OARS GRADE BOOK
Table of Contents Getting Started... 3 Introduction... 4 Understanding the Organization... 5 Configuring the Grade Book... 6 Import a Grade Book... 9 Assignments... 13 Creating a New Assignment... 14 Importing Assessments... 17 Grade vs. Score... 19 Managing Assignments... 23 Entering Grades... 25 Grid View... 26 Assignment View... 28 Reporting... 30 Class Reports... 31 Student Reports... 37 Configuration and Sharing... 48 Subjects... 49 Categories... 51 Students... 53 Grade Scales... 54 Tags... 56 Share a Grade Book... 59 Combination Classes... 61 Report Cards... 67 Getting Started... 68 Map Assignments to Report Card Items... 69 View Grades in the Report Card... 70 View Data by Report Card Item... 72 Portals... 73 Student Portal... 74 Parent Portal... 76 Page 2
Getting Started Page 3
Introduction The module provides an easy way for teachers to organize the assignments and tests they give their students throughout the school year. In addition to tracking assignments and tests, the Grade Book module allows teachers to keep track of results for continuous assessment and periodic reporting. The Grade Book can be found next to the Enter Scores tab on the breadcrumb navigation bar. If you have multiple class sections, you must first select a class roster. You may create a Grade Book for each class section and Intervention Group in your account. Use the Grade Book to make the most of OARS 1. Auto-populate your Report Cards and Progress Reports. 2. Import your OARS test results directly into your Grade Book. 3. Communicate results with parents using the Parent Portal and one click emails of the Grade Book Student Report. 4. Have students view upcoming assignments and due dates on the Student Portal. 5. Use shared Grade Book templates to expedite the set up for grade level and department consistency. Page 4
Understanding the Organization The first time you set up a Grade Book, you'll want to take into consideration the hierarchical organization. While almost every feature in the Grade Book is customizable by the user, understanding the structure will ensure you are getting the reported data you are looking for. Grading periods are reported independently. An overall grade is reported for each Subject. A Subject is made up of Categories which is made up of Assignments. The Categories within each Subject are weighted based on the percentage that each should contribute to the overal Subject grade. The Category weights within a Subject must add up to 100%. Assignments refer to either imported OARS tests or assignments recorded by the teacher. This example displays the ELA Subject for Trimester 1. The three Categories each contribute a different percentage to the overall ELA grade. Each Assignment can also be aligned to Standards, Claims and Targets, Math Practices, Report Card Items and Tags. The more alignments included in an Assignment, the more reporting options you will have. Page 5
Configuring the Grade Book The first time you enter the Grade Book module, you will be prompted to configure some initial settings, including Subjects and Categories. These may be edited at any time. Click on "Configure Grade Book" to set up a new Grade Book. You may also opt to Import an existing Grade Book. Configure Subjects Select the +New button to add Subjects. Subjects are generally grouped by content area (e.g., ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, etc.), but can be customized to your needs. An overall grade will be calculated for each Subject in your Grade Book. Page 6
Select a Grade Scale for each Subject. Your district may have customized which Grade Scales are available. Customize the Cut Points for each Scoring Band. Click on the rainbow bar to customize each scoring band range. Configure Categories Option 1: Click on +New and select Category. Option 2: Click the lightning bolt next the Subject in which you would like to Add Categories. Page 7
Each Assignment is placed in a single Category. Each Category is weighted with the percentage it contributes to the overall score for that Subject. Every Assignment in the Grade Book will be placed in a single Period, a single Subject, and a single Category. The Category weights must add up to 100% within each Subject. Click on the number to edit. If you'd like to keep track of Assignments but not have them contribute to the overall grade, you can configure a Category weight to 0%. You have now configured your Grade Book and are ready to create your first Assignment. Page 8
Import a Grade Book Users can share and import an entire Grade Book configuration with all the Assignments or just the Subjects and Categories. This might be useful for copying a configuration from one grading period to another, from one year to another, or from another user. Importing a Grade Book does not replace anything already configured in the period you selected, it simply adds to what already exists. You can import multiple Grade Books to the same grading period. You will most likely need to adjust the Category weights and Assignment due dates depending on when you import. You will have two options for accessing the page to import shared Grade Books rather than configuring a new one: Option 1: Click on Configure in the upper right-hand corner and then proceed to the extended menu and select Import Grade Book. Option 2: Click on Import Grade Book directly from the Grid View page. Note: This option is not yet in production and will be released in an upcoming cycle. Page 9
