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Teacher Guide to ASCENDER TeacherPortal

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Organize Your Classes

This page allows you to set course-wide information. Data entered on this page affects only the selected course-section.

❏ Specify the course-section:

Course-Section	Select the course-section you want to enter data for. The drop down lists the two-digit period and course name. The course number and section number are in parentheses.

❏ Click Retrieve.

Course Note

(Optional) Type comments and notes about this course, such as reminders, announcements, and other course-related information. These comments are viewable to parents in ParentPortal.

Only the teacher can add/modify a course note. An administrator cannot add or update a note on behalf of a teacher.

NOTE: A course note must be added for each course individually, including courses that are part of a course group. If the note applies to all courses in the group, it must be added for each course in the group.

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

❏ Click Save.

Create assignment categories.

Settings > Manage Categories

This page allows you to establish categories that describe the types of assignments you will use in the selected semester and course-section.

An initial set of categories, defined by the campus, is set at the beginning of the year. If you have an assignment that falls under a category that is not included in the list, you can create a new category, if allowed by the campus. The category you create is added to the master list and will be available for all teachers to use. The list of categories will continue to grow as you and the other teachers add categories.

For your selected categories, you must specify the type of weighting to use for calculating averages (percent-based, point-based, or multiplier-based). You can also assign your own category colors to enable color-coding of assignments on the Assignment Grades page.

From this page, you can also copy categories from one course to other course-sections.

This page is disabled for standards-based courses, because categories are not used for these courses.

This page should not be used for course-sections that are skills-based courses, because categories are not used for these courses.

About grouped course-sections and teacher changes:

❏ Specify a course-section:

Semester	Select the semester to set up categories for.
Course-Section	Select the course-section to set up categories for.

❏ Click Retrieve.

The available categories are listed under Available Categories, and your current category list for the selected course-section is displayed under Selected Categories.

❏ Under Weighting Type:

Select the weighting type to use for the categories. You must use the same weighting type for all cycles in a semester.

Percentage	If selected, you must assign percentages to each category. The percentages must total 100%.
Point	Point values are determined when the assignment is created. They are not entered on the Manage Categories page. Point values for each category accumulate as assignments are added. When using point-based weighting, the categories are only used for grouping similar assignments. The calculation is based on the total points, not weighting.
Multiplier	If selected, you must provide a multiplier number (between 1-9) for each category. For multipliers greater than one, the individual assignment grades are counted multiple times.

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

NOTE:

The category weight for current cycle can be changed for the current cycle, as long as grades have not been posted.

You cannot change the weighting type for the second semester of a two-semester course. The weighting type must be the same for all semesters of a course.

If you post an override cycle grade for a student even if there are no categories for the course, the weighting type is automatically set to percentage.

Each weighting type is only displayed if the campus allows the weighting type (or if the teacher has already started using the weighting type before the restriction was put in place). Any weighting types not allowed by the campus are not displayed. If you are using a weighting type that the campus decides to disallow partway through the current year, the following applies:

• You can continue to use the weighting type until the end of the current year. After the current year, that weighting type will no longer be available.

• If you select another weighting type during the current year, you will not be able to reselect the disallowed weighting type.

If a category is specific to a particular weighting type (as specified at the campus level), the category is only displayed on this page if the appropriate weighting type is selected.

❏ Under Available Categories (left side):

The available categories are listed in alphabetical order.

If a category weight is locked (by campus admin), a lock icon is displayed next to the category name. The weight specified by the campus must be used and cannot be changed.

❏ Click Add Category Type to add a new category to the list of available categories.

The Add Category section is displayed below the available categories.

NOTE: If the campus disallows teachers from adding categories, the Add Category Type button is disabled; you must use the categories established by the campus.

Add Category

Category Name	Type the name of the new category. You cannot type a name that is already included in the list of available categories. Type carefully to avoid spelling errors. Category names are case-insensitive (e.g., if “quiz” already appears in the list, you cannot add “Quiz”).
PIN	Type your four-digit PIN.

❏ Click Save.

The new category is displayed in the list of available categories in alphabetical order. You can then add it to your Selected Categories list.

IMPORTANT: Once a category is added to the list of available categories, it cannot be deleted from the list. If you add a category by mistake, you must contact your campus administrator to have it removed at the campus level. The category cannot be removed if it has assignments associated with it.

