Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide

Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide

COPYRIGHT Copyright 2008 by Washington School Information Processing Cooperative. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this manual in any medium without the express and written permission of Washington School Information Processing Cooperative (WSIPC) is prohibited by law. This edition is printed in the United States of America. The contents may be corrected or modified by revisions without prior notice. Pages may be added, deleted, or changed as required. The WSIPC logo is a registered trademark of Washington School Information Processing Cooperative. Skyward is the registered trademark for Skyward, Inc. located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

Contents Introduction... 1 Selecting a class... 2 Navigating... 4 Save... 4 Back... 4 Undo... 4 Edit... 4 Exit... 4 Skyward Educator Access Plus icon... 4 Home Page Hyperlink... 4 My Gradebook Hyperlink... 4 Main Screen Hyperlink... 4 Working with Events... 5 Adding an Event... 5 Scoring an Event... 7 Using the Single Skill Score Entry screen... 7 Using the Multiple Skill Score Entry screen... 9 Mass Assigning Scores... 9 Using Quick Scoring... 10 Editing an Event... 10 Deleting an Event... 11 Cloning an Event... 11 Cloning an Event within the same class or to another one of your classes... 11 Cloning an Event from another one of your classes... 12 Cloning an Event from another teacher s class... 12 Changing the sort order of the Event List... 13 Using Attachments... 13 Adding an attachment to an Event... 13 Removing an attachment from an Event... 14 Viewing attachments from Family Access... 14 Working with Subjects and Skills... 15 Automatically calculated grades... 15 How Skill grades are calculated... 15 How Subject grades are calculated... 15 Overriding calculated Term, Subject, and Skill grades... 16 Manually entering Subject and Skill grades... 17 Entering Term and Semester Comments... 18 Using the Comments button... 18

Using the Student Options Screen... 18 Standards Gradebook Reports... 20 Running reports using the Reports button... 20 Using Report Templates... 21 Running the Progress Report... 24 Running the Event Listing report... 25 Running the Skill/Event Listing report... 26 Running the Standards Report Card... 27 Running the Missing Events report... 28 Running the Progress Detail Report... 28 Running the Class Roster... 29 Running the Student Information report... 29 Using Excel Export... 30 Running Reports for individual students... 30 Running reports for multiple classes... 31 Using Display Options... 32 Adjusting how Students appear in Gradebook... 32 Name Display... 32 Display Options (Student)... 32 Sorting Options... 33 Adjusting how Events appear in Gradebook... 33 Event Display Options... 33 Subject Heading... 33 Skill Heading... 34 Event Defaults... 34 Event Score Entry... 34 Event Heading... 34 Changing the Event score display... 34 Displaying comments for only one Event... 35 Adjusting the Grade Period display in Gradebook... 36 Other Display Options... 36 Selecting Skills for Display... 36 Viewing Events by Skill / Viewing Skills by Event... 36 Hiding/Showing All Events and Hiding/Showing All Skills... 37 Using Standards Gradebook Tools... 38 Restoring deleted Events... 38 Using Student Groups... 38 Creating Student Groups... 38 Working with Student Groups and Events... 39 Moving students between groups... 39 Gradebook Backups... 39 Using the Event Comment Bank... 40 Viewing Subject Attachments... 40

Using the Student Options Screen... 41 Taking Attendance... 43 Miscellaneous Gradebook Main Screen items... 44 Hyperlinks... 44 Students Hyperlink... 44 Term Literal Hyperlink... 44 Class Hyperlink... 44 View Tutorial Hyperlink... 44 Print Queue Hyperlink... 44 Icons... 44 Student information icon... 44 Menus... 44 Term Literal menu... 45 Other Access menu... 45 Understanding and Using Indicators... 45 New Student indicator... 45 Subset enrollment asterisk... 46 Grade discrepancy indicator... 47 Bold Event score... 47 Health condition indicator... 47 Appendix... 48 Trend Grading... 48 How Trend Grading works... 48 Using Trend Grading as a Skill Grade... 49 Usig Trend Grading as a Prediction... 50 Trend Grading a real world application... 50

Introduction This Guide gives teachers the information they need to perform most Standards Gradebook tasks, including selecting a class, navigating in Gradebook, creating and editing Events, scoring Events, Skills, and Subjects, reporting, and customizing the Gradebook display. If possible, please read this Guide from beginning to end the first time you re using Gradebook. Information presented early in the Guide will help you as you read through later processes. As you work with Gradebook on a daily basis, this Guide will also be a valuable reference tool. Occasionally, Family Access and Student Access are mentioned in this Guide. Family Access and Student Access are programs that allow parents and students to view student information online, such as Gradebook data. If you have questions about Family or Student Access, please contact your Gradebook Administrator. To ensure that this software is compatible with your workstation, please refer to the document WESPaC and IEPOnline Workstation Guidelines on the WSIPC Infrastructure Services SharePoint site. If you do not have access to that site, please contact your Data Center. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 1

Selecting a class After you log into Web Access, tabs appear at the top of the screen. Click the Educator Access Plus tab. After you click it, a menu tree appears on the left side of the screen. The My Gradebook hyperlink appears in the menu tree below the Teacher Access folder. (If the My Gradebook option doesn t appear, look for a plus sign to the left of the folder and click it to expand the folder). If any of the tabs, hyperlinks or icons mentioned above aren t present, please contact your Gradebook Administrator for assistance. Click My Gradebook. Your Gradebook class list screen appears. All classes to which you re assigned are listed. At the far right of the screen, you ll see a Standards Gradebook hyperlink for each class that uses Standards Gradebook. NOTE You do not see this screen if you are only assigned to one class with one meeting pattern. In that case, clicking My Gradebook takes you right to your Gradebook. Figure 1 Class selection screen To see a list of your current year classes, click the Current Year Classes tab. Click the Prior Year Classes tab to see a list of your classes from prior years that have a Gradebook. You can view data for prior years Gradebooks, but can t change it. NOTE If you don t have classes from prior years that used Gradebook, you won t see the Current and Prior Year Classes tabs On the Current Year Classes tab, you ll see the Only Show Current Classes hyperlink or Show All Classes hyperlink. Click the hyperlink to switch between the two lists. Classes that are current and have a Gradebook appear in black. Classes that are not current or do not have a Gradebook appear in gray. NOTE If you don t have classes that meet exclusively outside the current term, you won t see the hyperlink The Reports for All Classes button allows you to run reports for multiple classes at once. For more information, see Running reports for multiple classes in the Reports section of this Guide. Click the Standards Gradebook hyperlink for the class you want to work with. The Gradebook Main Screen for that class appears. The Gradebook Main Screen displays Events, Skills, Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 2

Subjects, scores, students, and other data, and is the first point of access to most features in Gradebook. The Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar is the row of buttons at the top of the Main Screen that may include the following buttons: Other Access, Classes, Events, Comments, Attendance, Grade Marks, Reports, Display Options, Quick Scoring, and Excel Export. Figure 2 Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar Once you ve opened the Gradebook Main Screen, you can select a different class by clicking the Classes button on Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 3

Navigating Several navigation icons and buttons are common in Gradebook. Learning how to use them makes it easier to navigate quickly through the screens. Not all screens have all the buttons listed below. Save Saves all data that you have entered since opening the screen. There are several screens in Gradebook on which you MUST click Save before the data is saved (for example, adding an Event and entering a score). Back Returns you to the previous screen. Use this button rather than your browser back arrow to move to the previous screen. Clicking Back does not save any data entered on the screen. Undo Deletes all actions you have performed since opening the screen or since the last time you clicked Save on that screen. Click Undo if you want to delete all of the information you have entered but do not want to close the screen. Edit Opens a window that allows you to change information. Exit Logs you out of Educator Access Plus. The Exit button is available only from the Educator Access Plus Home Page. The fastest way to access this button is usually to click the Skyward icon or the Home Page hyperlink. Skyward Educator Access Plus icon Returns you to the Educator Access Plus home page. This is a blue-and-red Skyward Educator Access Plus logo at the top left corner of every screen. Home Page Hyperlink Returns you to the Educator Access Plus Home Page. My Gradebook Hyperlink Returns you to the Gradebook class selection screen. Main Screen Hyperlink Returns you to the Gradebook Main Screen for the selected class. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 4