The Grade Book template you are importing will be added to the Grading Period you have currently selected. In this example, it is for 3rd Trimester. Use the filter in the margin to narrow your search results for your own Grade Books from this and previous years or those that have been shared by other users. You'll be able to view the user name, location, course, and year to locate the desired Grade Book. Click on Import next to your selection. Page 10
At this stage, you have the option to import all the Assignments or only import Subjects and Categories. Assignments may have Tags assigned. Tags help to organize Assignments outside of Categories. You can choose whether to import the Tags used in the shared Grade Book. Once you've made your selections, click Preview Grade Book. Page 11
Import with Assignments If you selected to import a Grade Book and all the Assignments that were configured, during the preview, you have the option to update the due dates. Once finished editing and reviewing, click Import Grade Book. Import only Subject and Categories If you selected to import a Grade Book without Assignments or Tags, there will be no Assignment names or due dates listed. Once finished reviewing, click Import Grade Book. Page 12
Assignments Page 13
Creating a New Assignment From the Grid View page, select the +New button and then select Assignment. From the Configuration page, select the +New button and then select Assignment. Page 14
Required Fields Title: Provide a title for your Assignment. Description/Instructions: Include details about the Assignment that include instructions, page numbers, and resources to use, etc. Students will see this information in the Student Portal. Due Date: Assign a due date and time for each Assignment. When grading the Assignment, you will be able to mark "late" for any student that missed the due date. Hide from student until graded: Check this box so that students and parents will not see the upcoming Assignments until grades are recorded. This might be used when planning your Grade Book well in advance of what you'd like the students to have access to or if it is a pop quiz type Assignment. Period: Select a period for this Assignment. This is a district setting and will coordinate with your reporting periods. Subject: Subjects are configured by each user in the initial set-up of the Grade Book and can be edited at any time. Category: Each Subject includes a list or Categories configured during the initial set-up. Multiplier (x): Each Assignment is given a default weight of one. For an Assignment in which you would like to give more points toward the overall grade, increase the multiplier (e.g., an Assignment worth a total of ten points and a multiplier of two will be worth 20 overall points in that category). Grading Scale: Select a Grading Scale for your Assignment. You can configure a default Grading Scale from the extended menu. Page 15
Optional Settings Standards: Align your Assignment to one or more standards. Claims and Targets: Smarter Balanced Assessments will be reporting using both CCSS and Claims and Targets. Math Practices: Align your Assignment to one or more standards for Mathematical Practice. Report Card Items: Map this Assignment to specified sections of the Report Card. By doing this, a suggested grade will be provided when entering marks in the Report Card. Max Possible Score: You may select to grade an Assignment using points as well as the Grading Scale. If a max possible score is assigned, you will be asked to review the point alignment to the Grading Scale. Note: If you only want to grade using the Grading Scale, do not input points. For more explanation, see Grade vs. Score. Extra Credit: Allocate extra credit points if desired. Tags: Tags are an additional property that you can attach to your Assignment to help you to find, organize, and report on that property. Tags can be anything you choose (e.g., Unit 1, Group Work, Independent Work, Oral Presentation, Substitute Teacher, etc.). When you report by Tags, all the marks given for Assignments are weighted and combined, so for each student you get a mark for their work in Oral Presentation or under a Substitute Teacher. Save and Exit: This option will save your entries and take you back to the main page. Save and New: This option will save all your entries and copy them to a new Assignment where you can make edits as needed. This is particularly helpful when you have a weekly test or homework with many of the same criteria. Cancel: Cancel your work if you don't want any changes saved. See the section on Managing Assignments for information on deleting and reactivating Assignments. Page 16