❏ To add one of the Available Categories to the Selected Categories list, do one of the following:

Click-and-hold the category and drag it to the Selected Categories list.
Click for the category.
Double-click the category.

The category is added to the bottom of the Selected Categories list. If there is a default or locked weight, that weight is copied to all open cycles.

❏ Under Selected Categories (right side):

All selected categories for the specified course-section are displayed for all cycles in the semester.

The table changes according to your selection in the Weighting Type field. For each cycle, the column heading is % Weight, Points, or Multiplier according to your selection.

Cycle #	If a cycle is closed, the column heading for the cycle displays (closed), and the data cannot be changed.
% Weight	If the Weighting Type is Percentage, type the percentage for each category. The percentages must total 100% for the cycle. If you select a category created at the campus level, and the campus entered a weight for that category, the weight is displayed in the % Weight field for the category. You can change the weight, unless the campus locked the weight for the category. If the weight is locked, the weight is displayed in the field and cannot be changed.
Points	If the Weighting Type is Point, you cannot enter the total point values in the Points field. The field automatically displays the sum of the total points entered for all assignments for the category. For example, on the Administer Assignments page, if you enter five quizzes in the Quiz category, each with total points set to 100, the field displays 500.
Multiplier	If the Weighting Type is Multiplier, type a value between 1-9.
# Drop	For each cycle, type the number of items to be dropped during a cycle. For example, you may want to drop the student's three lowest grades from the homework category. The student's category average will always reflect the dropped grades. If you do not want to drop any grades from the category, type 0. Only non-excluded grades are dropped. If you exclude an assignment for a student on the Assignment Grades page, the assignment is not counted as one of the grades that will be dropped. Note that you can specify on the Manage Assignments page if you do not want to drop a specific assignment within the category. WARNING: If all assignments in the category do not have the same total points value (as entered on the Manage Assignments page), the calculations for dropping a specified number of assignments for the category 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.
Color	Click the icon to select a color for the category. A window opens allowing you to select a color. Click a color to select it. The selected color is used to color-code assignments on the Assignment Grades page. By default, no color is assigned to the category. The color can be changed any time.
	Click to remove a category from your Selected Categories list. NOTE: You cannot delete a category that has assignments associated with it during any cycle. To delete a category, you must first delete all grades and assignments for the semester, including grades for withdrawn students. All grades must be deleted before you can delete assignments.

Copy values from one cycle to another:

After you enter the weighting type value and number of assignments to drop for cycle 1, you can click to copy the values to cycles 2 and 3.

Save data:

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

❏ Click Save.

NOTE: If the cycle is closed, you cannot save any changes; the button is disabled. If applicable, the button says All Cycles Closed.

Copy categories from one course-section to another:

Once you save the categories for a course, you can copy the categories to another course-section.

❏ From the Manage Categories page, use the Semester and Course-Section fields to select the course-section from which to copy categories.

❏ Click Copy categories to other course-sections.

The Copy Categories page opens.

Your active courses are listed.

From	The course, period, and section from which you are copying categories is displayed.
Course	Click a course title to view the existing categories for the course. A window opens which displays the categories for the course. Click OK to close the window.
Copy	Select one or more courses to copy the categories to. NOTE: You cannot copy to courses that have categories with assignments; the check box for the course is disabled.

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

❏ Click Copy.

NOTE: If you attempt to copy categories to a course that already has categories (but no assignments), a warning message is displayed stating that you will override any categories that exist for the other course(s).

Click Continue if appropriate.

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

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.

Create seating charts.

Settings > Manage Seating Charts

This page allows you to create and maintain seating charts for all of your classes. The seating chart lists the student name, gender, and ID. The seats are color coded by gender.

Seating charts in TeacherPortal are tied to the 1st Period Nbr and Last Period Nbr fields on ASCENDER > Attendance > Maintenance > Campus > Campus Attendance Options. The system uses these fields to determine which periods are available for seating charts and attendance posting.

Student seats can be rearranged at any time.

You must create a new seating chart for each semester of a course. If the course is more than one semester, you can copy the seating chart to subsequent semesters.

IMPORTANT: It is recommended that you set the Combine Courses in Attendance field on your Update Profile page the way you want it for the semester before creating the seating chart.

About combining and uncombining courses

If you change the setting of the Combine Courses in Attendance field, the data will be preserved as much as possible; however, you must then verify that your seating charts are correct for all periods, make the necessary changes, and then save the seating charts again.

