Compile, administer, and grade examinations

Grade the set of 120 multiple-choice and short-answer exam papers for Acting 201 and return results to Nora in academics by Monday noon. Record each student’s raw score, apply the agreed weighting (MC 60%, short answers 40%), calculate class average and standard deviation, and flag any answer keys with more than 20% wrong for possible key errors.

Before I release grades to students, make the spreadsheet easy for Nora to review: put the class average and the pass threshold at the top, make student totals and letter grades visible in the leftmost columns, highlight any items where a student’s MC score deviates by more than 30 points from their short-answer score, and mark questions where over 20% failed so Nora can consider regrading or a key adjustment.

After grading, six students scored above 85 on multiple choice but under 50 on short answers. I’m worried I misapplied the short-answer rubric or failed to carry a weighting. I can’t tell whether the issue is my rubric, a copying error when applying weights, or students gaming the MC. What is the most likely cause and the quickest verification step so I can correct grades before sending them to Nora?

Every term we spend a day reconciling grades because instructors export scores in different layouts and sometimes forget agreed weightings. Across three courses last year that cost me two full days. What habit and a single standard template or rule should I enforce so importing and computing final grades becomes a five‑minute task instead of a day?