Importing Assessments The Grade Book allows you to import any Local Assessment data (i.e., District Benchmarks, Item Bank Tests, Keys, etc.) into the Grade Book as an Assignment. The test can be imported before or after results are available and will update as data comes in. For example, you may want to import all your District Benchmarks for the year upon initial set up of the Grade Book so that you don't have to remember later on. From Grid View, click on the +New button and select Import Assessment. From the Configuration page, click on the +New button and select Import Assessment. Select the assessment Subject and then click on the name of the assessment you d like to import into the Grade Book. If there is student data recorded for a given test, you'll see this in the "Students Assessed" column. You can import these tests whether or not they have data and the information will be updated in your Grade Book as soon as it is in OARS. Page 17
Make any modifications to the Assignment and then click Save & Exit. Imported tests are identified by the four bubble icon while other Assignments have a book icon. You'll see this on the Configuration page. Page 18
Grade vs. Score The overall Subject grade is calculated using a percent score for each Assignment. All Assignments will have a percent assigned even if they haven't been scored using points. This means that if you select to use a grading scale and do not use max points, the Assignment will be given a default percent value based on the rubric. The Grade and Percent will automatically display when you enter the Score, if a max possible score was entered for the Assignment. Note: You will not be abe to make edits to the Scoring options once students have results recorded. Grade Select your desired Grading Scale for the Assignment. Use this option if you do not plan on grading using points. As you hover over the scale, you'll see the default percent values assigned to each grade. You may update this by clicking on the pencil icon. Edit Default Values The default value is generally set in the middle range of each cut point in that Grading Scale. This can be edited on an Assignment by Assignment basis. Page 19
Grid View Entry When inputting scores in Grid View, without points, you'll see the information above. Select a Grade and the Default Value will automatically populate in the Percent field. The percent is used in the calculation for the overall Subject grade. Assignment View Entry If you are entering data in the Assignment View, the Percent column will automatically populate with the default value. Page 20
Score If you generally use a point system to score your Assignments, then you will want to enter a Max Possible Score in the optional settings for an Assignment. The points earned will also be converted into a percent for the overall Subject grade. You may also choose to view the equivalent Grade based on the Grading Scale cut points. Click on the pencil icon to edit the cut points for the Assignment. Edit Cut Points Turn on and off scoring bands as well as edit the cut points for each band. These points are suggested based on the max points you assigned. In this example, the Max Possible Score is 10. Page 21
Grid View Entry When entering data in Grid View with a Max Possible Score, you'll enter the number of points earned in the Score box. The Grade and Percent will automatically populate based on the points earned and the assigned cut points. Assignment View Entry If you are entering data in the Assignment view for an Assignment with a max score, the Grade and Percent column will automatically populate based on your assigned cut points. Viewing Results View Assignment results by Score, Percent, Grade, or any combination of the three. The Score will only display if the Assignment has Points assigned. The overall Subject score is based on the percentage earned for each Assignment as well as the Category weight. Page 22
Managing Assignments From the configuration page, click on the lightning bolt to view all the available actions. In order for an Assignment to be removed from the Needs Grading flag, all students must receive a mark. Once you've graded all students, use this option to excuse any remaining students that won't be scored. Excused Assignments do not count against a student's overall score. Page 23
Reactivate Deleted Assignments Assignments that you delete can be reactivated by clicking on the extended menu in the configuration page and selecting Reactivate Assignments. Assignments can be reactivated individually or by using the check boxes to choose more than one at once. Page 24
Entering Grades Page 25
Grid View The Grid View makes your Grade Book home page look and work much more like a paper grade book. Assignments go across the top, and students go along the side, and you can edit the grades in place, just like the Scores Editor. Entering Data Enter results directly in Grid View without having to open each Assignment. Enter all the pertinent grading information into the dialog box. To reduce confusion, the Grade and Percent will automatically display when you enter the Score if a max possible score was entered for the Assignment. See the article on using a Grade vs. Score for more information. Score: When creating the Assignment, if you selected a max possible score under the optional settings, you can enter the total points earned and the grade will be automatically populated to match the grading scale assigned. The score field will only be visible if you set up your Assignment with points. The score range is located in the dialogue box for reference. Extra Credit: Allocate extra credit points if configured in the Assignment. Grade: If not entering points, enter a grade. Each grade is assigned a default value that will be used when calculating the overall Subject grade. Late: Mark an Assignment late if not turned in by the assigned due date. This will not affect the grade but will be listed in the reports, and Student and Parent Portals. Missing: For a missing Assignment to count against a student s overall grade, mark the grade as a 1 or give them 0 points in addition to marking the Assignment as missing. Page 26
