Teacher Guide to ASCENDER TeacherPortal
IMPORTANT: Attendance is not taken on the first day of school. Students are not marked absent on the first day of school.
For campuses NOT using Student Activation/First Day Counts:
On the first day of school, teachers cannot use TeacherPortal to record or post attendance during the ADA period. You can only view and print data, and you must record attendance manually on the printed sheets.
Student Activation/First Day Counts:
Activating students using this process allows you to identify No Show students and correctly enroll students who begin school after the first day of school. It also ensures that students who do show up for school have the proper enrollment dates for the district, campus, special programs, and first semester courses.
The primary way students are activated is by teachers recording attendance in TeacherPortal. Once teachers have marked and posted attendance, the campus staff can address the individual students who could not be activated by teachers.
All students are marked inactive before school starts. As you take attendance, the students are activated as they show up in class. After a period of time (determined by each campus), any student who has not been activated is considered a No Show.
The TeacherPortal Post/View Attendance displays differently during the activation window: Teachers mark present students as Activated rather than Present.
REMINDER: On the first day of school, a student cannot be marked as absent.
From this page, you can print the attendance list for each period-course (or the campus can supply a class roster). If a student shows up in a period who is not on the attendance list, you must write the student's name and ID either in the blank rows provided at the bottom of the list, or on the form provided by the district/campus, and submit to the campus office.
Last day for mass activation |
During the activation window, this field is displayed above the attendance grid, which indicates the final date of the activation window. If there are students from multiple attendance tracks enrolled in the course, and the tracks have different ending dates for mass activation, all dates are displayed with the track number in parentheses. |
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Attendance |
On the first day of school, in the Attendance column, the Activate and Inactive fields are displayed for all students instead of the Absent and Present fields. All students are set to Inactive by default.
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❏ Click Post.
If you activate a student after the first day of school, but during the activation window, the following occurs:
During the activation window, you may have a mix of activated and inactivated students in your classes.
• Activated students will have the Present/Absent/Tardy options displayed.
• Inactive students will have the Activate/Inactive options displayed.
The Attendance Roster report will display the Activate and Inactive fields for students who have not yet been activated.
Once the activation window has ended:
Any students who remained inactive will have the message “Attendance Exempt” displayed in the Attendance column. Attendance cannot be marked for these students.
These students will no longer be displayed on the rosters once the campus has created the No Show records.
Teacher Guide to ASCENDER TeacherPortal
Long-term substitute teachers can be granted access to use TeacherPortal on behalf of a teacher who is away for an extended period of time. When substitute teachers log in to TeacherPortal, they can select the teacher for whom they are substitute teaching. Then, the substitute teachers can proceed to use TeacherPortal as the teacher.
Before a long-term substitute teacher can access TeacherPortal, a substitute teacher record must already exist for him in TeacherPortal. These steps are covered in the TeacherPortal Administrator guide.
Create an ASCENDER TeacherPortal account.
A long-term substitute teacher must create a TeacherPortal account in order to log on to TeacherPortal. Substitute teachers will log on to TeacherPortal with their own accounts, rather than with the teacher’s account.
❏ From the Login page, click Create Account. The User Information page is displayed.
To exit without saving any changes, click Return to Login.
User Information:
Staff ID | Type your staff ID number. |
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Last Name | Type your last name |
First Initial | Type the first letter of your first name. |
❏ Click Next.
If you entered the data correctly, the Basic Information step opens.
Basic Information:
User Name | Type a unique user name that will identify you when you log on to the system, such as a combination of letters from your first and last name.
• Your user name must be 6-25 alphanumeric characters and must be unique within the district. |
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Password | Type a password that you will use when you log on to TeacherPortal.
• The password must be 8-46 characters using three of the following: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters |
Password Verification | Retype the password exactly as you typed it above. This step confirms that you typed your password as you intended. |
PIN | Type a four-digit numeric personal identification number (PIN) that you will use when you post data in TeacherPortal. Avoid using 1234, 4321, or all the same number, as these are common and easily guessed. |
❏ Click Next.
If you entered all required data correctly, the Security Question step opens.
Security Question:
Question | Select three questions to which you will provide an answer. The questions are asked in the event that you forget your password. You must select three different questions. You cannot repeat any questions/answers. |
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Answer | Type the answer to each question. If you forget your password, you will be required to answer the question correctly in order to recover your account. Be sure to select questions for which you will easily remember your answer. Answers are case sensitive. |
License Agreement
Review and accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) for ASCENDER. This agreement must be accepted in order to proceed.
❏ Select Accept.
❏ Click Next.
❏ Click Finish.
The Announcements page opens.
Substitute teachers must log on using their own credentials.
If you are continuing from the previous step and are already logged on, you can skip this step.
