Curving adjusts grades across the whole class after grading, on the total scores, so the distribution meets a target you or your school set. It is a separate step from grading, and it happens before you release.
The curve studio
Open the curve studio for an assignment once its papers are graded. It shows the current distribution, the median, and where each paper falls.
Set a policy
Choose Set the policy to define the target the curve should meet. Depending on your school, that can be a required mean range, quotas for each grade band, or specific letter cutoffs. If your institution has a mandated curve, this is where it lives, and the studio checks the live distribution against it.
Three ways to move the curve
The studio always draws the letter cutoffs over your scores, including on an assignment graded in percent. There are three things you can grab, and each says plainly what it costs.
- Drag one cutoff to move where a single grade begins. Only that boundary moves, so the bands on either side get wider or narrower.
- Drag the rail above the chart to slide every cutoff at once, keeping the spacing between them. This is the way to make the whole assignment more or less generous without changing any band's width.
- Drag the median to move the scores themselves. This is the only one that changes a recorded score, so it is marked in brass rather than blue. Rank is always preserved, and the original score is kept so you can undo it.
The first two never touch a score, only the label a score earns, so reach for them first. Papers the score curve moved show up in brass on the chart.
Fit cutoffs to policy solves for the smallest rail shift that satisfies every rule, so the move it makes is one you can see and then adjust by hand.
Nothing is saved until you press Assign letter grades (or Apply cutoffs) for the cutoffs, or Apply score curve for the median. If you grade in percent and want to keep it that way, just never press apply.
Then release
Curving changes what students will see, so like everything else it only takes effect when you release. Review the curved result first, then release grades and reports as usual. See Releasing grades and reports.