what does assignment dropped mean

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Dropping Lowest Scores in Canvas

In this post, I highlight the score dropping feature of Canvas assignment groups, discuss its approach, and share some background & the obscure details about this feature.

The Feature

One of the benefits of using Canvas’s assignments & grading tools is the option to automatically drop some score(s) from an assignment group. This feature’s most popular use is dropping the lowest scored item in a homework or quiz assignment group. It’s easy to activate this feature for an assignment group with these steps:

• Choose Edit from an assignment group’s option menu (triple-dot icon).
• Enter “1” in the Lowest Scores box (or a higher number, if you’re feeling generous).
• Click “Save”.

For more details and screenshot, please see the Canvas instructor guide about Assignment Group Rules (it also explains the Never Drop rule – to designate assignments that must be kept in the assignment group total score – and the little-used Drop Highest rule). I suspect that learning about the Drop Lowest Scores feature may attract instructors who have yet to use Canvas to calculate their final scores to make the switch. (If you are such an instructor, consider joining & working through our online course for setting up your assignments & grading .)

The Approach

What does it mean to ignore the lowest score in an assignment group? It may seem obvious, but there are (at least) two possible approaches. One approach is to remove the assignment(s) for which a student scored their lowest percentage(s) in an assignment group. Canvas’s approach is to keep the assignment scores that result in the highest possible assignment group subtotal. When all assignments in a group have the same number of possible points, there is no difference in these approaches. But when there are different possible points for assignments in the same group, the approaches sometimes remove different assignments’ scores and produce different assignment group subtotals. The Assignment Group Rules guide offers an example of this type in its preamble (the top section with blue background). Although removing an assignment with a higher percentage goes against a common intuition, Canvas will remove it if doing so results in a higher assignment group subtotal. In other words, Canvas’s approach to dropping the lowest scores is to drop the worst scores .

Background & Obscure Detail 

The impetus for me to write this post was research I did while in conversation with an instructor who found differences between Canvas’s quiz subtotal and one they had calculated. Before this conversation, I had assumed that Canvas dropped the assignment with the lowest percentage in the group (it seemed both intuitively plausible mathematically and the plainest meaning of “lowest score”). But the instructor’s example showed that Canvas sometimes dropped assignments that did not have the lowest percentage in the group. I tried my hand in Excel at calculating subtotals with lowest quiz scores dropped and inferred that Canvas was dropping assignments in order to maximize each student’s percentage for the assignment group (because where our subtotals diverged, mine were lower than Canvas’s). Only after that exercise did I realize that the Assignment Group Rules guide linked above clearly states that this is Canvas’s approach. 😅

Curious to know how Canvas achieves its approach, I eventually searched through Canvas source code to read its routine. I was pleased to find a comment in the source code citing an article by Daniel and Jonathan Kane about dropping lowest grades . This article (certainly worth reading if one has some spare time and abundant curiosity) compares approaches, explores counterintuitive cases, and describes algorithms to find the highest possible subtotal that will results from dropping grades. Canvas code implements the bisection algorithm discussed in that article.

I find that the approach Canvas adopts is very persuasive despite running counter to my original intuition in a small number of cases. I hope that this post and the linked resources make clear the what, how, and why of dropping the lowest, i.e. worst, score(s) in Canvas.

Photo by Dan-Cristian Pădureț on Unsplash

Help Articles

Check assessment grades, learner help center feb 13, 2023 • knowledge, article details.

This article will show you how to check your grades, understand assessment statuses, and view assessment feedback.

Check your grades

Assessment statuses, assessment feedback.

To view your grades: 

• Open the course.
• Open the Grades tab (from the left sidebar).

You’ll see all your assessments listed on this page. Here’s what you can find in your Grades tab:

• The status of each assessment
• Your assessment grades (and any adjustments to them).
• The weight of each assessment (which shows how much that assessment counts toward your overall grade)
• Your assignment due dates and personalized deadlines.
• Whether an assessment is locked.
• Peer review requirements.
• Your final grade (once all assessments have been graded).

In private courses, you may also see your current grade.

Back to top

In your Grades tab you’ll see one of these statuses next to each assignment:

• --: You haven’t started the assignment yet.
• Started: Your assignment has been started, but not yet submitted. Your assignment won’t get a grade until it’s submitted.
• Submitted: You submitted your assignment, but it doesn’t have a grade yet.
• Graded: You submitted your assignment and it has a grade. This assignment doesn’t have a required passing score.
• Passed: You completed the assignment, received a grade, and your grade is above the required passing score for that assignment.
• Didn't Pass: You completed the assignment, received a grade, and your grade is below the required passing score for that assignment.
• Dropped: This assignment’s score won’t be included in your final course grade.
• Adjusted: Course staff, or a lateness policy, changed your grade for the assignment.