Working with Events Events are assignments or activities that students complete in a particular skill. Tests, homework, and projects are all examples of an Event. This section explains how to add, score, edit, clone and sort Events. On the Gradebook Main Screen, Events appear in white columns. In Figure 3, the Event column is the third column from the left. Figure 3 Gradebook Main Screen display of an Event Adding an Event The numbers in Figure 4 match the steps in the procedure below for adding an event. Figure 4 Adding an Event 1. Click Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Add Event. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 5

2. Choose the Subject from the Subject drop-down menu and a Skill from the Skill dropdown menu. You must choose a Subject and a Skill an Event cannot be created without them. Subjects and Skills are defined by the Gradebook Administrator. 3. Name the Event by typing a description in the Description box. 4. Use the Assign Date option buttons to choose an Assign Date. 5. Use the Proposed Due Date option buttons to choose a Proposed Due Date. The Proposed Due Date is the date you expect the Event to be due. 6. Use the Actual Due Date option buttons to choose an Actual Due Date if desired. The Actual Due Date allows you to set a date that is later than the Proposed Due Date (it can also be the same date). The Actual Due Date overrides the Proposed Due Date. Teachers typically use the Actual Due Date option if they ve changed the due date to be later than originally planned but want Gradebook to retain what the original date was. 7. Choose the Grade Mark Group from the Grade Mark Group drop-down menu. The default Grade Mark Group selected is the one that is associated with the Subject and Skill by your Gradebook Administrator. If you can t change the Grade Mark Group, your Gradebook Administrator has disabled that feature. 8. Type a Weight Multiplier in the Weight Multiplier box. This increases the weight of an Event. For example, if you type 2 the Event weighs twice as much as other Events towards the Skill and/or Subject grade. This option isn t available if the Skill or Subject grade is calculated using Total Points. 9. To use points to score an Event, select Use points to score this event. If your Gradebook Administrator has configured either the Skill or the Subject grade to be calculated using total points from all Events, you must use points and do not see this option. 10. If using points, type a score for the Event in the Enter max points possible box. This is the total number of points that the Event is worth. An Event can later be given extra credit by awarding more points than the Max Score. 11. Check the boxes Post to Family Access and Post to Student Access as desired. 12. If this Event should be added to additional Skills, check the boxes next to the desired Skills in the Select the Skills where this Event should be added area. By default, the current Skill s check box is selected. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 6

13. If this Event should be added to additional classes, check the boxes next to the desired classes in the Select the Classes where this Event should be added area. By default, the current class s check box is selected. 14. Click Save and Back. Rather than clicking Save and Back, you can click Save and Add Another to save the Event and remain on the screen to add another Event or click Save and Score to save the Event and immediately go to the Score Entry Screen (see Score Entry ). You can add an attachment to the Event by clicking Attach (#). For more information, see Attachments. You can set up questions and answers for students to complete the Event online by clicking Make Event Available Online. For more information, refer to the Online Assignments document. Scoring an Event There are three primary ways to score an Event: Single Skill Score Entry allows you to enter grades for an Event associated with a specific Skill. Multiple Skill Score Entry allows you to enter grades for an Event associated with multiple Skills. Quick Scoring allows you to enter grades for all Events, Skills, and Subjects in a term. Using the Single Skill Score Entry screen To enter scores using the Single Skill Score Entry screen, go to the Single Skill Score Entry screen using one of three methods: Click the score (or asterisk) in a student s Event score box (the area across from a student s name and below an Event header) Click the header of the Event and click Score Entry Click Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar, select List Events, click the plus sign next to the Event you wish to score, and click Score Entry on the corresponding Skill. The numbers in Figure 5 match the procedure steps below. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 7

Figure 5 Single Skill Score Entry screen 1. If the Event uses points, type the Event score in the Score column. If the Event does not use points, type the Grade Mark in the Grade column or the percentage in the % column. If an Event has not been turned in and should count against the student s grade, type a zero for the score or percentage. If the Event has not been turned in and should not count against the grade, leave an asterisk in the box. 2. Type special codes in the Special Code column if desired. Available Special Codes appear on the right side of the screen. These are managed by the Gradebook Administrator. Special Codes can, for example, help you indicate why points were deducted from an Event (LT Late), and appear on some reports such as the Grade Sheet report. These codes can be configured to appear in Family Access. 3. Select the Modified, No Count, or Missing check boxes as applicable. The Modified check box adds a capital letter M to the end of the Grade Mark in Gradebook, Family Access, and on reports (for example, 4M). The Modified check box is only available if enabled by your Gradebook Administrator. The No Count check box prevents the Event from being counted in the Subject and Skill grades for that student even if a score is entered. The Missing check box does not affect how the Event is calculated in the Subject and Skill grades; it only causes a Missing code to appear next to the Event in Family Access and on reports. An Event also shows as missing in Family Access if it does not have a score and it is a specific number of days past the due date. This number is set by the Gradebook Administrator. 4. Type comments in the Comment column if desired. Comments can be configured to appear in Family Access and on the Gradebook Main Screen (see Event Display ). A comment can be up to 100 characters long. 5. Click Save. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 8

If you wish to enter grades for several Events, click the Next or Prev buttons after entering all scores for the current Event. After clicking either the Next or Prev buttons, the message You have made changes that have not been saved appears. Click OK to save the scores. You are automatically moved to the next or previous Event. The Prev and Next buttons use your Event Display Options sort setting (see Event Display ) to determine which Event is previous or next. Using the Multiple Skill Score Entry screen The Multiple Skill Score Entry screen can be used to enter scores for Events associated with two or more Skills. The numbers in Figure 6 match the procedure steps below. Figure 6 Multiple Skill Score Entry screen 1. Click Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select List Event. 2. Highlight the Event you wish to score and click the Score Entry button (This is not the Score Entry hyperlink, which takes you to the Single Skill Score Entry screen). 3. There is a column for each Skill the Event is associated with. In each column, type the score (if using points) or the Grade Mark (if not using points). Alternatively, type the score or the Grade Mark in the Score All column to assign that score or Grade Mark for all Skills. If using the Score All column, select the Overwrite check box to overwrite any existing scores or grades. 4. To enter Special Codes, Modified, No Count, Missing, and Comments, double click on a cell or move your cursor to a cell and click Show Cell Details. 5. Click Save. Mass Assigning Scores You can also use Mass Assign Options on the Single or Multiple Skill Score Entry screens. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 9

1. Choose a Mass Assign option in the Mass Assign Options area. Some options may not be available depending on whether the Event is scored using points. Assign All Scores (points only) or Assign All Grades (non-points only) assigns all empty cells the score or grade mark you indicate. Select the Overwrite scores check box to overwrite any existing scores and grades. Adjust All Scores (points only) modifies each score by the amount you indicate. The system treats unscored Events (asterisk) as a zero and adjusts the scores accordingly. To make a negative adjustment, enter a negative number (e.g., -4). Remove All Scores or Remove All Grades deletes all scores or grades for this Event. Set All to No Count populates the No Count check box for all students. Remove All No Count clears all No Count check boxes. Remove All Missing clears all Missing Check boxes. 2. Click Apply. 3. The Change blank comments to box in the Comments column assigns a comment to all students. The list contains comments that have previously been entered. 4. Click Save. Using Quick Scoring The Quick Scoring screen allows you to enter scores for all Events within a Term. 1. Click Quick Scoring on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar. 2. Type the score (if using points) or the Grade Mark (if not using points) in the desired cells. 3. To enter Special Codes, Modified, No Count, Missing, and Comments, double click on a cell or move your cursor to a cell and click Show Cell Details. 4. Click Save. For more information on entering scores for Subjects and Skills using the Quick Scoring screen, please Subjects and Skills. Editing an Event The following procedure shows you how to edit an Event that has already been created Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 10

1. Click the header of the Event or click Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar, select List Events, and highlight the Event in the Events table. 2. Click Edit. 3. Make any changes and click Save. Deleting an Event To delete an Event: 1. Click the header of the Event or click Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar, select List Events, and highlight the Event in the Events table. 2. Click Delete. 3. A confirmation message appears. Click OK to delete the Event. NOTE Events that are scored can be deleted. To restore a deleted Event and its scores, see Restoring deleted Events. Cloning an Event After you have created an Event in Gradebook, you can clone the Event to other classes that you teach that are assigned to the same Academic Area. You can also clone Events from another teacher s class that is assigned to the same Academic Area (if enabled by the Gradebook Administrator). Events can be cloned only to classes that are in session. You can also clone an Event within the same class. Cloning an Event within the same class or to another one of your classes 1. Click the Event header or click Event on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar, select List Events, and highlight the Event in the Events table. 2. Click Clone. 3. Make any desired changes to the Event, including the Skills to which the newly cloned Event are associated. 4. Select the check box for each class to which the Event should be cloned in the Select the Classes where this Event should be added area at the bottom of the screen. NOTE The class in which the Event exists is checked by default. Leaving it checked will create a duplicate Event in the current class. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 11

5. Click Save. Cloning an Event from another one of your classes 1. Open the Event list screen by clicking Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and selecting List Events. 2. Click Clone From existing Gradebook. 3. In the Gradebooks area, select the check box next to the class that contains the Event(s) you wish to clone. Classes are sorted by school year (descending) and course code / section (ascending). 4. Click Next. All of the Events for the class you selected appear. 5. Select the check box next to the Events(s) you wish to clone to the current class. By default, all Events are checked. 6. Click Next. 7. Use the calendar icon to change the cloned Event s Due Date if desired. 8. Click Finish. 9. Make any necessary changes to the newly created Event(s) as desired. Cloning an Event from another teacher s class 1. Open the Event list screen by clicking Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and selecting List Assignments. 2. Click Clone From existing Gradebook. 3. Click Select Different Teacher in the upper-left corner. 4. Use the Entity dropdown menu to select the appropriate Entity. If you are assigned to more than one school (for example, you teach at both Eisenhower Elementary School and Jackson Elementary School) and you have been given security to use Gradebook at both schools, you can clone from any teacher s Gradebook in either of those schools. 5. Use the alphabetical search hyperlinks at the bottom of the screen to look up the desired teacher s last name. You can also use the Lookup By Last Name box in the upper-right corner to type the teacher s last name. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 12

6. Locate the desired teacher in the teacher list and double-click the teacher s name or highlight the name and click Select. 7. Choose the class from which you would like to clone an Event. 8. Click Next. 9. Select the check box next to the desired Event(s). 10. Click Next. 11. Use the calendar icon to adjust the Due Date(s) if desired. 12. Click Finish. 13. Make any necessary changes to the newly created Event(s) as desired. Changing the sort order of the Event List You can change the way Events are sorted on the Events list screen. To change the sort, click Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select List Events. On the Events List screen, click a heading to sort by that heading. For example, if you click Description, the Events are ordered alphabetically by Description. If you click the same heading again, the sort order is reversed. An arrow appears to the right of the heading that the list is using to sort the Events. If the arrow points down, the sort is descending. If the arrow points up, the sort is ascending. The default sort is descending by Due Date. To return to the default sort, click the Return to Default Sort hyperlink that appears in the left corner of the Events listing box. Using Attachments If enabled by the Gradebook Administrator, attachments can be added to an Event. For example, you can add an article to an Event that you want students to read. The attachment can be viewed by the teacher, as well as by students and guardians through Family Access. Adding an attachment to an Event 1. Click the header of the Event or click Events on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar, select List Events, and highlight the Event in the Events table. 2. Click Edit. 3. Click Attach (#). The number in the parentheses indicates how many attachments have already been added to the Event. 4. Click Upload Attachment. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 13

5. Click Browse and locate the file you want to attach. 6. Click Upload. 7. A message indicates the file was uploaded successfully. Click Back. 8. Repeat steps 3 through 7 to add more attachments to the Event. 9. Click Back. 10. Click Save. Removing an attachment from an Event To remove an existing attachment from an Event, follow these steps. 1. Click Attach (#). The number in the parentheses indicates how many attachments have already been added to the Event. 2. Highlight the attachment you wish to remove. 3. Click Remove. 4. Click Back. 5. Click Save. Viewing attachments from Family Access From Family Access, students and guardians can see the attachment by following these steps. 1. Click Gradebook. 2. Click the Grade Mark that corresponds with the class and term of the Event in which the attachment is located. Skip this step if the course does not calculate a Term/Semester/Final Academic Area grade. 3. Click on the Event in which the attachment is located. 4. Click on the attachment. NOTE Students and guardians must have the appropriate program to open the attachment file type to view the attachment. For example, if the attachment is a PDF file, the student or guardian must have Adobe Reader to view the file. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 14

Working with Subjects and Skills On the Gradebook Main Screen, Subjects appear in columns where the header is a solid color. In Figure 8, it is the 1 st column on the left. Skills appear in columns where the header has diagonal lines. In Figure 8, it is the 2 nd column from the left. Figure 7 Gradebook Main Screen display of Subjects and Skills Depending on how the Gradebook Administrator has set up the Academic Area that your class belongs to, Subject and Skill grades may be automatically calculated by the system or you may have to manually enter them. Automatically calculated grades If Auto Calculation is enabled by your Gradebook Administrator, Subject grades are calculated based on Event or Skill grades, while Skill grades are calculated based on Event grades using one of a variety of formulas. Contact your Gradebook Administrator to find out how grades are calculated for your class. How Skill grades are calculated There are different ways Skill grades can be calculated: based on points earned in Event scores, based on Event percentages, or based on trending. If the Skill grade is calculated based on total points earned in events, all event scores associated with a Skill are added together, and then divided by the total points possible. If the Skill grade is calculated based on percents earned in events, all event percentages associated with a Skill are added together, and then divided by the number of events. If the Skill grade is calculated based on trending, the Power Law formula, which uses linear regression, is used to calculate the Trend grade. For more information on trending, see Trend Grading. How Subject grades are calculated There are two methods with which Subject grades can be calculated: based on Event scores or based on Skill grades. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 15

If the Subject grade is calculated based on total points earned in events, all event scores associated with a subject (across multiple Skills) are added together, and then divided by the total points possible. If the Subject grade is calculated based on Skill grades, it is a weighted average of all the Skill grades associated with a Subject. To see the weights set up by your Gradebook Administrator, click on the header of a Subject column. Skill weights are listed across the top of the Subject Grade Entry screen. NOTE Subjects can be non-graded. If your Gradebook Administrator set up a Subject as non-graded, grades do not appear in the Subject column. Overriding calculated Term, Subject, and Skill grades If you feel that an automatically calculated Term, Subject, or Skill grade does not truly reflect your assessment of a student, you can enter a grade adjustment. The numbers in Figure 8 match the steps in the procedure below. Figure 8 Manually adjusting a grade 1. Click a Term, Subject, or Skill grade on the Gradebook Main Screen. The Grade Adjustment screen appears. This screen lists all students in the class on the left and their calculated Subject or Skill grade in the Calculated Grade % column. 2. Type the adjusted grade for a student in the Adjustment Grade box or type a number in the Adjustment Amount box and press the tab key on your keyboard. If you type a grade in the Adjustment Grade box that is higher than the calculated grade, Gradebook uses the Grade Mark table to determine what the lowest percentage is for that Grade Mark and assigns that percentage. If you type a grade in the Adjustment Grade box that is lower than the calculated grade, Gradebook asks You have entered an adjustment that lowers the student s grade. Do you wish to continue? If you click OK, Gradebook uses the Grade Mark table to determine what the highest percentage is for that Grade Mark and assigns that percentage. 3. Once you have made an adjustment, a paper icon appears in the Cmt column. You can click the icon to enter a comment about this adjustment or skip to step 5. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 16

