Grading in openSIS helps institutions manage student academic performance across assignments, course sections, marking periods, report cards, transcripts, GPA calculations, honor roll, and graduation tracking.
Grading terms may appear in both admin-side setup and portal-side views for teachers, students, and parents. This article explains the key grading terms used in openSIS when working with grade scales, gradebook entries, GPA, report cards, transcripts, historical grades, effort grades, standards-based grades, and graduation-related academic records.
A Grade is the academic result assigned to a student for a course, assignment, marking period, or academic term.
Grades may be shown as letters, percentages, points, standards, or other formats based on the institution’s grading setup.
A Report Card Grade Scale is the main grading framework used to define how student performance is represented across openSIS.
It contains grade entries such as A+, A, B, C, F, Pass, or Fail, along with minimum score thresholds, grade point values, and Honors/AP weights where applicable.
A properly configured grade scale is important for report cards, GPA calculations, transcripts, honor roll, and academic reports.
Found under:
Settings → Grades → Report Card Grade Scale
A Grade Scale defines how numeric scores are converted into grades.
For example, a school may define that 90–100 equals A, 80–89 equals B, and so on.
Grade scales help maintain consistent grading rules across courses, report cards, transcripts, GPA calculations, and academic reports.
A Grade Title is the letter, label, or designation used to represent a student’s performance level within a grade scale.
Examples:
A+, A, B, C, F, Pass, Fail, Incomplete.
Grade titles appear on report cards, transcripts, gradebooks, and academic reports. Each grade title should be connected to a breakoff value and a grade point value so openSIS can calculate grades and GPA accurately.
A Letter Grade is a grade represented by a letter or symbol.
Examples:
A, B, C, D, F, P, I.
Letter grades are usually connected to grade scales and GPA values.
A Percent Grade is a grade shown as a percentage.
Example:
85%, 92%, 74%.
Percent grades may be used in gradebooks, report cards, and academic reports.
A Breakoff Value is the minimum percentage score a student must achieve to earn a specific grade title within a grade scale.
Example:
If the breakoff value for A+ is 95, then any score of 95% or above earns an A+.
Breakoff values help openSIS automatically assign the correct grade title based on a student’s percentage score.
A GP Value, or Grade Point Value, is the numeric value assigned to a grade title for GPA calculation.
Example:
A = 4.00
B = 3.00
C = 2.00
Students and parents may see letter grades, but openSIS uses GP Values to calculate GPA, honor roll eligibility, class ranking, transcripts, and academic reports.
A Standard GP Value is the baseline grade point value assigned to a grade for regular academic courses.
It is used for courses that follow the institution’s standard grading policy and do not receive additional GPA weight.
An Honors / AP GP Value is an elevated grade point value assigned to a grade for Honors, Advanced Placement, or other advanced courses.
Because these courses may be more rigorous, institutions may award extra GPA weight.
Example:
An A in a regular course may carry a GP Value of 4.00, while an A in an Honors course may carry a GP Value of 5.00.
This field is used only if the institution supports weighted GPA calculations.
Weighted GPA is a GPA calculation method that gives additional grade point value to advanced, honors, or AP-level coursework.
Weighted GPA rewards students for completing more rigorous academic courses.
In openSIS, weighted GPA can be supported through Honors/AP GP Values configured within the grade scale.
Unweighted GPA is a GPA calculation method that uses the standard grade point value without adding extra weight for advanced or honors courses.
In an unweighted grading setup, all courses follow the same GPA scale unless otherwise configured by the institution.
A Weighted Grade is calculated by giving different importance to different assignments, grading components, categories, or course types.
Example:
Tests may carry more weight than homework, or honors courses may carry more GPA weight than regular courses.
An Unweighted Grade is calculated without additional weighting.
In an unweighted grading setup, all grades follow the standard calculation rules defined by the institution.
GPA, or Grade Point Average, is a numeric measure of a student’s academic performance.
GPA is usually calculated using grades, GP Values, credits, credit hours, quality points, and the institution’s GPA calculation rules.
GPA may be reported for a marking period, semester, school year, or cumulative academic history.
Cumulative GPA is the overall GPA calculated across multiple marking periods, terms, or academic years.
