How do I set up Mastery Levels and Rating Scales?

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Key Concepts

What are Mastery Levels?

Mastery Levels in Insights are definitions of student achievement on a Learning Outcome. These definitions can be aligned to rubric scores on a Rating Scale, ensuring that shared meaning can be extracted from all assessment results in Insights, regardless of score value achieved.

Common Examples:

• Not Mastered
• Partial Mastery
• Near Mastery
• Mastery
• Exceeds Mastery

What is a Rating Scale?

A Rating Scale (also referred to as a mastery-rating scale) identifies the specific mastery levels of achievement on a rubric—associating levels with numbers that represent a range of student performance on an assessment.

Example Rating Scale (1-5):

Rating	Mastery Level
1	Not Mastered
2	Partial Mastery
3	Near Mastery
4	Mastery
5	Exceeds Mastery

Why Align Rating Scales to Mastery Levels?

Aligning rating scales to mastery levels enables comparison of different scales via a shared system of meaning. This allows faculty the freedom to use any rating scale (e.g., on a rubric) they wish in their Canvas courses while guaranteeing that all data aggregates for reporting across the institution.

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Mastery Levels and Rating Scales Overview

Institutions and individual faculty commonly use a variety of rating scales. Insights uses Mastery Levels to standardize assessment result interpretation across your entire institution, enhancing both student and institutional legibility and learning.

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Key Concepts

What are Mastery Levels?

Mastery Levels in Insights are definitions of student achievement on a Learning Outcome. These definitions can be aligned to rubric scores on a Rating Scale, ensuring that shared meaning can be extracted from all assessment results in Insights, regardless of score value achieved.

Common Examples:

• Not Mastered
• Partial Mastery
• Near Mastery
• Mastery
• Exceeds Mastery

What is a Rating Scale?

A Rating Scale (also referred to as a mastery-rating scale) identifies the specific mastery levels of achievement on a rubric—associating levels with numbers that represent a range of student performance on an assessment.

Example Rating Scale (1-5):

Rating	Mastery Level
1	Not Mastered
2	Partial Mastery
3	Near Mastery
4	Mastery
5	Exceeds Mastery

Why Align Rating Scales to Mastery Levels?

Aligning rating scales to mastery levels enables comparison of different scales via a shared system of meaning. This allows faculty the freedom to use any rating scale (e.g., on a rubric) they wish in their Canvas courses while guaranteeing that all data aggregates for reporting across the institution.

⚠️ WARNING: Setup/configuration of Mastery Levels must be completed before Outcome Creation and Outcome Approval. This should never be edited once created.

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How to Configure Mastery Levels
Required Permission: Assessment Coordinators

Steps:

1. Go to Setup > Assessment > Mastery Levels & Rating Scales
2. Select + Configure Mastery Levels
3. In the modal window, click + Add Level to add a mastery level row
4. For each level, complete the following fields:
   • Sequence: Enter a number to define the order of mastery level achievements
   • Mastery Level: Enter the name for this mastery level
   • Mastery Level Description: Enter a description for this mastery level
5. Click + Add Level again to add additional levels as needed
   
6. To remove a level, click the trash icon
7. Click Submit to save

Understanding the Fields:

When you add a mastery level, three fields appear for each level:

Field	Description
① Sequence	Enter a number to define the order of mastery level achievements. The sequence number determines how levels are ordered (highest to lowest or vice versa).
② Mastery Level	Enter the name for this mastery level (example: "Exceeds Mastery," "Mastery," "Near Mastery," etc.)
③ Mastery Level Description	Enter a detailed description for this mastery level that defines what student achievement looks like at this level.

Visual Example:

The image below shows how the Configure Mastery Levels modal appears. Notice that Sequence defines the order—in this example, "Exceeds Mastery" is sequenced at 4 (highest), while "Not Mastered" is sequenced at 0 (lowest):

Complete Configuration:

1. Click + Add Level again to add additional levels as needed (④ shown in modal)
2. To remove a level, click the trash icon
3. Once all levels are entered, click Submit to save (⑤ shown in modal)

Example Configuration:

Sequence	Mastery Level	Mastery Level Description
4	Exceeds Mastery	Student has exceeded mastery
3	Mastery	Student demonstrated mastery
2	Near Mastery	Student demonstrated near mastery
1	Partial Mastery	Student demonstrated partial mastery
0	Not Mastered	Student did not demonstrate mastery

This is how Mastery Levels appear when created in the
Configure Mastery Levels screen above.  