4. Click Save on the pop-up window to save the Adjustment Comment. 5. Click Save. Manually entering Subject and Skill grades Subject and Skill grades must be entered manually if Auto Calculation is disabled by your Gradebook Administrator or if the system is unable to calculate a grade due to the lack of Skill or Event grades. 1. Click a Subject or Skill header on the Gradebook Main Screen. 2. The Grade Entry screen appears. Type the Grade Mark or Percentage for each student and press the tab key on your keyboard. You can also select a Grade Mark from the Mass Assign Options drop-down menu to mass assign a grade to all students. Select Overwrite grades prior to doing this to overwrite any existing grades. 3. Click Save. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 17

Entering Term and Semester Comments At the end of a term or semester, you can enter an overall comment. If the Gradebook Administrator has enabled the feature, you can also comments for each Subject for each student. These comments are printed on the Standards Report Card and are accessible in Student and Family Access. Using the Comments button Comments can be entered using the Comments button on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar. 1. Click Comments on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar. 2. Click the Post Comments hyperlink that corresponds with the grading period for which you wish to enter comments. 3. In each comment column for each student, type the comment code that corresponds with the comment you wish to assign to the student. To see a list of available comment codes, click the View Comment Codes hyperlink. The number of comment codes you can enter per student is determined by your Gradebook Administrator. You can also use the Default blank comments to feature to mass assign a comment code to all students. 4. Type a free form comment for the class and for each subject for each student in the Freeform column. This is only available if enabled by your Gradebook Administrator. 5. Click Save. Using the Student Options Screen You can enter comments using the Student Options Screen. 1. Click a student s name on the Gradebook Main Screen to access the Student Options Screen. 2. Click the Comments tab. 3. Click Edit Comments. 4. In the section that corresponds with the grading period for which you wish to enter comments, type the comment code that corresponds with the comment you wish to assign to the student. To see a list of available comment codes, click the View Comment Codes hyperlink. The number of comment codes you can enter per student is determined by your Gradebook Administrator. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 18

5. Type a free-form comment for the class and for each subject. This is available only if enabled by your Gradebook Administrator. 6. Click Save. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 19

Standards Gradebook Reports Gradebook allows you to run reports for a single student, an entire class, or a group of classes. You can select the term(s) or date range to report on and can choose many of the data elements that appear on the report. After a report is generated, you may save it to a disk, print it, or close the report by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the report; closing the report does not close Gradebook. If the report has multiple pages, you can navigate through the pages using the blue right and left arrow buttons at the bottom of the report screen. Gradebook uses Adobe Acrobat to generate reports through the Print Queue. The reports are PDF files and may take several seconds to several minutes to generate, depending on the amount of data on the report. The following section discusses each Standards Gradebook report. Running reports using the Reports button To access the reports discussed in this section, click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select the appropriate report from the Gradebook folder menu tree. The report window contains some or all of the following buttons. Print Generates the report you have highlighted in the Report Template Name list. Export to Excel Exports the Grade Sheet report into a spreadsheet (see Export to Excel ). This option is available only for the Grade Sheet report. Back Returns you to the Gradebook Main Screen. Add a new Template Creates a customized template (see Adding a new template ). Rename Template Renames your customized templates. Templates created by Skyward or your Gradebook Administrator cannot be renamed. Modify parameters of Template or View parameters of Template Alters parameters on customized templates. This button changes to View Parameters of Templates when a template created by Skyward or your Gradebook Administrator is highlighted. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 20

Delete Template Deletes your customized templates. Templates created by Skyward or your Gradebook Administrator cannot be deleted. Clone Template Clones a template. This is typically used to clone a template created by Skyward or your Gradebook Administrator so that you can modify it without having to start from scratch. Clone Template cannot be used to clone templates to other classes. Select Different Students Allows you to select different students for the report. After clicking this button, the Student List window appears allowing you to restrict the report to a selection of students. To include dropped students on the report, click Select Different Students and select the students in the These students have dropped this class area. Select Different Classes Allows you to select different courses and classes for the report. Using Report Templates Report templates allow you to quickly select a set of established parameters with which to run a report. This prevents you from having to set the desired parameters each time you want to run the report. Skyward has provided some standard templates for each report, but you may want to create your own custom templates. A Gradebook Administrator can also create entity templates. Skyward s default templates and the Administrator templates cannot be modified only your custom templates can be modified. To run a report using a template, do the following: Using an existing report template 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar. 2. Select the report you want to run from the drop-down menu. 3. Highlight one of the report templates and click Print. Adding a new report template 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar. 2. Select the report you wish to run form the drop-down menu. 3. Click Add a new Template. 4. Type a number in the Sequence # box between 1 and 799 or accept the default value and type the name of the report in the Report Template Name box. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 21

NOTE Sequence numbers 800 through 899 are reserved for templates created by a District Administrator. Sequence numbers 900 through 999 are reserved for templates created by Skyward. 5. Click Save. 6. Select the parameters you wish to display on the report. The parameters available vary depending on which report you have selected. For example, the Grade Sheet report parameters are very different from the Event Listing report parameters. However, a few options are available on nearly all reports: 7. Click Save. Events area Most reports have this area at the top that allows you to choose term and date ranges. This area usually has two options: Display Events for Term allows you to select a specific Grading Period; for example, Term 1. The date range that the term encompasses appears to the right of the Grading Period name. Display Events for Date Range allows you to select a Start and End date. Any Events that fall between these dates are considered for the report. Use this feature to report on Events for a range different than a listed Grading Period. Free Form Header and Free Form Footer Most reports allow you to design customized headers and footers. Free Form Header: Use the Free Form Header area to add up to two customized headers to the report. A header can be up to 70 characters long. Free Form Footer: Use the Free Form Footer to add up to four customized footers to the report. A footer can be up to 70 characters long. If you have created your own templates, additional buttons appear when you highlight one of your templates: Rename Template, Modify parameters of Template, and Delete Template. To change your parameter settings, click Modify parameters of Template. Running the Attendance Detail Report The Attendance Detail Report displays student attendance detail for all periods for a specific term or date range. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 22

1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Detail Report under the Attendance section. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Attendance Detail template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, choose a report date or term range, and add customized headers and footers. 3. To customize a template, configure the options under the Options area. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running the Attendance Summary Report by Class The Attendance Summary Report by Class displays student attendance for a specific class in a grid format. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Summary Report by Class under the Attendance section. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Attendance Detail template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, choose a report date or term range, and add customized headers and footers. 3. To customize a template, configure the options under the Options area. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running the Grade Sheet Report The Grade Sheet Report displays Subject, Skill, and Event grades for all students in a grid format. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Grade Sheet Report. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Grade Sheet template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, choose a report date or term range, and add customized headers and footers. 3. To customize a template, check the box next to all data elements in the Options area that should appear on the report. Student Options You can choose whether the student name and/or ID appear on the report (Student ID is the Other ID ). Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 23

Column Options You can choose whether each Event is shown in a column and whether each Subject and Skill is shown in a column on the report. Sort Students You can sort the students using the same sort method used on the Gradebook Main Screen, or have the students appear in random order. Other Display Options You can choose the report text font of 10, 12, or 14, opt for a Signature line to appear at the bottom of the report, and select to show Special Codes. Other Display Options settings determine how many students (rows) and Subjects, Skill, and Events (columns) appear on one page of the report. For example, decreasing the font size and omitting a signature line increase the number of students that fits on one page. Below the Options area and just above the Free Form Header area, you can see a Number of Event per Page counter and a Number of Students per Page counter. These values increase or decrease depending on your settings. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running a Blank Grade Sheet Report The Grade Sheet Report can also be used to mimic a traditional paper gradebook by printing a sheet that lists the students on the left and an empty grid across the page. To print a blank Grade Sheet, run one of the Blank Grade Sheet default reports at the bottom of the Grade Sheet template list (Sequence 960, 970, 980). Running the Progress Report The Progress Report displays a student s Subject, Skill, and Event grades in a summary format. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Progress Report. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Progress Report template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, choose a report term, and add customized headers and footers. 3. To customize a template, check the box next to all data elements in the Options area that should appear on the report. Display Skills Select whether to display all or only graded Skills. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 24

Display Events Select whether to display all or only graded Events, or to display no Events at all. Print Attendance Select to print the Attendance Totals (by attendance type) for each student. Show Grade Mark Legend Select to print the descriptions of each Grade Mark in a legend at the top of the report. Print Signature Line Select to print a signature and date line at the end of the report. Print Dropped Classes Select to include classes on the report from which students have dropped. Display Only the Selected Term Select to only display grades for the selected term. If unchecked, grades from all prior terms are also displayed. Print for this class only Select to only display grades for this class. If unchecked, grades from all classes in which the student is enrolled are displayed. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running the Event Listing report The Event Listing report displays Events and grades for each student sorted by due date. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Event Listing. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Event Listing template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, choose a report term, and add customized headers and footers. NOTE Only grades from this selected Grading Period will appear on the report. No grades from other Grading periods will display. 3. To customize a template, check the box next to all data elements in the Options area that should appear on the report. Display Student Name / Display Student Id Select to display student name and/or ID on the report. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 25

Sort Students Select to sort students by name or by random order. Only Graded Events Select to only display Events with a grade assigned for the student. Display No Count Events Select to display Events where a student has the No Count check box selected. Display Comments Select to display Event comments assigned to students. Display Signature Line Select to display a signature and date line at the end of the report. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running the Skill/Event Listing report The Event Listing report displays Events, Skills and their grades for each student. The report can be sorted by Event or by Skill. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Skill/Event Listing. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Skill/Event Listing template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, choose a report term, and add customized headers and footers. NOTE Only grades from this selected Grading Period will appear on the report. No grades from other Grading periods will display. 3. To customize a template, check the box next to all data elements in the Options area that should appear on the report. Report Format Select to sort by Event or by Skill. If sorted by Event, the report lists all Events in chronological order and lists each Event s associated Skill(s). If sorted by Skill, the report lists all Skills in alphabetical order and lists each Skill s associated Event(s). If sorting by Skill, select whether to display Skills that have no associated Events. Event Detail Select whether to display Events that are marked as No Count and Events that do not have a grade assigned. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 26

Date Sequence of Events Select whether to display Events in descending or ascending order. Event Fields to Print Select whether to display Event Comment, Missing Indicator and Reason, Earned and Possible Points, Percent Earned, Grade Mark, and Special Code. Footer Area Select whether to display a signature and date line at the end of the report. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running the Standards Report Card The Standards Report Card provides students and parents with an official report of the student s academic progress. This report includes information on all of the classes that students are enrolled in that use a Standards Gradebook, not just the class from which the report is run. Most parameters for the Standards Report Card layout are defined by your Gradebook Administrator. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Standards Report Card. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Standards Report Card template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, and choose a report term. NOTE The Standards Report Card always includes grades the Grading Period you select as well as information from all prior Grading Periods (as defined in the WESPaC Grading Setup). 3. To customize a template, check the box next to all data elements in the Options area that should appear on the report. Print a blank report card Select whether to display report cards for students who do not have any grades or comments. Separate comments onto a new page Select to display all comments on a separate page at the end of the report card. This option is not available if your Gradebook Administrator disabled it. Print comments only Select to display comments only. No grades are displayed. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 27

Print for this class only Select to only display grades and comments for this class. If unchecked, grades and comments from all classes in which the student is enrolled are displayed. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running the Missing Events report This report allows you to view missing Events for students. One page is displayed for each student within the selection criteria whether or not the student has missing Events. The report considers an Event missing if the Missing check box is checked for a student. Events may also appear on the report if it is ungraded and it is past the due date. This is the case only if the appropriate option is enabled by your Gradebook Administrator. The Missing Events report parameters are the same as the Event Listing report. Please see Running the Event Listing report for instructions on running this report. Running the Progress Detail Report The Progress Detail Report displays Event, Skill, Subject, and Academic Area grades for each student. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Progress Detail Report. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Progress Detail Report template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, choose a report term, and add customized headers and footers. NOTE Only grades from this selected Grading Period appear on the report. No grades from other Grading periods display. 3. To customize a template, check the box next to all data elements in the Options area that should appear on the report. Event Detail Select whether to display Events that are marked as No Count and Events that do not have a grade assigned. Date Sequence of Events Select whether to display Events in descending or ascending order. Event Fields to Print Select whether to display Event Comment, Missing Indicator and Reason, Earned and Possible Points, Percent Earned, Grade Mark, and Special Code. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 28

Footer Area Select whether to display a signature and date line at the end of the report. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running the Class Roster The Class Roster report displays a list of students enrolled in a specific class during a specific term. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen menu bar and select Class Roster. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Class Roster template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, and choose a report term. 3. Select the information to be printed on the class roster under the Options section. As you select and deselect options, the counter at the upper right corner shows you how many characters are across the report. It automatically changes to landscape when the count reaches 93 characters. You also see a warning that too many options are selected when the count reaches 123 characters. 4. Click Save. 5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Running the Student Information report The Student Information report displays information about each student in a specific class, including demographics, attendance, scheduling, discipline, academic history, current grades in all classes, test scores, recommendations, and activities. You must have security access to the specific areas on Educator Access Plus to be able to print that information on the report. 1. Click Reports on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Student Information. 2. Use one of the templates or add a new Attendance Detail template. See Adding a New Template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, and name the template. 3. To customize a template, select the items to be printed under the Options section. 4. Click Save. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 29

5. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Using Excel Export This button exports Grade Sheet report information to Microsoft Excel. For more information about the Grade Sheet report, see Grade Sheet Report. 1. Click Excel Export on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar. 2. Follow all applicable instructions in Grade Sheet Report and Blank Grade Sheet Report to customize your report. 3. Highlight the report template you wish to use. Any templates that you created for the Grade Sheet Report are available on this list. 4. Click Export to Excel. 5. The Print Queue window appears. Once the report has finished processing, an Excel session opens and displays the Grade Sheet report. Running Reports for individual students Reports can be run for individual students in two ways: by using the Select Different Students button when running reports from the Reports button, or by clicking a student s hyperlinked name on the Gradebook Main Screen. The option Select Different Students is discussed in Running Reports using the Reports button. To run an individual report using a student s hyperlinked name, follow this procedure: 1. Click the student s hyperlinked name on the Gradebook Main Screen. The Student Options screen appears. 2. Use your mouse to hover over Reports in the upper right area of the screen and select a report from the drop-down menu. See Running Reports Using the Reports button for more information about these reports. 3. Use one of the templates or add a new report template. See Adding a new template to learn how to create a template, add a Sequence number, name the template, choose a report date or term range, and add customized headers and footers. 4. Highlight the report template you wish to use and click Print. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 30