If you change the Combine Courses in Attendance field during the semester, the following applies:

If Combine Courses in Attendance was not originally selected and you have only one course per period, you created a seating chart, and then you selected Combine Courses in Attendance, the seating chart is not affected; however, you must re-save the seating charts for all periods.
If Combine Courses in Attendance was not originally selected and you have some periods with multiple courses (each with its own seating chart), you created a seating chart, and then you selected Combine Courses in Attendance, the following occurs when you retrieve one of the periods on the Seating Chart Setup page:
- Only the seating chart for the first course in the list is preserved.
- The remaining students are displayed under Unassigned Students.
- If the first course in the list has no students enrolled, no seating chart is preserved. You must recreate the chart.
If Combine Courses in Attendance was originally selected and you have only one course per period, you created a seating chart, and then you cleared Combine Courses in Attendance, the seating chart is not affected, you must re-save the seating charts for all periods.
If Combine Courses in Attendance was originally selected and you have some periods with multiple courses, you created a seating chart for students from multiple courses, and then you cleared Combine Courses in Attendance, the following occurs when you retrieve a period/course on the Seating Chart Setup page:
- Only the chart dimensions of the seating chart for the first period/course you attempt to edit is preserved.
- Only seats for students enrolled in the course are preserved.
- The remaining students are displayed under Unassigned Students.
- You must recreate the chart for the other courses that were previously combined in the period.

If a student transfers to the class, he is listed under Unassigned Students.

If a student drops the course, his seat is blank.

Date	Type a date in the MMDDYYYY format, or click to select a date from the calendar. The date is used to verify current enrollment in the class. NOTE: If you are setting up a seating chart before the first day of school, enter the date of the first class.
Semester	The current semester is displayed by default. You can select another semester.
Period	Select the period-course to create a seating chart for. By default, the field displays the first period for which you have not posted attendance. NOTE: If Combine Courses in Attendance is selected on your Settings > Update Profile page, the courses are combined by period.

If a seating chart already exists for the period, the seating chart is displayed.

Layout Options

Select a layout for the seating chart:

Alphabetical by row - Students are placed in alphabetical order by last name starting at the front-left corner of the room (from the teacher’s perspective) and continuing horizontally, filling each seat until all students are placed. Empty seats are at the back of the room.

Alphabetical by column - Students are placed in alphabetical order by last name starting at the front-left corner of the room (from the teacher’s perspective) and continuing vertically toward the back of the room, filling each seat until all students are placed. Empty seats are on the right side of the room.

Numerical by row - Students are placed in numerical order by student ID starting at the front-left corner of the room (from the teacher’s perspective) and continuing horizontally, filling each seat until all students are placed. Empty seats are at the back of the room.

Numerical by column - Students are placed in numerical order by student ID starting at the front-left corner of the room (from the teacher’s perspective) and continuing vertically toward the back of the room, filling each seat until all students are placed. Empty seats are on the right side of the room.

Random - Students are placed in random order. If there are more seats than students, the empty seats are at the back of the room. Every time you click Preview Layout, the random order changes; you can try multiple random layouts until you find one that works best.

Blank - A blank seating chart is displayed, and all students are listed either beside or below the chart (depending on the size of the chart). You can drag students from the Unassigned Students list to the seating chart.

If you previously saved a seating chart and return to this page, the student seats are arranged according to your last saved layout; however, the Layout Options field is always set to Random by default. Even if you selected an alphabetical or numerical arrangement, you may have manually moved students; therefore, the program assumes the students may have been moved.

Rows
Columns

Type the number of rows (horizontal) and columns (vertical) for the seating chart. You can have up to 11 rows and 11 columns.

❏ Click Preview Layout.

The seating chart is displayed according to the criteria entered.

REMINDER: When you click Preview Layout, the changes are not saved. You must type your PIN and click Save Seating Chart to save the changes.

Unassigned Students	If there are more students enrolled in the class than seats available, the extra students are listed either beside or below the seating chart (depending on the size of the chart).
Show Pictures	Select to display student photos in the seating chart. Photos are only available if they have been added by the district.

Each seat lists the student's name, gender, and student ID.
You can click the student ID to view the student's profile.
The seats are color-coded by gender. Seats for females are shaded pink, and seats for males are shaded blue.

❏ You can manually arrange students as needed by dragging a student to a new location.