You can open an assessment and click View Feedback to see feedback on your assessment. This will show you your score for each question, and may also include additional info about each question.

In private courses, some assessments may be manually graded by your instructor. You’ll always be able to see your assessment score on your Grades tab, but you may not be able to view additional feedback. 

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Schoology Plus

A web extension that enhances your schoology experience with numerous interface improvements.

Schoology Plus is temporarily down from the Chrome Web Store while a bug is being fixed. It should be back on the store by Monday. Please join our Discord server for updates and temporary download instructions.

Help & Docs What-If Grades Dropping Assignments

Dropping Assignments

“Dropping” assignments from the gradebook is a Schoology feature such that a certain number of the lowest scores in a category won’t be counted. Dropped assignments essentially don’t exist, and act as if they were never entered into the gradebook in the first place. Dropping an assignment produces the same result as your instructor deleting it. Dropped assignments display as having a strikethrough through the entire row.

Schoology Plus allows you to both drop assignments that currently count towards your grade and undrop assignments that are currently dropped.

To start, ensure grade editing is enabled. Either right-click the assignment in question or click the three-dot (“kebab”) menu on the right side of the assignment row. A context menu should appear. For a normal, undropped assignment, it should look similar to the following:

Note: For Schoology Plus added assignments, “Drop” will instead be “Delete.” As discussed above, these operations are mathematically equivalent; the only difference is that normal dropped assignments can be undropped, whereas added assignments will disappear when deleted, and must be re-added. The context menu for an Added Assignment looks something like this:

Click “Drop.” The assignment will be dropped and no longer count towards your (simulated) grade, and the course and category grade displays will update accordingly.

Note that the assignment now displays like any other Schoology dropped assignment.

Schoology Plus “Added Assignment” assignment entries will disappear, instead of changing to a stricken-through display, when “Delete” is clicked.

Either right-click a dropped assignment or click the three-dot (“kebab”) menu on the right side of its assignment row. A context menu like the following should open:

Click undrop. Its strikethrough line should disappear and it should be re-added to the gradebook. Its effects on the category and course grades will be recalculated.

Note that even in cases where a drop is simulated (like this example), an undrop will not remove the grade modified error_outline indicator.

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• Assignments

Assignments » Explanation for ASSIGNMENT DROPPED

On Zangle,  the grade system, it says ASSIGNMENT DROPPED.  This is a good thing.  It means a student's work is in but not yet graded.  It does not mean an assignment is missing; just the opposite.

THe Dropped designation will go away once the grade is entered, in a few weeks.  Hope this helps.

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Canvas Reassign Assignment: An Easy Way to Ask Students to Resubmit Work

Canvas has added a new tool in SpeedGrader to simplify your workflow. Imagine a student submits an assignment, but they dropped it in the wrong assignment or just grabbed the wrong document to upload. Previously, you’d message the student or leave a comment in SpeedGrader. The student would then need to see that note and remember to complete the request. Now Canvas has added a button in SpeedGrader that will add an assignment back to a student’s to-do list.  

Before we get into the  how  of this feature, there are some limitations you need to know about.  

• This feature is only available for some types of assignments. It’s not available for External Tool (LTI), on paper, or no submission assignment types.
• The assignment must have a due date in order to use this feature.  
• This feature does not automatically extend the due date/close date for an assignment. If either of those need to be adjusted, you will need to do that manually.  

Using the submission reassignment feature is simple. Navigate to SpeedGrader for an assignment. If your assignment meets the criteria above, you’ll see a greyed-out “Reassign Submission” button on the right panel below the feedback comment box. Enter a comment in the feedback box (we suggest something that includes instructions or context for what you want the student to do) and submit the comment. That will activate the “Reassign Assignment” button and send it back to the student’s to-do list.  

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or email us at  [email protected]  

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Canvas - Dropped Students FAQ

Beginning June 4th, 2018, when a student or auditor drops from a Canvas course, they will be marked as “inactive” instead of being removed from the course completely. Inactive students cannot view or participate in the course anymore, but instructors and TAs can still see inactive students’ work and grades.

The reason students are marked “inactive” instead of being removed completely is to preserve their activity and grades in the course before they dropped. To avoid cluttering your Canvas roster with drops that occur long before the course actually begins, students will only be marked inactive if they drop two days before the start of a fall or spring course, and four days before the start of a summer course. Students who drop earlier will simply disappear from the Canvas course.

