Focus University Training Document · 2016. 9. 22. · Elementary Teacher Gradebook Focus School Software 2 Portal Review 1. Refocuses the user to the home portal page. 2. Displays

Focus Training: Elementary Teacher Gradebook

Focus School Software 1

Focus University Training Document

Training Agenda

Portal Review

Gradebook o Getting Started o Grade Configuration o Gradebook Template o Inside the Gradebook o Creating Assignments in the Teacher Created category o Gradebook Entries o Gradebook Reports

Purpose: The purpose of this training is to help teachers become acquainted and comfortable with the Focus Teacher Gradebook. An open bullet denotes explanations and a closed bullet or numericals denote instructional steps. Objectives:

How to configure the Gradebook Understanding the Gradebook Template How to create assignments in the Teacher Created category How to enter grades and other entries How to access and use Gradebook Reports

Elementary Teacher Gradebook


Portal Review

1. Refocuses the user to the home portal page.

2. Displays as a pull-down menu if the user has more than one profile/school assigned to them.

3. Displays the active school year, which can be changed to view previous or upcoming years.

4. Displays scheduled courses. Inactive courses may display below active courses.

5. Displays the term pull-down menu, which defaults to the current term and can be changed to view

previous and upcoming terms.

6. User’s main navigation menu (can be set to display across the top of the screen in My Preferences).

7. Quick option to search sections for scheduled students.

8. Displays messages pushed out by the district or the school administrator.

9. Provides a link to the district calendar and events. Can also display school-based events.

10. Provides shortcuts to menu options the user may use regularly.

11. Provides reminders to take attendance or post grades. May also display link to view new students

added to or withdrawn from class rolls as well as a notice when a referral has been processed.

12. Provides links to videos, courses and documentation

13. Properly exits the user from the application.

14. Provides a link for helpful reading materials about any topic on any page in Focus.



Teacher Gradebooks: Class Accuracy

Before configuring the gradebook, ensure that courses appearing in the Course dropdown are the correct classes.

In some instances, teachers may see Inactive Sections. These will show if the course hasn’t reached its start date in the school calendar yet. Additionally, any section that is not graded may show in the drop-down as Other Courses or Ungraded. There are two parts to configuring the gradebook; Part I is for how scheduled sections will be organized in the gradebook and Part II relates to how assignments display for each section.

Part I: Gradebook Configuring Options in “My Information: Preferences”

o Navigate to My Information > Preferences.

On the Display Options tab are several configurations related to the gradebook:

NOTE: Option 2 only displays for teachers with multiple sections in the same period



1. Configure Gradebooks Separately for Each Section allows teachers to decide if they’d like to use the same

configuration for each section they teach, or if they’d like each section to have different configurations. If this box were checked, the configuration steps in Part II would need to be completed for each individual section. This box should not be checked if Option 3 is selected. Teachers who may have different assignments or assignment categories for different periods of the same course would probably select this option.

2. Combine Sections in the Same Period for Taking Attendance will only be displayed if the teacher has

multiple sections the same period. This eliminates the need to select each section separately from the course dropdown or portal alert to take attendance. Elective teachers with multiple levels of a course like Band, Art, or PE in the same period find this option helpful. This does not combine classes for grading.

3. Combine Sections for Gradebook allows teachers to decide if they’d like to have their gradebooks organized

by period in the traditional fashion (leave unchecked) or if they’d like to combine their gradebook by either period or by custom groups. Leave the box unchecked if the desire is for the gradebook to be organized by period in the traditional fashion or if “Configure Gradebooks separately for each section” has been selected.

OR

o Check the box and then click the radio button for either By Period or Custom Group if all the sections will have

the exact same assignments for the school year. The teacher will see the following warning pop up if this box

is checked:



Choosing Combine sections for Gradebook by Period will combine the gradebook for two or more different courses

that are taught the same period, such as Band, PE and Art courses. This is similar to combining sections for taking

attendance. Select ONLY if all sections will have the SAME assignments. Grades will still have to be posted

separately for each section.

The gradebook will show all students in those sections in one gradebook. The teacher will then need to determine which section should be selected from the course dropdown when creating assignments.

