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Teacher Guide to ASCENDER TeacherPortal

Click here to generate a PDF of this guide.

Daily Classroom Tasks

Attendance tasks:

Post attendance.

Attendance > Post/View Attendance

This page allows you to record and post attendance for each period. You can also view attendance data that has already been posted.

NOTE: You can post the data only once for each period-course. If you discover an error after you have posted, you must contact the attendance clerk to correct the record.

Flexible attendance cannot be posted from TeacherPortal.

❏ Retrieve the students.

Date	The current date is displayed by default. Type another date in the MMDDYYYY format, or click to select a date from the calendar. Courses are only displayed on the days met. For example, if a course meets only on Monday, it is displayed only when the attendance date is a Monday. You can select a Saturday if Saturday is a valid attendance date, even if the course does not meet on Saturday. This may be used for bad weather makeup days. NOTE: Some campuses may not allow you to post attendance for a prior date. In this case, the Post button is not displayed for prior dates. NOTE: You will get an error message, Attendance posting more than XX days prior not allowed., if the posting date is greater than the number of days entered in the Days field on Grade Reporting > Maintenance > TeacherPortal Options > Campus and the Allow Prior Days Posting field is checked.
Semester	The semester of the selected date is displayed by default.
Period	Select the period-course for which to view or record attendance. By default, the first period for which you have not posted attendance is selected. Attendance can be posted only once for each date-period. If you already posted attendance for this date-period, the period is shaded in the drop-down list. If you select a shaded period, a message indicates that attendance has been posted for this date-period, and a view-only list is displayed.

The list of active students for the selected date and period-course is displayed.

The columns can be re-sorted.

If attendance is already posted for the selected date-period-course, the attendance data is view only.
- Student absences and tardies are highlighted, and you can click the comments icon to view any comments associated with the absence.
- If a student withdrew from the course since attendance was posted for the date, his attendance record is displayed.
- If a student's enrollment date is after the selected attendance date, his attendance record is not displayed.
If you teach multiple courses for the selected period, by default, all students in all courses are listed. This setting can be changed using the Combine Courses in Attendance field on Settings > Update Profile.
New students are indicated with the “new” icon next to their student ID. The icon remains for one day only.
Attendance-only courses are included in the class list.
Students whose attendance is excluded from reporting are listed, but you cannot record attendance. (This is a rare circumstance.)
Students who withdrew from the course are no longer listed.

Student ID	The student's ID is displayed. Click the student ID to view the student's profile.
	The Star of Life icon is displayed for any student who has medical circumstances you should be aware of. To view details, click the student ID to view the student's profile (Medical Alerts section).
Last Name First Name	The first and last names of the students in the selected course-period are listed.

❏ Under Attendance:

By default, all students are set to Present. You will see these options if your campus chooses to use Remote Asynch attendance, Remote Sync attendance, or Both.

Present - physically present in the classroom
Remote Synch - online at the time of class
Remote Asynch - will complete the assignment at a later time

As you mark students Absent or Tardy, the rows change color.

• Tardy students are shaded yellow.
• Absent students are shaded red.

If a student's absence is pre-posted (e.g., a scheduled band trip or a student who called in sick), the student is shaded gray, and the Attendance field displays the reason for the absence. Pre-posted absences are handled by the attendance clerk, so you are not able to mark attendance for the student.

	The icon is displayed next to the attendance, if the attendance clerk entered comments associated with a student's attendance for the date and period displayed. Click the icon to view the comments. The Comments window opens, and the comments are displayed. The date-time and user ID of the person who entered the comments are also displayed. Click Close to close the Comments window.

• The Absent and Tardy fields are disabled during the ADA period, on the first day of school, and on the first day of enrollment.

• The Absent and Tardy fields are enabled during the ADA period if the student has a withdrawal reason due to a status change.

The Tardy field may not be displayed depending on campus attendance settings.

If the district allows tardies during the ADA period, the tardies may only be valid during a set number of minutes for the period. After this number of minutes has passed, the student should no longer be marked as Tardy and should be marked as Absent, although the program does not prevent you from marking a student as Tardy (except on the first day of semester 1). The number of minutes is determined by the district. If applicable, a message is displayed above the table indicating when tardies are valid.

Students who are on a track that does not meet on the selected date are listed; however, the Absent, Tardy, and Present fields are replaced by a message indicating that the date is not a membership day for the student.

Students whose first day (or re-entry day) is not the official first day of school cannot be marked absent during the ADA period on their first day. The Absent option is disabled.

Grade	The student's grade level is displayed.
Course Section	The course-section is displayed.
# Students	The total number of students enrolled in this period is displayed at the bottom of the Student ID column.
Print	Click to print the attendance roster for one period or all periods. The Attendance Roster Report Selection page opens allowing you to make selections for printing the Attendance Roster report.

Post attendance:

❏ After you have recorded attendance for the course, review your input carefully.

Be sure to follow procedures established by the district for recording attendance.

When you are satisfied with your attendance input, you must post the data.

PIN	Type your four-digit personal identification number (PIN). For your convenience, the PIN box and Post button are displayed at the top and bottom of the attendance list. You can use either box to post attendance. NOTE: Once attendance is posted the PIN box and Post button will be disabled.

❏ Click Post.

If you indicated that all students are present (and no absences were previously entered by the attendance clerk), you are prompted you to confirm that all students are marked present.

❏ Click Confirm to confirm.

Attendance is posted.

Generate Attendance Verification report.

Reports > Attendance Verification

This report displays attendance for all of your students for a selected course-section and date range. You can view data for up to one semester. You can also generate a summary report that displays only totals for the selected date range.