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How to Align Canvas Rating Scales to Insights Mastery Levels

All Canvas outcomes contain a Canvas rating scale that was either set at the account level for the outcome, or individually created by faculty. Once your institution completes the Canvas Intake process during implementation (Milestone 2), all existing Canvas rating scales along with their Outcomes must be aligned to the Insights Mastery Levels that were configured above. 

Steps:

1. Go to Setup > Assessment > Mastery Levels & Rating Scales
2. Locate the Unmapped Canvas Rating Scales section
   
3. Click the pencil icon in a Canvas Default Rating Scale tile to edit
   
4. In the modal window, use the Mastery Levels dropdown for each rating to align ratings to the appropriate Insights Mastery Level
   
5. Click Submit
6. Repeat for all Canvas Rating Scales that need alignment

Once all Canvas Rating Scales have been aligned, they will move to the Rating Scales section and the Unmapped Canvas Rating Scales section will disappear.

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How to Create a Custom Rating Scale

Steps:

1. Go to Setup > Assessment > Mastery Levels & Rating Scales
2. Click + Create Custom Scale
   
   
3. In the modal window, complete the following:
   
   1. Add Level: Click + Add Level to display rows for each level
   2. Mapping Name: Enter a descriptive name for the scale (example: "1-4 Rubric, Mastery at 3")
   3. Points: Enter the point value for each mastery level
   4. Mastery Levels: Select a mastery level from the dropdown (options are from Insights Mastery Levels defined above)
   5. Rating Level Description: Enter a description defining this level's parameters
   6. Mastery at: Select the point value at which mastery is considered met

1. Click Submit to save

The new scale will appear in the Rating Scales section. Click the chevron (>) icon to expand and view details.

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Edit Rating Scales

Coordinators can edit Rating Scales to align them to Insights Mastery Levels.

Click the pencil icon in the row of the rating scale that is to be edited. 

Canvas Default Rating Scales: these rating scales were created in Canvas by your faculty. To edit, the only editable field is the Mastery Levels field. Use this to specify the Mastery Level (defined in Insights) to each point value on the rating scale. **

Custom Rating Scales: rating scales that were created in Insights allow coordinators to edit any field.

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How to Set the Institutional Default Rating Scale

What is an Institutional Default?

The Institutional Default is the rating scale used to build outcomes and assignment rubrics in Canvas when:

• A Canvas course being assessed does not contain course-level outcomes, OR
• Course-level outcomes marked for assessment don't share the same rating scale

This rating scale is automatically applied to all outcomes created or approved in Insights, ensuring that any combination of outcomes can be assessed against a shared rubric definition.

Steps:

1. Go to Setup > Assessment > Mastery Levels & Rating Scales
2. Locate the rating scale (Canvas or Custom) you want to designate
3. Click the circle-arrow icon in that row
   
4. In the modal window, select Yes to confirm the change
5. A green marker will display next to "Institutional Default" to verify the change
   

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Best Practices

✅ Plan Your Mastery Levels Early

• Define mastery levels before outcome creation to ensure consistency across your institution
• Involve key stakeholders (faculty, assessment committee) in the definition process

✅ Use Clear, Descriptive Language

• Create mastery level names and descriptions that are easily understood by faculty and students
• Avoid ambiguous terminology; be specific about achievement criteria

✅ Review Canvas Scales Before Intake

• Audit all Canvas rating scales before your Canvas Intake to understand what will be imported
• Document which scales align to which mastery levels to streamline the mapping process

✅ Standardize Your Rating Scale

• Select one rating scale as your Institutional Default to promote consistency
• Ensure the default scale accommodates the full range of your learning outcomes

✅ Document Your Setup

• Keep records of how rating scales map to mastery levels
• Share this documentation with faculty to promote understanding and adoption

✅ Test Before Full Implementation

• Pilot your mastery level configurations with one program or course before institution-wide rollout
• Gather feedback and adjust as needed before finalizing

✅ Communicate Changes

• Inform faculty of any rating scale alignments or changes well in advance
• Provide training and support to ensure proper usage