PowerTeacher Gradebook Report Card Guide for 2019-2020 ......Nova Scotia Public Education System PowerTeacher Gradebook Report Card Guide for 2019-2020: Grades 7-12 User Guide Revision

Nova Scotia Public Education System

PowerTeacher Gradebook Report Card Guide for 2019-2020: Grades 7-12 User Guide

Revision Date: October 11, 2019


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1. What must be entered? ...............................................................................................................................3

1.1. Teachers – Grades 7-12........................................................................................................................3

2. Assigning a Grade .........................................................................................................................................4

2.1. Important First Step for Grade 7-12 Teachers .....................................................................................4

2.2. Double Check your Grade Setup ..........................................................................................................4

2.3. How to Enter your Grades ...................................................................................................................5

2.3.1. Overview ......................................................................................................................................5

2.3.2. Score Inspector ............................................................................................................................6

2.3.3. Fill Scores .....................................................................................................................................7

2.3.4. Student View ................................................................................................................................8

2.3.5. Entering Grades for Grade 7 – 8 Language Arts and Math ..........................................................9

3. Completing the Learner Profile ................................................................................................................. 10

3.1. Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 10

3.2. Methods that can be used to Complete the Learner Profile ............................................................ 11

3.2.1. Method 1: Direct Entry ............................................................................................................. 11

3.2.2. Method 2: Right Click ................................................................................................................ 11

4. Comments ................................................................................................................................................. 12

4.1. Overview ........................................................................................................................................... 12

4.2. Entering Comments .......................................................................................................................... 12

4.3. Using Smart Text Tags when Writing Comments.............................................................................. 14

4.4. Viewing your Comments ................................................................................................................... 14

5. All the Grades and Comments are in for a Class. Now What? .................................................................. 15

(Note: Names appearing in this document are fictitious names)


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1. WHAT MUST BE ENTERED?

1.1. Teachers – Grades 7-12

Teachers must enter the following for each subject:

1. Percentage Grade: o Enter a progress grade for each subject in the Final Grade column in Gradebook. o Exception: Language Arts (English and French) and Mathematics: (grades 7 and 8)

Enter a percentage grade for each strand, under the appropriate column. Remember there is no report card grade entered in the Final Grade Column for Grade 7/8 Language Arts and Mathematics.

o For grade 9-12 courses, a final grade will need to be entered – in the F1 reporting term - once the course is finished (ex. at the end of semester, or school year).

2. Learner Profile:

o For each of the four Development/Work Habits, enter a description of Consist, Usually, Sometime, Rarely, or N/A (N/A is only available for Grades 7-9).

3. Comments: o Enter a comment related to Strengths/Needs/Suggestions for the student. Comments

are added in the Final Grade column for all subjects. Note: Teachers can comment on behaviors from the Learning Profile in the Subject-Area comment block if the behaviour is affecting the student’s achievement in that subject.

NOTE:

For students enrolled in IPP courses in grades 9 – 12, a progress and/or final grade must be entered in the Gradebook at the end of each reporting term.


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2. ASSIGNING A GRADE

2.1. Important First Step for Grade 7-12 Teachers

Before you begin, be sure you are in the correct reporting term and you are scoring the correct subject.

2.2. Double Check your Grade Setup

To ensure that the percentage grade is being correctly calculated in Gradebook (according to your Assessment and Evaluation plan), be sure to confirm your Grade Setup for the current reporting term (ex. Q1) by clicking on the ‘Grade Setup’ tab, and then double-clicking the reporting term.

This process should be repeated for each course you teach.

For assistance with Grade Setup, refer to the support documents located on the iNSchool website at https://inschool.ednet.ns.ca . Afterwards, navigate to Teachers (click Learn More) > User Guides > PowerTeacher Gradebook > Setup of Categories & Assessments in PowerTeacher Gradebook Grades 7-12 – User Guide.

https://inschool.ednet.ns.ca/


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2.3. How to Enter your Grades

2.3.1. Overview

The report card will display the grade that appears in the Final Grade section of the Gradebook.

Note the exception indicated to the right.

Exception: Since grade 7-8 Mathematics, English Language Arts and French Language Arts will report on the individual strands, the grades for these courses are entered by clicking on the Scoresheet tab and then choosing Final Grades Mode. More detailed instructions in section 2.3.5.