The following codes are used:

A - Excused absence
S - School-related absences
T - Tardy
X - Truant

An asterisk next to the attendance code indicates that the absence or tardy occurred in a course other than the course the student is currently enrolled in (e.g., if he transferred from one course to another during the school year).

NOTES:

Inservice work days are indicated with an I in the column heading.
Saturday may be a valid attendance date, even if the course does not meet on Saturday. This may be used for bad weather makeup days.
If you are printing the report for more than three weeks, you should set the printer orientation setting to landscape or the Page Scaling field to Shrink to Printable Area. If the Shrink to Printable Area setting is not enabled, the landscape orientation will accommodate up to six weeks plus the Total column per page. Additional weeks (up to one semester) can be generated by entering the appropriate dates in the From Date and To Date fields; however, the report will print on multiple sheets of paper with a Total column on each page.

❏ Specify report options:

Semester	The current semester is displayed. You can select a different semester.
Course-Section	Select the course-section and period for which to print the report.

From Date To Date	Enter the beginning and ending dates. Both dates must fall within the selected semester.
Include Withdrawn Students	Withdrawn students are not automatically included. Select the field to include withdrawn students in the report.
Summary Only	Select to display only totals for the selected date range. If not selected, the report lists all absences for the selected date range.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Generate Attendance Roster report.

Attendance > Attendance Rosters

This page allows you to print attendance rosters for one course or all of your courses at one time. A signature line is provided at the bottom of each period-course.

Date	Type a date in the MMDDYYYY format, or click to select a date from the calendar.
Semester	The current semester is displayed by default. You can select another semester.
Period	Select the period-course for which you want to print the roster. Or, select ALL CLASSES to print rosters for all periods.
Sorting Options	Indicate if you want to sort the rosters by student ID, last name, first name, or course-section.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Generate Seating Chart report.

Reports > Seating Charts

This report prints a teacher's seating charts for all periods or one period. For each period, the seating chart is displayed followed by a list of students who are not assigned to seats. The seating chart lists the student name, gender, and ID.

If printed for all periods, each period prints on a separate page.

NOTE: If that field has been changed, and the seating charts have not been re-saved on Settings > Manage Charts since the setting was changed, a warning message is displayed when the report is generated indicating that the reports will not be accurate until the Manage Seating Charts page has been re-saved. You must review the seating chart for each period on the Manage Seating Charts page, make any necessary changes, and then re-save each chart.

❏ Specify report options:

Semester

The current semester is displayed. You can select a different semester.

Period

Select the period-course(s) to print the seating chart for, or select ALL CLASSES to print seating charts for all periods.

If Combine Courses in Attendance is selected on your Settings > Update Profile page, the courses are combined by period.

width

Select the width setting for the report.

Fixed Seat Width	Select to print a report in which all seats are the same width. This setting works for small and average-size classes. For larger classes, some seats may not print on the page.
Auto-Adjusted Seat Width	Select to print a report in which each column is adjusted to the student name. Each column is only wide enough to accommodate the longest name in the column; therefore, some columns are wider than others. This setting is a better option for larger classes.

For either width setting, you can adjust the orientation when you print. Select Landscape to increase the number of students that fit on the page.

Show Pictures

Select to display student photos in the seating chart. Photos are only available if they have been added by the district.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Generate Class Roster report.

Reports > Class Roster

This report provides a blank class roster by semester and course, including a list of students enrolled in the course and up to 50 blank columns. You can choose the sort order and whether to include the student’s birth date and contact information. The report can be exported in CSV format.

If you print the report for a course group, the Course Section column is included allowing you to identify the course-section in which the student is enrolled.

❏ Specify report options:

Semester

The current semester is displayed. You can select a different semester.

Course-Section

Select the course-section and period for which to print the report. The drop down lists the two-digit period and course name. The course number and section number are in parentheses.

If course groups have been created on the Course Grouping page, the groups are listed as well as the individual courses.

Columns

Type the number of blank columns to display on the report, up to 50.

Display Options

Birthday	Select to include the student's birth date. The Birthday column will be included in the report.
Student Email	Select to include the student’s email address.
Contact Information	Select to include the student's contact information. The Contact Information columns will be included in the report, and all of the student's contacts are listed. The contact's name, relationship, cell phone, home phone, business phone, other phone, mailing address, and e-mail address are listed.
Guardian Last Viewed IPR/Report Card Date	Select to include the date on which a parent/guardian last viewed the student's interim progress report (IPR) or report card online.

Sorting Options

Indicate the order in which to sort the report data. You can sort by student name (last name), Student ID, course-section (for course groups), birth date (if included), or custom student order.

Custom student order is the order specified for the course-section on Settings > Arrange Student Order.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Grading tasks:

Create assignments.

Settings > Manage Assignments

This page allows you to add assignments for your active courses, including extra credit assignments. You can also copy the assignments to other courses.

Categories must be established for the course on Settings > Manage Categories before you can add assignments.

Different fields are displayed according to the type of course selected (category-based (i.e., regular) courses and standards-based courses).

You cannot make changes to assignments once the cycle is closed.

❏ Specify the course-section:

Semester	The current semester is displayed by default. You can select another semester.
Cycle	The current cycle is displayed by default. You can select another cycle.
Course-Section	Select the course-section you want to add assignments for. The drop down lists the two-digit period and course name. The course number and section number are in parentheses. NOTE: For courses that are part of a course group, any changes to an assignment will apply to all courses in the group. An assignment can only be modified or deleted if no grades exist for the assignment for any course in the group.

❏ Click Retrieve.

Assignments that have previously been entered for the semester-cycle-course-section are listed. Otherwise, the message “No Assignment Exists” is displayed.

❏ Click Add new assignment to add a new assignment.

