How to Grade K-12 Students on a Curve

Grading on a curve can give students an advantage during an assignment, test or essay. The most common form of curving assumes that the top scorer should have gotten a perfect score on the test, accounting for the difficulty of the tests. This form of curving will raise all students' grades and can be a great tool to use when grading a difficult test or assignment.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Analyze the students' assignments, essays or test grades to determine what the highest score is for the item in point value. For example, you may find that one student scored 60 out of 65 possible. If using the curving system, you can assume that the student who scored a 60 should have gotten a perfect score on the assignment.
2. Subtract the highest score from the total number of points possible to find the difference. In our example, it would be 65-60=5. The student who scored the highest was five points away from a perfect score.
3. Add the difference that you found to each student's absolute score. Therefore, in this example you would add 5 points to each student's test. The student who scored the highest score out of the class will now have a perfect score.
4. Assign a letter grade for students based on their adjusted scores and your traditional letter assignment technique.

Tips & Warnings

• If one or more students receive a perfect score on the assignment or test initially, then the curve does not need to be applied to the students' grades.
• The traditional form of curving, mostly used by professors, assigns a certain number of A's, B's, C's, D's and F's to be given to a set number of students and these numbers are determined before the class even begins.