Administrative policy requires that each teacher give a comprehensive semester test that counts no less than 5% of the semester transcript grade and no more than 20%.
The table below shows the minimum 18-week average required to earn the next higher letter grade when a 100% is scored on a semester test counted at different percentages of the final transcript grade.
| 100% semester test weighted at → | 5% | 10% | 15% | 20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18-week % needed to earn an "A" | 88.95 | 88.33 | 87.65 | 86.88 |
| 18-week % needed to earn a "B" | 78.42 | 77.22 | 75.88 | 74.38 |
| 18-week % needed to earn a "C" | 67.89 | 66.11 | 64.12 | 61.88 |
| 18-week % needed to earn a "D" | 57.37 | 55.0 | 52.35 | 49.38 |
As you can see, when the semester test is counted at only 5% of the final grade, a student must have an 18-week average of 57.37% with a semester test score of 100%, but when the semester test is counted 20% of the final grade, even a student with an 18-week average of 49.38% can still pass the course.
Clearly, finals counted as a larger percentage of the semester transcript grade give an opportunity to more students than finals counted as a smaller percentage of the transcript grade.