A blank row is added to the grid.

Assignment Name

Type a name for the assignment (e.g., Pop Quiz 1), up to 50 characters, that is unique no matter what the category is per semester/cycle. Assignment names can be changed at any time, as needed.

TIP: It is helpful to keep the assignment name as brief as possible; however, the name should be descriptive enough to distinguish it from other assignments. Longer assignment names require more space on the Assignment Grades page, which may result in a more cumbersome page.

See notes on Special Characters and Copy/Paste From Other Documents.

NOTE: Assignment Names cannot contain a pipe character ( | ).

Category

Select a category for the assignment. These categories are established on Settings > Manage Categories.

If a color has been assigned to the category on the Manage Categories page, the drop-down list displays the assigned color for the category.

This field is not displayed for standards-based courses; the Edit Standards column is displayed instead.

Edit Standards/Skills

For standards-based courses, the number of standards currently associated for the assignment is displayed.

This field is only displayed for standards-based courses.

# Standards

❏ Click the link.

The Editing Standards for Assignment: Assignment Name window opens.

An assignment cannot be saved unless it has at least one standard associated with it.

Available Standards	All available standard-sets and associated standards are listed. Select the standards you want to associate with the assignment. To select multiple consecutive standards, click the first standard, then press and hold SHIFT while clicking the last standard in the range. To select multiple nonconsecutive standards, click a standard, then press and hold CTRL while clicking the other standards.

❏ Click Add» to associate the selected standard(s) with the assignment.

Selected Standards	The selected standards are listed under the appropriate standard set name.

❏ To remove a standard from an assignment, select the standard under Selected Standards, and then click «Del.

The standard is moved back to the Available Standards list.

NOTE: You cannot delete a standard if there are any assignment grades for the standard.

❏ Click OK to close the window.

The Edit Standards field is updated to reflect the number of standards associated with the assignment.

Date Assigned

Type the assignment date in the MMDDYYYY format, or click to select a date from the calendar.

NOTE: This field is critical for running the Graded Assignment Count admin report. If this field is blank for an assignment, and a date range is selected when running the report, the assignment is not included in the report.

Date Due

Type the assignment date in the MMDDYYYY format, or click to select a date from the calendar.

NOTE: You can also set a default value for this field using the in the Default Assignment Due Date field on Settings > Update Profile. Valid options are no default date, the current date, or up to five days in the future. You can override the default date as needed.

Total Points

Type the total number of possible points for the assignment. Do not type zero unless it is an extra credit assignment. The field is set to 100 by default.

This field is not displayed for standards-based courses.

NOTE: If you have assigned a rubric chart to this assignment, this field displays the total possible points for the rubric chart and cannot be updated.

If you are using percentage-based weighting, and if the field is not set to 100, the warning icon is displayed next to the field. When you click , a warning message opens indicating that you should review the Help for Calculating Averages (Calculate Averages guide) to understand how the grades are calculated in this situation. This warning is also displayed when you click Save if the points are not set to 100.

Select Do not show this message again if you do not want to receive this reminder every time you click Save.

WARNING: If all assignments in a category do not have the same total points value, then the calculations for dropping a specified number of assignments for the category (as indicated in the # Drop field on Settings > Manage Categories) may result in an average that is different than expected. If the total points value varies, the grade with the lowest number of points may not necessarily be the lowest grade.

Extra Credit

Select if the assignment is for extra credit.

NOTE: If the assignment is for extra credit, the Total Points is set to zero and cannot be changed.

Extra credit assignments add points to the average for the category selected. If a student has no grade or a zero for the extra credit assignment, it does not count against him when his average is calculated.

See the Extra Credit section of the Calculate Averages guide for an explanation of calculating averages with extra credit for each weighting type.

This field is not available for standards-based courses or assignments that have a rubric chart assigned.

Do Not Drop

Select if you do not want to drop that particular assignment. This field relates to the # Drop field on Settings > Manage Categories.

If Do Not Drop is selected, the assignment grade is not dropped, even if it is the student's lowest grade, and you have specified to drop one or more of the lowest grades in a particular category.

This field does not apply to standards-based courses.

Rubric

You can assign an existing rubric chart to the assignment, which allows you to grade the assignment using a rubric chart. The rubric charts are created on Settings > Rubric Setup.

• If a rubric chart is not currently associated with the assignment, the icon (three black squares) is displayed.

• If a rubric chart is currently associated with the assignment, the icon (four multicolored squares) is displayed.

❏ Click the icon to associate a rubric chart with the assignment or to change the associated rubric chart.

The rubric chart window opens.

Under Available Rubrics, any rubric charts you have created that have at least one skill and one score are listed.

Available Rubrics	Click for the rubric chart you want to use. If the rubric is selected, the box becomes yellow . You can only change the rubric chart assigned to an assignment if no grades exist for the rubric chart.

❏ Click Assign Selected Rubric.

The window closes.

IMPORTANT: The Total Points field for the assignment changes to display the maximum possible points for the rubric chart (maximum possible points x skill count) and is read-only.

Notes

❏ Click to add or update optional notes for the assignment.

If entered, these notes are viewable in ParentPortal.

The notes above on special characters for the Assignment Name field also apply to this field.

❏ Add or update the note in the Note window and click OK.

The Note window closes, and the note icon is yellow to indicate that a note was entered.

❏ Or, to clear an existing note for the assignment, click Clear.

The Note window closes, and the note icon is gray to indicate that no notes exist.

Click to delete an assignment.

NOTE: You cannot delete an assignment if grades have been posted for the assignment.

If you delete grades on the Assignment Grades page in order to delete an assignment, you must be sure to delete the grade for any withdrawn students too.

