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Calculating class ranks
[Applies to secondary schools only]
You can calculate class ranks based on the cumulative GPA assigned to the class rank definition or, if your district has set up GPA/class rank reporting terms, you can choose to calculate class ranks based on a term GPA. For more information about term GPAs, see Calculating term GPAs [>>].
With a cumulative GPA, class ranks are calculated to the end of the year. With a term GPA, class ranks are calculated using a cumulative GPA calculation but only to the end of the selected term. The term class rank can be stored, which enables you to track class ranks for each term in a school year.
Note: Although you can store multiple class rank calculations, you can select only one class rank calculation to be rolled over to the next school year during Year-End Processing.
Cumulative and term GPA class rank calculations are run independently of each other; running a term GPA class rank calculation does not override any cumulative GPA class rank calculation results.
Note: You must run cumulative GPA calculations before you can calculate class ranks. If student grades were changed since the last time cumulative GPAs were run, you must run cumulative GPA calculations again before calculating class ranks. To be sure results are up-to-date, always run cumulative GPA calculations first, and then immediately calculate class ranks.
From the Grading page, you can run class rank calculations. Once the class rank calculations are complete, you can override ranks for individual students.
Class Rank Calculation Eligibility
To be eligible to be included in class ranks calculations, the student must:
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Meet all criteria in the class rank definition, including, if applicable, rules covering withdrawal codes, minimum number of days enrolled in the district, and minimum number of credits earned; and |
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Have a cumulative GPA value. |
If a student's ineligibility is suspect, a ? appears in the left column on the Student Ranks page. A student's ineligibility is considered suspect if the student is missing yearly credits earned or credits earned for course grade items because if the student's credits earned were not missing, the student might be eligible.
Understanding Precision When Calculating Class Ranks
The cumulative GPA definition specifies the precision, or number of decimal places, in the calculation result. The displayed result is rounded to the precision specified, even though internally PowerSchool SMS stores and uses numbers with more decimal places.
PowerSchool SMS uses the stored precision, not the display precision, when calculating class ranks and when determining ties. Therefore, it is possible for students displaying an identical GPA to be ranked differently.
For example, let's say the cumulative GPA definition specifies three decimal places. If the stored cumulative GPA for student A is 3.2568 and for student B is 3.2566, both students' GPA would be displayed as 3.257 because they are rounded to three decimal places. However, student A would be ranked higher than student B because PowerSchool SMS uses the stored value and not the displayed value when calculating class ranks.
To see full precision values, run the Cumulative GPA Report.
If the calculated class rank is not appropriate, you can manually override class ranks. For information about overriding a student's rank, see Overriding Stored Class Ranks [>>].
Students ranks page
When class ranks are calculated, the results appear on the Student Ranks page [Figure 76]. This page has two tabs:
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View the most recent calculated student ranks for a grade level in a class rank definition. |
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Recalculate student ranks. |
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Store calculated ranks. |
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Stored - This tab only appears if class ranks have been stored previously. |
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View the last stored student ranks for a grade level in a class rank definition. |
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Override a student's calculated rank. |
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Manually assign a rank to students who are deemed ineligible to be ranked by the criteria the school has set up. Note: A left column displays if if there are special indicators for any student. |
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A tilde (~) indicates the calculated rank has been manually overridden. |
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A question mark (?) indicates the student's eligibility is in question. |
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A caret (^) indicates an ineligible student's rank has been overridden. |
For more information about how class ranks are defined, see Creating class rank definitions [>>].
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In the Admin menu, click Grading. The Grading page appears. |
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Under Step 7, click Calculate Class Ranks. The Calculate Class Ranks page appears [Figure 75]. |
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From the GPA for Rank Calculation dropdown, select Cumulative GPA or a term GPA. |
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To calculate class ranks, click Run next to the appropriate grade level. When calculations are complete, the Student Ranks page opens and you can view and store the latest class ranks [Figure 76]. |
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To review stored class ranks, click the link in the Date Last Stored column. |
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In the Calculated tab, review the most recent calculated student ranks [Figure 76]. |
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To recalculate student ranks as of today, click Recalculate [Figure 76]. All students on this tab are re-ranked and Last calculated is updated. |
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To replace the currently stored student ranks, if any, and keep this list of student ranks in the Stored tab, click Store. |
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To manually override any of the calculated student ranks, see Overriding Stored Class Ranks [>>]. |
Figure 75: Calculate rank
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Select rank calculation type |
Figure 76: Student ranks
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Grade Level - The grade level you selected on the Calculate Class Ranks page. |
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GPA For Rank Calculation - The GPA used to calculate the student ranks. |
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Class Rank Out Of - The total number of students in this grade level ranked by PowerSchool SMS.
This number does not include students ineligible to be ranked, but does include any ineligible students manually ranked on the Stored tab. |
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Last Stored - The date and time you clicked Store to store the ranks of all students for this grade level for this class rank definition. |
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Last Calculated - The date and time class ranks were calculated or recalculated for students for this grade level for this class rank definition. Note: If you click Recalculate, all students on this tab are re-ranked and Last calculated is updated. |
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Rank - The student's rank as of the Last calculated date and time.
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GPA Value - The cumulative or term GPA used to calculate the student's rank. The number of decimal places that is displayed is specified in the cumulative GPA definition. For more information, see Understanding Precision When Calculating Class Ranks [>>].
Students who are not ranked because they are deemed ineligible according to the class rank definition criteria always appear at the bottom of the list. Students with no GPA value are treated the same as ineligible students and also appear at the bottom of the list. |
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On the Student Ranks page, click the Stored tab . |
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On the Stored tab, review the information. |
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Manually override a student's rank by clicking the student's rank and entering a new rank. A tilde (~) indicates an eligible student's rank has been overridden. A caret (^) indicates an ineligible student's rank has been overridden. |
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Clear a manual override - Select the row. From the Actions menu, click Clear Override. PowerSchool SMS replaces the rank in that row with the last calculated rank. |
Note: Clicking Save on this tab does not change the last stored date and time.
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You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]