🎯 Purpose

The Gradebook module in Otus includes five mastery settings that control how student performance on standards is calculated. Decaying Average is one of these settings, and one of the most student-centered approaches available. When Decaying Average is enabled, a student's overall performance on a standard is calculated using a weighted average that gives more importance to their most recent scores. This means that growth matters. If a student struggles early on but demonstrates stronger understanding over time, their grade will reflect that improvement. Likewise, an occasional off day won't dramatically drag down a student who has otherwise shown consistent mastery. This approach is designed to give a fairer, more accurate picture of where a student stands right now, not just where they started.

📌 Note: Mastery settings, including Decaying Average, are configured at the district level in the Main Admin Otus account.

❗️Important: There is a date hierarchy Otus uses to determine which assessment is considered the first attempt, second attempt, etc.

The order is: Due Date > Submitted Date > Graded Date

If an assessment has no due date, Otus will use the submitted date instead. If there’s no submitted date, it will then rely on the graded date.

🧮 Decaying Average Calculation

There are two ways Decaying Average can be calculated, which are determined at the district level.

Control Center Settings:

Highest

This 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

This 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:

Term Conversion
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.

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!

🔎 View 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.

⭐️ Calculations in Action

Term Conversion On | Standards-Based Example

* Decaying Average - Average

Assign a standards-based assessment and Term Conversion is entered

Values 100, 82, 68, and 50 are used for each attempt on a standard.

To calculate the Decaying Average - Average on a standard for a student, the values highlighted in orange will be used for each attempt.

Below is an example of an assessment that had the same standard attached to four questions or rubric descriptors. The student's performance breakdown is as follows:

Attempt 1: the student received an Exceeds proficiency on the question or rubric descriptor.
- The term conversion value that's assigned to Exceeds in the Decaying Average calculation is 100.
Attempt 2: The student received an Approaching proficiency on the question or rubric descriptor.
- The term conversion value that's assigned to Approaching in the Decaying Average calculation is 68.
Attempt 3: The student received a Not at Standard proficiency on the question or rubric descriptor.
- The term conversion value that's assigned to Not at Standard in the Decaying Average calculation is 50.
Attempt 4: The student received a Meets proficiency on the question or rubric descriptor.
- The term conversion value that's assigned to Meets in the Decaying Average calculation is 82.

Using the values highlighted in orange, we'll calculate the average within the assessment.

100 + 68 + 50 + 82 = 300 / 4 = 75

Proceeding with a second assessment that has the same standard attached, this time to three questions or rubric descriptors, we'll complete the same steps outlined above.

Attempt 1: The student received a Meets proficiency on the question or rubric descriptor.
- The term conversion value that's assigned to Meets in the Decaying Average calculation is 82.
Attempt 2: The student received an Exceeds proficiency on the question or rubric descriptor.
- The term conversion value that's assigned to Exceeds in the Decaying Average calculation is 100.
Attempt 3: The student received an Exceeds proficiency on the question or rubric descriptor.
- The term conversion value that's assigned to Exceeds in the Decaying Average calculation is 100.

Using the values highlighted in orange, we'll calculate the average within the assessment.

82 + 100 + 100 = 282 / 3 = 94

Now that we have two assessments that assessed the same standard, we can proceed with the Decaying Average - Average calculation.

(75 * 0.35) + (94 * 0.65) = 87.35

Once the Decaying Average - Average calculation is complete, the final value will fall into one of the four percentage ranges highlighted in blue. The bucket that the final value falls in will be the student's overall proficiency for that standard.

87.35 falls within the 75% and 89% range, so the student would have an overall proficiency of Meets.

Term Conversion Off | Standards-Based Example

* Decaying Average - Average

Assign a standards-based assessment and no Term Conversion is entered

Values 1, 2, 3, and 4 are used for each attempt on a standard.

The table below outlines the numeric values assigned to each grading scale label. These values are used to calculate the decaying average for each standard.