Save assignments:

PIN	Type your four-digit personal identification number (PIN).

❏ Click Save.

Copy assignments to another course-section:

Once you have saved assignments for a course, you can copy the assignments to another course-section.

❏ Use the Semester, Cycle, and Course-Section fields to select the course-section from which to copy assignments.

❏ Click Copy Assignments to Another Course-Section-Cycle.

The Copy Assignments page opens.

Once you establish the assignments for a course on Settings > Manage Assignments, you can copy the assignments to other course-sections.

If you are copying assignments for the current semester-cycle, the entire assignment record is copied, including the assignment date and due date.
If you are copying assignments to a future semester-cycle, the assignment record is copied without the assignment date and due date.

This page is only accessible from the Manage Assignments page.

From Course	The course-section, semester, and cycle selected on previous page are displayed. This is the course-section you are copying categories from.
Assignments to Copy	All assignments for the selected course-section are listed. Select specific assignments, or select All Assignments to select all.
Copy To Course-Section	All course-sections for all cycles are listed. Closed cycles are disabled. Select specific course-sections to copy assignments to, or select the cycle check box to select all course-sections for the cycle.

PIN	Type your four-digit personal identification number (PIN).

❏ Click Copy.

The list of assignments and the courses to which the assignments were copied is displayed.

❏ Click Return to Assignments to return to the Manage Assignments page.

Enter assignment grades.

Grades > Assignment Grades

This page allows you to view and enter assignment grades for students by semester, cycle, and course-section. You can enter comments and indicators for each assignment grade (e.g., excluded, late, or re-do), and you can print grades by assignment. You can also accept transfer students into a course and enter a walk-in average for those students.

NOTE: Students are not listed on this page prior to the first day of school.

❏ Select the course-section you want to enter assignment grades for:

Semester	The current semester is displayed by default. You can select another semester.
Cycle	The current cycle is displayed by default. You can select another cycle.
Course-Section	Select the course-section you want to enter assignment grades for. The drop down lists the two-digit period and course name. The course number and section number are in parentheses. NOTES: If the course is marked as ready to post on Grades > Cycle Grades, the message “[READY]” is displayed next to the course. If course groups have been created on Settings > Manage Course Groups > Course Grouping, the groups are listed, as well as the individual courses. Any group that does not have courses associated with it is not listed.

❏ Click Retrieve.

The students and assignments are displayed according to your selections in the previous steps. Students are sorted by last name, unless you have specified a custom sort order on Settings > Arrange Student Order.

❏ You can further filter the students and assignments displayed:

Category	Select the category to enter assignment grades for, or select All Categories. These categories are set up on Settings > Manage Categories. If a color has been assigned to the category on the Manage Categories page, the assigned color is displayed.
Assignment	Select the assignment you want to enter grades for, or select All Assignments.
Student	Select the student you want to filter by, or select All Students.

The grid lists all students currently enrolled in the course-section and the assignments according to your selections.

The columns can be re-sorted.

Student ID

The student's ID is displayed. Click the student ID to view the student's profile.

The Star of Life icon is displayed for any student who has medical circumstances you should be aware of. To view details, click the student ID to view the student's profile (Medical Alerts section).

Next to the student's name, click the icon to view or add a course note about the student. The note icon is yellow if a course note already exists for the student.

The Student Course Note pop-up window opens allowing you to enter or update comments.

NOTE: These notes are not displayed to parents/guardians.

The student's name is displayed. Verify that you are adding/updating the note for the correct student.

❏ Under Saved Notes:

Any existing notes for the student are listed. You can view all notes for courses to which you have access.

Cat: Note category codes:
• AT - Attendance
• DS - Discipline
• GN - General
• HL - Health
• SP - Supplies

Note: If you created the note, you can update it, up to 3269 characters.

Author: The last name of the person who entered the note is displayed based on the user login.

Last Updated: The date on which the note was last updated is displayed.

Delete: Select to delete an existing note. You can only delete a note if you created it, or if you are the Teacher of Record for the course. For example, the Teacher of Record can delete a note entered by an Assistant Teacher for the course.

❏ Under Add Note:

To add a new note, select the category code indicating what the new note is related to, such as AT for attendance.

In the text box, type the new note, up to 3269 characters per note.

❏ Click Save.

NOTE: The Student Notes report provides a report of these course notes.

Beside each student's name is the transfer icon (i.e., a gray T) indicating that he is not a transfer student. If a student transfers into the class, the red transfer icon is displayed next to his name.

NOTE: The student will only have a red T if he is transferring from one section to another section within the same course. Otherwise the T will remain gray.

If a student transfers into the course, you must accept the student into the course and enter his walk-in transfer average and weight. The campus, student ID, semester, and cycle must all be the same for the average to transfer.

❏ To accept the transfer student into the course-section, click .

The Transfer Walk-In Average window opens.

Date: The student's transfer date is displayed by default. You can type over the date in the MMDDYYYY format. Or, click to select a date from the calendar.

From: The teacher name, course number, and section are displayed for the course from which the student transferred. This data is only displayed if the student transferred from a different section of the same course and has a transfer average.

Average: The student's tranfer average is diplayed if available. Otherwise, you can type the student's walk-in average.

This is the student's average in the class from which he transferred. You can enter a numeric grade or an alphabetical (ABCD or ESNU) grade.

NOTE: If a student transferred from a course that posts letter grades to a course that posts numeric grades, and a letter grade is entered for his transfer average, the student's working cycle average is displayed as a numeric grade.

See the Calculate Averages guide for an explanation of calculating averages for each weighting type for an explanation of calculating averages for transfer students.

Weight: The field displays 0 for a transfer student who has not yet been accepted into the class.