Example: PE Teacher has combined sections by period to show all 2nd grade PE sections in 3rd period:

Choosing Combine sections by Custom Groups gives the user the ability to combine class sections that meet on different days, for example, into groups. This pulls the students in the selected courses into ONE gradebook without regard for their class period. If the intent is to create an assignment only once and have it apply to multiple sections, this can be accomplished under Grades > Gradebook Configuration without having to create custom groups. To configure Custom Groups:



1. Click on Add Group then name the group by clicking on the title in the box that pops up

The group can also be named after the sections are dragged over.

2. Drag the ungrouped sections into the named Group (this could also be done before naming the group)

**CAUTION: If groups are uncombined later, the teacher may lose assignments and/or attendance***

Repeat steps 1 and 2 to create additional groups:

All students in these sections will appear in ONE gradebook roster. All sections in the group will be pre-checked when

adding/editing assignments.

3. Be sure to click the button after making any changes.



Part II: Gradebook Configuration

If teachers have selected “Configure Gradebooks separately for each section” in Part I, the following items will have to be set for each section assigned to the teacher.

o Navigate to the Grades Menu and select Gradebook Configuration

o Select how assignment grades should be rounded.

o Select how assignments should be sorted in the gradebook and the default due date to display. Only one option can be selected for sorting.

This district has set the next option on the Gradebook Template. Teachers cannot change the weights assigned to the categories on the Template.

o The next setting is helpful for teachers with multiple sections of the same course if all the assignments will be the same in each section; checking this option means the assignment only has to be created once. If teachers have chosen “Combine Sections for Gradebook” in Part I, this can be left unchecked as all the combined sections appear in one gradebook and will be pre-checked when the assignment is created.



o Since all grades are based on and entered as a point value, leave this box unchecked.

o The date that assignments are assigned and due can be displayed in the assignment header.

NOTE: Focus displays a colored box to denote if a student is absent on the date an assignment is assigned or

due. This will be discussed further in the section on Gradebook Entries.

o This next setting is typically used in Post Secondary schools and Adult Ed centers. Leave unchecked.

o The next setting is helpful if students have textbooks or computers assigned by number. It can also be helpful

for grouping students, or if the gradebook has been combined by custom groups, this would be a way to note

the period the student is scheduled.

By selecting this box, a Student Numbers Column will be displayed in the gradebook.

o Elementary school grades are entered as points. Leave this box unchecked.



o If the teacher has a course that is open to multiple grade levels it could be helpful to have the students’ grade

levels show in the gradebook.

o Custom Grades may be defined by the District and if so, cannot be changed, added or removed. Examples of custom grades that are available for use are:

When these custom grades are entered in the Gradebook, they MUST be capitalized.

o Enabling Gradebook Groups allows the teacher to create groups to assign students to for a variety of reasons,

e.g. ability level, random academic teams for group work, etc. Type a name in the box and click Save. A new

blank will appear for an additional group to be created.

After Gradebook Groups have been defined, students can be added to the Groups within the gradebook itself.

To complete this step, navigate to Grades Menu > Gradebook.

Select a class from the course drop-down.

Click on the “-” under the Groups Column to select the group name from the Groups list. Students can be assigned to multiple groups.

Check the box for the group(s) being assigned to the student. The selection will auto-save.



After assigning students to Groups, the teacher will be able to view and filter those Groups in the gradebook.

o Grade Title Colors makes it possible to specify different colors to be assigned to grades as they are entered

into the gradebook. Click the radio buttons to specify the colors that should be assigned to each letter grade:

Note: The same color can be used for multiple letter grades.

Be sure to click the button after making any changes.

Activity

Select your gradebook configuration options. View the results.

If you have MULTIPLE sections in a single class period, try the “Combine sections by Period” preference.

If you have MULTIPLE sections of the same course, try the “Combine by Custom Groups” preference.

Create two or more Gradebook Groups that you would use during the school year. Assign students to the groups.



Gradebook Template Categories and Assignments The Gradebook Categories and Assignments is where teachers can see the categories, category weights and assignments that have been defined by the Gradebook Template. Teachers will only be able to add assignments to the category entitled Teacher Created, as this category has no bearing on the student’s grade. To access this, go to Grades > Gradebook Categories and Assignments.

