"Calculate" Only Allows Weighted Sums - Why Not YTD Cumulative?

Jonathan Gray

When our grading period ends for a multiterm course, our only recourse is to use a weighted sum between the terms.  In our case, we have two semester-long containers (Fall, Spring).  Some of our classes are semester-long while others are year-long.  [I imagine other schools use "Lengths" of 2, 3, or 4 (semester, trimester, quarter).]


The way BB is currently organized, the grades from within a discrete unit are stuck there and cannot be used to form a cumulative grade once grades are recorded.  The salt in the wound is that there is an option [for multiterm courses] to display a student's cumulative grade in the gradebook.  The software even checks that the same grading formula is being used across marking periods!  The desired, calculated value thus exists in the dark, shadowy recesses of the BB database.


Is there a reason why this cumulative grade cannot be an option when the "Calculate" button is used for recording grades?  A workaround is not to tell my teachers to have two windows open and then to transcribe 75-90 grades.  I have spoken with BB support twice about this, and the first individual said they only offer support and know nothing more.  The second said much the same and could not put me through to Dev/Engineering.  So, here I am now making my case.


It is difficult for me to imagine we are the only BB school that wants the ability to provide cumulative grades.  Could someone from Dev explain why this is not enabled?  Are there any plans to enable it?

Jean Sudduth

We are a trimester based school with a full year course covering three trimesters and trimester length courses that run in individual trimesters. Our full year courses utilize a year-long cumulative grade book. We second your frustration that a calculate button is not available to enter the cumulative grade when recording grades. As you noted, the functionality is there and used in the grade book. After the first trimester concludes, our teachers of full year courses are required to hand enter the cumulative grade that the BB system calculates in the grade book during the T2 grading period and the T3/year end period. We "vote" for activating a calculate button for cumulative grades when recording grades.

Lauren Marcus Eisenberg

We are also struggling with this. Ideally, we want cumulative grades through the year, and regardless of whether the course is year-long or a single semester.

Jess Moxsky

I think we may be running into the same issue. We don't globally manage whether teachers use grading-period gradebook or full-year and it seems to be throwing some wrenches into our Quarter 1 grade calculation. I can't for the life of me figure out why putting gradebook cumulative as 100% of the Quarter 1 calculated grade would not yield identical grades as the internal gradebook cumulative column.

Brian Gray

@Jess Moxley - A couple of teachers at my school saw behavior that sounds like what you described. The calculated grade on the Grading page (100% gradebook) was not the same as the gradebook average.

In one case, the three students had the correct average on the Grading page also had uncommitted grades for one particular assignment. The teacher committed the grades, and then went back to Grading and recalculated the report card grades for the entire class. All students then had the correct average.

In the other case, the teacher cleared the browser cache and recalculated the report card grades several hours after the initial calculation. The grades were then correct.

By the time I documented what was happening, there was nothing left to report to Support.

Jess Moxsky

@Brian Gray - interesting! I have an open case with support now and made sure there weren't any uncommitted grades in the gradebooks. I will mention the browser cache to the teacher who reported the issue first. Thank you for consistently having great tips!

Jonathan Gray

We had a similar thing happen during this last grading period. The teacher went into Gradebook Setup and discovered the system had rolled him to “Total Points” when he had initially setup the gradebook with “Total Points with Weight.” In most cases, I would assume there was a hiccup on the teacher's part. This was our rather tech-savvy Physics teacher.

Jess, the issue I am describing revolves around accessing the “Gradebook Cumulative” column in the gradebook when “report card” grades need to be entered. Do y'all use cumulative grades across all grading periods?

Very interesting on the browser cache element. Will definitely keep my eyes open for that one.

Brian Gray

I'm not sure that clearing the browser cache had anything to do with it. Maybe it did - but it doesn't seem like it should based on what I saw. It's not that the numbers didn't change - they were just wrong.

I'll tell the teachers who saw the problem that they weren't imagining things.