Overview of Grades

In this guide, you will get an overview of

• The grading strategies supported in Spark's grades feature
• How to use gradebooks and grade records
• How to use the Scales & Weights and Mastery Objectives sections

Spark’s Grades feature gives schools and educational programs a flexible way to assess student learning using a variety of grading strategies. Whether your program is standards-based, uses traditional grading, or simply tracks completion, Spark makes it easy to create gradebooks, enter grades, and generate reports that reflect your school’s philosophy.

This overview will introduce the main components of the Grades feature, how they work together, and how to get started.

Grading Strategies in Spark

When you create a Grade Record, you'll choose one of four Grading Strategies. Each strategy determines how grades are entered, calculated, and reported:

• Mastery
• Traditional Percentage
• Traditional Points
• Pass/Fail

Mastery Grading

Mastery grading focuses on whether a student has mastered specific learning standards or skills, rather than averaging scores across assignments. This strategy is often used in standards-based or competency-based education programs.

• Teachers define a list of learning objectives.
• Assignments can be aligned to one or more of these objectives.
• Instead of giving a percentage or point score, teachers select a mastery level for each standard (such as “Beginning,” “Progressing,” or “Mastered”).
• The system can display each student’s progress toward mastery of the standards over time.

Mastery grading emphasizes growth and proficiency rather than comparing students to each other. It’s ideal for personalized learning models or programs focused on clear outcomes.

Traditional Percentage Grading

With traditional percentage grading, each assignment is given a percentage score (e.g., 87%) based on the student’s performance. Spark then converts these percentages into letter grades based on a grading scale you define.

• Teachers input the percentage earned on each assignment.
• You can customize the letter grade scale used by your program (for example, A = 90–100%, B = 80–89%, etc.).
• Final grades are calculated as a weighted or unweighted average of the assignment percentages.

This method is widely used in schools and is familiar to students and families.

Traditional Points Grading

With traditional points grading, each assignment is worth a certain number of possible points, and the teacher records the points earned by the student. Spark calculates the total points earned out of the total possible points and converts that into a letter grade.

• For example, if a student earns 85 out of 100 total points, their grade is 85%.
• Like with percentage grading, your school can define a custom letter grade scale.
• This method works well when assignment weights are tied directly to point values.

Points-based grading is simple to set up and works well when assignments have very different values (e.g., a quiz worth 10 points vs. a project worth 100 points).

Pass/Fail Grading

Pass/Fail grading is the simplest of all grading strategies. Instead of assigning a letter or numerical grade, the teacher indicates whether the student has passed or not passed either individual assignments or the entire course.

• No letter grade is calculated.
• Useful for internships, electives, participation-based classes, or programs where mastery is binary.

Pass/Fail grading reduces grading complexity and puts the focus on completion or competency instead of scores.

Choosing a Grading Strategy

You can select a grading strategy when setting up a Grade Record in Spark. Choose the one that best fits your educational goals for the course or subject. Spark supports multiple strategies across your school, so different teachers or programs can use the approach that fits them best.

What Are Gradebooks and Grade Records?

Spark’s Grades feature is organized into two main components: Gradebooks and Grade Records. These work together to help you organize and manage student grades efficiently.

Gradebook: The Organizational Bucket

A Gradebook is an organizational container that holds one or more Grade Records. You can create a gradebook for:

• A specific student
• A class or subject
• A school term or unit
• Your entire school or program

Gradebooks make it easy to group related assessments and track student progress over time. They don’t contain the actual grades themselves—but they organize the records where the grades are entered.

To create a Gradebook:

1. Go to Grades in the left-hand menu.
2. Click + Add New Gradebook.
3. Fill in the gradebook details (e.g., name, term, class).
4. Click Create Gradebook.

Grade Record: Where Scores Are Entered

A Grade Record is the actual place where grades and assignments are entered. Each grade record is linked to a specific Grading Strategy (Mastery, Traditional Percentage, Traditional Points, or Pass/Fail).

Grade Records:

• Live inside a gradebook
• Contain assignments and student scores
• Can be used for individuals or groups of students
• Track progress according to the selected grading strategy

You can think of a Grade Record like a spreadsheet for a specific subject, skill area, or unit—it’s where teachers track student performance.

To create a Grade Record:

1. Open the Gradebook where you want to add a record.
2. Click + Add Grade Record.
3. Choose a Grading Strategy.
4. Enter the details (name, students, subject, etc.).
5. Click Create Grade Record.

With this setup, you can use multiple grading strategies across different Grade Records, all organized within the Gradebooks that make sense for your school structure.

Scales & Weights

The Scales & Weights page is your central hub for managing the grading criteria used across your school. From this page, you can create, store, and edit both grading scales (used in traditional and mastery strategies) and weights (used in traditional precentage grading).

Scales

Scales define how student performance is measured—whether through letter grades or mastery levels—and are applied in all grading strategies except Pass/Fail.

• In Traditional Grading, scales convert percentages or points into letter grades (e.g., A = 90–100%).
• In Mastery Grading, scales define performance levels such as Beginning, Progressing, or Mastered.
• You can create custom scales to match your school’s grading philosophy and apply them across multiple classes or grade records.

Mastery Objectives

If you're using the Mastery Grading strategy, use the Mastery Objectives page to organize and store your objective sets for resuse in any grade record. Mastery, or Learning Objectives represent the learning objectives or skill areas students are expected to master.

• Teachers can create and organize sets of learning objectives by subject or course.
• These objectives can then be aligned with assignments in a grade record.
• Tracking progress toward these standards helps focus on student growth and proficiency over time.