To accept the student into your class, type the weight you want to apply to the student's transfer average. For example, if a student transferred three weeks into a six-week cycle, you may want to enter a weight of 50%. The maximum weight you can enter is 100.

The student's transfer icon remains red until a weight is entered and saved.

Once you enter and save a weight, the student's transfer icon turns blue . The blue icon remains until the end of the semester.

❏ Click Ok.

If you entered and saved the transfer average data for the student, his walk-in average is calculated in his working cycle average.

NOTE: The changes are not actually saved until you type your PIN and click Save Grades.

Clear: Clear all data previously entered for the transfer student.

NOTE: Any course assignments that were due prior to the student's transfer date are excluded for the student, and the Exclude indicator is displayed for the assignments. You can override the exclusion if you want the transfer student to complete an assignment that was due prior to his transfer date.

To override the exclusion, click , clear the Exclude field. Click OK and save.

NOTE: For standards-base courses, accepting a transfer student is a manual process. The transfer icon is not displayed.

Calculating the average for a transfer student:

If a student transfers into the course during a cycle, the following calculations are used to determine his working cycle average:

Formula for transfer student:

1.	For the transfer grade, multiply the Transfer Average by the Transfer Weight: Transfer Average x Transfer Weight = Transfer Value For example: The student's Transfer Average is 74. The student's Transfer Weight is 55%. 74 x 55% = 40.7 The student's Transfer Value is 40.7.
2.	Calculate the average of the student's assignment grades (for the remainder of the cycle) using the steps described above under Percent-based, Point-based, or Multiplier-based. For example: The percent-based example above shows a Working Cycle Average of 87.
3.	Calculate the weight for the Working Cycle Average: 100% - Transfer Weight = Working Cycle Average Weight For example: The student's Transfer Weight is 55%. 100% - 55% = 45% The student's Working Cycle Average Weight is 45%.
4.	Calculate the Working Cycle Average Value. Working Cycle Average x Working Cycle Average Weight = Working Cycle Average Value For example: The student's Working Cycle Average is 87. The student's Working Cycle Average Weight is 45%. 87 x 45% = 39.15 The student's Working Cycle Average Value is 39.15.
5.	Take the sum of the Transfer Value and the Working Cycle Average Value. Transfer Value + Working Cycle Average Value = Actual Working Cycle Average For example: The student's Transfer Value is 40.7. The student's Working Cycle Average Value is 39.5. 40.7 + 39.5 = 80.2 The student's Actual Working Cycle Average is 80.

If a student transferred from a course that posts letter grades to a course that posts numeric grades and a letter grade is entered for his transfer average, the grade conversion table is used to determine the numeric value.

Cycle Average	The student's working cycle average is displayed. The average is updated every time you access the page, click Calculate Averages, or save grades. If the student does not yet have a working cycle average, the field is blank. • The working cycle average is calculated according to the weighting selected on Settings > Manage Categories, as well as calculations described in the the Calculate Averages guide. • The working cycle average is rounded to a whole number. If the decimal value is .5 or greater, the grade is rounded up. • If you use percentage-based categories, and you have a category that does not yet have grades (e.g., if it is early in the cycle and you have not administered any tests), the student's working cycle average is calculated based on the percentages for the categories that have grades. For more information on calculations, view the Help for Weighting Type on Settings > Manage Categories.
Show Averages as Alpha	If the course is set up to post alphabetical grades, the field is displayed. • Select the field to display averages as alphabetical grades. • Clear the field to display the averages as numbers. NOTE: For courses that use alphabetical grades, a cookie is set to remember the setting, and the page will always display averages according to the setting by default. Averages are also displayed on the Cycle Grades page according to the setting. Courses that use numeric grades will always display grades numerically.
Sort Assignments by Date Due in	Assignments are listed left to right in ascending order by the due date. (If there is no due date, they are displayed by the date assigned. Otherwise, the date entered is used.) To change the assignment display order to descending, change this setting to Descending.
Category	The category for the assignment is displayed first in the column heading row, above the assignment name. The assignments are color-coded according to the category. If a color is assigned to the category on Settings > Administer Categories, the column displays the selected color.
Assignment Name	The assignment name is displayed in the column heading below the category name.
Due	The assignment due date is displayed if entered on Settings > Manage Assignments.
Max	The total points possible for the assignment is displayed if entered in the Total Points field on Settings > Manage Assignments.
	For campuses that use curriculum and test taking systems (e.g., eInstruction and Eduphoria), click the icon to import a data file that only includes the student's ID, assignment grade, first name, and last name. NOTE: The import function is not available on mobile devices. • Only .csv and .txt files can be imported. The text file must be comma-separated data with one student per row. • Attempting to import for students not in the course will create exceptions errors that cause the import to fail. Deleting these rows should allow the import to be successful. • You can only import assignment grades for existing students. • You can only import grades where students has blank grades for the particular assignment. If the student already has grades, the data is displayed in red and crossed out. Steps for importing the data file: ❏ Click to import grades for the assignment. The Import Assignment Grades window opens allowing you to upload the data file, review the data, and import the file. ❏ Under Step 1, click Browse to select the data file. Locate and open the file. The file name is displayed. ❏ Click Upload File. When the upload is complete, the “Success” message is displayed indicating the name of the uploaded file. ❏ Under Step 2, review the default file format and adjust the columns of your data if necessary: ❏ Under To Column, the default file format is listed. The format is determined according to the type of data found in the uploaded file. For example, a six-digit string of numbers is assumed to be the student ID, and a string of up to three characters is assumed to be an assignment grade. There are four columns: • Student ID • Assign Grade • First Name • Last Name NOTE: For the six-digit student ID, include all leading zeros. ❏ Under From Column, make adjustments as needed. For example, if the default file format has the first name before the last name, and you want the last name before the first name, you can change the columns under From Column accordingly (i.e., change column 3 to 4, and change column 4 to 3). NOTE: The order of the first and last names is not important when uploading this file. ❏ If you assign the same column number to more than one column, the message “duplicate” is displayed by the duplicated column. You must correct this before proceeding. ❏ As you make any changes under Step 2, the data displayed under Step 3 changes accordingly. Review the data under Step 3 before importing the file. ❏ When the data under Step 3 is being refreshed, the message “validating” is displayed. Wait until the message goes away. • If errors are encountered, the records with errors are displayed in red with a strikethrough. The number of errors found is listed below the grid. Errors may include mismatched or invalid data. • Currently, the only acceptable error is an error due to the student already having a grade for the assignment. Exception errors due to invaid records will cause the import to fail. ❏ When you are satisfied with the data under Step 3, click Import Now under Step 4. The data is imported, and the assignment grade fields on the Assignment Grades page are populated with data from the import file. The Import Now button is disabled if there are no valid records to import. NOTE: If the course has any withdrawn students, the import file has a record for the withdrawn students. Therefore, you must select Show withdrawn students on the Assignment Grades page to import the grade for the withdrawn students. If you do not select Show withdrawn students, the import file will generate errors for the withdrawn students.

Assignments per Page	By default, the page displays only the first five assignments. You can change the number of assignments displayed. To print all assignments, select All from the drop-down menu or select the number of specific assignments to be printed.
Previous/Next	If there are more assignments, use the buttons to view the other assignments.

❏ Enter the grades in the grid.

NOTES:

Only whole numbers can be entered for numeric grades.
To add extra credit points, you can add points to the assignment grade.
When you enter or change a grade, the table cell turns gray to indicate that the grade was changed but not yet saved. Once you save the assignment grades, the cell is no longer gray.
If you type an invalid grade, such as a letter grade that does not have a conversion value, the cell is shaded red. You must correct the entry before you can save the grades.
Dropped grades are italicized.
If the course is set up for alphabetical or ESNU grade posting, you can type letter grades or numeric grades. If you type a letter grade, it is automatically converted to a numeric grade for calculating the working cycle average, according to the conversion values set by the campus.
Other codes can be typed in place of a grade:
- M - Missing
- I - Incomplete (If you type I for any grade, the student's working cycle average will be I until a grade is entered.)
- X - Excluded (The X functions the same way as clicking the note icon and selecting Exclude from the Grade Properties window.)
- Only one shortcut code can be entered per assignment grade.
If the campus has disabled posting of grades for prior cycles, you cannot make changes to assignment grades for previous semesters-cycles. The Save Grades button is disabled.
Grades can be entered in the shaded fields for the selected skills on the Assignment Grades page. The field will change from gray to white and the grades will print on the report card. However, grades should not be entered in the shaded fields for the selected skills for the Semester and Cycle that appear gray on the Assignment Grades page.
You can navigate through the grade fields using the keyboard

Press ENTER after you type each grade to move down the list to the next student. You can press SHIFT+ENTER to move up the list. You can also press the up and down arrow keys to move up and down the list.

Press TAB to move across the list to the next assignment. You can press SHIFT+TAB to move back to the left.

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Next the grade field, click to open the Grade Properties window where you can add comments or indicators (e.g., excluded, late, re-do, or accommodated) associated with an assignment.

Enter comments and/or select the appropriate indicator(s).

If there is no grade for the assignment, it cannot be marked as late or re-do.

The icon is displayed if the assignment grade is excluded (e.g., for a transfer student). The grade will continue to be displayed in the field.

Print comment	Select if you want the indicators and/or comments to print on the student's IPR and display to parents in ParentPortal.

Click OK to close the window.

WARNING: Your comments and/or selections are not actually saved until you type your PIN and click Save to save all data on the Assignment Grades page.

The following icons are displayed in the grade fields according to the comments and/or indicators entered:

Indicators:
- Excluded
- Late (not excluded)
- Re-do (not excluded)
- Accommodated

Notes:
- Excluded with comments
- Late or re-do with comments
- Comments only
- No comments

NOTE: If an assignment is excluded for a student, and you have entered a number in the # Drop field on Settings > Manage Categories (indicating that you want to drop a specified number of assignments for a category), the assignment grade does not count toward the number that will be dropped. Only non-excluded grades are dropped.

If a rubric chart has been associated with the assignment, the icon is displayed next to the grade field allowing you to grade the assignment using a rubric chart.

❏ Click the icon to open the rubric in a window where you can type a score for each skill.

❏ When all scores have been entered, click Update Assignment Grade. The score (i.e., the sum of all scores entered) is calculated and displayed in the grade field.

NOTE: When entering a score for a skill, you are not limited to the range specified in the rubric chart. For example, if the score range is 0-5, you are not prevented from typing 0 or 6.

If you type a score for some skills but not all skills in the rubric chart, the sum of the scores entered is calculated and displayed in the grade field.

If the grade for the assignment should be zero, you must type 0 for one of the skill scores.

You can type a grade directly into the grade field even if a rubric chart is assigned to the assignment.

Exclude All

Click to mass exclude grades for an assignment for all students.

The button for the column turns red, all indicator icons are red, and the field turns gray to indicate that the grade is excluded for the student. To override the exclusion for a specific student, click , unselect Exclude, and then click Ok.

Fill

Use the button and adjacent field to mass enter an assignment grade for all students.

For example, if you entered grades for all students who turned in the assignment, and you want to enter zeros for all other students, type 0 in the field, and then click Fill. All blank grade fields for the assignment are changed to 0.

Or, to mass replace blank grades with a value (e.g., 100), type the grade in the field, and then click Fill. All blank grades for the assignment are changed to the entered grade.

To change all assignment grades to blanks, delete any data from the field, and then click Fill. All grades for the assignment are changed to blank.

Overall Averages

The overall averages (i.e., class averages) for the working cycle average and each assignment are displayed in the bottom row of the table. The overall averages are updated every time you click Calculate Averages and every time you save grades.

Print	Use this option instead of the browser's print option. This printout contains formatting to handle the features on the Assignment Grades page. To choose the number of assignments that will print per page, use the up/down arrow. Assignments can also be printed using the Assignment Grades Report.

Save Data:

Any data that has changed since the last time you saved your grades is indicated by gray shading in the table cell.

NOTE: Be aware that you may have changed data that is not currently displayed on the page. All changes are saved, including those that are not visible on the page. For example, if you are currently viewing assignment grades for one student, but you previously entered grades for other students, the grades for all students are saved, regardless of what is displayed on the page at the time you save the data.

PIN	Type your four-digit personal identification number (PIN).

❏ Click Save.

Award extra credit.

There are several ways to award extra credit:

• Create an extra credit assignment on Settings > Manage Assignments
• Add extra points to an assignment grade on Grades > Assignment Grades
• Add extra points to the cycle average on Grades > Cycle & Semester Grades

Create extra credit assignment:

Settings > Manage Assignments

Extra Credit

Select if the assignment is for extra credit.

NOTE: If the assignment is for extra credit, the Total Points is set to zero and cannot be changed.

Extra credit assignments add points to the average for the category selected. If a student has no grade or a zero for the extra credit assignment, it does not count against him when his average is calculated.

See the Extra Credit section of the Calculate Averages guide for an explanation of calculating averages with extra credit for each weighting type.

This field is not available for standards-based courses or assignments that have a rubric chart assigned.

For extra credit assignments, the Max on Grades > Assignment Grades is 0.

Calculations for extra credit assignment:

IMPORTANT: See Calculate Averages for additional information.

Percent-based weighting:

If the student has extra credit points, include the extra credit (EC) points in the Total Points Earned.

(Points Earned 1 + Points Earned 2 + Points Earned 3 + EC) = Total Points Earned

For example:

The Homework category has three assignments. The student earned a 70/100, 80/100, and 90/95 for those assignments. He also has 10 points for the extra credit assignment.

(70 + 80 + 90 + 10) = 250

In this case, the Total Possible Points for the Homework category is 295.

250 / 295 = .847
The student's average for the Homework Category is 85.

Points-based weighting:

If the student has an extra credit assignment, add the points for the extra credit (EC) assignment to the Category Points:

Category Points + EC = new Category Points

For example:

The Homework category has three assignments, each worth 50 points. The student earned a 40, 45, and 50 for those assignments.

40 + 45 + 50 = 135

The student’s Homework Category Points is 135. The student was awarded 5 points for a homework extra credit assignment.

135 + 5 = 140

In this case, the Total Possible Points for the Homework category is 150.

140 / 150 = .933
The student's average for the Homework Category is 93.

Multiplier-based weighting:

If the student has an extra credit assignment, add the points for the extra credit (EC) assignment to the Actual Category Points:

Actual Category Points + EC = new Actual Category Points

For example:

The student’s Homework Actual Category Points is 240. The student was awarded 5 points for a homework extra credit assignment.

240 + 5 = 245

In this case, the multiplier for the Homework category is 2.

245 x 2 = 490

The Homework category has three assignments, each worth 100 points.
100 + 100 + 100 = 300
300 x 2 = 600

490 / 600 = .816
The student's average for the Homework category is 82.

ANOTHER OPTION: If you want to give an extra credit assignment that will be included in the cycle average for the students who do the assignment (but not for those who do not do it), create a regular assignment (not extra credit), and then exclude the grade for all students who do not complete the assignment.

Add extra points to an assignment:

Grades > Assignment Grades

If you enter an assignment with the Total Points field set to 100, you can enter a grade that is greater than 100. In this case, it is not necessary to enter an extra credit assignment.

Add extra points to cycle average:

Grades > Cycle

Override	This field allows you to override a student's working semester average with a different grade (e.g., if the student's working cycle average is 69, you may give the student a cycle grade of 70, depending on district policy). If you enter an Override grade, click Calculate Semester Averages to see the impact of the change on the semester average before saving.

Generate Seating Chart report.

Reports > Seating Charts

This report prints a teacher's seating charts for all periods or one period. For each period, the seating chart is displayed followed by a list of students who are not assigned to seats. The seating chart lists the student name, gender, and ID.

If printed for all periods, each period prints on a separate page.

NOTE: If that field has been changed, and the seating charts have not been re-saved on Settings > Manage Charts since the setting was changed, a warning message is displayed when the report is generated indicating that the reports will not be accurate until the Manage Seating Charts page has been re-saved. You must review the seating chart for each period on the Manage Seating Charts page, make any necessary changes, and then re-save each chart.

❏ Specify report options:

Semester

The current semester is displayed. You can select a different semester.

Period

Select the period-course(s) to print the seating chart for, or select ALL CLASSES to print seating charts for all periods.

If Combine Courses in Attendance is selected on your Settings > Update Profile page, the courses are combined by period.

width

Select the width setting for the report.

Fixed Seat Width	Select to print a report in which all seats are the same width. This setting works for small and average-size classes. For larger classes, some seats may not print on the page.
Auto-Adjusted Seat Width	Select to print a report in which each column is adjusted to the student name. Each column is only wide enough to accommodate the longest name in the column; therefore, some columns are wider than others. This setting is a better option for larger classes.