**NOTE: Focus recommends that Gradebook Assignments be added through the Gradebook and not from this menu.

EXAMPLE: Kindergarten ELA course

o The number in ( ) after the Category name references the number of assignments attached to that category. o The number in ( ) after the Assignment title references the point value of the assignment. o The Assignment title is the Learning Goal and there will be only ONE graded assignment per Learning Goal. o The Assignment Category title references the Standard under which the grade on the report card will post.

o Teachers should note that the Assignment Category title cannot be changed.



o Click on the Assignment Category title to view the list of Assignments created in that Category.

o Click on the Assignment Title to see the details for that Assignment

o Teachers should also note that the Assignment titles, Point Value and Assignment Category cannot be changed.

o The date Assigned and date Due can be edited from this view or from within the Gradebook. If dates are

entered here, be sure to click the Save button at the top right corner.

o Assignments should not be added to any category except the Teacher Created category.

o It is best practice to create assignments from Grades > Gradebook and not here.

Inside the Gradebook

This section shows teachers what displays inside the gradebook once assignments have been created. Teachers should be familiarized with this before being instructed on creating assignments or entering grades on assignments. If teachers have combined sections by Custom Groups or combined sections by Period, the gradebook will display a large number of students in the selected course.

Select Grades > Gradebook



Select a course from the Course drop-down menu in the upper right corner.

The Gradebook screen will show the following fields and others, based on teacher-selected configuration options:

1. This drop-down menu allows teachers to view all assignments or to filter to display assignments in a specific category or specific individual assignments.

2. Hover over the asterisk to display custom grades

allowed within the gradebook.

3. Add assignment allows the teacher to create

assignments in the gradebook. Assignments can only be added to the Teacher Created category.

4. Enter Grades By drop-down menu allows teachers to enter grades by: Points, Percent, Questions Correct, or Questions Incorrect. **It is very important to know what is selected when entering grades as it impacts how the grade is computed.



5. Check the Include Inactive Students to display any students who withdrew during the term.

6. Opens links to 13 different reports based on

gradebook entries. Click to view the list; click again to close the list.

7. The Student and Grade column lists all students in the

gradebook and their overall grade.

8. The Student ID column displays the student ID, unless

altered in My InformationPreferences Student Listing.

9. The remaining columns display the assignments that

have been created. The example shows the Assignment title, the point value and number of questions (if applicable) along with the Assigned and Due dates Note: These are specified when the assignment is added or defined by the Gradebook Template. Columns may also be color-coded if teachers selected a specific color for each category.

10. Hover over the i symbol to display assignment information including: Title, Points, Assigned, Due, Description, Average, and Range. Click the i symbol to edit date fields or description on a Template-based assignment. All fields on a Teacher-created assignment can be edited.

11. At the bottom of the student names within the

gradebook, teachers will see the overall class average. For each assignment, there will also be a class average at the bottom.

Assignments where students were absent when the work was assigned will be denoted with a gold box symbol.

Assignments where students were absent when the work was due will be denoted with a red box symbol.



Creating Assignments in the Teacher-created Category If teachers have combined sections by Custom Group or by Period, they will need to decide which course will be selected from the Course drop down when creating assignments. Assignments can only be added to the Teacher Created category.

Select a course from the drop down. Click the Add an Assignment tab.

Proceed to add information for this assignment in the numbered fields. Not all fields are required.

1. Enter the Title of the assignment by typing in the blank text box.

2. Enter the amount of Points possible for this assignment.

3. (Optional). Enter the amount of Questions on the

assignment by typing in the blank text box. This is NOT required and is typically used when entering scores based upon questions correct/incorrect.

4. (OPTIONAL during assignment creation). To fill in points

for all students, type in the amount of points in the blank Auto-Fill Points box. After assignment creation, if this feature is used it will fill ONLY empty cells for that assignment.



5. Choose the TEACHER CREATED Assignment Category from the drop-down menu.

6. Enter the Assigned date and the Due date by using the drop-

down fields or using the calendar feature.

7. (OPTIONAL) Enter a Description of the assignment by typing

in the empty text box.

8. If sections have been combined, all sections will be

checked and displayed under the heading Grouped. If the teacher has only one section of each course, only the course displaying in the Course drop down will be automatically checked.

If desired, teachers can check the box for Check All or check a box in front of the specific courses to which this assignment should apply.