If you are not already logged on, you must log on to TeacherPortal using the user name and password created in the previous step. Once you are logged on, you can access the pages for the remaining steps.
User Name | Type your user name. Your user name is not case-sensitive. |
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Password | Type your password. The typed text is hidden. Your password is case sensitive. |
❏ Click Login.
The Announcements page is displayed.
For security purposes, your password will expire periodically. If your password is expired, you are redirected to the Password Expired page before the Announcements page is displayed. Follow the instructions provided in the online Help for the Password Expired page.
When you log in to TeacherPortal, the Announcements page is the first page displayed. From here, you must specify the teacher you are substitute teaching for. You must select the teacher each time you log in.
❏ In the Substitute For field, select the teacher you are substitute teaching for.
• Only teachers you are assigned to teach for are listed.
• The beginning and ending dates also determine which teachers are listed.
If the beginning date is in the future, the teacher is not listed until the current date is within the range of dates specified. Once the current date is past the substitute’s ending date, the teacher is no longer listed.
❏ Click Teacher.
A message is displayed indicating that you are now substitute teaching for the selected teacher. The teacher's three-digit control number is also provided.
NOTE: Once you have selected a teacher, the Update Profile page is no longer available. See the Update Profile Settings section below for information about how to update your profile settings.
❏ To select another teacher, you must log out, and log in again.
Use TeacherPortal as the teacher.
When logged in as a long-term substitute teacher, you can maintain and print most data that the teacher would be able to access, including attendance, assignments, grades, discipline, and reports.
For assistance with these pages, view the online Help for each page.
As you update and post data in the database tables, be aware that the teacher’s name will be associated with some actions, and the substitute teacher’s name will be associated with other actions.
• If you mark grades as ready to post, the teacher’s name is reflected.
• If you post attendance, the teacher’s name is reflected.
• If you enter a discipline referral, the substitute’s name is reflected.
Update profile settings as needed.
Once you have selected a teacher from the Announcements page, the Settings > Update Profile page is no longer available.
❏ If you need to make changes to your profile, you must log out, and then log in and access the Update Profile page before selecting a teacher.
For assistance with the fields on the page, view the online Help.
Reports:
Generate seating chart report.
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. | ||||
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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. |
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width | Select the width setting for the report.
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. |
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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.
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. | ||||||||
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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. |
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Columns | Type the number of blank columns to display on the report, up to 50. | ||||||||
Display Options |
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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.
Teacher Guide to ASCENDER TeacherPortal
The Reset Password page allows you to reset a forgotten password or change your password. To reset your password, you must know your staff ID, user ID, and the correct answer to one of your password hint questions; otherwise, you must contact your campus administrator to have your account reset.
❏ From the Login page, click Reset Password.
The Reset Password page opens.
❏ To exit the Reset Password function without saving any changes, click Return to Login.
Reset Password
Staff ID | Type your six-digit district-assigned staff ID number. |
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User Name | Type the user name you created when you registered for TeacherPortal. |
❏ Click Next.
If you entered the data correctly, the Security Question step opens.
Security Question:
Answer | One of your hint questions is displayed, as established in your User Profile. Type the answer to your hint question exactly as it appears in your profile. |
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❏ Click Next.
If you entered the data correctly, the Create New Password step opens.
Create New Password:
Password | Type a new password. You cannot reuse your last password.
• The password must be 8-46 characters using three of the following: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters |
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Confirm Password | Retype the password exactly as you typed it above. This step confirms that you typed your password as you intended. |
❏ Click Finish.
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. |
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New Password | To change your password, type a new password.
• The password must be 8-46 characters using three of the following: uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters |
Confirm Password | Retype the password exactly as you typed it above. This step confirms that you typed your password as you intended. |
❏ Click Next.
❏ Click Finish.
You are redirected to the Announcements page.
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. |
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New PIN | To change your PIN, type a new four-digit number. It is recommended that you do not choose 1234 or 4321, as these are common and easily guessed. |
❏ Click Next.
❏ Click Finish.
You are redirected to the Announcements page.
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. |
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Update Hint Questions | Select if you want to update your hint questions. The questions are updated on the next page when you click Next. |
❏ Click Next.
Question # | Select one of the hint questions for each field. You must select three different questions. |
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Answer # | Type the answer to the question you selected. You cannot repeat any questions/answers. |
❏ Click Next.
❏ Click Finish.
You are redirected to the Announcements page.
Update phone and email address.
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. |
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Phone Number | To provide your telephone number to parents in ParentPortal, type the number in the NNN-NNNNNNN format. If blank, your phone number will not be provided in ParentPortal. |
Email Address | To provide your email address to parents in ParentPortal, type the address (e.g., someone@example.net). If blank, your email address will not be provided in ParentPortal. |
❏ Click Next.
❏ Click Finish.
You are redirected to the Announcements page.