You can do this in the Grades area of your Canvas course. To learn how, visit How do I view grades for inactive students?

If you have enabled the New Gradebook (beta) in your course, there is a different method for viewing inactive students. See How do I view inactive students in the New Gradebook? for more information.

Unfortunately, Canvas does not provide a way to filter out or hide inactive students within the People tool at this time. As a workaround, you can view a list of your students in the Grades area, where you can filter by active/inactive students.

The Activity by Date chart in the Analytics tool tallies the activity for all students that were active in the class that day, even if they were later marked inactive or removed completely from the course. The other charts in the Analytics tool like the Grades histogram exclude students who have dropped, whether they were removed completely or marked inactive as a result. Visit How do I view Course Analytics? to learn more about this tool.

Yes. Quiz statistics tally data for all students who attempted that quiz, even if they were later marked inactive or removed completely from the course. Visit this quiz statistics help page to learn more about these metrics.

No. Students who are marked inactive are not taken into account when curving grades in the gradebook, even if you are currently displaying inactive students in your view settings. Visit How do I curve grades? to learn more about this feature.

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Should I Withdraw from This Course?

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It's the middle of the quarter and things are starting to get rough. Should you withdraw from that class you're struggling in? Read on to learn more about what a W really is (and what it isn't) and some considerations to help you decide.

What is a W (Withdraw)?

If you drop a course before the week 3 Final Study List deadline, it disappears cleanly from your transcript as though you had never been enrolled.  However, after week 3 you no longer have the option to drop a course completely from your record.  Instead, you may choose to  withdraw  from a course up through the Course Withdrawal Deadline on the Friday of week 8.  In this case, the class remains on your record and a notation of “W” (for Withdraw) is recorded on your transcript for that course in place of a grade.

Note that a W is not considered a completed course grade. Therefore, a 'W' cannot be overwritten on your transcript by  repeating the course .

How does a W look on my transcript?

Though many students worry about Ws on their transcript, in truth a W offers very little information.  It merely reflects that sometime between the third and eighth week of the quarter you decided not to continue with the class.  A W is not a “black mark,” and it says nothing about your performance in the class up to that point.  It reveals much less than an NP (No Pass), or an RP (Repeated) notation on your transcript.  A W also has no GPA impact. And a class from which you have withdrawn is not considered "complete," and therefore does not count toward the limited number of times you may repeat a course.

Withdrawing from a class will also allow you to take that time back and dedicate it to your remaining classes and to your other activities, which could even  improve  your GPA for the quarter.

An occasional W on your transcript is a fairly common occurrence, and nothing that will jeopardize your future career or your plans for graduate school, professional school, etc. Someone looking at your transcript is not likely to notice your individual Ws unless they start to suggest a frequent and recurring pattern: if, for example, your transcript shows that you always ambitiously enroll in a high number of units every quarter and then always have to withdraw every quarter because you've overextended yourself. If you find yourself falling into these repeated habits, now may be a good time to  come talk to your Academic Advisor!

But if your Ws are infrequent and do not suggest a pattern, they are not a major cause for concern.

What if withdrawing drops me below 12 Units?

If withdrawing would drop you below 12 units, we recommend  talking to your Academic Advisor  before taking any action.  We describe certain special situations and considerations below, but don’t hesitate to come in for a meeting if you have questions!

Special Eligibility Categories

There are certain cases where you may not want to withdraw from a course if it will drop you below 12 units.  For example, dropping below 12 units can affect situations such as:

• International Student Visa Status
• Eligibility status for NCAA student-athletes
• Eligibility status for certain scholarships (particularly non-Stanford external scholarships)

Talk to your Academic Advisor first if you are affected by one of these categories and are considering withdrawing from a course.  In these cases, you may want to consider alternatives such as changing your grading basis to CR/NC so that you can still maintain your eligibility.  

Academic Progress Requirements

If none of the special eligibility categories above apply to you, then the main issue to consider is whether withdrawing from the course will stop you from meeting your  minimum academic progress requirements .  To remain in good academic standing, you must successfully complete 9 units in any single quarter, and 36 units over the most recent three quarters.

If you are already on an academic progress status such as academic notice or academic probation, keep in mind that you must complete 12 units every quarter for three consecutive enrolled quarters.

If you can meet these requirements even after withdrawing from a course, then dropping below 12 units for the quarter may not have any immediate negative consequences.  If you’re not sure whether you can meet these requirements or not,  come talk to your Academic Advisor!

