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MYGRADEPLAN GUIDE

Why doesn’t my grade match my school’s gradebook?

Your calculated grade and Canvas, Blackboard or PowerSchool disagree? Check these five things in order: included assignments, category weights, drop rules, rounding and future work.

Most mismatches come from one of five things:ungraded work counted as zero, different category weights, a dropped or replaced score, rounding, or future work.Check them in that order.

Two different results do not necessarily mean either calculator is broken. First check whether both tools are using the same assignments, scores and rules. Your instructor determines the official grade.

1. Start with the assignments included

A running grade often excludes work without a score. A total that includes future work as zero will usually be lower. In MyGradePlan, “Not graded yet” stays out of the current denominator, while “Missing — counts as 0” adds possible points with no earned points.

2. Check categories before changing scores

If exams count for 60% and homework for 40%, adding every assignment into one points pool may give a different answer. Use category percentages and enter the syllabus weights. Within each category, MyGradePlan adds earned and possible points before finding the percentage.

3. Look for special rules

A dropped quiz, protected exam, category cap or bonus can change the answer. Replacing a low exam with a final score is not the same as dropping the lowest percentage. MyGradePlan’s drop rule may not match a system that chooses the drop with the greatest effect on the average.

A simple difference

You have 80/100 recorded points and a future 100-point exam. Excluding the exam gives 80%. Including it as zero gives 40%. Assuming 90/100 on it gives a planned 85%. These describe three different situations.

4. Compare before rounding

A displayed 89.995% might appear as 90.00%, but the unrounded number is below a 90% boundary. Use your instructor’s rounding policy. MyGradePlan never assumes that rounding for display changes a letter grade.

5. Ask about hidden weights

Some gradebooks hide a “participation” or “attendance” category, or weight a final exam category that currently has no grades. An empty weighted category is excluded from your grade so far but still counts in the final course grade.

Open the step-by-step grade check

A FEW THINGS YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING

Questions about this

Is Canvas wrong or is the calculator wrong?
Usually neither. They are answering different questions, most often because one treats ungraded work as zero. Line up the included assignments first, then weights, then rules.
Why does Canvas show a higher grade than I expect?
Canvas, by default, calculates the current grade from graded work only, which is the same approach as “grade so far” here. If you expected future zeros to be included, that explains the gap.
Why does my gradebook show a lower grade?
Often because missing assignments were entered as zeros, or because an empty category like the final exam is being counted. Check which assignments carry a recorded score.