How to Calculate Report Cards
Courses at Orchard Park High School present four types of configurations when addressing grading issues.
Length of course | Meeting Times | Earned Credit | Example |
Half year | every other day for one semester | 1/4 credit | Phys. Ed. |
Half year | every day for one semester | 1/2 credit | Tech Draw |
Full year | every other day for two semesters | 1/2 credit | AP Government |
Full year | every day for two semesters | 1 credit | Physics |
Length of course, meeting times, and earned credit play into the calculations used in quarterly averages, course final averages, and cumulative grade point averages.
Course Name | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | 1/5 Assessment | Final Average | Credit |
Phys. Ed. | 95 x .10 | 97 x .10 | null | null | null | 96 | 0.25 |
Tech Draw | 83 x .20 | 87 x .20 | null | null | 83 x .10 | 85 | 0.50 |
AP Gov't | 93 x .10 | 92 x .10 | 89 x .10 | 93 x .10 | 95 x .10 | 92 | 0.50 |
Physics | 88 x .20 | 87 x .20 | 92 x .20 | 90 x .20 | 84 x .20 | 88 | 1.00 |
How are Quarterly averages computed?
One credit and half credit courses meeting every day have a quarterly calculation of 20%. Half credit courses that meet over the entire year, however, are calculated at 10% each quarter because students have only engaged in half the course curriculum at grade reporting time. This is also true for physical education. The quarterly averages in the above example are calculated in this manner using a weighting of 1.05 for AP and Honors courses.
Quarter 1 Calculations:
Phys. Ed.: | 95 x .10 | equals 9.5 points |
Tech Draw: | 83 x .20 | equals 16.6 points |
AP Gov't: | 93 x .10 x 1.05 | equals 9.765 points |
Physics: | 88 x .20 | equals 17.6 points |
| null | Total: .60 credits | Total: 53.465 points |
| null | 53.465 points divided by .60 credits equals 89.108 Quarterly Average | null |
Quarter 2 Calculations:
Phys. Ed.: | 97 x .10 | equals 9.7 points |
Tech Draw: | 87 x .20 | equals 17.4 points |
AP Gov't: | 92 x .10 x 1.05 | equals 9.66 points |
Physics: | 87 x .20 | equals 17.4 points |
| null | Total: .60 credits | Total: 54.16 points |
| null | 54.16 points divided by .60 credits equals 90.266 Quarterly Average | null |
Quarter 3 Calculations
AP Gov't: | 89 x .10 x 1.05 | equals 9.345 points |
Physics: | 92 x .20 | equals 18.4 |
| null | Total: .30 credits | Total: 27.745 points |
| null | 27.745 points divided by .30 credits equals 92.483 Quarterly Average | null |
Quarter 4 Calculations
AP Gov't: | 93 x .10 x 1.05 | equals 9.765 points |
Physics: | 90 x .20 | equals 18.0 points |
| null | Total: .30 credits | Total: 27.765 points |
27.765 points divided by .30 credits equals 92.550 Quarterly Average | null |
How are course final averages computed?
Each final assessment counts as one fifth of the final average (except in Physical Education). This weighting creates different mathematical configurations for the courses described above.
- Phys. Ed. - (95 + 97)/2 = 96
AP Gov't - (93 + 92 + 89 + 93 + 95)/5 = 92
Tech Draw - ((83 x 2) + (87 x 2) + 83)/5=85
Physics - (88 + 87 + 92 + 90 + 84)/5=88
How is cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) computed?
Final averages are determined by adding all course grade point averages then dividing by the number of earned credits (excluding School Service, Lab classes).
Step 1: Final Average in each course multiplied by the credit earned for the course:
PE (96 x .25) + Tech Draw (85 x .50) + AP Gov't ((92 x .50)x1.05) + Physics (88 x 1.0)
Step 2: Divide the total from the calculation in step 1 by the total number of credits awarded for the courses to get the Final GPA
( (96 x .25) + (85 x .50) + ((92 x .50)x1.05) + (88 x 1.0) ) / 2.25 = 90.133
Do NOT calculate GPA by adding the four quarters and dividing by 4:
This is an incorrect calculation: (Q1 89.344 + Q2 90.536 + Q3 92.483 + Q4 92.55) / 4 = 91.228