Comments: Comments will be included in the reports and Student and Parent Portals. Using the Filters Use the filtering options to view Assignments by: 1. Grading Period, Subject, and Category 2. Due Date. Assignments that are past the due date but do not have data recorded for each student can be found in the "Needs Grading" filter. Assignment results which include Score, Percent, Grade, or any combination of the three. 1. Turn on/off columns that include the Student ID and Overall Subject Grade. Remember that the overall score is made up of the results of each Category and the weights of those Categories. Click on the header to Edit the Assignment, Enter Grades by Individual Assignment, or to Fill In "All" students or all "Ungraded" students with a single score. Page 27
Assignment View In order to enter grades for an individual Assignment, choose one of the options below: Option 1: From the Grid View, click on the name of the Assignment to see the dropdown menu and then select Enter Grades. Option 2: From the Configuration page, click on the number of students for the Assignment you wish to enter grades. Enter the student results and any additional flags or comments. Score: When creating the Assignment, if you selected a max possible under the optional settings, you can enter the total points earned and the grade will be automatically populated to match the grading scale assigned. Grade: If not entering points, enter a grade. This feature has an auto fill option available allowing you to fill the entire column with the same grade. Page 28
Late: Mark an Assignment late if not turned in by the assigned due date. This will not affect the grade but will be listed in the reports, and Student and Parent Portals. Missing: For a missing Assignment to count against a student s overall grade, mark the grade as a 1 or give them 0 points in addition to marking the Assignment as missing. Comments: Comments will be included in the reports and Student and Parent Portals. Use the down fill arrow in each column to score multiple students at once. You have the option to score All students or All Ungraded students at a time. Page 29
Reporting Page 30
Class Reports The Reports allow you to view student progress on all Grade Book Assignments. If you configured your Assignments to include standards alignment, Report Card mapping, tags, etc., you'll have reporting options available for each of those. To generate a Report, click on the Report icon. The Grade Book report provides multiple views for the Assignments created in the Grade Book. Use the filtering and Group By options in the blue navigation side bar to change the report view. Click on any student name to view the student s Indvidual Student Report. Page 31
1. Filter by Period. If a period is grayed out, then there are no data to display. 2. Filter by Subject. Select one or all subjects to view in the report. Page 32
3. Filter by Tag. Tags are an optional setting in each Assignment used to customize additional information you would like to collect. In this example, the teacher is collecting information by Unit. Other tags might be Oral Presentation, Substitute Teacher, Group Work, etc. 4. Details by Assignment. With this option selected, you'll be able to view the results for each Assignment. Page 33
5. Group By: This view provides many additional reports that align to both required and optional information in the Assignment. Below are three examples of the reports you can generate if you group by Tags, Standard, or Report Card Item. 6. Grade Options. Choose to see student results by Percent, Grade, and Score. Scores are only applicable when viewing by Assignment. Page 34
7. View Options. Turn on/off Color Coding, Scale Key, and Summaries. Summaries will provide information at the bottom of the report on the flags and number of students in each scoring band. 8. Column Display. Additional information can be added to the report based on your preferences. 9. Other Formats. You can access the Student Grade Book Reports through this link. Page 35
Individual Student Report By clicking on a student's name in the class report, you'll be directed the the Individual Student Report. You can customize the Grade Book data you would like to have appear in the Individual Student Report. Page 36
Student Reports The Student Grade Book Report allows users to customize what is printed to the PDF that can then be distributed to both parents, students, and other stakeholders. To access the Student Reports, click on the Report button in the upper right-hand corner of the Grade Book. Then click on Individual Students at the bottom of the blue sidebar menu. Page 37
