1. 6 th Annual Focus Users’ Conference 6 th Annual Focus Users’ Conference Teacher Gradebook Setup Presented by: Halie Paglio Presented by: Halie Paglio

2. Agenda  Gradebook Templates  Configuring Options in My Preferences Configure Gradebooks Separately for Each Section Combine Sections for Gradebook  Gradebook Configuration General Custom Grades Groups Grade Title Colors  Gradebook Categories and Assignments  Very Useful Gradebook Reports Grade Breakdown Graphs Missing Grades Failing Grades Progress Reports Blank Gradebook Gradebook Audit Trail Student Participation Transferred Students

3. Learning Objectives Configuring the Gradebook correctly reduces frustration and enables Focus/SIS to provide maximum flexibility. The gradebook provides a number of informative reports. This session will focus on the Gradebook and the most useful reports for the teacher.

4. Gradebook Templates The Gradebook Templates feature allows districts to create templates for teacher’s Gradebooks. The Gradebook Templates ensure that Gradebooks are standardized, which reduces chances for errors. Note: templates should always be created before the start of the school year.  To create a new Gradebook Template, navigate to Gradebook Templates from the School Setup Menu.

5. Gradebook Templates  Once at the Gradebook Templates screen, users have the option to view/edit existing templates or add a new gradebook template.  Proceed to entering Template Options including: Title, Allow Teachers to Add or Modify Categories/Assignments, specify which Courses use this template, and apply to All or Select Schools.

6. Default User Preferences Options to further setup Teacher Gradebooks are available to the school district. Within System Preferences navigate to Default User Preferences then to Gradebook Configuration.  District users can set options to Allow teachers at the school to configure a feature of the gradebook or Disallow the teachers at the school to configure a feature. For example, if a district decision is made to NOT allow teachers to display percentages in the gradebook, that option should be checked as disallow.  District users can also set options for gradebook colors, custom grades and gradebook groups. Once allowed or disallowed, the options will be saved for all teachers. For example, a district may want to set up custom grades for teachers. An * (asterisk) symbol within the gradebook could be an excluded grade.

7. Configuring Options in My Preferences Configuring Options in My Preferences Teachers also have options available to configure their gradebooks. There are options within the preferences menu that affect the way that the teacher Gradebook behaves. In order to access these options, navigate to My Information > Preferences. Note: only configure these options if necessary. Once in Preferences, there are a few options with regard to gradebook configuration that need some attention:  Configure Gradebooks Separately for Each Section: this option will allow teachers to set different configuration options for each of their sections.  Combine Sections for Gradebook: by Period or Custom Groups. Note: if gradebooks are combined then uncombined, grades may be lost. When posting grades, gradebooks will not be combined because these courses still have different course numbers.

8. Teacher Gradebook Configuration  In order for teachers to access the Gradebook Configuration screen, navigate to the Grades Menu and select Gradebook Configuration.  When viewing this screen, the teacher will be greeted with a list of options that allows them to customize their gradebook. The next slides describe the features available to teachers. Note: any features disallowed by the district will not be available for teachers to configure.

9. Gradebook Configuration Configuration: General Configuration FeatureDescription This field allows users to select how to round the scores in their gradebooks. This field allows users to select how assignments will be sorted in the gradebook for both teachers and students. Typical selections are Newest First or Due Date. The Default Due Date field specifies the default due date for new assignments created in the gradebook. Custom dates can be created when adding individual assignments. This field allows users to set weights for assignments based upon the category in which they fall. For more information regarding Categories, locate the Gradebook Categories section of this training document.

10. Gradebook Configuration Configuration: General Configuration FeatureDescription The Add Assignments to Each Section field allows assignments created in one section of a gradebook to be copied to all other sections of the same course. This feature will not work across different course numbers. Select the Display Percentages in the Gradebook option to view percentages along with the raw grades for assignments in the gradebook. This percentage will not be included for custom marks of if the assignment is out of 10 or 100. This field will display the Due Date in the assignment headings by default. This field will display the Assigned Date in the assignment headings by default.

