How to Create Your Own Grade Scale

Create Teacher Grade Scales in the Gradebook

Your Aspen administrator creates grade scales for your district in the District view. Those grades are available for you and all teachers to use for their students’ assignments and end-of-term grades. Because the grades in the grade scales might not fit your personal grading system, you can create your own grade scales and link them to specific class sections, specific assignment categories, or individual assignments.

There are two ways teacher grade scales can work with your grade scale:
  1. District administrators can define alignment codes for each grade in a district grade scale. Then, you can align each grade within a grade scale you create in your Gradebook to the codes in the district grade scale. This way, when Aspen calculates the values in average columns for that section, it maps the grades that you enter to the appropriate grades in the district grade scale. For example, if you create a 1-4 grade scale, you can determine that a score of 3 in your grade scale is equal to a B in the district grade scale. Without doing so, Aspen calculates a score of 3 as a 75 (C) out of 100.
  1. You can enter the grades within the scales you create only when entering assignment grades. When Aspen calculates term grades for district post columns, it matches any grades from your grade scale to the appropriate grade in the district grade scale by points.

Creating Your Grade Scale

From the Staff view in Aspen:

  1. Click on the Tools top tab
  2. Click on the Grade Scales side tab
  3. Click on the Options Menu
  4. Select Add
  1. Enter a name for your Grade Scale
  2. Enter the Maximum points
  3. Enter the Minimum points
  4. Enter the Maximum input
  5. Enter the Minimum input
  6. Click Save
  1. Click on the Grades sub-tab
  2. Click on the Options Menu
  3. Select Add
  1. Enter in the Grade Code
  2. Enter in the Value
  3. Enter in the Cutoff value (the lowest grade score to earn this Grade Code)
  4. Click Save
  5. Repeat for all Grade Codes

When Aspen calculates term grades for district post columns, it matches any grades from a teacher's grade scale to the appropriate grade in the district grade scale.

Example 0-4 Grade Scale

Attach Your Grade Scale to Your Sections or Assignments

To use your Grade Scale, the Grade Scale has to be associated with your sections, either by being your Default Grade Scale (Set in Gradebook Preferences), or by being the Grade Scale on section(s), or by being the Grade Scale on an Assignment.

Default Grade Scale

You should have a Default Grade Scale set in your Gradebook Preferences

To set your Default Grade Scale

From User Preferences:

  1. Click on your name in the upper right
  2. Click on Set Preferences
  1. Click on the Gradebook tab
  1. Go to the Averages section (bottom portion of popup window), click on the Grade Scale picklist icon to select your Grade Scale
  2. Click OK
You can also set your Gradebook Preferences from the Settings Icon on your Scores side tab

With the Averages Grade Scale set to the Gradebook Default in your section details, the system will use your Grade Scale when calculating averages

Setting Grade Scale on Section(s)

You may have one Grade Scale set as your Default Grade Scale in your Gradebook Preferences, and want to use a different Grade Scale for specific sections. To do this, in the section details, set the Grade Scale in the Gradebook Settings (for this class) section.

Setting Grade Scale on Assignments(s)

For any assignment, you can select a Grade Scale other than your default Grade Scale or the Grade Scale on the Section Details. To do this, in the Assignment details, select the Grade Scale that you want to use for the specific assignment.

Editing Grade Codes - Modify List

If you need to make changes to your Grade Scale, you can use Modify List.

From the Tools top tab>Grade Scales side tab>Grades sub-tab>

  1. Click on the Options Menu
  2. Select Modify List
  1. Click on the Pencil under the column header of the field you want to change
  1. Make changes
  2. Click on the Green Check to save changes

Additional Help

See Follett's online help, Create Your Own Grade Scale

Email questions to aspen@bostonpublicschools.org

How did we do?

How to Auto Calculate and Post Grades in the Gradebook

How to Create a Grading Column with Assignment Averages

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