultation.