Gradebook Configuration (Teacher Programs)

The Gradebook Configurations module enables you to customize the appearance and settings of teachers' gradebooks. Note: Some of the configuration settings displayed may be disabled due to permissions set by the district via Setup > System Preferences > Default User Preferences > Default Gradebook Configuration.

Searching for Users (Teachers)

1. To conduct a user search in order to customize a teacher's gradebook, from the Users menu, click Gradebook Configuration under the Teacher Programs submenu.

This will lead you to a Find a Teacher user search module where you can begin setting criteria for a search. The Search Screen module includes a search bar, the More Search Options feature, and options to Search All Schools, Include Parents, and Include Inactive Users.

2. Enter the user's name or ID in the User text box.

Click the User List tab for a complete list of users without conducting a search. You can also simply click the Search button and leave the User text box empty to pull all active users.

The search bar is not case sensitive, and full or partial entries can be in either a first last or last, first format. The comma is necessary in the last, first format. A full user name or ID number can also be entered into the search bar. Searching for "ma" will pull every user whose first or last name begins with "ma" into the search results.

3. Click More Search Options to search for groups of users with similar information in any number of user fields and/or user data.

A list of modules can be opened and closed by clicking the gray triangles. Set as many selections as needed to yield more specific search results. Note that the Profile defaults to Teacher and cannot be changed. In the example shown, the user search will be defined by the Teacher Profile and the Female Gender.

To clear search parameters and start over, click the Reset button.

4. Click Search.

5. All resulting users will display in the User List. When you find the correct user, click the user's name to open the user's record.

6. Clicking the user's name navigates to the user's gradebook configuration screen. The user's name is displayed in the top right corner. Click the small red X next to the user's name to close the user and search for another one.

To open the selected user's User Info record, click on the user's name displayed in the header (next to the red x).

Configuring the Gradebook

Selecting a user navigates to the teacher's gradebook configuration screen where there are various options available.

1. You can customize gradebooks for a teacher by section. To select the applicable section, click the pull-down and make a selection.

The Gradebook Configuration screen displays all of the customizable options; however, the district may have set up defaults. It is important to note that you may not see or be able to edit all of the following options if you do not have permission to change the default settings.

2. Select how scores containing decimals should be rounded using the radio button in the Score Rounding section. Scores can be rounded Up, Down, or rounded Normally.

3. Select an Assignment Sorting option; options are as follows: Newest First, Newest Last, Due Date, Assigned Date, Category, or Alphabetical, which allows you to determine how the assignments are ordered in the gradebook. Note: Newest Last displays closest to the "paper gradebook."

4. Enter Default Assignment Points to populate the Points field automatically when adding a new Gradebook assignment.

5. In creating a new assignment, select the Default Due Date of Today or Tomorrow. Note: The selection made here will populate in the Due Date field of assignments, but the date can be edited for any assignment as needed.

If a set Due Date is set outside of calenda days, a warning pop-up will display. However, the assignment and due date can be saved regardless.

6. Select the Weight grades by assignment category check box if you want the Gradebook to assign a percentage of the total grade to all categories of assignments. This option can be helpful if, for example, the teacher counts overall participation as 10% of a student's grade, etc. Note: Percentage of Total must equal 100%.

Do not change this setting during a marking period, as it will change student percentages.

If the preference, Configure Gradebooks separately for each section is not enabled (Teacher: My Information > Preferences > Display Options or Admin: Preferences (Teacher Programs) > Setting Display Options), Weight grade by assignment category will be applied to all sections.

7. Select the Add all assignments to each section of your course by default check box to allow the teacher to automatically add new assignments to all sections of the same course. You also have the option to set this manually upon creating each assignment.

8. Select the Display percentages in the gradebook check box if you want the Gradebook to automatically translate assignment scores into percentages and grades.

9. You also have the option to Display due date in assignment column heading and/or Display assigned date in assignment column heading by selecting the corresponding check boxes.

10. Select Display estimated semester average column to display a column in the teacher's gradebook that averages the Q1 posted grade and the Q2 gradebook grade.

This is only a 50/50 average for schools that have two marking periods in the semester and 33.3/33.3/33.3 for schools with 3 marking periods in a semester. Most schools have their quarters weighted equally, but if they do not then this column will not respect the grade posting averaging.

11. Select a Gradebook Method from the following options:

Default: Select Default to have a separate Gradebook for each marking period (e.g. quarter 1, quarter 2, quarter 3, quarter 4).

Full year gradebook: Select Full year gradebook to have one running Gradebook for the full year. This is often used if students are allowed to turn in assignments at their own pace over the course of the year, such as in adult education.

Semester gradebook: Select Semester gradebook to have one running Gradebook for each semester. Quarter 1 grades will factor into the Quarter 2 average.

12. Select the Enter student numbers in the gradebook check box to create another column in the Gradebook where you or the teacher can enter in student IDs (or another anonymous identification) that will allow for privacy in grade posting.

13. Select the check box to Only use letter grades in the gradebook -- not points. If this is selected, then when entering grades, the grade method Letter Grade must be selected via the Enter grades by pull-down.

14. Select the Display each student's grade level in the gradebook check box to display grade levels in the Gradebook.

15. Select the check box to Hide Assigned and Due Dates. When enabled, students will not see the assignments and due dates in the Student Portal.

Gradebook Configuration

16. Select the check box to Show All Assignments in Student Portal. When enabled, students can see all gradebook assignments in the Student Portal regardless of publish date, including those where the publish date is null.

17. If your district has elected to give you permission to set up your own Score Breakoff Points, you can do so here. To change the score break off for each listed letter grade, click the text box in the corresponding column and enter a new value.

18. Select the Calculate eligibility using cumulative semester grades check box to determine whether a student is eligible to participate in school sports.

This option applies specifically to Texas districts.

19. Create Custom Grades for either excluded grades or zero grading systems.

a. To create a new Custom Grade, use the last line in the chart. The blank text boxes indicate where new information can be entered. Enter the Grade, a Display Name, and select a Type from the pull-down. Once all information has been entered, press Enter to save the grade.

b. Upon pressing Enter and saving the new Custom Grade, a check box will display in the Remove column giving you the ability to delete the Custom Grade created. Select the check box then click the Save button located in the upper-right corner of the screen.

Districts may choose to disable change to Custom Grades in order to create a set of standard grades that are consistant for teachers, parents, and students.

Custom Grades created cannot be an existing grade defined in Grading Scales & Comments.

If needed, you also have the option to export the listed Custom Grades to an Excel spreadsheet by clicking the floppy disk icon.

20. To Enable gradebook groups, select the corresponding check box. When custom groups are defined, students can be broken into the selected groups, and the gradebook can be filtered to pull a specific group of students.

a. Enter the Name of the group in the provided text box. When complete, press Enter to save the data. The group names can be edited at any time by clicking on the underlined Name.

b. Upon pressing Enter and saving the new group, a check box will display in the Remove column giving you the ability to delete the group created. Select the check box then click the Save button located in the upper-right corner of the screen.

If groups are created but Enable gradebook grades is not selected, the created groups will not display in the Gradebook.

c. To complete the process of created custom groups, navigate to the teacher's Gradebook where you will now see a Group column. Click the black dash in the Group column for any student to make the group selection display. Once displayed, select the check box for the correct group. When completed, click the Save button to apply changes.

i. Upon selecting a Group from the provided pull-down, you will see the selected students displayed for the group selected.

If needed, you also have the option to export the listed Groups to an Excel spreadsheet by clicking the floppy disk icon.

21. You have the option to select Grade Title Colors for each grade. For example, to make all grade letter Fs stand out, you can select the color red.

22. When all changes have been made and the Gradebook has been configured, click the Save button to apply changes.