To generate Student Grade Book Reports for only selected students, check the box next to their names in the report window before clicking on the Individual Students button. If no students are selected, the reports will be generate for all students in the class. This opens a new modal in which you have many options to configure your PDF. The Summary section provides overall scores for all Subjects and Periods that are configured. If you click the box next to a Subject, you'll get data for all Periods. If you select the box next to a Grading Period, you will received data for all Subjects in that Grading Period. Or, you may choose to narrow your results by selecting a Subject and Period individually. You can make similar choices when including the Detail information in your report.the user has many available options to customize the report. The examples below display both the PDF and a screenshot of the selections made to generate the report. Page 38
Once you determined what to include in your report, click Generate to download a PDF for each selected student. If you would like to send the report electronically, click Email to Parents. Only Assignments with a score or flags will appear in the PDF. Page 39
Example 1 This example displays both the Summary and Detail information for all Grading Periods for ELA. Note that these assignments are not Grouped by Category. Page 40
Example 2 This example displays the Detail section only for the ELA Subject for all Grading Periods with all of the options selected. Notice that this report is Grouped by Category. Page 41
Example 3 This example includes Grade Scales and displays the student grade and the scoring band with cut scores. Page 42
Example 4 This example displays how to create a missing assignments report by only choosing to print Include Missing Assignments. Assignments must be flagged as missing when entering grades. Assignments left without a score or any flags will not appear in the PDF. Page 43
Email to Parents By selecting the option to Email to Parents, the generated PDF will be sent to all parents that have an email address on file in the Parent Portal and have verified their account. Page 44
You may select whether to generate a PDF for all students or for only those students whose parents will not be receiving the an email. You may update your reply-to address in your User Profile. By default, your reply-to address in the same email address on file for your OARS account. Page 45
The first page of your report will include a record detailing which students had their report emailed to a parent or are attached to the download for manual distribution. This report displays their name, email address, and whether the account has been verified in the Parent Portal. Page 46
Sample Email Parents will receive the email below with the Student Grade Book Report attached as a PDF. Page 47
Configuration and Sharing Page 48
Subjects Subjects are generally labeled by content area (e.g., ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, etc.), but can be customized to your needs. An overall grade will be calculated for each Subject in your Grade Book. You have two options for creating Subjects. Option 1: From the configuration page, select the +New button and Subject. Page 49
Option 2: From the configuration page, click on the extended menu and select Subjects. This option will allow you to create multiple Subjects at once and is very useful for initial setup. Page 50
Categories A Subject is made up of Categories which is made up of Assignments. The Categories within each Subject are weighted based on the percentage that each should contribute to the overal Subject grade. Each Assignment is placed in a single Category. Add New There are three options for adding new Categories. Option 1: Click on +New and select Category. Make sure you have the desired Subject selected from the pulldown menu and type in the Category name. Option 2: Click the lightning bolt next the the Subject in which you would like to Add Category. Page 51
Option 3: Click on the extended menu and select Categories. This option will allow you to create multiple Categories at once and set the Category weights. Configure Weights The Category weights must add up to 100% within each Subject. Students will be given an overall score for each Subject based the the calculations of their scores on Assignments and the percentage each Category should contribute to the overall score. If you'd like to keep track of Assignments but not have them contribute to the overall grade, you can configure a Category weight to 0%. In the example above, you can edit the names and weights of each Category in the modal. In the example below, you can click on the number to open the edit box. Page 52
