Decaying average is one of the five available mastery settings. Mastery settings are used to determine how a student's performance on standards is calculated.
Decaying Average: Overall performance is determined using a calculation that is based on an average with more weight given to the more recent scores.
By using Decaying Average, the grades are focused more on the newer scores. That means that if a student does well, but has one or two bad days, it won't drop their grade significantly. This approach gives a fairer picture of a student's progress and current understanding.
Control Center Settings:
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The above settings are determined at the district level. If you are unsure if your district uses Highest or Average for the Decaying Average calculation, contact your administration or the Otus Support Team using the chat feature!
Decaying Average Calculation
There are two ways Decaying Average can be calculated:
"Highest"
Looks at each question as its own attempt at the standard.
This method looks at each test question separately. It places more importance on the most recent answers, so a bad day doesn't hurt the overall grade too much. It combines the old scores and the new scores but gives more weight to the new ones.
Calculation = (previous attempt x 0.35)+(most recent attempt x 0.65)
"Average"
First finds the average of all attempts at the standard on the assessment, and then that average is used in the calculation.
This method averages all the test question scores a student has received on a standard on an assessment. It then uses this average, with newer assessments counting more than older ones. This helps balance out any unusually high or low scores over time.
Calculation = (average of previous assessment attempts x 0.35)+(average of most recent assessment attempts x 0.65)
What is an attempt?
An "attempt" is considered a question on an assessment, or a descriptor on a rubric. It is a single measure of performance.
Decaying Average is impacted by:
Number of assessments
Number of attempts at each standard on each assessment
Which setting you're using (highest or average)
The Decaying Average calculation will look very different from district to district; therefore, this article is meant to explain the way the calculation works at the most basic level. If you have questions about your specific decaying average calculation for your district, please reach out to your Otus Client Experience Partner or the Otus Support Team in the chat feature!
What is Term Conversion?
Term Conversion allows you to apply custom numerical values to standards-based grades in order to calculate decaying average and mean. The values set for your district's Term Conversion are the most important factor when it comes to decaying average and mean.
Viewing Attempts
To see the attempts that factor into the Decaying Average calculation for any particular student, see below:
Step 1: Navigate to the Standards view of the gradebook.
Step 2: Each column represents a standard. Each cell represents a student's overall performance on that standard based on the number of attempts. The number in the cell represents the number of attempts. Click on any cell to see the attempts made on that standard.
Step 3: View the Attempts
In this view, you will see a line graph and a table. Each point on the line graph represents an "attempt" at the standard (either a question on an assessment or a descriptor in a rubric). Each of those attempts is also listed in the table below.
The attempts are listed in order based on the assessment they are on. Older attempts are listed at the bottom of the table/left side of the graph and proceed in chronological order.
The image below shows 3 different time stamps, indicating three different attempts.
The calculation result is based on the factors listed above (term conversion, number of assessments, number of attempts, and highest/average setting). Please reach out to your administration, Otus CXP, or Otus Support Team if you have questions regarding your specific calculation.