11. Gradebook Configuration Configuration: General Configuration FeatureDescription By selecting this box, a Student Numbers Column will be displayed in the gradebook. The teacher can then assign a code to each student. When printing grades, the student numbers can be useful for privacy purposes. Selecting this box will only show letter grades for each individual assignment and the overall grade. (This is typically used by grade K-1 and special area/block/essential teachers.) Selecting this box allows student grade levels to be visible in the gradebook.

12. Gradebook Configuration Configuration: Custom Grades  Custom grades may be defined as excluded or to count as zero within the gradebook. When custom grades are entered in the gradebook, they should be capitalized.

13. Gradebook Configuration Configuration: Gradebook Groups  Within a teacher’s gradebook, Custom Groups can be enabled for each section. When custom groups are defined, students can be broken into these groups, and the gradebook can be filtered to only show individual groups. This feature is included as a way to filter groups of students within the gradebook and show assignments that may only be applicable to those specific groups, or assign members of groups the same grade.

14. Gradebook Configuration Configuration: Grade Title Colors  Users can also specify different colors for grades to appear in the gradebook. The gradebook will display the specified colors on the text entered in each grade field.

15. Gradebook Categories and Assignments The Gradebook Categories feature allows users to define the categories for the gradebook. If users want the categories to be weighted, users need to ensure that the Weight Grades by Assignment Category field is checked in the Gradebook Configuration menu. Important to Note: Scores in the gradebook will be affected if weighting options are changed throughout the marking period. Categories cannot be deleted if there are already assignments associated to the category. If weighting, categories must equal 100%. Focus creates a copy of the category in each section/quarter. Therefore, categories can be changed or deleted in a future quarter without affecting the current gradebook.

16. Gradebook Categories and Assignments Next, navigate to Gradebook Categories & Assignments from the Grades Menu. Here categories can be created and weighted, if selected. Note: If Category Weights are turned on, the user will see an error if they do not add to 100% on this screen. This error will only be shown when Category Weights are being used. 1.Enter the Title of the assignment category. For example, Tests may be used as one assignment category. 2.Enter the Percent of Final Grade. If weighting, new categories must be added until this number equals 100%. If categories are not weighted, this text box will not appear. 3.Using this option will automatically drop the lowest grades of the number of assignments for each class section assigned to this category and marking period. These will appear as grey values in the gradebook. Note: version 7.0 will not drop the only score in the gradebook. 4.Select the color for the assignment category. This color will show in the column header. 5.Check the boxes that identify which sections are to be assigned to this category. Clicking the Check All box will assign all sections to this category. 6.Check the boxes of the quarters that this category will apply to.

17. Useful Gradebook Reports Grade Breakdown Graphs  This report allows users to see student grade analyses for each section teachers teach. These breakdowns can be organized into Pie or Column Graphs, or into a Simple List.  The Grade Breakdown can be performed for total overall grades, for each assignment category, or for individual assignments by selecting the desired assignment(s) from the Display Graph Of menu.

18. Useful Gradebook Reports Missing Grades  The Missing Grades report shows a comprehensive list of students that are missing grades in a particular course section, as well as each assignment that they are missing, and the assigned/due dates for each assignment.  The report can also be configured to show missing grades for all students in all sections by clicking the Show All Courses button (shown by the arrow in the screenshot above). This is a very important report come Grade Posting time, as grades cannot be posted while the gradebook is incomplete.  Note: Student grades CAN be entered and comments can be assigned on this screen. Just make sure to click Save after data entry if updating from this screen.

19. Useful Gradebook Reports Failing Grades  The Failing Grades report shows a list of all students that have a failing grade for each section in the gradebook. Grades can be added and updated from this screen, and comments can be added as well.  The user can also define the threshold that equates to failing by clicking the Threshold box and selecting the appropriate percentage.

20. Useful Gradebook Reports Extra Credit Grades  The Extra Credit Grades report shows a list of all students that have earned extra credit on at least one assignment. The grades can be edited if necessary from this report, and comments can be added. Extra credit is given either by assigning points to an assignment with no points, or by going over the total points possible on an assignment.