Grading Scale Label	Value In Calculation
Not at Standard	1
Approaching	2
Meets	3
Exceeds	4

Example 1

Due Date	Attempt	Graded Scale Label	Value in Calculation
12/1/25	Assessment #1 (average proficiency)	Not at Standard	1
12/4/25	Assessment #2 (average proficiency)	Meets	3
12/10/25	Assessment #3 (average proficiency)	Exceeds	4

The most recent average proficiency within an assessment is weighted at 65%, while previous averages are weighted at 35%. The decay rate is set as is.

Step 1: Calculate Decaying Average between the first two assessments
- (0.35 * Assessment 1) + (0.65 * Assessment 2)
- (0.35)( 1 ) + (0.65)( 3 ) = 2.30

Step 2: Calculate Decaying Average between the first, second, and third assessment
- (0.35 * Decaying Average of Assessment 1 & 2) + (0.65 * Assessment 3)
- (0.35)( 2.30 ) + (0.65)( 4 ) = 3.405

3.405 falls into the Grading Scale Label equivalent to 3

A value of 3 = Meets

The student’s overall mastery for this individual standard is displayed as “Meet” in the gradebook.

Example 2

Due Date	Assessment	Graded Scale Label	Value in Calculation
11/10/25	#1 (average proficiency)	Exceeds	4
11/24/25	#2 (average proficiency)	Meets	3
12/1/25	#3 (average proficiency)	Approaching	2
12/3/25	#4 (average proficiency)	Not at Standard	1

The most recent attempt is weighted at 65%, while previous attempts are weighted at 35%. The decay rate is set as is.

Step 1: Calculate Decaying Average between the first two assessments
- (0.35 * Assessment 1) + (0.65 * Assessment 2)
- (0.35)( 4 ) + (0.65)( 3 ) = 3.35 .

Step 2: Calculate Decaying Average between the first, second, and third assessments
- (0.35 * Decaying Average of Assessment 1 & 2) + (0.65 * Assessment 3)
- (0.35)( 3.35 ) + (0.65)( 2 ) = .2.4725 .

Step 3: Calculate Decaying Average between the first, second, third, and fourth assessments
- (0.35 * Decaying Average of Assessment 1, 2, & 3) + (0.65 *Assessment 4)
- (0.35)( 2.4725 ) + (0.65)( 1 ) = 1.515375
1.515375 falls into the Grading Scale Label equivalent to 2
- A value of 2 = Approaching

The student’s overall mastery for this individual standard is displayed as “Approaching” in the gradebook.

Term Conversion On | Points-Based Example

* Decaying Average - Average

Assign a points-based assessment and Term Conversion is entered

Value used for each attempt on a standard is the percentage score per item

To calculate the Decaying Average - Average on a standard for a student, each item’s percentage score will be used for each attempt.

Below are examples of two assessments, Assessment 1 and Assessment 2, that had the same standard attached to six questions or rubric descriptors in total.

Assessment 1 has the standard attached to two questions, 1 point each. The student's performance breakdown on Assessment 1 is as follows:

Attempt 1: the student scored a 1/1 on the item, which equals a 100%.
- 100 is used to calculate the average on the standard within the assessment.
Attempt 2: the student scored a 1/1 on the item, which equals a 100%.
- 100 is used to calculate the average on the standard within the assessment.

Using the values mentioned above, we'll calculate the average within the assessment.

100 + 100 = 200 / 2 = 100

100 will be used in the Decaying Average calculation.

Assessment 2 has the standard attached to four rubric descriptors, 4 points each. The student's performance breakdown on Assessment 2 is as follows:

Attempt 1: the student scored a 3/4 on the item, which equals a 75%.
- 75 is used to calculate the average on the standard within the assessment.
Attempt 2: the student scored a 3/4 on the item, which equals a 75%.
- 75 is used to calculate the average on the standard within the assessment.
Attempt 3: the student scored a 2/4 on the item, which equals a 50%.
- 50 is used to calculate the average on the standard within the assessment.
Attempt 4: the student scored a 3/4 on the item, which equals a 75%.
- 75 is used to calculate the average on the standard within the assessment.