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Grade Passback - Spotting & Resolving Canvas/Synergy Grade Discrepancies

Modified on: Wed, Jan 15 2025 8:22 AM

Possible reasons for grade (class percentage) differences between what teachers see in Canvas and what they see in Synergy and how to resolve them.



Make Sure All Assignments Are Syncing




In Canvas go to the "Assignments" screen and look at the sync column.

grey sync icon icon means the assignment is not set to sync. If you want it to sync, click the icon to turn it green.

 icon means the assignment is set to sync.




Run Remaster Grade Passback


This will force all assignments/scores to sync and will help spot any hidden issues.


Running "Remaster Grade Passback"

  1. Go to Grade Sync → Utilities in your Canvas course. (if you have hidden this in course settings → navigation, unhide it. Student's won't see it)
  2. Hit the "remaster grade passback" button.
  3. Make sure all assignments are selected and then hit "remaster grades." This process can take up to an hour depending on the number of assignments & scores in your course.
  4. Return to the "history" tab and when the sync has completed, check the status. 
    • green check mark  indicates a successful sync.
    • indicates there was an issue. If you see an issue, copy your Canvas course name into a tech request and we'll help you sort it out. 

      If you are more of the DIY type, head over to our Grade Passback - Fixing Common Sync Issues article which has solutions for the issues that occur most frequently.

"Remaster Grade Passback" Video Instructions




Spotting Discrepancies


Note: This step should only be done after getting a successful green check mark remaster grade passback in step 2.

  1. In Canvas, make sure the "Total" Column in your grade book is next to the list of student names. (click three vertical dots and select "move to front" from the menu that appears)
  2. In Canvas, filter to a section. 
  3. Set the "Grading Periods" filter to "All Grading Periods." (Canvas default is to only show the current grading period)
  4. Open the Synergy grade book to the same section.
  5. Compare the percentages in the Canvas "Total" column to those in the "Grade" column in Synergy, looking for differences.




Resolving Discrepancies


Problem Source

How To Fix It
You deleted an assignment score in Canvas, but the score still exists in the Synergy grade book. Solution: If you deleted an assignment score in Canvas, the "regular" sync won't delete it. The remaster grade passback process from step 2 above should have deleted it from Synergy. If not, you can break the sync for the assignment temporarily in Synergy (instructions).
Note: to delete an entire assignment from Synergy you will need to manually delete it  by "breaking the sync" (instructions). 
Your Canvas "Assignment Group" weighting setup doesn't match your Synergy "Assignment Type" weighting. Solution: Review "Getting Set Up for Grade Passback" in our grade passback setup article to ensure that the Canvas and Synergy setups match.
You set a "drop score" preference in Canvas and Synergy.
Both systems let you drop a student's lowest score for a given "Assignment Group" (Canvas) or "Assignment Type" (Synergy)

Canvas & Synergy handle this drop score setting differently. 

  • Synergy simply looks at the lowest score as a percentage of possible points for that assignment type and drops it from the calculation.

  • Canvas looks at the score that has the greatest negative impact within that assignment group and drops that from the calculation, even if it isn't the lowest percentage. You can read additional information here...

Example: You have 2 assignments, one worth 4 points and another worth 100 points. A student scores 1/4 (25%) and 50/100 (50%). Synergy will drop the 1/4 score, but Canvas will drop the 50/100 score since it has a greater negative impact.


Solution: For the "drop score" setting, you'll need to decide which system you prefer. 

  • If you want to use Synergy's calculation you are all set. 
  • If you want to use Canvas's system: 
    • You will want to communicate this to students & families so they understand that the overall class grades they see in ParentVUE/StudentVUE may differ from what ends up on the report card.
    • You will likely need to manually adjust some students' calculated letter grades when posting to the report card.


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