9. Add files by dragging into the Files box or choosing

Select File to upload. THIS IS FOR STUDENT LEARNING MATERIALS such as a writing prompt, reading selection or maybe a vocabulary list. (Students will be able to download the file from their portal).

10. (Optional) Select a Standard to attach to the assignment by clicking on the title to open the list. Check the box or boxes for the desired standard or standards.

Be sure to click the button in the upper right corner after completing entries.

ACTIVITY Create an Assignment in the Teacher Created category called "KAHOOT!" for all

students in all classes.” Specify a due date of tomorrow and a point value.



Copying an Assignment

Copy Assignment can be used in order to make multiple similar assignments within the same gradebook or across marking periods. A great application would be if each week, an identical homework assignment was used, or if there was a research project with the same scoring rubric that was completed in each marking period. The teacher can also add assignments from previous years or marking periods. NOTE: Copy assignment is not the recommended method to add assignments to multiple sections during creation. Focus recommends checking all the sections when the assignment is created. Copy Assignment would be used if the teacher forgot to check the other sections when he/she created the assignment or wants an assignment from a previous marking period/year. **Only assignments from the Teacher Created category should be selected for copying.

To copy an assignment from the gradebook, select Gradebook from the Grades menu.

1. Choose from the Course drop down the section to which the assignment is to be copied.

2. Click the Add an Assignment tab.

3. Click Copy Assignments.

A pop-up box will appear with options to select assignments from other classes or past marking periods and years.



4. Choose the year, section, and/or marking period to copy an assignment from by choosing from the pull-down menus at the top of the popup screen. The course being copied to is in bold-face text.

***ONLY SELECT ASSIGNMENTS FROM THE TEACHER CREATED CATEGORY*** 5. Choose the assignment to copy by clicking the appropriate checkbox. The box by the Category title will select all

assignments in that category.

6. Click on one of the buttons (there is one at the top and one at the bottom). This assignment will now appear in the gradebook for the course in bold text. Assigned and due dates can be edited as well as any other fields in the assignment information box.

Entering Grades for Assignments When entering grades for the Learning Goals, only the LATEST and GREATEST should be entered for each assignment.

Choose Gradebook from the Grades menu.

Select a course from the course dropdown. If sections have been combined, all students from those courses/sections will display on the screen.



The specific assignment being graded can be selected from the All Assignments drop down instead of horizontally scrolling through all assignments to locate the desired assignment.

Grades for multiple assignments can also be entered for an individual student by clicking on the student’s name when looking at assignments from a Category:

On the gradebook screen, grades can be entered for assignments using the Return (Enter) key, Arrow keys or the Tab key to move horizontally or vertically between the cells.

o Use the Up arrow to navigate upward in a column and Use the Down arrow to navigate down in the column.

o Use the Left and Right arrows to navigate across a row.

o Pressing Enter or Return also navigates down through the column.

Note: Grades are auto-saved as they are entered and the teacher moves to another cell.

o Entering a point value higher than the point value of the assignment will count as extra credit.

o Grades will be auto-filled if the Auto-Fill Points box was filled out when creating the assignment. This feature automatically enters the grades for this assignment for each student. (See the Creating Assignments sections of this training document for more information about this feature.)

o After assignment creation, if this feature is used it will fill ONLY empty cells for that assignment o Specific grades can also be entered for students first, and then auto-filled for the rest of the students for that

assignment.



1. Input grades for the specific students.

2. Next, click on the i icon in that assignment column.

3. Enter the amount of points to be auto-filled for the remaining students in the blank Auto-Fill Points Box.

4. Click .

The cells that were previously left empty will now be filled. The cells that already had grades remain the same. Note: The cells will only auto-fill if they are empty.

Entering Grades from an Excel Spreadsheet Teachers can import scores for an assignment into the Gradebook using a CSV file. The assignment must be created in the Gradebook before scores can be imported. The CSV file must include a column of student IDs and a column of

scores. The scores can be entered as points or a percentage.

1. In the Gradebook, click the i icon on the existing assignment.

ACTIVITY Create an assignment and enter different grades for several students. Auto-fill the grade for the remaining students.