I should be fine on eligibility issues and minimum requirements. Should I withdraw?

Here in Academic Advising, we often like to say that a W stands for “Wise.” 

In many cases, withdrawing when you’re feeling overwhelmed can be the right choice. If you find yourself struggling in a class to the point where it's dragging down your performance in your other courses, sometimes letting go is the strategic move. Remember that it's often better to drop down to a manageable workload and do well in it rather than stretching yourself too thin and doing poorly in everything!

Whether you’ve found your schedule to be too demanding, or you are dealing with an unexpected life challenge, or you’re simply no longer invested in a course, withdrawing can be a way to take back some time and energy for yourself.  That time and energy can then be spent on other classes, obligations, opportunities, or personal needs.

In these cases, a W can show that you took both initiative and responsibility, and made a decision to protect your time and your work in your remaining classes. A wise move indeed!

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Instructors have the option of dropping a number of grades in a specific category. If you see the word "Dropped!" in place of a grade in your Grades list, do not worry. This means that your instructor is dropping one or more grades in that category.

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• Ask the instructor if  you have any questions about your Grades in  D2L.

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• Educational Assessment

Calculating Final Course Grades: What about Dropping Scores or Offering a Replacement?

• October 20, 2015
• Maryellen Weimer, PhD

I nstructors commonly cope with a missed test or failed exam (this may also apply to quizzes) by letting students drop their lowest score. Sometimes the lowest score is replaced by an extra exam or quiz. Sometimes the tests are worth different amounts, with the first test worth less, the second worth a bit more, and the third worth more than the first two—but not as much as the final.

There are various advantages and disadvantages to these approaches. Dropping the lowest score means no or fewer make-up exams or quizzes, which is a good thing for the teacher. It also makes it possible for students to do poorly on one assessment and still do well in the course. However, the material on that dropped exam or failed quiz is lost, as the student doesn’t or didn’t have to learn it. The replacement test has the advantage of holding the student responsible for all the content in the course, and replacement tests offered at the end of the course can be excellent preparation for the final. However, this means the teacher has to construct another test. Progressively weighting the value of the tests does give students the opportunity to “learn” how the professor tests. For some students who assume that course content is a breeze, the first exam can serve as a wakeup call, and if it counts less there is still time to do well in the course.

In a small study undertaken in three sections of intermediate macroeconomic theory, MacDermott compared three assessment policies in terms of their impact on the cumulative final exam score: 1) three in-class exams each worth 20 percent of the grade; 2) three in-class exams with the lowest exam score dropped and the other two exams each worth 30 percent of the grade; and 3) three in-class exams (each worth 20 percent), plus the option of an end-of-course exam whose score is permitted to replace the lowest score on the other three exams.

Students in the section that could drop an exam “engaged in some form of strategic test taking.” (p. 366) They under-studied or entirely missed one of the exams. However, this did not affect grades on the final. In fact, “allowing students to drop their lowest exam score actually led to better performance on the cumulative final exam.” (p. 368). The opportunity to take a replacement exam did not improve final exam performance for those students who took this extra exam.

The results of this study are at odds with previous research. Findings from a principles of microeconomics course cited in this study showed that dropping a test grade negatively affected scores on the cumulative final. The value of this work is not so much in the study results, but in the important questions it raises about exam assessment policies. Yes, the convenience of the student and the instructor do matter, but are they as important as the learning objectives of the course? Shouldn’t our assessment policies be those that promote the most learning for students? And shouldn’t the impact of the assessment policies in use be analyzed with collected evidence?

Reference: MacDermott, R.J. (2013). The impact of assessment policy on learning: Replacement exams or grade dropping. Journal of Economic Education, 44 (4), 364-371.

Reprinted from The Teaching Professor, 28.3 (2014): 6. © Magna Publications. All rights reserved.

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• Grade Calculators

Final Grade Calculator

Enter Final Info

My final exam is worth:

I want (at least) this in the class:

Enter Class Grades

Calculator Instructions

• In the top part of the form, enter how much your final exam is worth and the grade that you would like to get in the class. For example, your final test might be worth 20% of your overall grade and you want to get at least a 93% in the class. You would enter these numbers into the form.
• In the bottom half of the form, enter a description (optional) of the classwork, the grade received for that classwork, and the weight of the classwork. Most class grades are made up of several components such as homework assignments, tests, exams, quizzes, class participation, attendance, etc. For example, a class exam might be worth 10% of your grade and you received a 95% on the test. You would enter those values into the form.
• If you need more than four rows, press the "Add Row" button to add an additional line. You can add as many rows as you need.
• Once you have finished entering your grades, press the "Calculate" button and the grade you need on the final exam will be displayed.

