Students can check a gradebook when they can reach your number using only the syllabus and their own scores. Decide seven things before the first assignment: points or categories, the weights, what a blank means, how extra credit counts, which scores drop, your grading scale and your rounding rule.
These steps work in the gradebook you already use. Canvas facts below come from its documentation, and other systems may differ.
Start from your syllabus
Write the rules in your syllabus first, then build the gradebook to match. If the two disagree, students can’t check anything.
Test it: hand a colleague the syllabus and one student’s scores. If they can’t reach your number, a rule is missing.
The US has no national grading standard, and a 2005 U.S. Department of Education overview says classroom teachers typically decide grades. Your school or department may still set rules, so start from those.
Points or weighted categories
With points, the grade is points earned ÷ points possible, so big assignments count more. With weighted categories, each category gets a set share of the grade.
Made-up example. One student has 190/200 on homework (95%) and 70/100 on tests (70%).
- Points: 260 ÷ 300 = 86.67%
- Categories, with Homework at 40% and Tests at 60%: (95 × 0.40) + (70 × 0.60) = 80.00%
Same scores, different grades. Points are easier to check by hand. Categories let you fix how much tests matter, however much homework you assign.
Setting category weights
Make your weights add up to 100, and check the total yourself. Canvas puts weights on assignment groups, not on single assignments, and it allows totals above or below 100%.
A weight shows what a score can do. In a category worth 30%, a 10-point change moves the course grade 3 points.
Warn students about early grades. Canvas leaves out a group with no graded items and rescales the rest. Its example: [(.75 × .20) + (.98 × .50)] ÷ .70 = .9143. That 91.43% says nothing yet about the other 30% of the course. The Weighted Grade Calculator does the same, and shows Best possible and Lowest possible.
Blanks, zeros, excused work and extra credit
A blank means not graded yet. A zero counts as 0 points. Excused work is out of the grade.
Made-up example. A student has 18/20 and 16/20 on two quizzes. A third 20-point quiz has no score yet.
| Third quiz is | Math | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Blank | 34 ÷ 40 | 85.00% |
| Zero | 34 ÷ 60 | 56.67% |
| Excused | 34 ÷ 40 | 85.00% |
Blank and excused match today, but a blank can still change.
The Canvas CSV export shows two views: Current ignores unsubmitted assignments, and Final counts them as zero.
The Canvas article on missing work does not say a Missing label alone sets a score. Its Missing Submission policy is optional, set per course, and awards a percent you choose, so 0% gives a 0. It does not reach On Paper or No Submission assignments on its own.
Put your late-work rule in the syllabus too. Our calculators have no late-penalty setting, so students enter the score after the penalty.
For extra credit, say where it goes and how much it can add. The Canvas guide suggests a 0% group until late in the course, then a weight that can take the total above 100%. In the calculator, check This is extra credit on a category, and its weight sits on top of the 100.
Made-up example. Full marks in an extra-credit category worth 2% take an 88% to a 90%, a B to an A on a 10-point scale. Choose the size on purpose.
Drop-lowest rules students can follow
Say how many scores drop, from which category, and what lowest means.
That matters when items have different totals. Canvas drops the score that helps the group most, which may not be the lowest percent. Its example has three scores:
| Rule | Scores kept | Group grade |
|---|---|---|
| No drop | 50/50, 65/100, 12/24 | 127/174 = 73% |
| Drop the lowest percent, 12/24 | 50/50, 65/100 | 115/150 = 77% |
| Drop what helps most, 65/100 | 50/50, 12/24 | 62/74 = 84% |
The simple fix: give every item in a droppable group the same points. Then both rules drop the same score, which students can check by hand.
The calculator’s Drop method menu offers both rules: Best score for me and Lowest percent. Drops work only on assignments entered one by one. It has no Never Drop list, which Canvas has.
Choosing a grading scale and rounding rule
Use your school’s scale if it has one. Scales differ. Florida law sets a 10-point scale for public school grades 6-12. The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing table starts C at 73, and the University of the Incarnate Word starts it at 70.
Then decide what happens between whole numbers. Florida’s law prints whole-number ranges and gives no rounding rule, so it does not say what 89.5 is. Johns Hopkins nursing rounds final course grades to a whole number, so 89.5 becomes 90, an A- on its table. Without rounding, our tools read it as a B+.
Write one sentence, such as “Final grades round to the nearest whole percent, and .5 rounds up.”
To share a scale of your own, use Make my own scale on the Grading Scale page, then Copy link. Students load the link and press Save scale. The Test Grade Calculator can print a chart on that scale.
Share a class link
A class link opens the Weighted Grade Calculator with your categories filled in. Students add their own scores. If you use points, skip the link and send students to the Grade Calculator.
- Enter each category’s name and Weight %.
- In each category’s ⋯ menu, set Drop lowest, Drop method and This is extra credit if they apply.
- Press Copy class link, not Copy link. A class link has no scores in it. Copy link carries everything on the page, scores included.
Students open it and press Load shared data. Their scores stay in their browser.
The link does not carry your grading scale or rounding choice, so tell students to set those under Match your class. The calculator does not connect to your gradebook, so it matches only if both follow the same rules.
First-week gradebook setup checklist
- Copy your school’s grading rules into the syllabus.
- Choose points or categories, with weights that add up to 100.
- Write what blank, zero, missing, excused and late each mean.
- Set your extra-credit and drop rules, your grading scale and your rounding rule.
- Enter one made-up student and check the total by hand.
- Test a class link, then post it with the syllabus.
Sources
- Canvas documentation: group weights, ungraded work, missing work, drop rules
- U.S. Department of Education overview, 2005
- Florida Statutes, Section 1003.437 (2026)
- Johns Hopkins nursing grading policy
- Incarnate Word grading scale
Tools for this guide
- Weighted Grade Calculator: Get your grade when homework, quizzes and exams count differently.
- Grading Scale: See how percents turn into letter grades, and set your own scale.
- Test Grade Calculator: Turn questions wrong into a score, with a chart you can print.
More guides
- How to Curve Grades Fairly: Methods Compared
- Rubric Grading: Why 2 out of 4 Need Not Mean 50%
- Zero, 50% or Missing: How Each Changes a Grade
- Weighted Grades in Excel and Google Sheets
- Standards-Based Report Cards: What a 1 to 4 Means
This guide is general information. Your school's rules come first. Found a mistake? Tell us.