Running reports for multiple classes Some reports can be run for multiple classes. On the My Gradebook (Course selection) screen, Click Reports for All Classes and select the report you wish to run. Follow the steps detailed for each report in this Guide. To run the report for all of your classes, click Print. To select classes for which to run the report, click Select Different Classes, use the check boxes to choose the classes you wish to include and click Print. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 31

Using Display Options Standards Gradebook allows you change three primary types of displays: Student Display, Event Display, and Grade Period Display. Student Display Student Display options determine how the student name and ID is displayed on the Gradebook Main Screen. Event Display Event Display options determine how Event information is displayed on the Gradebook Main Screen. Grade Period Display Grade Period Display options determine the Grade Periods and Events that are displayed. To configure each of these displays, click Display Options on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select the appropriate option in the drop-down menu. Configurations made in Student Display and Event Display affect all classes assigned to you. Configurations made in Grade Period Display only affect the class in which it was configured. You can return the settings of any options screen to the Gradebook defaults by clicking the Restore Defaults button, which is located on the right side of each options screen. Adjusting how Students appear in Gradebook There are three Student Display areas: Name Display, Display Options, and Sorting Options. This screen can also be accessed by clicking the Students hyperlink at the top of the student name column on the Gradebook Main Screen. Name Display Click the box beside the type of student name display that you would like to appear on the Gradebook Main Screen. To the right of each option, you can see a sample of how names appear. Some teachers prefer to have students come to their desks to view their current grade rather than print a report. This can be done in Gradebook while preserving student anonymity. Select the Suppress option and select Student ID under Display Options (see below). Only the Student ID is display on the Gradebook Main Screen. Display Options (Student) Student ID The Student ID option displays the student s ID (Other ID) next to the name on the Gradebook Main Screen. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 32

Dropped Students The Dropped Students option displays all students who have dropped the course on the Gradebook Main Screen. Student Grade Level The Student Grade Level option displays the student grade level to the left of the student name on the Gradebook Main Screen. Sorting Options You can sort students by first name/last name, last name/first name or assigned seat. Sort by Gradesheet Sequence allows you to sort the students on the Gradebook Main Screen in the same order that the students are sorted on the Grade Sheet Report. To modify this sequence, click the Modify Gradesheet Sequence hyperlink. A window appears displaying all students in the class, and you can use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the student order. Figure 10 Modifying the Gradesheet Sequence Adjusting how Events appear in Gradebook There are six Event Display option areas: Event Display Options, Subject Heading, Skill Heading, Event Defaults, Event Score Entry, and Event Heading. Event Display Options Show Comments for all Events This option inserts a column next to each Event column on the Gradebook Main Screen. Any comments entered in the Comments box on the Score Entry screen appear. Show Term Grade Column in a fixed location on Gradebook screen This option displays a column showing the current term grade beside the Attendance column on the Gradebook Main Screen. This option is not available if the course does not calculate a term grade. Subject Heading This area is available only if your Gradebook Administrator has set up your Academic Area to use Auto Calculation for Subject and Skill grades. From the View Subject Grade as drop-down menu, select whether to display the Subject grade as a Grade Mark, a Percent, or Points. The Points option is only available if your Gradebook Administrator has configured the Subject grade to be calculated using total points earned in Events rather than weighted average of Skill grades. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 33

Skill Heading Examine the various Skill Heading configurations and choose the one that best represents the heading display you wish to see on the Gradebook Main Screen. If your Gradebook Administrator has setup your Academic Area to use Auto Calculation for Subject and Skill grades, you also have a View Skill Grade as option available in this area. Select whether to display the Skill grades as a Grade Mark, a Percent, or Points. The Points option is only available if your Gradebook Administrator has configured Skill grades to be calculated using total points earned in Events rather than percents earned in Events or trending. Event Defaults When you add an Event, the Max Score value defaults to the value in the Maximum Score Default box. Event Score Entry Use single skill event scoring screen / Use multiple skill event scoring screen Select Use multiple skill event scoring screen to use the multiple skill score entry screen when scoring an event even if the event is only associated with one skill (see Scoring an Event for more information). Supress the value entered is greater than max score message When scoring an Event, if you type a score that exceeds the Max Score for the Event, the following message appears: The score entered is greater than the Max Score for this Event. You can click OK and the score is recorded. This message can help you avoid accidentally entering an incorrect score. However, many teachers routinely enter scores that surpass the Max Score as a way of awarding extra credit. If you find the warning message more annoying than helpful, select the Suppress the value entered is greater than max score message check box. The message no longer appears. Display student s due date attendance on Score Entry screen Select this option to show the student s attendance on the date that an Event is due on its Score Entry screen. This option is not available if your Gradebook Administrator has suppressed the display of attendance in the Gradebook. Event Heading Examine the various Event Heading configurations and choose the one that best represents the heading display you wish to see on the Gradebook Main Screen. Changing the Event score display This option is not accessed using the Display Options button on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar as the earlier options are. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 34

Figure 10 Changing the Event Score Display It is possible to change the way that a single Event s grade is displayed. 1. Click the Event header on the Gradebook Main Screen. 2. The Event Options screen appears. At the bottom of the screen, click the Show Event Score As drop-down menu. 3. Select Score (45), Check ( ), Percent (77%), or a Grade Mark (B-). The option to display the Event s score as a Score is only available if the Event uses points. 4. Click Back. Displaying comments for only one Event This option is not accessed using the Display Options button on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar as the earlier options are. Figure 11 Changing the comment display per Event The Event Display Options section above describes how to display comments for all Events. However, it is possible to display comments for only one Event. After an Event is created, follow this procedure: 1. Click the Event header on the Gradebook Main Screen. 2. The Event Options screen appears. At the bottom of the screen, check the Show Comments box. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 35

This causes the Comments column for this Event only to display on the Gradebook Main Screen, even if the Show comments for all Events check box in Event Display Options is not selected. 3. Click Back. Adjusting the Grade Period display in Gradebook The Grade Period Display determines which Grading Period Term, Subject, Skill, and Event columns are displayed on the Gradebook Main Screen. Some teachers prefer to view only the current term s information, while others want to see data from all Grading Period. After selecting Grade Period Display from the Display Options menu on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar, select the check box(es) beneath the Display Grade Period column for all Grading Periods whose Gradebook data you want to see on the Gradebook Main Screen. This feature must be configured separately for each class. The current Grading Period cannot be deselected. Other Display Options Selecting Skills for Display This option is available only if the Gradebook Main Screen is set to View Events by Skill (see View Events by Skill / View Skills by Event for more information). Select the check boxes that correspond with the Skill that you wish to see on the Gradebook Main Screen. Deselecting a skill will hide it and all its associated Events from view. To select or deselect many Skills, use the Select All and Unselect All hyperlinks at the upper left area of the screen. If you wish to select all the Skills with associated Events, you can use the Select Only Skills with Events hyperlink. If you select the Always Display Skills with Events check box, check boxes for all Skills become unavailable. The system automatically determines whether a Skill is displayed based on whether the Skill has at least one associated Event. When you are finished, click Save. Viewing Events by Skill / Viewing Skills by Event One of these two options is available in the Display Options menu, depending on the current setting. If you set your Gradebook to View Events by Skill, each Skill is displayed with its associated Events to the right. If you set your Gradebook to View Skills by Event, each Event is displayed with its associated Skills to the right. NOTE In View Skills by Event mode, Subject columns are hidden. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 36

Hiding/Showing All Events and Hiding/Showing All Skills In View Events by Skill mode, click Hide All Events or Show All Events to hide or show all Events. Events associated with a specific Skill can be hidden or shown by clicking the plus or minus sign on the Skill column. In View Skills by Event mode, click Hide All Skills or Show All Skills to hide or show all Skills. Skills associated with a specific Event can be hidden or shown by clicking the plus or minus sigh on the Event column. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 37