2. At the top of the Edit an Assignment window, click Import CSV File.

3. In the pop-up window, click Choose File and select the CSV file from your computer.

4. Select the type of score values included in the file, Points or Percent. 5. In the Student ID Column pull-down, select which column in the file contains the student IDs. 6. In the Score Column pull-down, select which column in the file contains the scores. 7. When finished, click Upload.

8. The scores are uploaded into the assignment in the Gradebook.



Creating Check Box Assignments

Check box assignments are useful for record keeping purposes such as keeping track of returned permission slips.

Follow the same instructions for adding an assignment; however, in the Points box enter a forward slash.

Instead of blank boxes to input numbers for a grade, check boxes will appear. The boxes can be checked off individually or en masse using the Auto Fill box.

Note: No points are associated to this assignment. It is simply a completion grade.

ACTIVITY Create a Check box assignment. Check off several individual boxes then use Auto Fill for the remaining students.



Entering Comments for Assignments

Comments can be entered that are specific to the student’s grade on an assignment. These comments are public and will be viewable to parents and students. A proper use of this feature would be to denote a draft grade on an assignment.

Double click on the cell where the grade is entered. The cell will become highlighted.

Enter the comments in the pop up box.

Checking the Highlight box can also highlight grades. These assignments will then appear in the Highlighted Grades Report. This may be a good way to track the assignments with draft grades.

To save the comment, click OK.

The grade now appears bold in the gradebook. Click on the icon to view/edit the comment.

**NOTE: If the intent is to enter the same comment for ALL Students, use the Description box during assignment

creation or by clicking the in the column header to edit assignment details.

Entering Notes for Students

Notes can also be entered that are specific to the student and not the assignment. These comments have the option to be made private or public. Be aware that any comment that is entered will become public record and district policy will be for all comments to be marked PUBLIC. To enter a note that is specific to the student,

ACTIVITY

Enter in a comment for 3 different students’ assignments.



1. Click on the icon next to the student name in the Student/Grade column. 2. In the blank field, enter the note. 3. Choose the Public radio button. 4. To save the note, click OK.

The icon now appears as . This indicates that there is a note entered for this student.

Other Gradebook Features

When inside the Gradebook, to view an individual student’s grades, click on the student’s name under the Student/Grade column. This is the view the parents and students see when they enter the parent/student portal.

o The allows teachers to scroll or search by name through all students in the gradebook.

o Any column can be sorted by clicking on the column name.



Gradebook Reports From the data in the gradebook, a number of useful reports can be generated. To access the gradebook reports, navigate to the Grades Menu and select Gradebook Reports.

Once on the Gradebook Reports screen, teachers can select from 13 reporting options in the left-hand pane. The report itself will populate in the right-hand pane on the screen.

Grade Breakdown Graphs This report allows teachers to see student grade analyses for each of their sections. These breakdowns can be viewed as Pie or Column Graphs, or as a Simple List. Clicking the download button above the graph allows teachers to download the image of the Column and Pie graph.

The Grade Breakdown can be performed for total overall grades, for each assignment category, or for individual assignments by selecting the desired assignment(s) from the Display Graph Of menu.



Missing Grades Report The Missing Grades report shows a comprehensive list of students that are missing grades in a particular section, as well as each assignment missing, and the assigned/due dates for each assignment.

Teachers can view missing grades for all students in all sections by clicking the Show All Courses button (shown by the arrow in the screenshot above). This is a very important report during Grade Posting time, as grades cannot be posted while the gradebook is incomplete. Student grades CAN be entered and comments can be assigned on this screen. Make sure to click Save after data entry if updating from this screen.

Failing Grades Report The Failing Grades report shows a list of all students in each section that have a failing grade in the gradebook. Grades can be added and updated from this screen, and comments can be added as well.

The teacher can also define the threshold that equates to failing by clicking the Threshold box and selecting the appropriate percentage. Missing Grades can also be displayed by checking the box in the upper right corner. Be sure to click SAVE in the upper right corner after making any changes.

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

Be sure to click in the upper right corner after making any changes.



Highlighted Grades Report The Highlighted Grades report allows the teacher to view all grades that they’ve highlighted in each section of their gradebook. The grades can be edited if necessary from this report, and comments can be added.


