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Total Grade Conversion for Standards
Total Grade Conversion for Standards

Total grade conversion set up and overview for Standards.

Brooke Fodor avatar
Written by Brooke Fodor
Updated over 7 months ago

This article will explain Total Grade Conversion for Standards. Total Grade Conversion shows a "total grade" for each student in each class within the standards view of the gradebook. When enabled, users will see the student's overall mastery on individual standards as well as the "total grade."

Total Grade Conversion is calculated by averaging the scores for each standard. This is true for all Mastery Settings; Mean, Mode, Most Recent, Highest, Decaying Average. The total grade is calculated using an average, regardless of Term Conversion or the Mastery Setting is being used for the gradebook.

How Does It Work?

  • The student is assessed on multiple standards.

  • Each standard is then displayed individually in the standards gradebook.

  • The overall mastery score for the individual standard is calculated based on the Mastery Setting selected by the district (Mean, Mode, Most Recent, Highest, Decaying Average)

  • Total Grade is then calculated by averaging the data presented in the Gradebook.

Below are a few examples:

Use Letter Grades

Example: a student that earns an average of "Meets" across all standards assessed will receive a "B" for their total grade.

Use Performance Levels

Example: a student that earns an average of "Approaching Mastery" across all standards assessed will receive an "Approaching Mastery" for their total grade.

  • Once enabled, the "term" will appear in the Total Grade column of the standards view in the gradebook. In the example below, you will see the letter grade that was determined by the Total Grade Conversion.

💡 Tip: If you would like to display a "raw total score" rather than a total grade term, please reach out to your Otus Client Experience Partner or the Otus Support Team for assistance.


Setting Up Total Grade Conversion

Step 1: Turn Total Grade Conversion On

Once you are logged into the Main Admin account, navigate to the Control Center to view your Grading Scales.

From your list of Grading Scales:

  • Locate the specific Grading Scale that you wish to enable Total Grade Conversion for

  • Select the ellipsis

  • Select Total Grade Conversion.

Step 2: Enter Conversion Value

  • Enter the value/text that you would like to display as the "Total Grade" for each scale label maximum of 25 characters each). Select save once done.

  • In the example above, a student that earns an average of "Approaching" across all standards assed will receive a "B" for their total grade.

Once enabled, the Total Grade Conversion can be seen in the gradebook by all users; administrators, teachers, families, and students.


Report Cards

When administrators run report cards, they have the option to include the Total Grade Conversion.

❗ Total Grade Conversion is not automatically included in the report card; administrators must deliberately check the Total Grade checkbox when generating the report card for it to appear.

If Total Grade is checked, it will appear above each class on the report card.

💡 Tip: When running report cards, the administrator will need to choose the standards to include on the report card. Only those standards will be used to determine the Total Grade on the report card. If the Total Grade on the report card does not match the Total Grade shown in the gradebook, this is likely the reason; the report card does not include the same/all standards from the gradebook.


FAQ and Troubleshooting

Click to see FAQ and troubleshooting details.

How do you turn on Total Grade Conversion?

Total Grade Conversion can be accessed in the Control Center through the Main Admin account. Once in the Control Center, select the ellipsis next to the Points grading scale and choose Total Grade conversion.

Can Total Grade Conversion be enabled for just a specific grade level?

The Total Grade Conversion will apply to any grade levels that have that particular grading scale enabled. If different grade levels use different grading scales, then the Total Grade Conversion will only apply to the grade level(s) that use that particular grading scale.

Can Total Grade Conversion be used for points/percentages?

Yes. For more information on using Total Grade Conversion for the assessments (points) view of the gradebook, check out this resource.

How is the "average" of the standards performance calculated?

Otus will assign a value to each performance level in the grading scale, beginning with a value of 0. Each subsequent grading scale label will increase by a value of 1. Example:

  • Exceeds = 3

  • Meets = 2

  • Approaching = 1

  • Below = 0

Those values are then used to calculate the average.

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