Teacher Guide to ASCENDER TeacherPortal
Grades > Elementary Report Cards > Print Elementary Report Cards
This page allows you to print elementary skills-based report cards for the students selected on the Print Elementary Report Cards page. The page can only be accessed through the Print Elementary Report Cards page.
IMPORTANT: Use the Firefox or Chrome browser when printing report cards as an administrator. Do not use Internet Explorer.
The report cards display data according to options set on the Admin Manage Elementary Skills-Based Report Cards pages. The following components may be included:
* Expectations for the cycle or quarter may also be displayed.
The following may also be included:
Report cards are designed to print with the parent/guardian address positioned so that it appears in the window of a standard envelope if the paper is folded into thirds. (This also applies to elementary skills-based IPRs printed via Grades > Elementary Report Cards > Print Elementary Report Card.)
Background colors may not automatically print, depending on your browser settings. For more information, click here.
Before printing report cards or IPRs, you may want to change the Page Setup options to enable or disable printing of headers and footers. Be aware that if the headers and footers are disabled, page numbers are not printed, and there is a risk of the report pages (i.e., the actual papers) getting out of order inadvertently. This could potentially result in a student receiving the wrong subsequent pages of the report card or IPR if there are multiple pages. However, you may want the headers and footers disabled for a neater appearance.
IMPORTANT: Make note of any data that you are deleting so you can reset the headers and footers after you print the report cards or IPRs.
Print report cards:
After you enter and save any notes for the report cards and select the type of report card you want to print, click Print selected student report cards. The page displays report cards for all students selected on the Print Elementary Report Cards for Campus page.
❏ From Print Elementary Report Cards, select the report card and options, and click Print selected student report cards.
❏ Click Print.
Although the report cards are displayed on the screen without page breaks, each report card prints individually with page breaks between each report card.
❏ Click Return to Elementary Report Card selection page to return.
Print Elementary Report Cards:
Grades > Elementary Report Cards > Print Elementary Report Card
This page allows you to select the elementary students for whom you want to print report cards. The report cards display data as set up on the Admin - Manage Skills-Based Report Cards pages.
These report cards can also be used as interim progress reports if needed. You can change the heading from “Report Card” to “Interim Progress Report” by selecting Print Elementary Report Card as an IPR.
NOTE: Administrative users can use the Admin > Print Elementary Report Cards for Campus page (which is only available to users who log on to TeacherPortal with a district- or campus-level security administrator user ID) to print all elementary report cards for a particular report card type.
Print data:
❏ Select the course-section you want to print report cards for:
Semester | Select the semester you want to print report cards for. |
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Cycle | Select the cycle you want to print report cards for. |
Course-Section | Select the course-section you want to print report card for. If the course is marked as ready to post on the Cycle Grades page, the message “[READY]” is displayed next to the course. |
❏ Click Retrieve Data.
The grid displays all students currently enrolled in the course-section. Students are sorted by last name, unless you have specified a custom sort order on Settings > Arrange Student Order.
The columns can be sorted according to your preferences.
If you sort by the last name column, the table sorts by last name, then first name. If you sort by the first name column, the table sorts by first name, then last name.
NOTE: Sorting the columns overrides the custom sort order established on the Arrange Student Order page. However, if you leave this page and return, the students are displayed in your custom sort order. (This does not apply on the Post/View Attendance page.)
Show withdrawn | Withdrawn students are displayed in a blue row, and the message “Withdrawn” and the withdrawal date 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. |
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Print Elementary Report Card as an IPR | Select if you are printing the report card(s) to be used as an interim progress report. If selected, the heading “Interim Progress Report” will appear at the top of the report instead of “Report Card.” Ensure that this field is not selected if you are producing actual report cards. |
Student ID |
The student's ID is displayed. Click the student ID to view the student's profile. |
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❏ Select the students:
This Class |
Select to print a report card for the student for only the selected course-section. If selected, Default View is selected and cannot be changed.
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Report Card Note | (Optional) Type a note that will be displayed on all report cards selected for printing. If entered, it will appear on the report card above the Teacher Notes section. | ||
Print a Blank Page Between Students | Select to insert a blank page between each student. It is recommended that you select this option if the report card has an odd number of pages and is being printed double sided. |
Print Report Cards (or IPRs):
Report cards are designed to print with the parent/guardian address positioned so that it appears in the window of a standard envelope if the paper is folded into thirds. (This also applies to elementary skills-based IPRs printed via Grades > Elementary Report Cards > Print Elementary Report Card.)
Background colors may not automatically print, depending on your browser settings. For more information, click here.
Before printing report cards or IPRs, you may want to change the Page Setup options to enable or disable printing of headers and footers. Be aware that if the headers and footers are disabled, page numbers are not printed, and there is a risk of the report pages (i.e., the actual papers) getting out of order inadvertently. This could potentially result in a student receiving the wrong subsequent pages of the report card or IPR if there are multiple pages. However, you may want the headers and footers disabled for a neater appearance.