Final Grade Formula

final grade = ((g wanted x w total ) - gw) / w final

w total = w 1 + w 2 + w 3 + ... + w final

w 1 = weight of assignment #1

w final = weight of final exam

gw = g 1 x w 1 + g 2 x w 2 + g 3 x w 3 + ...

g 1 = grade for assignment #1

g wanted = grade wanted in the class

Example Calculation

Let's say your class has the following grading plan.

Now let's assume you received the following grades on your classwork.

Finally, let's assume that you want to get a 90% in the class. To determine what you need to get on your final exam in order to get a 90% in the class, let's do some math using the formula above.

First add the weight of all the class assignments together including your final:

w total = 10% + 10% + 20% + 20% + 20% = 100%

Next, multiple the grade you received on each assignment by the weight of the assignment.

gw = (91% x 10%) + (85% x 10%) + (75% x 20%) + (95% x 20%) + (97% x 20%) = 7100%

Now, calculate what you need on the final exam:

final exam grade = ((90% x 100%) - 7100%) / 20% = 95%

This is how you manually calculate your final grade. Of course, you can make your life a little easier using the calculator above!

What if my class grade is based on points rather than percentages?

Let's assume you have the following class syllabus that is based on points.

Let's assume you received the following grades.

To enter these grades in the calculator above, you first need to calculate your grade percentage for each assignment using the following formula:

grade percentage = points earned / possible points x 100

So taking your mid-term test grade as an example, we get the following:

mid-term test = 190 points earned / 200 possible points x 100 = 95%

In the weight column of the calculator, you would enter the possible points for each assignment.

Assuming you wanted to get at least a 90% in the class and your final exam is worth 250 points (i.e.the weight), you would enter the following information into the calculator.

In this example, you would need to get a 93.6% on your final in order to get a 90% in the class.

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What does it mean if an assignment says dropped?

Table of Contents

• 1 What does it mean if an assignment says dropped?
• 2 What does a dropped grade mean?
• 3 Do teachers drop the lowest grade?
• 4 What does dropped mean in class?
• 5 What to do if grades are slipping?
• 6 What does it mean when you drop an assignment?
• 7 What happens when an assignment is not graded on canvas?

If your grade says “Dropped”, the instructor: Dropped the highest and/or lowest grade item in this category. Dropped this assignment so it does not count toward the final grade.

What does a dropped grade mean?

Dropping the lowest score means no or fewer make-up exams or quizzes, which is a good thing for the teacher. However, the material on that dropped exam or failed quiz is lost, as the student doesn’t or didn’t have to learn it.

How does dropping an assignment work?

Dropped grades are omitted from the course grade calculation, and the total points possible in the category are reduced by the point value(s) of the omitted item(s).

Why was my grade dropped?

A drop in grades could also indicate a serious problem such as substance abuse, or might be caused by an undiagnosed condition such as ADHD, problems with hearing or sight, or a learning disability.

Do teachers drop the lowest grade?

Many teachers allow students to drop the lowest score from a sequence of quizzes, tests, or homework assignments. When the number of grades is large, some teachers will even allow students to drop several of their low- est scores. In some circumstances, it can be non-trivial to determine the best grades to drop.

What does dropped mean in class?

unenrolling Drop a class refers to unenrolling in a course due to low grades or disinterest. Should a student drop a class after the add/drop deadline, it is considered a withdrawal and they will not be eligible for a tuition refund.

How do you drop the lowest grade in a GradeBook?

Drop Lowest Assignment Scores from GradeBook

• From the GradeBook, click Settings.
• Click the Categories tab.
• At the top of the Categories page, select an assignment category.
• At the top of the list of assignments, enter the number of low assignment scores to be dropped in Drop lowest Category assignments.

Is a dropped Grade bad?

Dropping a class is much better for your GPA than failing a class or getting a C or D in it is because a dropped class does not affect your grade point average. Dropping a class may also raise your GPA because it can allow you to spend more time on other classes and raise your grades in them.

What to do if grades are slipping?

Talk to them about taking on an extra assignment that would help raise your grade. Extra credit might entail doing something like participating in a science fair, writing an extra essay, or giving a presentation to the class. It never hurts to ask! Don’t redo old work at the expense of new work.

What does it mean when you drop an assignment?

Why does my grade say ” dropped ” on my Report Card?

What’s the difference between dropped grades and dropped grades?

What happens when an assignment is not graded on canvas?

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