If a student is dragged to a new location that is currently occupied, the two students switch seats.
If the student is dragged to an unoccupied location, his original location becomes unoccupied.
You can drag students to and from the Unassigned Students list. If a student is dragged to a new location that is currently occupied, the two students switch places. The student from the list now has a seat, and the student who had a seat is now in the list.
To re-sort the students using one of the layout options, select an option from the Layout Options field, and then click Preview Layout. The students are sorted according to the new layout.

Save changes:

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

❏ Click Save Seating Chart.

Print the seating chart:

❏ Click Print.

The Seating Charts Report Selection page opens allowing you to make selections for running the report.

Copy seating charts to another semester.

Settings > Manage Seating Charts

Once you save a seating chart, you can copy the seating chart to another semester.

PIN	Type your four-digit personal identification number (PIN).
Copy to Semester #	Click to copy the displayed seating chart to a subsequent semester of the same course. The button is only displayed if the seating chart is saved, and only if there is at least one subsequent semester (e.g., it is semester one of a two-semester course). The button is not displayed for a one-semester course.

Create course groups.

Settings > Manage Course Groups

Course Grouping Flow Chart

This page allows you to group courses by semester, which allows you to enter grades, manage categories and assignments, and copy categories and assignments for multiple sections at the same time (e.g., if you teach multiple section of Algebra I) without having to switch from section to section.

IMPORTANT: You must group your courses at the beginning of the semester before any categories are added.

Once you have grouped the courses, all categories and assignments for the courses will match. The courses will be displayed as grouped on the following pages:

Grades > Assignment Grades
Grades > IPR Comments
Grades > Print IPR
Reports > Class Roster
Settings > Manage Assignments
Settings > Manage Categories

The following courses cannot be added to a group:

A standards-based or elementary skills-based course. Only category-based (i.e., regular) courses can be grouped.
A course that does not exist in the selected semester.
A course that has already been added to another group, either for the current teacher or a prior teacher. The message “Exists in another group” will be displayed next to the course in the Ineligible Courses list.
A course that has any categories already set up. The message “Already has categories” will be displayed next to the course in the Ineligible Courses list.
A course that has any students who are in another course already added to the group.
A self-paced course.

The following restrictions also apply:

A course cannot be added to a group if the group has any categories already set up.
If the course-section is part of a group, and the teacher for a course changes during the year, the new teacher will not be able to add the course to a group. The message “Exists in another group” will be displayed next to the course in the Ineligible Courses list.

This can be resolved.

You must be the class role 01 teacher (i.e., Teacher of Record) for the course in order to add the course to your group. Class role 02 and 03 teachers for the course cannot add the course to a group.

If the class role 01 teacher becomes unavailable (e.g., long-term leave)...

❏ Specify the semester:

Semester	The current semester is displayed by default. You can select another semester.

❏ Click Retrieve.

❏ Under Available Course Groups (left grid):

Existing groups are listed. Otherwise, the message “No data available in table” is displayed.

Add a group:

Name	To add a group, type a unique name for the group.

❏ Click Add Group.

The new group name is displayed under Available Course Groups (left grid).

❏ Click to add courses to the group.

❏ Under Course Group Detail (right grid):

Group	The selected group name is displayed. The default message, “Please select or create a course group” is displayed.
Grouped Courses	All the courses currently added to the selected group are listed. If no courses are added, the message “No data available in table” is displayed.
Available Courses	Any courses that can be added to the group are listed. Click for each course you want to add to the group. The course is moved to the Grouped Courses list.
Ineligible Courses	Any courses that cannot be added to the group (due to reasons described above on this page) are listed. An explanation of the course's ineligibility is displayed next to the course.
	Click to delete a course from the group. When deleting a course from a group during a semester (when a course-section has categories assigned), take caution. You are not prompted to confirm that you want to delete the course-section from the group. Once you delete a course-section with categories and click Save, the action cannot be undone.

❏ Click Save.

Edit a group:

❏ Under Available Course Groups (left grid):

Course Count	The number of courses currently added to the group is displayed.
	Click to view the group details. The details for the group are displayed on the right under Course Group Detail, and you can add or remove courses from the group.
	Click to delete a group. You are prompted to confirm that you want to delete the group. Click OK. A group can only be deleted if Course Count is 0.

Arrange student order.

There are two steps for arranging the order of students in your classes. First, specify the default order for new students on the Update Profile page. Then, use the Arrange Student Order page to arrange current students.