Using Standards Gradebook Tools The following tools are available in Standards Gradebook. Restoring deleted Events An Event that has been deleted can be restored along with any scores and special codes associated with it at the time of deletion. To restore a deleted Event, follow this procedure: 1. Click Display Options on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar. 2. Select Restore Deleted Events from the Tools area. 3. On the Deleted Events list, highlight the Event to be restored. 4. Click View Details. 5. The Event scores and other attributes are shown on a display similar to the Score Entry screen. Click Restore Event. Using Student Groups You can create Student Groups in a Gradebook to separate groups of students who are completing different Events in the same class. For example, in a Music class, there may be students who play different instruments that have different Events. Creating Student Groups To create Student Groups, click the Display Options button on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Student Groups from the Tools area. The Student Group screen has two sections. The Student Groups section allows you to define your groups. A class can have up to ten Student Groups. Starting with Group 1, type a description of up to 15 characters for all the groups you wish to create (for example, Wind, Percussion, and Strings). Figure 12 Student Groups Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 38

Once a group has a description, the corresponding column in the Assign Students to Group section becomes available. All students are assigned to Group 1 by default. Assign students to other groups as desired. When you are satisfied with your groups assignments, click Save. A new menu appears on the upper left corner of the Gradebook Main Screen. This allows you to choose which group to view on the Gradebook Main Screen. Working with Student Groups and Events Events that have already been created in the Gradebook are automatically part of all Student Groups that you have created. When you add a new Event after Student Groups have been created, it is only part of the Student Group that is displayed on the Gradebook Main Screen unless the Apply this assignment to All Student Groups option is selected on the Add Event screen. For information on how to add an Event, see the section Adding an Event. EXAMPLE: If the group Percussion is displayed on the Gradebook Main Screen and you add an Event Play the Xylophone and the Apply this assignment to All Student Groups option is not selected, this Event is only displayed when you are viewing the Percussion group on the Gradebook Main Screen. You can enter a grade or special code for this Event on students that belong to the Percussion group only. Moving students between groups To move students between Student Groups, click Display Options on the Gradebook Main Screen menu bar and select Student Groups from the Tools area. In the Assign Students to Groups section, make adjustments as desired and click Save. NOTE A student can only be moved into a new group if ALL of the student s scored Events are part of the new group. Gradebook Backups Gradebook Backups allow you to see Gradebook data from a specific date against the current class list. To view a backup, click Display Options on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Gradebook Backups from the Tools area. Click the View Backup hyperlink on the corresponding date of the backup you wish to view. The frequency of backups is set by the Gradebook Administrator. The backup appears on a new window. You cannot make any changes to the backup, but you can view the data and run most reports. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 39

Using the Event Comment Bank The Event Comment Bank allows you to store frequently used Event comments. When you are scoring an Event and wish to enter a comment, begin typing the first few letters of the comment and a pop-up is displayed containing a list of comments from the bank that matches what you have typed so far. To access the Event Comment Bank, click Display Options on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar and select Assignment Comment Bank from the Tools area. Click the Add button to add an Event comment to the bank. Type in the comment and click Save. You can also Edit or Delete previously added Event comments. You may already see existing records because whenever you add a comment to a student s Event, it is automatically added to the bank. Viewing Subject Attachments If your Gradebook Administrator has attached files to a Subject, these files can be viewed here. In the Subject Attachments list, highlight the file you wish to view and click View. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 40

Using the Student Options Screen The Student Options screen allows you to view and edit data for a single student. To access this screen, click a student s hyperlinked name in the student list on the Gradebook Main Screen. From this screen, you can do the following: View and edit all Events, Skills, and Subjects View and edit missing Events View report card grades for current and past terms View and edit comments for current and past terms Access new student options Run reports for a single student Figure 13 Student Options Screen To edit any Event, Skill, or Subject grade, click the appropriate tab on the Student Options screen (for example, All Events) and then click on the grade you wish to change. If your Academic Area does not have Auto Calculation enabled, you can also easily enter grades for all Skills by clicking Enter Scores for Skills. To view report card grades for current and past terms, click the Report Card Grades tab. To view or edit comments for current and past terms, click the Comments tab. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 41

To access new student options, click the New Student tab and refer to Indicators in the Miscellaneous Main Screen Items section of this Guide. To run reports, click Reports and choose a report from the drop-down menu. See the section Running Reports Using the Reports button in this Guide. Use the student selection drop-down box to navigate through individual students from the Student Options screen. Click the student s name on the Student Options screen to access the Student Profile. This screen allows you to easily view and edit information for a single student; however, this screen can also be helpful if you are discussing progress with students one-on-one at your computer because it allows you to view information for only one student at a time. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 42

Taking Attendance You can take attendance in Gradebook by clicking Attendance on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar; you can also click the underlined date hyperlink in the attendance column header to the right of the student name list. Clicking either of these areas takes you to the EA+ Attendance Entry By Student screen. After taking attendance, click Save. Once you have taken attendance, the Absence or Tardy information appears in the Atnd column on the Gradebook Main Screen to the right of the student s name. This area also displays Do Not Admit information if that feature has been enabled by the Gradebook Administrator. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 43

Miscellaneous Gradebook Main Screen items Below are descriptions of additional hyperlinks, menus, indicators, and icons that appear on the Gradebook Main Screen that are not discussed elsewhere in this Guide. Hyperlinks These hyperlinks can be found on the Gradebook Main Screen. Students Hyperlink The Students hyperlink, located above the student list on the Gradebook Main Screen, opens the Student Display options screen. Term Literal Hyperlink In each term or semester column, you can click on the term literal (for example, TR1) in the column header to change between displaying the term grade as a Grade Mark or a Percent. Class Hyperlink At the top of the Gradebook Main Screen next to the teacher name is a class hyperlink. Click this hyperlink to display information about the class, including the terms, days and times that the class meets. View Tutorial Hyperlink This hyperlink is located in the upper right corner of the Gradebook Main Screen. Click this hyperlink to view Skyward tutorials about Gradebook features and processes. Skyward is continually updating this area with new tutorials. Print Queue Hyperlink This hyperlink appears in the upper right corner. Click this hyperlink to view reports that you have run recently or to check the status of queued reports. Icons These icons can be found on the Gradebook Main Screen. Student information icon This is the icon located to the left of each student name on the Gradebook Main Screen. Click this icon to open the Student Profile, which provides demographic information about the student. From the Student Profile, you can navigate to other screens to which you have security access that provide other information about the student. Menus These menus can be found on the Gradebook Main Screen. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 44

Term Literal menu The term literal drop-down menu is located in the header of the fixed Term Grade column to the right of the attendance column. This menu allows you to view the calculated grade for a different term or semester. Use the drop-down menu to change which term s grade is displayed in the column. The Term Grade column only appears if you have enabled it in Assignment Display Options. Other Access menu The Other Access button on the Gradebook Main Screen Menu Bar provides quick access to other EA+ features, such as Survey and Message Center. These features are not part of Gradebook and are not discussed in this Guide. Understanding and Using Indicators These indicators can be found on the Gradebook Main Screen. New Student indicator If a student has just been scheduled into your class, a yellow button labeled New appears beside the student s name on the Gradebook Main Screen. A New Student tab also appears on the Student Options screen (see section Student Options Screen ). If you click the New button, a screen opens and one of the following messages appears with the appropriate information in the brackets: [Student name] was added to this class on [date]. [Student name] transferred into this class on [date] from [previous class]. Figure 13 New Student Information NOTE To determine which section of a course a student transferred from, the system checks the Current Scheduling Transaction Log and looks for the most recent drop or delete record prior to the add record of the course. If the drop or delete record was deleted from the Transaction Log and there are no earlier drop or delete records for that course, the system displays the message that the student was added to the class, rather than transferred from another section. If the student was transferred from another class, Gradebook lists the number of graded Events that exist in the previous class for that student. Gradebook also lists the number of Events from the previous class that match Events in the new class, as well as the number of Events in the new class that do not match any Events in the old class. Gradebook uses Due Date, Subject/Skill, Max Score, Weight, and Event Description to determine whether an Event in one class has a match in the other. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 45