Students The Grade Book is populated by the students in the roster or Intervention Group in which it is associated. When a student with one or more grades in the Grade Book is no longer in a roster or Intervention Group, they continue to show up in the Grade Book until they are removed by the teacher. This is particularly useful if the roster is temporally out of sync with the students in the class. A student that is removed can be withdrawn or inactive. If a student returns later in the year, you can change their status back to "active". Withdrawn students disappear from Grade Book, along with their grades. This is the same as deleting them. You might do this if a student switches to a different grade or school, especially early in the year, and they aren t going to get a report card. (OARS still archives their grades.) Inactive students are gone from grading but are still in reporting. This is mathematically the same as excusing them from all Assignments, but if they return, you will have to manually excuse them from the Assignments they missed. You might do this if a student is in a different track, suspended or expelled, especially late in the year, or when they aren t going to be handing in any more Assignments but will still get a report card. Configure Rosters In Grade Book Configuration, click on the extended menu and the click Students. Use the pulldown menu to mark the student status. No data will be deleted, even if you withdraw a student, and you can update the status at any time. Page 53
Grade Scales Default Grade Scale You have the option to change the Grade Book s default grading scale. This saves you time when creating new Subjects, Categories, and Assignments from having to manually change the grading scale but does not prevent you from doing so. From the configuration page, select Default Grade Scale from the extended menu. Once you ve made your selection, select Change. If you are mapping your Grade Book Assignments to the Report Card, it is recommended that you select the same grade scale used in the Report Cards to minimize confusion. Note: Districts have the option to add additional scales or limit the number available. Page 54
Grade Scale Cutpoints The default grade scale cutpoints cannot be edited. If you'd like to assign different cutpoints for a grade scale rather than using the default, select a new grade scale from the dropdown menu. This is accessible on the configuration page. Now that you've selected a new grade scale, the cutpoints are editable by clicking on the rainbow bar for Subject and Categories. Modify the cutpoints by changing the percentage in the text boxes. If you would like to remove a band, uncheck the box next to the selection to be removed. Click Ok. For information on changing the grade scale and cutpoints for individual Assignments, see the chapter on Grade vs. Score. Page 55
Tags Tags are an additional property that you can attach to your Assignment to help you to find, organize, and report on that property. Tags can be anything you choose (e.g., Unit 1, Group Work, Independent Work, Oral Presentation, Substitute Teacher, etc.). When you report by Tags, all the marks given for Assignments are weighted and combined, so for each student you get a mark for their work in Oral Presentation or under a Substitute Teacher. There are multiple options for adding new Tags and managing existing ones. Option 1: When creating or editing an Assignment, click +Add New Tag. Page 56
Option 2: From the configuration page, open the extended menu and select Tags. You can add new or delete existing Tags. Page 57
Filter or Group by Tags in the Class Report. Page 58
Share a Grade Book Users can share an entire Grade Book configuration. Sharing a Grade Book provides the Subjects, Categories and their weights, and all the Assignment configuration. It does not share any student names or scores. It is essentially a template. This might be useful for grade level teams, departments, or a district template. Once you have a configured Grade Book that you would like to share, go to the Grade Book Configuration page. Click on the extended menu and select Share Grade Book. Update the share information with a name, course, and description. Page 59
Select with whom you would like to share this template and then click Save. Below is an example of what those you've shared with will see when they import the Grade Book you've shared. Page 60
Combination Classes Classes composed of multiple grade levels may need a different configuration depending on whether Assignments are aligned to grade level standards and Report Card Items. Below are two suggestions for managing a Grade Book for a combination classroom. Using Different Subjects (Option 1) By configuring different Subjects for each Grade Level, the user will be able to maintain a single Grade Book. In the example below, there is an English Language Arts Subject for 4th grade and a separate one for 5th grade. Page 61
When scoring an Assignment, only record marks for the students in that grade level. Page 62
The class report will allow you to Filter By Subject when reviewing student data. Page 63
Print Student Grade Book Reports for only the desired grade level by selecting the corresponding Subjects. Page 64
Only Assignments with scores or flags (e.g. missing, late, excused, etc) will print on the report. If there is nothing recorded for an Assignment, it will not display on the PDF. In this case, none of the ELA 5th Grade Subject data will display on the 4th grade report if nothing is recorded for that student. Page 65