Settings > Update Profile

Current Password

For added protection of this information, you must type your current password to update data on the Update Profile, even though you have already logged on to TeacherPortal.

IMPORTANT: If you have three unsuccessful attempts to access the page (invalid password), you will be logged out of your account. If this occurs, contact your campus administrator to have your account reset. To exit without saving any changes, click Home or any other menu item to go to another page.

Student Order

Select where you want new students to be listed on the following pages and reports:

• Assignment Grades
• Cycle Grades
• IPR Comments
• Print IPR
• Assignment Grades Report
• Class Roster Report

Alpha (default) order - All students are listed in alphabetical order, regardless of the custom sort order established on the Arrange Student Order page.

Add new students to the top of the list - Any new students who have enrolled in the course-section since you last saved a custom sort order are displayed at the top of the list. If you have not set up a custom sort order, new students are displayed in alphabetical order.

Add new students to the bottom of the list - Any new students who have enrolled in the course-section since you last saved a custom sort order are displayed at the bottom of the list. If you have not set up a custom sort order, new students are displayed in alphabetical order.

The setting is the same for all of your classes.

This field works in conjunction with Settings > Arrange Student Order and is only available to users who are logged on as teachers. The field is not available to administrative users.

IMPORTANT:

The setting of the Student Order field is only valid if you have created a custom student order on Settings > Arrange Student Order. If you are not using a custom student order, select Alpha (default) order.

NOTE:

If you select the option to list new students at the top or bottom of the list, but you have not set up a custom sort order for all course-sections, only classes that have a custom sort order are affected. For all other course-sections, all students are listed in alphabetical order.

The Student Order field allows you to toggle between displaying students in alphabetical order and your custom sort order. If you have created a custom sort order, you can temporarily change this field so your students are displayed in alphabetical order. When you change the field again to add new students to the top or bottom of the list, your custom sort order is retained.

❏ Click Next.

If you did not select Update Hint Questions, the Success page is displayed.

❏ Click Finish.

You are redirected to the Announcements page.

Settings > Arrange Student Order

This page allows you to determine the order in which your students are listed on the following pages:

Grades > Assignment Grades
Grades > Cycle Grades
Grades > IPR Comments
Grades > Print IPR
Reports > Assignment Grades (listed as a sorting option)
Reports > Class Roster

The order is set by semester. You must re-do the order each semester.

You must be logged on as a teacher to use this page. The page is not displayed for administrative users.

IMPORTANT: Before using this page, you must set a preference for new students in the Student Order field on Settings > Update Profile. The field must be set to add students to the top of the list or bottom of the list. Otherwise, the order established on this page is not utilized on the other pages throughout TeacherPortal.

Once the Student Order is set on Settings > Update Profile:

❏ Specify the course-section:

Semester	The current semester is displayed by default. You can select another semester.
Course-Section	Select the course-section you want to arrange students for.

❏ Click Retrieve.

All students in the selected course-section are listed, including withdrawn students.

If you have not previously arranged students in this course-section, the students are listed in alphabetical order.
If you have previously arranged the students, the students are listed in the last saved order.
To the right of the student list, a message indicates your current setting on the Settings > Update Profile page regarding the placement of new students. A link to the page is provided, allowing you to easily change your setting.
You can click the student ID to view the student profile.

❏ Rearrange students using drag-and-drop. Click and hold the student ID, and drag the student to the new position.

Save changes:

When you are satisfied with the arrangement, you must save your changes.

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

❏ Click Save Arrangement.

If your changes were saved successfully, the page reloads, and a message is displayed indicating that the student list order was saved.

Combine courses in attendance.

Settings > Update Profile

Current Password

For added protection of this information, you must type your current password to update data on the Update Profile, even though you have already logged on to TeacherPortal.

IMPORTANT: If you have three unsuccessful attempts to access the page (invalid password), you will be logged out of your account. If this occurs, contact your campus administrator to have your account reset. To exit without saving any changes, click Home or any other menu item to go to another page.

Combine Courses in Attendance

Select if you want to combine classes for attendance reporting.

If you have multiple course-sections that meet during the same period, this option allows you to record attendance for all sections at one time. If you plan to create a seating chart on Settings > Manage Seating Charts, it is highly recommended that you set this field the way you want it for the semester before creating the seating chart.

If you do not want to combine courses for attendance reporting (e.g., PK courses that meet morning and afternoon), do not select the field.

