How to Understand Powerschool and Your Grade Report After Your Lowest Test Score Has Been
HOW TO UNDERSTAND POWERSCHOOL AND YOUR GRADE REPORT AFTER YOUR LOWEST TEST SCORE HAS BEEN DROPPED
PowerSchool does not delete your lowest test score on your screen or report (no highlight or icon) even though I tell the software to drop your lowest test score near the end of the semester. The report will show all the points you have earned out of point possible in the semester before any lowest scores have been dropped. I inform students when the lowest test score has been dropped for the following reasons:
- Your lowest score when dropped doesn’t disappear, is not highlighted, and a code does not appear to indicate that it is dropped.
The grade at the very top of your printed report is the grade averaged after the drop. This grade, after the drop, MAY NOT match the scores on the Category Summary.
So, here is an explanation of how the Semester 1 grade is computed after the drop.
Step 1: List all your test scores. Locate your lowest test score. Here in this example it is the Chapter 4 test score. (Knowing what your lowest test score is during the semester will help you strategize for the remainder of the semester—it is the score the beat!)
Chapter 1 C
Chapter 2 A
Chapter 3 B
Chapter 4 D
Chapter 5 A
If you average all these scores you will obtain the Test Average that matches what you see on the bottom of your report. However, this is not your new score with the drop. The test scores that will be used now is a C, an A, a B and an A. To calculate your new test score average WITH THE DROP…
Cross off the lowest score. Disregard this score now.
Find your Earned Points/ Possible Points:
Earned: 71
Possible Points: 79 This is an 89.9 test average.
Take this adjusted Test Average of 89.9 and calculate it with the other two categories: Homework/Classwork and Quizzes.
Remember…
Tests are 50% of your overall grade or .50.
Homework/Classwork is 20% or .20 of your grade.
Quizzes are 30% or .30 of your grade.
Tests 89.9 (.50)= 44.95
Homework/Classwork 90.7 (.20)=18.14
Quizzes +86 (.30)=25.8
Total Average for the course: about 88.9
In most cases this new score will be higher than your previous score before the drop.
I use weighted grades not a total points system. More worth is placed on tests and quizzes because it measures your level of mastery and depth of understanding. You should not look only at the number of points you have, but the percentage of points you have earned in all categories.
PROS:
You can see how you are doing in each category and see which category you need to focus on.
Missing an assignment or two (a few points) won’t be as detrimental to your grade.
More forgiving if you forget to do an assignment.
This is slightly more accurate because it shows how you are doing as a whole.
CONS:
One point won’t make or break your grade so it won’t do you any good to ask for an extra point because your grade is computed from averages in categories not just a sum of points.
It is more difficult to compute.
You can’t do well in one category or two and get an A. You need to do well enough in each category.
In short, weighted grades are computed by finding your category average by:
Tests earned pts/pts possible= percent Percent (.50) =
Classwork/Homework
earned pts/pts possible= percent Percent (.20) =
Quizzes earned pts/pts possible= Percent + Percent (.30)
Final grade: