Guides
Grading Guides for Teachers
Short, practical guides to the grading questions teachers deal with every term. Each one shows the math with a worked example, so you can check your gradebook and explain grades to students and parents.
All guides
- How to Calculate Weighted Grades A step-by-step guide to weighted grading: how category weights work, how to calculate a weighted average by hand, and the mistakes that cause gradebook surprises.
- How to Curve Grades Fairly Five common ways to curve a test, with the same class worked through each one, plus when a curve is the wrong fix and what to do instead.
- What Grade Do I Need on My Final Exam? The exact formula for the score you need on a final exam, worked examples for common weights, and why the answer is sometimes over 100% or below zero.
- Grading Scales Explained: Standard, 10-Point and 7-Point How the common US grading scales compare, where plus and minus grades start, and how the same test score can earn a different letter grade on each scale.
- Should You Round Grades? How to Set a Fair Rounding Rule Is 89.5% an A? How rounding works in gradebooks, why you should round only once, and how to write a rounding policy you can defend to students and parents.
- Grading With Points, Half Marks and Partial Credit How to grade tests with mixed point values and partial credit, why counting questions and counting points give different grades, and how to stay consistent.
- How to Handle a Flawed Test Question A test question had two right answers or covered something you didn't teach. Compare dropping it vs giving everyone credit, with the math for each option.
- How to Convert Rubric Scores to Grades Why a 3 out of 4 on a rubric isn't really a 75% C, and three better ways to turn rubric scores into percentages and letter grades that match what the rubric says.
- How to Grade a Stack of Tests Faster A practical workflow for grading a stack of tests quickly and accurately: answer keys, grading by question, quick-grade tools and catching errors early.
- Zeros vs Minimum Grading: The Math and the Debate What a single zero does to an average, how a 50% minimum grade changes it, and the strongest arguments on both sides of one of the most debated grading policies.