❏ Click Next.

If you did not select Update Hint Questions, the Success page is displayed.

❏ Click Finish.

You are redirected to the Announcements page.

Set a default due date for assignments.

Settings > Update Profile

Current Password

For added protection of this information, you must type your current password to update data on the Update Profile, even though you have already logged on to TeacherPortal.

IMPORTANT: If you have three unsuccessful attempts to access the page (invalid password), you will be logged out of your account. If this occurs, contact your campus administrator to have your account reset. To exit without saving any changes, click Home or any other menu item to go to another page.

Default Assignment Due Date

Indicate if you want a default date to be displayed in the Date Due field on Settings > Manage Assignments.

You can select no default date, the current date, or up to five days in the future.

Example: If you selected Current Date +2, and the current date is May 20, the Date Due field on Settings > Manage Assignments will display May 22 by default. If May 22 occurs on the weekend, the Date Due field will display the date of the following Monday.

❏ Click Next.

If you did not select Update Hint Questions, the Success page is displayed.

❏ Click Finish.

You are redirected to the Announcements page.

Add notes such as conference periods and general information.

Settings > Update Profile

Current Password

For added protection of this information, you must type your current password to update data on the Update Profile, even though you have already logged on to TeacherPortal.

IMPORTANT: If you have three unsuccessful attempts to access the page (invalid password), you will be logged out of your account. If this occurs, contact your campus administrator to have your account reset. To exit without saving any changes, click Home or any other menu item to go to another page.

Notes

Use the field to provide additional notes to parents in ParentPortal, such as conference periods or any other general information they may need.

❏ Click Next.

If you did not select Update Hint Questions, the Success page is displayed.

❏ Click Finish.

You are redirected to the Announcements page.

Create rubrics for grading assignments (if enabled for campus).

The rubric feature is only available if enabled by the campus.

To use a rubric for grading an assignment, you must first create the rubric, and then associated the rubric with a particular assignment.

Settings > Set Up Rubrics

This page allows you to create rubric charts that can be used for grading assignments. A rubric chart is a set of criteria (i.e., skills) used for assessing a student's work or performance and includes levels of potential achievement (i.e., scores) for each criterion.

Once a rubric is created, you can associate the rubric chart with an assignment on Settings > Manage Assignments. Then, the rubric will be available for the assignment on Grades > Assignment Grades.

Your existing rubric charts (i.e., rubric charts created by you) are listed. Otherwise, the message “No rubrics found” is displayed.

Add a rubric chart:

In the field next to the Add Rubric button, type a unique name for the new rubric chart, then click Add Rubric.

The new rubric chart is added to the Available Rubrics list.

Available Rubrics	Click for the new rubric chart. The rubric opens on the right side under Editing Rubric: {Rubric Name}, where {Rubric Name} is the name you entered.

❏ Under Editing Rubric: {Rubric Name}:

A grid is displayed allowing you to enter criteria (i.e., skills) and scores for each criterion.

❏ Add Skills:

To add skills to the rubric chart, type the first skill name, up to 50 characters, and click Add Skill. The skill is added to the grid, and a blank field is displayed allowing you to add another skill.

Continue adding skills as needed.

❏ Add Scores:

Each rubric chart must have at least one column under Scores.

Establish a set of score names. For example, you could create the following set of five score names: Not Attempted, Below Average, Average, Above Average, and Exceeds Expectations.

To add a score, type the first score name (e.g., Not Attempted), up to 50 characters, and then click Add Score. The score is added to the grid, and a blank field is displayed allowing you to add another score.

Continue adding scores as needed.

❏ Enter Low/High Points:

For each score, use the Low Points and High Points fields to establish a range of possible points within each score. Or, you can assign a single point value for each score.

The fields can have up to three digits.

Example 1 (with score ranges):

Within each score, you can establish a range of possible points:

The Not Attempted score may have Low Points and High Points both set to 0, because 0 points would be awarded if the student did not attempt the skill.

The Below Average score may have Low Points set to 1, and High Points set to 10, so a student who performed below average on the skill can earn between 1 and 10 points.

The Average score may have Low Points set to 11, and High Points set to 20, so a student who had average performance on the skill can earn between 11 and 20 points.

The Above Average score may have Low Points set to 21, and High Points set to 30, so a student who had above average performance on the skill can earn between 21 and 30 points. The highest score a student could receive would be 30.

