Difference between GPA equivalent 1 and GPA equivalent 2

Tere Somoza

Hi everyone,

Our GPA equivalents for the AP, Honors and Regular Classes are going to be redefined. I have two questions, first, I am assuming I should not just edit the current Active Grade Translation since it might affect historical data, correct? Which means I should create a new Grade Translation for this school year? And two, what is the difference between Include in GPA 1 and Include in GPA 2, and GPA equivalent 1 and GPA equivalent 2? If anyone could shed some light before I go ahead and change anything, it would be greatly appreciated.

Tere

Kristen Duval

@Tere Somoza
Hi Tere,

You don't want to make changes to your current grade translation setup if the change shouldn't apply retroactively. Especially if you've imported historical grades.

GPA equiv. 1 and GPA equiv. 2 can be different values, if you have the need to calculate two different GPAs based off of the same numeric value. For example; Unweighted vs. Weighted. If you cannot weight your courses at the course level (Ex: you have a passing grade that does not qualify for a bump if it's less than an 80, then you must weigh through the translation table. GPA Equiv 1 = unweighted and GPA 2 = weighted or vice versa. Below is an example of an Honors course translation table;

I can think of a few other examples if that will help. Feel free to message me! I am happy to explain and send screen shots of a few other times I have utilized both columns

Tere Somoza

@Kristen Duval thanks for your quick response. I am attaching a sample of one of our Grade Translation definitions for the Honor courses. We basically need to change the GPA equivalent to be a different value, for each grade letter on the AP, Honors and Regular Grade Categories. Should I create a new Grade Translation for all three, and then add those to the Grade Plan? So basically the A+ will have an equivalent of 4.33 instead of 4.67 as it does now. Let me know your thoughts.

Kristen Duval

@Tere Somoza
It depends. Is an A+ in a prior year still worth the 4.67? Or are you changing the way that you calculate GPAs for the upcoming school year AND in prior years?

Tere Somoza

@Kristen Duval we are changing the way we calculate GPAs for this year and all future years. The prior year values stay as they were, we are changing the ones for this and upcoming years.

Kristen Duval

@Tere Somoza
Got it! So then you will want to create a new grade translation table and a new grade category to be used going forward. Your grade plan groups can stay the same, you will just need to edit each grade plan and make sure that the grade plan grades are using the new scales for 2024-2025. You will want the GPA Equiv 1 in the new scale to be the new values so that you can still use your GPA calculations that are looking at the GPA Equiv 1 field. This will pull the old values for prior years and the new values going forward.

Tere Somoza

@Kristen Duval Excellent! Thanks so much. Let me go ahead and get started. One final question, when calculating GPAs, how will the GPA calculate with previous years having a different Grading Translation and this year's being different? DO I need to make changes to the GPA formulas?

Kristen Duval

@Tere Somoza

You're very welcome - I'm happy to help

You do NOT need to create a new GPA. The system will look at the grade plan grade/grades that you have included in the GPA and will pull the GPA equivalent 1 from the translation table that was assigned to the grade plan grade for that year. So for example:

24-25: Final = A+. Using the “new” Honors translation table for the year, the GPA Equiv 1 = 4.33

23-24: Final = A+. Using the “old” Honors translation table for the year, the GPA Equiv 1 = 4.67

22-23: Final = A+. Using the “old” Honors translation table for the year, the GPA Equiv 1 = 4.67

You will not even need to utilize the GPA Equiv 2 column.

It's a bit confusing and I probably didn't do the best job explaining it. I am happy to jump on a quick call to walk through it. Feel free to message me!

Tere Somoza

@Kristen Duval Will do. Thanks again for all the information. I feel much better about implementing this. I'll reach out via message if I run into any issues. Thanks again @Kristen Duval

Gian Toyos

@Kristen Duval I am working with @Tere Somoza implementing this new change. Thanks for the info you have shared. I have a follow-up question. You showed how the system calculates the GPA for each year. Since we publish the cumulative GPA in our transcripts, mathematically can we use those final GPAs to calculate the cumulative GPA, even if two different scales were used?
Again, thank you for your help.

Kristen Duval

@Gian ToyosCarmen Olmo

When you build out the GPA calculation, you select the grade plan grades that you would like to include. You have to select the grade plan grade in each term but also in the current year and in prior years. Blackbaud will look at the grade plan grade that you've selected for each applicable year. It will then look at the grade translation table that the grade plan grade was associated with for that specific year.

Using an example with a single course: sum((GPA equivalent 1) * Credits Earned) / sum(Credits Attempted)
2024-2025:
Trimester 1 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “New Grade Scale 24-25” translation table
Student get an A for a full credit course=3.67

2023-2024:
Trimester 1 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Trimester 2 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Trimester 3 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Student get an A for a full credit course=3.5

2022-2023:
Trimester 1 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Trimester 2 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Trimester 3 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Student get an A for a full credit course=3.5

2021-2022:
Trimester 1 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Trimester 2 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Trimester 3 Grade looks at the Equiv. GPA score in the “Grade Scale” translation table
Student get an A for a full credit course=3.5