Using Intervention Groups (Option 2) Each roster in OARS has its own independent Grade Book. Intervention Groups maintain their own roster. Rather than using a single Grade Book with different Subjects for each grade level, users may choose to maintain two separate Grade Books for each grade in their combination class. First create an Intervention Group for each grade level. then enter the roster for the desired grade level. From the desired roster page, click on the Grade Book button. Page 66
Report Cards Page 67
Getting Started One of the biggest time savers of the Grade Book module is the ability to map the assignment to automatically populate the Report Card. When Entering Report Card marks for a student, the suggested grades from the Grade Book appear right next to where you assign the Report Card marks. You can even view which assignments are mapped to this item on the Report Card. Note: Report Cards are a licensed OARS module and configured specifically for each district. Your district may not be using Report Cards at this time. It is recommended that you print a blank Report Card when first mapping your Assignments to auto-populate a suggested grade on the Report Card. It's helpful to identify the exact items on the Report Card. The following examples are mapped to the Information Text portion of this Grade 4 Report Card. Page 68
Map Assignments to Report Card Items When creating an Assignment in the Grade Book, you have the option to tell the system to include the data for this Assignment in a suggested Report Card grade. If you have printed a blank Report Card, it's easy to see where this item will be mapped on the Report Card for 1st Trimester on the section for Information Text. Click on the name of the item to make the selection. Page 69
View Grades in the Report Card Decide whether you would like to enter Report Card marks for the whole class or for one student at a time. For the Whole Class The example below displays entering marks for Information Text for the whole class. The Grade Book icon signals that there are Assignments mapped to this item of the Report Card. By hovering over the suggested grade, the tool tip displays all the Assignment names. The suggested grade will auto-populate the Report Card item but is not locked and may be edited as needed. This may be the case if you have additional information that is not already included in the Grade Book. Page 70
For One Student This is similar when entering marks for one student. The column with the Grade Book icon displays the suggested grade. Page 71
View Data by Report Card Item In order to view progress or view data before your Report Card window is open, use the Class Reports to view the suggested Report Card grades. Select Group By Report Card Item in the blue navigation bar. Page 72
Portals Page 73
Student Portal The Student Portal gives students access to their online assessments, test data, and Grade Book Assignments. Students will be able to access the portal using their Online Assessment login credentials. The portal includes four tabs: Online Assessment, Test Archive, Student Performance, and Assignments. The Assignments tab displays the grades reported in the Grade Book. In order for students to have access to the Grade Book in the Student Portal, users will need to make sure this option is selected in the roster page. Click on Student Online Access in the View pulldown menu. Make sure the box in the Assignments column is checked for each student that should have access to their Grade Book. Note: Access to the Student Portal and each of the three tabs can be tuned off/on at the district level. If you don't see this information, check with your district OARS contact for more information. Page 74
Once in the Student Portal, students will select the Assignments tab. This includes the Assignment name, due date, grade, teacher comments, and more. Users can view Assignment information in tabular or graphical format. The View Calendar option provides students with a calendar detailing Assignment information and due dates. Clicking on an Assignment name reveals the detailed information inputted by the teacher when creating the Assignment in the Grade Book. Page 75
Parent Portal The parent interface to OARS, Parent Portal, is the springboard for rich communications between teachers and parents. Currently, parents can access the three areas that are available to students (Test Archive, Performance Reports, and Assignments) but we have plans to add a message archive as well as other communication tools. Teachers (and administrators) control Parent Portal through a special the Roster. On this page, you can see who has access to each student s information, add and remove access, and reset passwords. To add a parent, access the Parent Portal from the View pulldown menu. Then click on the lightning bolt next to the student and choose Add Portal Access. Type in the parent email address and click Add. Page 76
The system generates an initial password and sends a letter of introduction to the email address provided. The parent follows the instructions in the letter of introduction to visit oars.net and enter their email and password. The parent verifies that the email went to the right parent by entering their child s student ID. Page 77
In addition to visiting the reporting areas described earlier, the parent can set their name and change their password. Page 78