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


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




Transferred Students Report The Transferred Students Report allows teachers to see students who have transferred into their assigned sections from another teacher within the same school or from another Collier County school.

Teachers can search for a specific student in the Search box, view a list of all students who have transferred into that section by clicking Simple List, or select Search All Sections to view all students across sections. After defining the search criteria, click Search. Once the report has been run, it will return a list of names of transferred students.

Clicking on the student’s name will show grade and assignment details from the student’s previous teachers.

These grades can then be used to assign grades within the gradebook in line with what the student was receiving in the course from which they transferred. These grades will not automatically transfer to the new teacher unless it is the same teacher and course but a different period of the day.



Progress Reports Student Progress Reports (informal) can be generated and printed for students to make up missing or failing work.

An individual student can be specified, or the entire section can be shown if the Continue box is pressed with no information defined in the Student field. The Print All Classes button for elementary teachers will print grades for each of the classes students are assigned to that teacher.

Note: There are a variety of options and filters that can be included, such as the Gradebook Notes, Attendance details, the ability to filter the report to only missing or failing assignments, et cetera. These preferences should be

specified before clicking Continue.

Once the Continue option is selected, the teacher can decide whether the reports should be printed or saved, and can also select which students to generate reports for.

If Printed Reports are desired, hit Print to continue. A PDF will be generated that will allow the reports to be printed for the selected student(s). Do NOT use the print button at the bottom of the page.



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

Gradebook Audit Trail Report This report shows changes that have been made to student grades in the gradebook over time. In order to use this report: first select a section to view from the course dropdown, then specify the time period during which the Audit Trail should be viewed by defining those dates in the date fields.

Next, decide if NG Grade Changes should be included. This will display grades that had values entered for the first time. Click on the UPDATE button to generate the report. Results will display for the section showing in the course dropdown. A list of students and their grade changes (as well as who changed the grades) will be available at that point.

Note: This report can also be filtered by individual columns by selecting the Filter button and specifying the

variables/rules by which the filtering should take place.



Student Participation This report shows student participation in a variety of ways. The tab at the top of the screen will allow the teacher to view the available reports. Each tab has a legend to help identify parts of the graphs.

The Participation tab represents the percent of A grades (Green), B grades (Yellow), C grades (Orange) and F grades (Red) for each student in the section showing in the course dropdown.

The Assignments tab shows the percentage of students who turned in each assignment on time (Green), late (Yellow), and who are missing the assignment (Red).

The Grades tab allows teachers to view each assignment per course within the gradebook. The thin vertical whisker extends from the lowest score for that assignment to the highest score. The thicker bar extends from the 25th percentile to the 75th, with the median marked.



Troubleshooting Guide

QUESTION – I cannot add additional categories, why?

The district has created a Gradebook template only allowing the teacher to add assignments to the Teacher Created categories only.

QUESTION – Why would there be a different number of students listed in a teacher’s gradebook than in “Take

Attendance?” Within the My Information > Preferences menu, teachers have the option of combining sections for the

gradebook or for attendance. Using combine for gradebook will add all of the teacher’s sections for a particular course to a single gradebook. Combining for attendance allows teachers who have multiple sections within a single period (e.g. Band I and Band II meeting in the same room for first period) to take all attendance without switching between sections.

Configure Gradebooks Separately for Each Section allows the users to decide if they’d like to use the same

configuration for each section they teach, or if they’d like each section to have different configurations. If this box is checked, the configuration steps would need to be completed for each individual section. Teachers that may have different assignments for different periods of the same course would probably select this option.

Combine Sections for Gradebook allows users to decide if they’d like to have their gradebooks organized by period in the traditional fashion, or if they’d like to combine their gradebook by either period or by custom groups. ***NOTE: If the district has turned off the preference for this, the teacher will be unable to see this.

Combine Sections in the Same Period for Taking Attendance allows the user to decide if they want to combine their classes by period for attendance only. It’s possible to combine classes for attendance, but not for grades. Note: This option will only be displayed if the user has multiple sections the same period.

Combine sections BY PERIOD is an option should only be used if the teacher is sure that the assignments will be the same for those classes for the entirety of the marking period. **CAUTION: If periods are uncombined later, the teacher may lose assignments and/or attendance. If the user is unsure, please contact FOCUS in order to assist.