For either width setting, you can adjust the orientation when you print. Select Landscape to increase the number of students that fit on the page.

Show Pictures

Select to display student photos in the seating chart. Photos are only available if they have been added by the district.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Generate Rubric report (if enabled for campus).

There are two ways to access the rubric printing options:

From the Manage Rubric Charts page, click Print.
From the Reports menu, select Rubrics.

Print the rubric chart:

❏ Click Print to print a report of the displayed rubric chart.

The Rubric Report Selection page opens allowing you to make selections for printing the report.

This report prints a rubric chart which has been set up on Settings > Manage Rubric Charts. You can print only the rubric chart (i.e., blank), or you can print the rubric chart with student grades for a particular assignment.

❏ Specify report options:

Rubric Name

Select the rubric chart you want to print. Only rubric charts that have skills and scores already set up are listed.

Title

(Optional) Type a title for the report, up to 50 characters. If blank, the rubric chart name is used as the title.

Print with grades

Select to print the report with student grades. This field is only displayed if the selected rubric chart has already been used to grade an assignment.

If selected, an additional field is displayed allowing you to select a course-section. Only course-sections that have a rubric chart set up are listed.

course-section

Once you select a course-section, another field is displayed allowing you to select the assignment that was graded with a rubric chart.

assignment

Once you select an assignment, a list of students in the course-section is displayed, along with their grade for the assignment.

This Student	Select for the students you want to print the rubric for. You can select Check all at the top of the column to select all students in the course-section.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Generate Assignment Grades report.

Reports > Assignment Grades

This report lists assignment grades for all students in a course according to options entered on this page. The overall assignment average and class average are also displayed.

Excluded grades are indicated by Ex in place of the grade.
Dropped grades are indicated by D next to the grade.

NOTE: The Category Legend as it appears on the report matches the Cat ID (category ID) column (in the Assignment Legend) to the corresponding category name and category weight. The Assignment Legend matches the assignment ID heading to the corresponding assignment name, total points, and Cat ID.

❏ Specify report options:

Semester	The current semester is displayed. You can select a different semester.
Cycle	The current cycle is displayed. You can select a different cycle.
Course-Section	Select the course-section for which to print the report. Or, select All to produce the report for all of your course-sections. The drop down lists the two-digit period and course name. The course number and section number are in parentheses.

Viewing Options

View Student Names	Select to display the student names on the report. Otherwise, the names are not printed on the report, and students can only be identified by their student IDs. The student IDs are always displayed on the report.
View Withdrawn Students	Withdrawn students are not automatically displayed. Select the field to display them. The message “W/D” and the withdrawal date or “Dropped” are displayed by the student's name. The withdrawal date may be the student's withdrawal date from school or his withdrawal date from the class.

Sorting Options

Indicate the field to sort the report by.

Custom Student Order	This option is only displayed if Student Order on the Update Profile page is set to add new students to the top of the list or bottom of the list. Select Custom Student Order to sort the report in your custom sort order. If you have not specified a custom sort order for a particular class, the students are sorted by name.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Generate Class Roster report.

Reports > Class Roster

This report provides a blank class roster by semester and course, including a list of students enrolled in the course and up to 50 blank columns. You can choose the sort order and whether to include the student’s birth date and contact information. The report can be exported in CSV format.

If you print the report for a course group, the Course Section column is included allowing you to identify the course-section in which the student is enrolled.

❏ Specify report options:

Semester

The current semester is displayed. You can select a different semester.

Course-Section

Select the course-section and period for which to print the report. The drop down lists the two-digit period and course name. The course number and section number are in parentheses.

If course groups have been created on the Course Grouping page, the groups are listed as well as the individual courses.

Columns

Type the number of blank columns to display on the report, up to 50.

Display Options

Birthday	Select to include the student's birth date. The Birthday column will be included in the report.
Student Email	Select to include the student’s email address.
Contact Information	Select to include the student's contact information. The Contact Information columns will be included in the report, and all of the student's contacts are listed. The contact's name, relationship, cell phone, home phone, business phone, other phone, mailing address, and e-mail address are listed.
Guardian Last Viewed IPR/Report Card Date	Select to include the date on which a parent/guardian last viewed the student's interim progress report (IPR) or report card online.

Sorting Options

Indicate the order in which to sort the report data. You can sort by student name (last name), Student ID, course-section (for course groups), birth date (if included), or custom student order.

Custom student order is the order specified for the course-section on Settings > Arrange Student Order.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Generate Blank/Missing Grades report.

Reports > Blank/Missing Grades

This report lists blank, missing, and incomplete assignment grades according to options entered on this page.

❏ Specify report options:

Semester	The current semester is displayed. You can select a different semester.
Cycle	The current cycle is displayed. You can select a different cycle.
Course-Section	Select the course-section for which to print the report. The drop down lists the two-digit period and course name. The course number and section number are in parentheses.

Grade Selection Options

Select the items you want to include in the report. For example, to include all student assignment grades for which no grade has been entered, select Show Blank Grades. To include all items, select Select All.

Viewing Options

Page break between students

Select to print one student per page. Otherwise, the data will print continuously.

View Student Names

Select to display the student names on the report. Otherwise, the names are not printed on the report, and students can only be identified by their student IDs. The student IDs are always displayed on the report.

View all assignments due after

Select to narrow assignments by date, and enter a valid school date.

View Current or All Course Sections

Current	Select to narrow assignments to only course-sections for the current semester-cycle.
All	Select to show assignments for all course-sections.

❏ Click Generate.

The report opens in a new window, and you can print the report from that window.
The report selection page remains open on your desktop.

Other tasks:

Accept transfer students.

Grades > Assignment Grades