IMPORTANT: Make note of any data that you are deleting so you can reset the headers and footers after you print the report cards or IPRs.
❏ Click Print selected student report cards.
The report cards are displayed on the Elementary Report Cards page where you can view the report cards before printing them.
Elementary Letter Skills & Elementary Number Skills:
Grades > Elementary Report Cards > Elementary Letter Skills
Grades > Elementary Report Cards > Elementary Number Skills
These pages allow you to record whether the student has achieved certain skills related to alphabet letters and numbers. The pages are only available if the letter skills and number skills grids have been selected for inclusion on the report card on the Admin Skills-Based Report Card Setup - Step 2 page.
Letter and number skills are a cumulative assessment; they are not stored by semester-cycle.
Update data:
❏ Select the student:
Course-Section | Select the course-section for which you want to assess a student. |
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Student | Select a student in the selected course. The student's name is displayed. |
❏ Click Retrieve Data.
❏ Enter grades:
Letters |
On the Letters page:
NOTE: |
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Numbers |
On the Numbers page:
NOTE: Administrative users can add additional skills by editing the Numbers and/or Rote Counting skill sets on Admin > Elementary Report Cards > Manage Elementary Skills-Based Courses. |
Save data:
PIN | Type your four-digit personal identification number (PIN). |
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❏ Click Save.
Grades > Elementary Report Cards > Elementary Word Skills
This page allows you to record whether the student has achieved certain skills related to high-frequency word recognition and color word recognition. The page is only available if the High-Frequency Word List or Color Word Recognition skills have been selected for inclusion on the report card on the Admin Skills-Based Report Card Setup - Step 1 page.
Word skills are a cumulative assessment; they are not stored by semester-cycle.
Update data:
❏ Select the student:
Course-Section | Select the course-section for which you want to assess a student. |
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Student | Select a student in the selected course. The student's name is displayed. |
❏ Click Retrieve Data.
❏ Enter grades:
High Frequency Word List | Select the skill if the selected student has achieved this skill. A description of the student expectations for the quarter or cycle may also be displayed, if available. |
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Color Word Recognition | Select the color if the selected student has achieved this skill. A description of the student expectations for the quarter or cycle may also be displayed, if available. |
NOTE: Administrative users can add additional skills by editing the High-Frequency Work Skills or Color Word Recognition skill sets on Admin > Elementary Skills-Based Setup.
Save data:
PIN | Type your four-digit personal identification number (PIN). |
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❏ Click Save.
Teacher Guide to ASCENDER TeacherPortal
This guide provides the necessary steps to set up and publish elementary skills-based report cards.
❏ ASCENDER > Grade Reporting > Maintenance > TeacherPortal Options > Campus > Options
❏ ASCENDER > Grade Reporting > Maintenance > Master Schedule > District Schedule
❏ TeacherPortal > Admin > Elementary Report Cards > Manage Elementary Skills-Based Courses
❏ TeacherPortal > Admin > Admin Options
❏ Complete the following:
❏ TeacherPortal > Admin > Elementary Report Cards > Elementary Skills-Based Courses
❏ TeacherPortal > Grades > Assignment Grades
❏ TeacherPortal > Settings
Verify the following:
❏ TeacherPortal > Grades > Elementary Report Cards > Print Elementary Report Cards
Teacher Guide to ASCENDER TeacherPortal
Standards-Based IPR components:
The semester and cycle are displayed at the top of the IPR. However, the final scores and calculated average are cumulative for the semester.
For standards-based courses, the following is included on a student’s IPR:
A - Conversion Grade: The grade that appears on Grades > Cycle Grades in the Average column is displayed. It is the student’s average to date. The average is cumulative for the semester, even though assignment grades are only displayed for the selected semester-cycle.
B - Standard Set: The set of standards with which the graded standard is associated is displayed.
C - Standard: The standard is displayed.
D - Assignment Name: The assignment associated with the standard is displayed. The grade for each assignment is displayed in the grade column. The assignment grades are displayed for the selected semester-cycle only.
E - Final Score: A final score is displayed for each standard. The score displayed is the highest score of the following:
F - Final Score (standard set): A final score is displayed for each standard set. This is the average of all final scores for each standard. The final standard set score reflects standard set scores for all cycles in the semester, even though only one cycle is displayed at a time. The average does not include scores of zero, unless zero is a valid grade for the campus. The final standard set score is rounded to one decimal place.
G - Total Score: Thi average of all standard set final scores is displayed, which takes into account all cycles in the semester. This grade is converted to a standard 100%-based grade using a conversion chart established by the district (e.g., 3/80, where 3 is the student’s total score, and 80 is the student’s converted grade).
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