Example: A student has five graded Events in the class he is transferring out of (ELA001/02). The new class (ELA001/01) contains only four assignments that match from the old class; one does not match. The following message appears: 5 Events Graded in ELA001 / 02 4 Matching Events Found in ELA001 / 01 1 Do not match Events in ELA001 / 01 If matching Events are found, you can click the Transfer Grades hyperlink on the right side of the screen. A new screen appears containing a list of the matching Events. Make any desired changes and click Save to transfer the grade(s) from the previous class to the new class. If unmatched Events are found, you can then click the View Events hyperlink on the right side of the screen. A new screen appears containing two sections: Un-matched Events for previous class and Un-matched Events for new class. These sections contain detailed information about the Events. Un-matched Events for previous class allows you to easily see which Events, if any, were graded in the old class but do not have a match in your class. If desired, you can then make preparations to have the grades from these Events added to your class (for example, you might create an Event in your new class that is marked as No Count for all the other students, and then score the Event with all of this student s grades for Events that have no match). Un-matched Events for new class allows you to add Event information for this student to Events that exist in your class but did not exist in the old class. For example, from this screen you can check all of the unmatched Events for this student as No Count so that they are not counted in the student s grade. You can also add a comment or a Special Code, and can award scores to this student for Events in your class. When you are finished working with this screen, click Save to save any changes you have made. You are returned to the previous screen. At the bottom of the New Student screen, you can check the box Do not display NEW by this student s name. This removes the yellow New indicator on the Gradebook Main Screen. If the New indicator was accidentally removed, these features are still accessible through the New Student tab on the Student Options screen (see the section Student Options Screen ). Subset enrollment asterisk When a student is enrolled in only one semester of a year-long course, or in only one term of a semester- or year-long course, this student is said to be enrolled in a subset of the course. This means that the student is enrolled for a length of time that does not span the entire course. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 46

A student enrolled in a subset of a course appears in Gradebook with an asterisk to the right of his or her name on the Gradebook Main Screen. If you click on that student s hyperlinked name to access the Gradebook Student Options screen, a message explaining the asterisk appears. For example, if a student is enrolled in only the second semester of a year-long course and you click the hyperlink, a message similar to the following appears at the top of the Gradebook Student Options screen: Sarah Smith is only scheduled for SEM 2 of YEAR of this YEAR long class. The wording of this message depends on how the Gradebook Administrator has configured Gradebook. Grade discrepancy indicator If a student s calculated term or semester grade is different than the posted grade, an asterisk appears beside the grade on the Gradebook Main Screen. If you hover over the grade with your mouse pointer, a message tells you that the grade is now different from the posted grade. Depending on your district s setup, you may also see a separate column that shows the posted grade if it is different from the calculated grade. Bold Event score An Event score in bold type indicates that a Special Code is (for example, MS missing) attached to the Event. Health condition indicator A red cross to the left of the student s name indicates a health condition. Click on the cross for more information. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 47

Y-axis Appendix Trend Grading Skill Grades in Standards Gradebook can be calculated using the Trend Grading method. This guide describes what Trend Grading is and how the Gradebook Administrator must configure the system to use this calculation method. How Trend Grading works Trend Grading is a method of calculating Skill grades. Rather than using actual Event grades to calculate a weighted average Skill grade, Trend Grading utilizes these Event grades to create a trend that best represents how the student is progressing in the particular Skill. Sometimes a trend can easily be approximated by the naked eye, but for a more accurate trend pattern, linear regression is used to calculate a trend line. In a graphical sense, the trend line is the straight line that most closely resembles the trend that the data points are showing. 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 X-axis Figure 15 Linear Regression as a graph This example is used throughout the Guide. The ten data points are a student s Event grades in a particular Skill, plotted chronologically from left to right. The straight line represents the calculated trend of the student s progress in this Skill over time. The table below shows the values of the grades for the ten Events. Event 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Grade 61 77 71 83 86 75 81 91 81 87? Once the system has calculated a trend line, it can extend that line to calculate an 11 th data point. That s the value on the Y-axis when the trend line reaches 11 on the X-axis. In this example, the calculated 11 th Event grade is 90.8. This is referred to as the Trend Grade. There are two things Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 48

in the system that the Trend Grade can be used for. Both are independent of each other and can be turned on or off separately. Using Trend Grading as a Skill Grade In Standards Gradebook, a Term Skill Grade can be calculated three ways. The first two methods are based on Percents or Points earned in Events associated with the Skill. For more information on these two calculation methods, please see Working with Subjects and Skills. The third method is based on Trend Grading. The system uses the Trend Grade as the overall Skill Grade. In this example, the student s Skill Grade would be 90.8, which is the projected 11 th data point. Since the Skill Grade is not a grade that is calculated from actual Event grades (it is calculated from a trend line), the system provides other information to assist the teacher in manually adjusting the grade as they see fit. In Standards Gradebook, teachers can click a grade in a Skill column to access the following information: Figure 16 Trend Grading for a student Mean Grade This is the average of the actual Event grades. In this example, adding the Event Grades and dividing by 10 yields 79.3. NOTE The Grade Mark (M) is displayed on this screen. Move your mouse over the Grade Mark to see the actual percentage. Median Grade This is the middle Event grade when the grades are sorted from lowest to highest, or the average of the two middle Event grades, if there is an even number of Event grades. In this example, when sorted (61, 71, 75, 77, 81, 81, 83, 86, 87, 91) the two middle grades are 81 and 81; therefore the median grade is the average of the two, or 81. NOTE The Grade Mark (M) is displayed on this screen. Move your mouse over the Grade Mark to see the actual percentage. Correlation Coefficient This represents the strength of the trend. This is a number between 1.00 and -1.00. The closer it is to 1.00, the more powerful the trend is upwards; The closer it is to -1.00, the more powerful the trend is downward. In this example, that is 0.724, which is an indication that the student is generally improving over time. Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 49

Standard Deviation This represents how widely the Event grades are spread, in other words, how close they are to the mean. If the number close to 0, the student is considered to be more consistent; if the number is large, there is a lot of fluctuation. In this example, that is 8.30. This means the student s Event scores are, on average, 8.30 from the mean. Usig Trend Grading as a Prediction Teachers can still see the Trend Grade even if they do not want the Skill Grade calculation based on Trend Grading Calculations. If this option is turned on, teachers can see what the system s projected grade is (in this example, the 11 th data point) to predict where the student s Skill assessment is heading. This is a view-only option that lets the teacher see the system s calculation as a reference. The Trend Grade does not become part of the student s grade. In Standards Gradebook, teachers can go to Reports/Skill Trend Grading by Event to see this information. In this example, the teacher can see what the Skill Grade would have been if they had used Trend Grading as the Skill Grade Calculation Method. Teachers can use this information to assist them in manually adjusting the system calculated Skill grade as they see fit. Figure 17 Viewing a student s Trend Grade Trend Grading a real world application Imagine you are taking a 15-day course on becoming a professional skydiver. The Skill that you are being assessed on is your ability to correctly and safely open a parachute without your instructor s interference. On each of the 15 days, your exercise is to jump out of a plane 100 times. For each time that you open the parachute correctly on your own, you score 1 point. On the first day, because you have absolutely no experience with skydiving and operating a parachute, you get 0 points. On the second and third day, you still can t quite get the hang of it. So far, you ve scored 0 points on each of the first 3 days. Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Score 0 0 0 On the fourth day, you begin to grasp the idea and are able to open your parachute correctly 25% of the time. You score a steady 25% for the fifth and sixth day as well. Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Standards Gradebook Teacher s Guide 50