21. Useful Gradebook Reports Highlighted Grades  The Highlighted Grades report lets the user view all grades that they’ve highlighted in each section of their gradebook. The grades can be edited if necessary from this report, and comments can be added. Grades can be highlighted in the gradebook by double-clicking the grade and selecting the Highlight box.

22. Useful Gradebook Reports Excused Grades  The Excused Grades report allows teachers to see details for any assignment that a student has been excused from. The grades can be edited if necessary from this report, and comments can be added. Grades are denoted as excused by the addition of one of the Custom Grades that is flagged as exclude, or a score of *.

23. Useful Gradebook Reports Custom Grades  The Custom Grades report shows teachers which students have assignments marked with the district-defined custom grades. These custom marks can be seen in the Gradebook Configuration section of the Grades Menu. Only comments can be added on this report.

24. Useful Gradebook Reports Transferred Students  The Transferred Students Report allows users to see students who have transferred into sections assigned to them.  Users can search for a specific student in the Search box, view a list of all students who have transferred into that section by clicking Simple List, or select Search All Sections to view all students across sections that have transferred.  These grades can then be used to assign grades within their own gradebook in line with what the student was receiving in the course that they came from.  Note: grades will not automatically go into the new gradebook unless it is the same course and teacher. The grades will only appear on the Transferred Students Report.

25. Transferred Students Report 1.A list of transferred students will appear on the Transferred Students Report. 1.Once a student is chosen, a listing of their dropped classes will be shown. 1.To view grades from a dropped class, click on the link to the section. The student’s current grade in the class will now appear as well as a breakdown of all assignments and grades.

26. Useful Gradebook Reports Progress Reports  Student Progress Reports can be generated, printed and emailed to students or custodial contacts using the Progress Reports option.  An individual student can be specified, or the entire section can be shown if the Continue box is pressed with no information defined in the Student field.  The Print All Classes button for elementary teachers will print grades for each of the classes students are assigned to.  There are a variety of options and filters that can be included, such as the Gradebook Notes, Attendance details, the ability to filter the report to only missing or failing assignments, etc.

27. Progress Reports 1.Select Progress Report Options 1.Choose to Print Progress Reports or Email Progress Reports 1.Select Students 1.Preview or Print the Progress Reports

28. Useful Gradebook Reports Blank Gradebook  By selecting the Blank Gradebook in Gradebook Reports, a.pdf of a blank gradebook for that section will automatically be generated for print.  Selecting Search All Sections will give you a list of all your students in alphabetical order.

29. Useful Gradebook Reports Gradebook Audit Trail  This report shows changes that have been made to student grades in the gradebook over time. In order to use this report; first, specify the time period during which the Audit Trail should be viewed by defining those dates in the calendar.  Users can also choose to include NG Grade Changes. This will show grades that had values entered for the first time on the audit report.  A list of students and their grade changes as well as who changed the grades will be available.

30. Gradebook Audit Trail 1.Update the report timeframe. 2.Select to include NG Grade Changes or not. 3.Search for students. 4.View audit trail.

31. Useful Gradebook Reports Student Participation  Participation: Green represents percent of A grades, yellow represents B grades, orange represents C grades, and red represents percent of failed grades for each student.  Assignments: Each bar is an assignment. The green layer represents the percentage of students that turned in the assignment on time. Assignments that are late are yellow, and missing assignments are red.

32. Useful Gradebook Reports Student Participation  Grades: Each bar is one assignment. The thin vertical whisker extends from the lowest score for any student in the course to the highest score. The thicker bar extends from the 25th percentile to the 75th, with the median marked.

33. Questions? Halie Paglio Software Trainer, Focus School Software haliep@focusschoolsoftware.com ph: (727) 388-6010 fax: (727) 213-6999 http://www.focus-sis.org

34. Thank You Please be sure to complete the comment card for this session and enjoy the rest of the Users’ Conference!