Unlike a marking period GPA or semester GPA, cumulative GPA reflects the student’s broader academic standing over time.
If no previous GPA record exists, openSIS may display a hyphen or dash instead of a GPA value.
A Grade Point is the numeric value assigned to a grade for GPA calculation.
Example:
A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0.
Grade points depend on the institution’s grading scale.
Quality Points are the total grade points earned for a course, usually calculated by multiplying the GP Value by the credit hours of the course.
Example:
If a student earns a B with a GP Value of 3.00 in a 3-credit course, the student earns 9.0 quality points.
Quality Points are often used in credit-hour-based GPA calculations.
Ignore for GPA Calculation is a grade scale setting that tells openSIS to exclude a specific grade from GPA calculations.
The grade may still appear on report cards, transcripts, and academic records, but it will not affect the student’s GPA.
This setting is commonly used for grades such as Pass, Audit, Incomplete, Withdrawn, or No Grade, depending on the institution’s grading policy.
A Credit is the academic value assigned to a course.
Credits may be used for GPA calculation, graduation requirements, transcripts, and academic progress tracking.
Credit Hours represent the amount of academic credit assigned to a course or course section.
Credit hours may be used in transcript and GPA calculations.
The Gradebook is the teacher-facing tool where assignments are created, student scores are entered, and grade averages are calculated.
The gradebook may include assignments, grading components, categories, scores, weights, marking periods, and calculated grades.
Administrators may also access or edit gradebook entries on behalf of teachers through teacher-related administrative functions, depending on permissions.
An Assignment is a task, quiz, test, homework, project, activity, or assessment created for students.
Assignments may contribute to the student’s grade depending on the grading setup.
An Assignment Category is used to organize assignments in the gradebook.
Examples:
Homework, Quiz, Test, Project, Participation, Final Exam.
Categories may also be used when institutions calculate grades based on category weights.
Grading Components are the individual elements that make up a student’s final grade in a course section.
Examples:
Homework, quizzes, tests, projects, participation, classwork, or final exams.
Teachers or administrators may assign weights to grading components so openSIS can calculate the overall grade from assignment scores.
A Score is the mark or value entered for a student’s assignment, test, quiz, or gradebook item.
Scores may be entered as points, percentages, letter grades, or another grading format depending on the school’s setup.
Points are numeric values assigned to assignments or assessments.
Example:
An assignment may be worth 10 points, while a test may be worth 100 points.
Grade Calculation is the process of computing student grades based on scores, assignments, grading components, categories, weights, grade scales, and institutional grading rules.
Grade Entry is the process of entering scores or grades for students.
Teachers use grade entry to record student performance for assignments, progress periods, report cards, or final grades.
A Final Grade is the grade recorded or submitted at the end of a course, marking period, semester, or academic term.
Final grades may be manually entered or calculated from gradebook averages, depending on the institution’s setup.
Final grades may appear on report cards, transcripts, grade reports, GPA calculations, and academic reports.
A Progress Grade shows student performance during an active marking period.
It helps teachers, students, and parents monitor academic progress before final grades are finalized.
An Exam Grade is the grade recorded for an exam or final assessment.
Exam grades may be included in report cards, final grade calculations, or transcript records depending on the school’s configuration.
A Missing Assignment is an assignment that has not been submitted or completed by a student.
Teachers may mark assignments as missing to help track incomplete work.
An Excused Assignment is an assignment that a student is not required to complete.
Excused assignments may be excluded from grade calculations depending on the school’s grading rules.
A Report Card is the official periodic academic report generated in openSIS for a selected marking period.
It may summarize student grades, attendance, GPA, teacher comments, effort grades, and other academic information.
Report cards help institutions share academic performance with students and parents through portals or printed documents.
Report Card Comments are predefined or free-text comments that teachers can add to a student’s report card.
Administrators may configure standard comment libraries to help teachers provide consistent feedback.
Comments appear alongside grades to provide additional context about academic performance, participation, or progress.
Teacher Comments are notes added by teachers about a student’s academic performance, participation, behavior, or progress.
Teacher comments may appear on report cards, grade reports, or academic reports depending on the institution’s settings.
Comments are notes added to provide additional context for grades, progress, or report cards.
Comments may come from teachers or administrators, depending on the workflow.