Combine sections BY CUSTOM GROUPS gives the user the ability to combine classes into groups. If configuring with Custom Groups, drag the ungrouped sections into the appropriate categories. New groups can be added at will, and each group can be named by clicking the group title. **CAUTION: If groups are uncombined later, the teacher may lose assignments and/or attendance. If the user is unsure, please contact FOCUS in order to assist.

QUESTION - A teacher did not use weighted categories first quarter, but she wants to begin using them now.

How will this affect the assignments from first quarter and the assignments she already has in Quarter 2? What about the posted grades from Quarter 1? Once the teacher begins using weighted categories, grades from past and the present quarters will be adjusted

to reflect this change. Past posted grades will remain the same, however, if using weighted categories has caused any students’ grade to change, the grade verification report from those marking periods will show this discrepancy and highlight it with red text. NOTE: After a teacher begins using weighted categories, assignments from the current quarter will have to be re-assigned a category.

QUESTION - If a teacher is using weighted categories, what is the most important thing that they need to ensure

during category creation? When using weighted categories, the most important thing of which a teacher should be sure is that the total

points assigned to each category ends up totaling to 100.



QUESTION – Is it possible for a teacher to define custom groups within a class period in the gradebook? If so, how? If a teacher would like to enable custom grouping within a class, they must first enable the Groups option within

the Gradebook Configuration.

After enabling and entering groups, they must save the configuration via the save button at the top right of the page.

QUESTION – From the teacher login, how can we see what grading scale their course(s) are assigned to? By accessing the Gradebook Configuration (Grades > Gradebook Configuration), the “Score Breakoff Points”

section displays the lowest percentile at which a score will be considered a particular letter grade.

NOTE: This is a System Preference that can be turned on or off by the district. Go to System Preferences > Grading> Gradebook.

QUESTION – In what circumstances should Only use letter grades in the gradebook — not points be checked? School personnel can determine where they’d like to use this feature, but one example where it might be used is

for scoring conduct.

QUESTION – How can a teacher create an extra credit assignment? HINT: there are two ways to do this.

A teacher can create extra credit by setting an assignment to be worth 0 points when they create it. Additionally, they can assign a student more points than the total for the assignment (e.g. student earns 12

points for a 10 point quiz).

QUESTION – A teacher teaches 4 Bio 1 classes all in different period, how can she create an assignment only once and attach it to each class? When creating this assignment, the teacher can elect to create it for multiple sections via a list of check boxes to

the right of the assignment creation screen.

This is one option, what is another?

The teacher could also elect to use the Copy Assignment feature if they had already added the assignment to a single class and later realized they meant to include it for all sections. To copy an assignment, add a new assignment and then click the “Copy Assignment” link in the top right of the pop-up. This brings up a new pop-up from which you can choose the section (and even the year/quarter) and then choose the assignment to copy.

Another option is to use the Gradebook Configuration option “Add all assignments to each section of your course by default”

QUESTION - How can I add comments to each assignment a student submits? How can I comment on the

student’s grade overall? In order to add comments to a particular assignment a student has submitted, within the gradebook (Grades >

Gradebook), you can double click on the text field in which you enter the grade. This brings up a pop-up box that has an additional text field where comments can be entered.

If you’re looking to make comment on a student’s grade, overall, you can click the clipboard icon to the right of their name on your gradebook. This opens a pop-up similar to what we just saw and has a field for comments.

QUESTION – Why would a student’s overall grade be over 100%?



If the student has completed extra credit, their overall grade could be over 100%. What might also cause this unintentionally?

If a teacher incorrectly assigns their category weights to total more than 100%, they could end up seeing students with higher overall class grades than they should have.

More Information

Gradebook Configuration Gradebook Configurations can be set in two areas: under System Preferences Default User Preferences and within the teacher’s Grades Menu. Set the district defaults in Gradebook Configurations to include what items in the configuration the district wants to allow the teachers to alter in their own Gradebook configuration settings. Typically these configuration options should be decided ahead of the first day of school, as changing some of these options may have adverse affects on gradebook assignments.

When configuring items such as Score Breakoff Points and the use of the Full Year Gradebook, typically these are district decisions that are made for the schools.

Score Breakoff Points contain a link that is a shortcut to the screen that allows you to set up your Grading Scales and Comments.

