Reference • Teachers • Instructional leads

How grading modes and automation settings affect results

Use this page when you need quick answers about which grading mode to use, what automation changes after submission, and how LMS final scores are chosen.

What this page covers

Explain how grading modes and automation settings interact so teachers can choose the right combination before students submit work.

Expected outcome

You can decide whether to use accuracy grading, completion grading, or automation and know what those settings will change downstream.

For

Teachers • Instructional leads

Applies to

Assessment setup • LMS-linked assessments • Automation workflows

Last verified: 2026-03-25

These settings are related, but they do not do the same job. Choose them based on what should happen after student work arrives.

Setting

What it does

Best for

Accuracy grading

Scores student work against the answer key and any rubric or AI instructions you configured.

Most graded assignments where correctness matters.

Completion grading

Adds a separate completion score path without replacing the accuracy score.

Homework or practice work where you still want useful feedback and a completion measure.

Auto-grade

Starts grading automatically after eligible submissions arrive.

Trusted recurring workflows where assessment setup is already stable.

Auto-publish

Pushes results onward automatically after grading finishes and the workflow is eligible to publish.

Highly repeatable LMS-connected workflows where you already trust the downstream publish path.

LMS final score type

Chooses whether the LMS should receive the accuracy score or the completion score when both exist.

LMS-linked homework workflows using completion grading.

Most confusion comes from settings that sound independent but actually affect one another.

Decision checklist

  • Use only accuracy grading when you want one correctness-based score and no separate homework-completion score.
  • Use completion grading when students still need meaningful feedback but the LMS should track completion separately.
  • Turn on automation only after you have tested one small grading loop manually.

Key points

  • Completion grading adds a second score path; it does not replace accuracy grading.
  • Turning off completion grading clears the LMS final-score choice because there is no second score to publish.
  • Auto-publish only makes sense after you trust both the grading setup and the LMS publish behavior.
  • Google Classroom automation depends on the assessment already being published to the LMS.