Grade Scales in the Gradebook
The Academy’s Gradebook offers three grade scales: letter grades, percentages, and credit/no credit. The grading breakdown sets the grade scale for each category of work in a course, and the same scale will be used to grade all work in a given category.
Letter Grades vs. Percentages
The main difference between these grade scales is what the student sees:
- If the letter grade scale is specified, the student will see only his letter grade.
- However, if the scale is set to percentages, the student will see both his letter grade and the percentage.
Aside from this, letter grades and percentages are mostly interchangeable.
Each letter grade is associated with a default percentage. |
| Similarly, a range of percentages is associated with each letter grade. |
Letter Grade | Default Percentage |
| Percentage Range | Letter Grade |
A | 95 |
| 93-100 | A |
A- | 92 |
| 90-92 | A- |
B+ | 88 |
| 87-89 | B+ |
B | 85 |
| 83-86 | B |
B- | 82 |
| 80-82 | B- |
C+ | 78 |
| 77-79 | C+ |
C | 75 |
| 73-76 | C |
C- | 72 |
| 70-72 | C- |
D+ | 68 |
| 67-69 | D+ |
D | 65 |
| 63-66 | D |
D- | 60 |
| 60-62 | D- |
F | 50 |
| 0-59 | F |
As you can see, some of the default percentages fall in the middle of the range, while others are at the top or bottom of the range.
Key Points to Remember Whether your grade scale uses letter grades or percentages... - You always can enter your grades as either letters or percentages: both options will be available to you.
- You can fine-tune your grading by adjusting the percentage. For example, if a student turned in outstanding work, you might want to give him 98% or 100% — instead of the default for an A, which is 95%.
- The main difference between these grade scales is what the student sees.
|
Credit / No Credit grading
Credit / No Credit grading is an all-or-nothing proposition:
- When a student completes the work for a CR / NC assignment, she receives full credit for that assignment. In terms of percentages, credit equals 100%.
- If the student does not complete the work for a CR / NC assignment, she receives no credit. No credit equals 0%.
So if your class has a category in the grading breakdown that is scored Credit / No Credit, each gradable element in that category will earn the student either 100% or 0%. Then, all the grades for that category are averaged together into an overall grade for that category. So, for example, if there are four CR / NC assignments in a category and a student gets Credit for three of those and No Credit for one, then her overall grade for that category would be 75% — or a C.
It’s important to consider carefully whether Credit / No Credit grading is the most appropriate choice for the various categories of work in your class. While this grade scale can simplify grading for the instructor, having too many categories graded Credit / No Credit might lead to grade inflation. If you have concerns about the grade scales in your class, talk with your director about possible adjustments.