When a teacher is using the Gradebook to input their assessments and/or achievement level scores, then a grade will be automatically generated in the Final Grade section of Gradebook. Be sure to verify the grades for accuracy, and do not assume that the grades are correct. Gradebook will calculate the grades based on how you have configured your Grade Setup and on how you entered your assessments and your assessment scores.

If you are not using Gradebook to calculate a percentage grade in the Final Grade column, you can only use the Score Inspector or Fill grades, and you must check the box Professional Judgment to enter/override a grade.

Follow the instructions in sections 2.3.2 and/or 2.3.3 to manually override grades in Gradebook.

When a progress or final grade has been modified in Gradebook, you will see a small red circle next to the modified grade. This flag can only be seen by the teacher in Gradebook, and the flag will NOT appear in any way in the Student-Parent Portal.


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2.3.2. Score Inspector The Score Inspector is a tool that allows easy navigation up and down between students and across the columns in the scoresheet.

To bring up the Score Inspector, right mouse click in any column in the scoresheet, including in the Final Grades column, select Show Score Inspector.

The arrows next to the student’s name will allow you to move up and down the student list. The arrows next to the Final Grade Item, will allow you to move back and forth between columns. And the arrows next to the Grade will scroll through the grades available.

When using the Score Inspector in the Final Grade column, you can tab between entering scores and adding comments.

1. Be sure the reporting term is set to the correct bin (ex. Q1) before entering your grades.

2. Select the ‘Professional Judgement’ checkbox,

3. Enter the appropriate grade in the Percent field.

4. Enter the appropriate grade in the Grade field (even if it is the same grade in both fields [as illustrated in the image to the right]). Both the grade and percent fields must be populated so that both report cards and senior high transcripts print properly.

5. Use the Up / Down arrow buttons ( ) next to the student’s name to quickly move to another student in your class.


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2.3.3. Fill Scores

PowerSchool offers a quick fill routine that will allow teachers to select a grade or a comment for the first student and fill the same grade or comment down for all the students in the class. Pick the first student, right mouse click, select Fill Scores, in the Fill Scores box you can select what value to enter and select if you want to add this value to all students or to students without any current value.

In the Final Grade column when you choose Fill Score, you have more options.

• Check the box Replace Professional Judgment. • If entering a percent grade (Grades 7 – 12) select both

the Percent and Grade check box and enter a value. • If entering a comment select the Comment check box

and enter a value. Notice that the Comment is enabled. To select a comment from a comment bank select the Comment tab and either double click a comment in the list or select the comment and click the Insert Selected button.


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2.3.4. Student View In the Scoresheet, click on the tab, Student View, this presents all the same information but for one student at a time. On this page, you enter the scores by right mouse clicking on the bottom row called Final Score.

There are a number of ways to enter the scores and comments into the Gradebook. Teachers will use the method with which they are most comfortable.


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2.3.5. Entering Grades for Grade 7 – 8 Language Arts and Math

To enter report card percentage grades for the individual strands in Language Arts (ELA and FLA) and Math, the grades will need to be entered manually by: (1) clicking on the Scoresheet tab and then (2) choosing Final Grades Mode.

The student’s grades can be entered by either:

Method 1: Direct Entry

Typing the appropriate percentage grade in the cell to the right of the student’s name.

‘N/A’ is also an option to use for grade 7/8 Math courses. If one or more Math strands were not covered during the reporting term, assign a ‘N/A’ grade instead of leaving the strand grades blank.

Method 2: Right Click

1. Right-click on an entry location.

2. Click ‘Grades’.

3. Select the appropriate abbreviation for the entry.

Note: There is a current issue where some grades cannot be accessed (since the scroll function is not working properly), so method 1 will be preferable at this time.

The three ELA strands


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3. COMPLETING THE LEARNER PROFILE

3.1. Overview

On the Scoresheet, again ensure you are in the correct reporting term and in the correct subject.

On the Final Grades tab, you will find columns to complete the Learner Profile.

The Learner Profile consists of four Social Development/Work Habits each of these Social Development/Work Habits need to be given a score. Using one of the data entry methods described above, enter one of the available values, Consist, Usually, Sometime, Rarely, or N/A (NOTE: N/A only applies to junior high courses).

The Learner Profile categories are:

Classwork and Assignments

• Completes classwork • Completes homework • Strives to produce quality work

Organizational Skills

• Comes prepared for class • