District GPAs/District GPA Details

Subject Area Thresholds

Schools and Cohorts

GPA Weight Factors

Overview

The GPA Configurations page allows a district to add, configure, and edit custom district GPAs as well as GPA Weight Factors for each district defined GPA. A District can also enable or disable the Aeries built-in GPAs.

The GPA Configuration page is a feature of Aeries that must be turned on by a System Administrator to become available. Please contact Aeries Support for special instructions using the hidden Feature Flags page.

District GPAs/District GPA Details  ↑

The District GPAs section displays built-in GPAs that are available for district use. Districts can also add their own District-defined GPAs in this section. When a user selects a GPA, details for that particular GPA will display in the District GPA Details section below the District GPAs listing.

Aeries Built-in GPAs

Aeries Built-in GPAs are active by default; however, the built-in GPAs can be inactivated if a district prefers to define their own GPAs. To inactivate an Aeries Built-in GPA, select the desired GPA from the GPA list. The details for the built-in GPA will display in the District GPA Details section. Select the Edit icon. The Edit District GPA Details window will open. The built-in GPA can be inactivated by clicking on the drop-down arrow in the Status field and selecting “Inactive”. Click the Save button to save the changes. 

Inactivating built-in GPAs may limit the options that are available on the Transcript Definition - GPA Options tab for the Enhanced (1-column) transcripts. For example, after the Weighted Academic GPA and Weighted Total GPA are inactivated ...

the Weighted GPA option is no longer available in the Transcript Definitions GPA Options tab ...

To remove the Weighted GPA option from the Transcript Definition - GPA Options tab:

• Inactivate the Built-in Weighted Academic GPA
• Inactivate the Built-in Weighted Total GPA

To remove the Unweighted GPA option from the Transcript Definition - GPA Options tab:

• Inactivate the Built-in Non-Weighted Academic GPA
• Inactivate the Built-in Non-Weighted Total GPA

To remove the Academic GPA option from the Transcript Definition - GPA Options tab:

• Inactivate the Built-in Weighted Academic GPA
• Inactivate the Built-in Non-Weighted Academic GPA

To remove the Total (Non-Academic) GPA option from the Transcript Definition - GPA Options tab:

• Inactivate the Built-in Weighted Total GPA
• Inactivate the Built-in Non-Weighted Total GPA

To remove the Academic 10-12 GPA option from the Transcript Definition - GPA Options tab:

• Inactivate the Built-in Academic  10-12 GPA

Note: Activating and inactivating are only changes that can be made to a Built-in GPA on the GPA Configurations page.

District GPAs

Districts can add District-defined GPAs for use at specific school sites. When a District GPA is added, a Regular Weight Factor is automatically added to the GPA Weight Factors section of the newly created District GPA.  To add a District-defined GPA click the Add District GPA button.

The Add District GPA Details window will open.

General Info Section

Short Name - Enter a short name for your District-defined GPA. There is a 6 character limit for the GPA Short Name.
Long Name - Enter a long Name for your District-defined GPA. There is a 20 character limit for the GPA Long Name.
Status - The Status field is used to Activate or Inactivate a GPA.
Description - Enter a Description for your District-defined GPA.
Calculate Weighted GPA - If this option is selected the District-defined GPA will calculate Weighted GPAs.
Calculate Non-Weighted GPA - If this option is selected the District-defined GPA will calculate non-weighted GPAs.

Note: Both the Calculate Weighted GPA option and the Calculate Non-Weighted GPA option can be selected simultaneously. If both options are selected, a Weight Factor for the Calculate Weighted GPA option will need to be added in addition to the Regular Weight Factor that is automatically created when a District-defined GPA is added. 

Calculate Using - This option defaults to including the Credits Attempted when calculating the GPA. If the option Courses Taken is selected, then the GPA calculation is a simple average of the grade points divided by the number of marks (i.e., the number of transcript records). 

Show on Printed Transcript - This option defaults to checked. When this option is checked the District-defined GPA will be printed on the one-column enhanced transcript, when it is not checked it will not be printed on the transcript.

Course Selection Section

Courses - GPAs can be configured to run based on specific course selections. The two Courses options are: Courses and Course Characteristics.

Courses

This selection will define the group of courses to be included in the GPA calculation based on a field in the Courses page.  In the example below, the group of courses is being selected using the CRS.NA field where Academic, Non-Academic and Honors courses are defined on the Courses page. This selection is using the <> (not equal) comparison coupled with 'N'. This selection will include all courses whose CRS.NA field does not equal 'N'. This comparison will include Academic and Honors courses in the GPA calculation but will not include Non-Academic courses based on the CRS.NA field.

Conditions and Comparisons for Courses option:

=   Equals

<> Not Equal

IN  Contains

>  Greater than

<  Less than

<= Less or Equal

>= Greater or Equal

The IN comparison will include any values that are provided to the right of the equation. Commas must be used to separate a list of values. Also, comparison of a field with no data or a comparison of a field with a space must denote those conditions with either single or double quotes, such as '' or "" for No Value and ' ' or " " for a Blank. Records with fields that have either No Value or a Blank will be analyzed in the same manner. 

In the below example both conditions would produce the same results. Courses with either No Value or Blank or H in the CRS.NA field will be included in the District GPA calculation. 

Course Characteristics

This selection will define courses to be included in the GPA calculation based on the characteristics of a course set on the Characteristics tab on the Courses page. Transcript records with the same selection in the Course History Characteristics (CHC) will also be included in the GPA calculation.

Off Grade Course Inclusion - This option will include Off Grade Courses in the GPA calculation.  The calculation will include transcript records based on selections made in the Off Grade Courses page. Please refer to the Off Grade Courses documentation for more information on configuring Off Grade Courses.

Rank Section

Rank Type – Rank type must match the selected Calculate Weighted or Non-Weighted option if only one option is selected. If both options are selected, then the Rank type can be either Weighted or Non-weighted.
Rank Groups - The number of desired rank groups can be set to group students by rank in lieu of giving each student an individual rank number. The Rank Groups can be a number from 0 to 100. A Rank Group of 0 (the default) will create class ranks based on the size of the class. For example, a class size of 200 students the rank groups will range from 1 to 200. A Rank Group of 10, or decile, ranking will create 10 class rank groups that range from 1 to 10.
Calculate Top % - If a percentage number is entered the District Defined GPA will calculate for all students but only the top number of students designated by the percentage will be ranked. For example, if 20 is entered, the District Defined GPA will calculate but only display for the Top 20% of students will receive a rank.
Display Top % to Parents and Students - If a percentage number is entered only the Top % GPA will display in the Parent/Student Portal or print on the transcript. For example, if 35 is entered, the District Defined GPA will only display in the Parent/Student Portal for the top 35% of students, and it will only appear on the transcripts for the top 35% of students. 

NOTE: Rank Type should either be Weighted GPA or Non Weighted GPA to align with the GPA being used. If no ranking is desired then set the Rank Groups, Calculate Top % and Display Top % to Parents and Students to all 0.

Languages for GPA Labels Section

GPA labels support translations in other languages. GPA labels translated in this section will display on the Student Transcript Report.

Student Statuses to Include Section

Select the Student Status tags to include in the calculations of the GPA, Class Rank and Class Size. In the below example the students that graduated early will be included in the Class Rank and Class Size. 

Additionally, any students with an inactive tag that is not selected will not have their GPA recalculated, and will have their Class Rank and Size zeroed out during the Recompute Cumulative GPAs and Class Rank process.

If a student is in more than one GPA cohort (see Schools and Cohorts below), the GPA record in the non-natural cohort will be updated, and the Class Rank and Size will not be updated.

Click the Save button to save all changes. Selected options will be visible in the District GPA Details section.

Click the Continue button to open the Subject Area Thresholds section.

Subject Area Thresholds  ↑

The Subject Area Thresholds section allows the district to specify a maximum number of semester grades or credits per subject area to be included in the GPA calculation. This limitation of transcript records to include in the GPA calculation works in conjunction with the District GPA Details > Course Selection option. First Aeries will determine which transcript records honor the District GPA Course Selection, then Aeries will limit those transcript records to courses that are within the selected Subject Areas (based on the Courses Subject Area 1 (CRS.S1) field or the Transcript Subject Area Override (HIS.SA) field). Only transcript records with the highest marks in each subject area, up to the maximum grades or credits, will be included in the GPA calculation.

Use course weight when determining which transcript records will provide the highest marks - this option is stored in the District GPA Details Use Course Weight (DGP.UCW) field

• when this option is selected the system will use the District GPA Weight Factors to determine which transcript records have the highest grade point value in each subject area
• when this option is not selected the system will use the unweighted grade point value to determine which transcript records have the highest grade point value in each subject area

Subject Area - the Subject Area dropdown is populated from the subject areas in the Graduation Requirement (REQ) table for School 0 (District Level). 