Grade Posting Averaging Configuration

To set up a new grade-posting scheme or to edit an existing scheme, open the School Setup menu and select Grade Posting Averaging.

To edit an existing scheme, click on the name of the grade-posting scheme you wish to edit.

To create a new grade-posting scheme, click on Add a grade posting scheme and type in a title. You can also choose whether this scheme will be the default. Next, click the Save button in the upper right of the screen.

At the top of the grade-posting scheme window, the title and the short name can be edited and users can choose

whether the scheme is the default. The Short Name needs to match any imported data.

For the full-year grade calculation, a weighted average of the semester grades can be used or a weighted average of the quarter grades can be used.

Enter the percent value (0 to 100) that each term will be weighted in the calculation. Only enter percent values for

one of the possible calculations (either semesters or quarters). The sum should be 100. NOTE: In the example below, the full-year grade has been set up to calculate as a weighted average of the semester grades, where each semester grade is 50% of the full-year grade.

For each semester grade calculation, enter the percent value (0 to 100) that each quarter will be weighted in the calculation. The total for each semester should be 100.



NOTE: In the example below, the Semester 1 grade has been set up to calculate as a weighted average where each quarter is 40% and the Semester 1 Exam is 20% of the Semester 1 grade. Semester 2 is set up similarly.

Selecting the Hide checkbox for a marking period will disable grade posting by teachers for the respective marking period. The teachers can view the grade-posting screens, but cannot post grades for the marking period if the Hide box is selected. If marking periods are hid, the pull grades feature can be used to post grades. Note that the hide feature is also available for the semester exams.

Once the information for a grade-posting scheme is entered, click the Save button in either the upper right of the screen or at the bottom of the grade-posting scheme window.

The option to include exams in the grade calculations is available only if the specific exams used are indicated in the system preferences. If the exams are not selected in system preferences, there will not be an option to include them in the grade calculations. Open the School Setup menu and select System Preferences to set the exam preferences. The exam options are located below the Report Card Codes.

A saved grade-posting scheme can be copied by clicking Duplicate Grade Posting Scheme. Type a new title and click the duplicate button. This will create an identical scheme with a new title. Be sure that grade-posting schemes have unique titles.

To delete a saved grade-posting scheme, click the minus sign next to the title.

Note: Grade Posting Schemes will need to be assigned to each section of a course as they are created. The Scheme should be assigned in line with the desired outcomes for that course and section.

Creating a New Grading Scale

To create a new grading scale, open the Grades menu and select Grading Scales & Comments. Then, click the tab with the plus sign.

Enter a title for the new grading scale and select whether it is the default scale. Hit enter or click the Save button in the upper right of the screen to create the new grading scale.

Add new Titles and Values to the new grading scale by completing the fields on the row starting with the plus sign.

Complete the fields, including the GPA columns and the default breakoff for each grade. All grading scales should have GPA values assigned. The GPA values will be used to calculate grade averages where only letter grades are used.

The default breakoff is the minimum of the percent range for a specific grade. The highest default breakoff value represents an inclusive range starting at that value through 100%. Subsequent default breakoff values will represent an inclusive range from that breakoff value to 1% below the next highest default breakoff. No titles should have the same value for the default breakoff.

NOTE: Below is an example grading scale showing how the default breakoff values set the percent range for each

grade.



Default Breakoff Percent Range

89.5% 90% to 100%

79.5% 80% to 89%

69.5% 70% to 79%

0% 0% to 69%

The Sort Order will determine how the grades appear in the lists. The Gives Credit field will determine if credit is awarded for a course based on the specific grade. The Incomplete field allows a grade to be distinguished as an incomplete grade.

After completing the fields for a new grade, click the Save button. Additional grades can then continue to be added to the new grading scale.

To delete a grading scale, click the link Delete this grading scale at the bottom of the grading scale window.

Once complete, these Grading Scales are assigned to Sections during Course and Section Configuration.

If you would like more information or a step-by-step Training Document on Teacher Gradebook, please see Focus University or your Focus trainer.

Documents

Focus University Training Document · 2016. 9. 22. · Elementary Teacher Gradebook Focus School Software 2 Portal Review 1. Refocuses the user to the home portal page. 2. Displays