A Grade Report is a report that displays student grades for selected courses, marking periods, students, or academic criteria.
It may be used by administrators, teachers, students, and parents to review academic performance.
A Transcript is an official or formal academic record showing courses, grades, credits, GPA, and academic history.
Transcripts may include completed courses, final grades, credit points, GPA, quality points, and institutional certification details.
Historical Grades are grades from previous academic years, marking periods, or external records.
They help institutions maintain complete academic history for students, especially for transfer students or migrated records.
A Historical Marking Period is a past academic term used when recording or viewing historical grades.
It helps organize older academic records under the correct time period.
Historical Marking Periods is a grading settings area used to store and manage marking period structures from previous academic years.
This helps preserve older academic records accurately so transcripts and GPA calculations for prior years remain correct.
An Effort Grade is a qualitative, non-academic assessment that evaluates a student’s work habits, participation, engagement, or behavioral effort.
Effort grades may appear on report cards depending on school settings, but they do not contribute to GPA calculations.
An Effort Grade Scale is the rating scale used to evaluate effort-based assessments.
Examples:
1–4, Excellent, Satisfactory, Developing, Needs Improvement.
The Effort Grade Scale is configured separately from the academic Report Card Grade Scale.
Found under:
Settings → Grades → Effort Based Grades
An Effort Category is a broad grouping used to organize related effort items.
Examples:
Class Engagement, Homework Completion, Social Skills, Participation.
Each effort category can contain multiple effort items.
An Effort Item is a specific effort-based or behavior-based criterion on which a student is assessed.
Examples:
Timely Homework Submission, Active Class Participation, Respects Classroom Rules.
Effort items provide more detailed feedback about student habits and engagement.
Standards-Based Grading, also called SBG, is a grading approach where students are evaluated based on their mastery of specific learning standards.
Instead of only using a percentage or letter grade average, each standard is assessed independently using a proficiency scale.
Standards-Based Grading may be configured at the course section level, depending on the institution’s setup.
A Standard-Based Grade measures student performance against defined learning standards or competencies.
It focuses on how well a student meets specific academic standards rather than only showing an overall course grade.
A Standard is a defined learning goal, skill, or competency used for standards-based grading.
Example:
“Understands multiplication concepts” or “Writes a structured paragraph.”
A Standards Grade Scale is a separate grading scale created specifically for standards-based grading.
Unlike the Report Card Grade Scale, which may use letter grades and GP Values, a Standards Grade Scale usually uses proficiency levels.
Example:
1 = Below the Standard
2 = Approaching the Standard
3 = Meets the Standard
4 = Achieved with Excellence
Found under:
Settings → Grades → Standards Based Grades
School-Specific Standards are custom learning objectives created by the institution.
They may reflect the school’s own curriculum framework, accreditation requirements, or educational philosophy.
These standards are different from nationally recognized standards and may be used for standards-based grading.
Honor Roll is an academic recognition program that identifies students who meet specific academic performance criteria.
The criteria may be based on GPA, grades, or institutional rules.
openSIS may support multiple honor roll levels, such as Honor Roll, High Honors, or Principal’s Honor Roll.
An Honor Roll Breakoff Value is the minimum GPA a student must achieve to qualify for a specific honor roll level.
Example:
3.50 for Honor Roll
4.00 for Principal’s Honor Roll
During honor roll calculation, openSIS compares the student’s GPA against the configured thresholds.
Found under:
Settings → Grades → Honor Roll
A Graduation Requirement is an academic condition a student must complete to qualify for graduation or program completion.
Requirements may include specific courses, credit totals, GPA, or program-related rules.
Graduation Requirements / Degree Audit is a configuration area where administrators define the academic criteria students must meet to graduate or complete a program.
The Degree Audit feature tracks each student’s progress toward those requirements over time.
A Degree Audit is a review of a student’s completed and pending academic requirements.
It helps institutions, advisors, students, and parents check whether a student is meeting graduation or program completion requirements.
Grading terms are used across many openSIS workflows, including gradebook setup, report cards, transcripts, GPA calculations, honor roll, graduation tracking, standards-based grading, effort grading, and student progress reviews.
Understanding these terms helps administrators configure grading correctly and helps teachers, students, and parents interpret academic results clearly.