Canvas's "Highest Score" grading rule can sometimes be counterintuitive when late penalties are involved. This guide aims to show you
Scenario:
You've setup your midterm exam in Canvas quizzes. The midterm is out of 200 points. In your gradebook, you've setup a Late Policy to automatically apply to late submissions (1): 10% (2) of the total score is deducted for each day (3) a submission is late. The lowest possible grade percentage is zero (4).
In your Quiz settings, you allow multiple attempts (1), limit the total attempts to 2 (2, 3), and keep the highest score (4). A waiting period of 1 hour is required between attempts (5).
A student takes the midterm twice.
- For attempt 1, the student is on-time and scores 158/200. There are no late submission deductions.
- For attempt 2, the student is 7 days late and scores 178/200. Because the student took the quiz 7 days late, 140 points are deducted (10% for each day). 178-140=38 points.
You review your gradebook and notice that the student has a midterm grade of 38 and wonder why, since the student's first attempt of 158 is clearly the higher score.
The answer: Canvas selects the highest raw score before penalties, not the highest adjusted score after late penalties. There is no way to automatically make Canvas select the highest score with late penalties taken into account. This is a known quirk in Canvas's attempt grading logic. If the goal is for the highest adjusted score to count, instructors may need to manually review and override the grade in cases of late submissions, especially when multiple attempts are allowed.
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