The Exceeds Expectations score may have Low Points set to 31, and High Points set to 40, so a student who had above average performance on the skill can earn between 31 and 40 points. The highest score a student could receive would be 40.

In this example, if 10 skills were scored, the student could earn a maximum of 400 points for the assignment.

Example 2 (without score ranges):

To assign a specific number of points to each score, type the number of possible points in the Low Points field and leave the High Points field blank. When you save, the High Points field will automatically be set to the value in the Low Points field.

The Not Attempted score may have Low Points set to 0, because 0 points would be awarded if the student did not attempt the skill. Leave High Points set to 0 or blank.

The Below Average score may have Low Points set to 1, because 1 point would be awarded if the student had below average performance for the skill. Leave High Points set to 0 or blank.

The Average score may have Low Points set to 2, because 2 points would be awarded if the student had average performance for the skill. Leave High Points set to 0 or blank.

The Above Average score may have Low Points set to 3, because 3 points would be awarded if the student had above average performance for the skill. Leave High Points set to 0 or blank. The highest score a student could receive would be 3.

The Exceeds Expectations score may have Low Points set to 4, because 4 points would be awarded if the student had above average performance for the skill. Leave High Points set to 0 or blank. The highest score a student could receive would be 4.

In this example, if 10 skills were scored, the student could earn a maximum of 40 points for the assignment.

❏ Enter a score note:

(Optional) For each skill, type a note about the score as it relates to the specific skill, up to 255 characters. The note is used to further clarify the requirements for awarding points for the skill.

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

TIP: You can expand the size of the fields by dragging the bottom-right corner of the field to the desired size. When you save the note, the field will return to its original size.

Scores must be entered in ascending order from left to right.

Scores cannot be out of sequence; however gaps can exist.

❏ Click Save.

Total Points	The highest possible number of points a student can earn for this assignment is calculated and displayed in the bottom-right corner. The number changes every time you save changes that affect the total possible points for the rubric chart.

❏ To save a copy of the displayed rubric chart with another name (e.g., to use the rubric chart as a template for another rubric chart), type the new name in the field next to the Save As button, then click Save As.

The new rubric chart is added to the Available Rubrics list. The new rubric chart can be modified as needed.

Edit a rubric chart:

❏ Under Available Rubrics (left), click for the rubric chart you want to change.

The rubric chart opens under Editing Rubric (right). Modify the chart as needed, and then click Save.

NOTE:
If you attempt to edit a rubric chart that is in use, a message is displayed indicating the number of assignments using the rubric chart; however, you are not prevented from modifying some parts of the rubric chart:

The skills cannot be changed.
You cannot add a skill; the Add Skill button is not displayed.
You must keep at least one column under Scores.
The score note field can be modified.
You can add scores, but you must maintain the same Total Points.

Delete a rubric chart:

❏ Under Available Rubrics (left), click to delete an existing rubric chart.

❏ You are prompted to confirm that you want to delete the rubric chart. Click OK.

NOTE: You cannot delete a rubric chart that is in use (i.e., associated with any assignment).

Associate a rubric with an assignment:

Settings > Manage Assignments

❏ Click Add new assignment to add a new assignment.

A blank row is added to the grid. Enter the assignment name and other details.

❏ In the Rubric column:

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.

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

❏ Click Save.

The icon changes to multicolored squares to indicate that a rubric is associated with the assignment.

Use a rubric to grade an assignment:

Grades > Assignment Grades

Once a rubric chart has been associated with the assignment, you can use the rubric for determining the student’s assignment grade.

❏ Select the semester, cycle, course section, and any other applicable criteria, and then click Retrieve.

The assignment grades table displays all students currently enrolled in the course-section and the assignments according to your selections.

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

❏ Click to open the rubric in a window.

The window opens allowing you to type a score for each skill.

❏ In the Scores field, type the number of points earned by the student for each skill.

For your reference, the Max Points per Skill field displays the highest number of points for a skill, as indicated on the Rubric Setup page; however, you are not prevented from entering a score above this number.

❏. When all scores have been entered, click Update Assignment Grade.

The grade (i.e., the sum of all scores entered) is calculated and displayed in the grade field.

❏ Type your PIN and click Save.

NOTES:

You can type a grade directly into the grade field even if a rubric chart is assigned to the assignment.
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 the grade for the assignment should be zero, you must type 0 for one of the skill scores in the rubric chart.
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.

Reports

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.

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