Maximum Semester Grades/Credits to Include - enter a numeric value to assign the maximum number of credits or semester grades to include in the GPA calculation for each subject area

• if the District GPA Details > Calculate Using option is set to Credits Attempted, then the number should reflect the maximum number of credits per subject area. In the below example the English course transcripts with the highest weighted grade points, up to 30 credits, will be included in the GPA.
  The GPA calculation will be: Sum of (each transcript record grade point x credits attempted) / Sum of (credits attempted)
  
• If the District GPA Details > Calculate Using option is set to Courses Taken, then the number should reflect the maximum number of semester grades per subject area. In the below example the English course transcripts with the highest weighted grade points, up to 6 semester grades, will be included in the GPA.
  The GPA calculation will be: Sum of (transcript grade points) / Number of transcript records
  

Use the  +Add Subject Area Threshold button to open up a new Subject Area record. The dropdown list is populated with the Subject Areas in the Graduation Requirements (REQ) table for School 0. Each subject area can only be selected once for a District GPA. A warning message will appear in a pop up if the same subject area is selected a second time.

Once the Subject Area has been selected click or tab to the Maximum Semester Grade/Credits to Include field. Enter the maximum number of credits or the the maximum number of semester grades for that subject area that will be used in the GPA calculation. The up and down button to the right of the field can be used to increase or decrease the value. Decimal values are acceptable and will be used in the GPA calculation. A zero is not acceptable and a warning message will appear in a pop up if the Maximum Semester Grades/Credits to Include is zero.

Click on the Save changes button to save the Subject Area Threshold records. Once the records are saved edits can be made to the Maximum Semester Grade/Credits to Include fields, but the existing Subject Areas cannot be changed. If a Subject Area record needs to be removed click on the Delete button and then Save changes. 

NOTE: Remember to click on the Save changes button after deleting a Subject Area Threshold record.

Once the Subject Area Threshold records have been created click on the Continue button to open up the Schools and Cohorts section.

Schools and Cohorts  ↑

The Schools and Cohorts section displays a list of schools that can be assigned a District-defined GPA. Schools with grade levels 9 and higher designated with a Scheduling Type of Secondary or Flexible on the School Options page will be included in the school listing on the Schools and Cohorts page.

Selected - This column allows schools to be selected for inclusion in the District-defined GPA. To select a school place a checkmark in the Selected column for the desired school.
School - This column will display the school name. A school will be listed multiple times based on the Cohorts available at the school.
Cohort - This column will display the cohorts available for the listed school.
Other District GPAs Applied - This column will display District-defined GPAs that are being applied to this School and Cohort.
Natural Grade - This column displays the Natural Grade for the Cohort. The Natural Grade is the expected current grade level of the cohort.

Lock Class Ranks - When this option is enabled the calculation for Class Ranks will be locked by the cohort and grade selected.

Primary GPA - This field indicates which District-defined GPA will be used as the Term GPA on the transcripts for each school and cohort. The system will allow only one Primary GPA for each school and cohort. Please see the Transcript Design Options - Enhanced (1-column) Style for more information on how to set up the Term GPA on the transcript.
Include Other Cohorts for this Grade - If this option is checked other cohorts for this grade will be included in the GPA calculation. For example, a student that is in a different cohort outside of his natural grade because the student advanced a year will be included when this GPA is calculated.  Additionally, a student that is behind his natural grade will also have his GPA calculated if this option is selected.

GPA Weight Factors  ↑

GPA Weight Factors allow weighting of District-defined GPAs.  A Regular GPA Weight Factor will automatically be added when a District GPA is created. By default all Weight Factors are added with 0 Grade Points for all Marks, thus Grade Points will need to be added to all Weight Factors before calculating GPAs. The Do Not Include in GPA column allows a district to exclude a particular mark from the GPA calculation.  Therefore, if a checkmark is entered in the Do Not Include in GPA column the designated mark will be excluded from the GPA calculation for all students.

To edit Grade Points enter the desired Grade Point for the Mark in the Grade Points text box located to the right of each Mark. Place a checkmark in the Do Not Include in GPA column for any Marks that need to be excluded from the GPA calculation. Grade Points and checkmarks are saved automatically.

Additional Weight Factors can be added to the District Defined GPA for additional weighting of courses such as for Honors courses. Click the Add Weight Factor button to add a new Weight Factor. 

The Add District GPA Weight Factor window will open.  In this example we are adding a Weight Factor for Honors courses. The new Weight Factor was named Honors Weight Factor. In the Courses Selection Section the Courses type was selected. In the Courses type filter, NA-Non-Academic/Honors field (CRS.NA) from the Courses page was selected. This field will filter for courses that are tagged as equal (=) to H (Honors) in the Courses page. Thus this GPA Weight Factor will only calculate for Honors courses. 

Click the Save button to save all changes. The new Honors Weight Factor has been added. This weight factor will only include courses tagged with an H in the CRS.NA field in Courses.  Grade Points will need to be entered for all marks before the new Weight Factor can be used to calculate student GPAs.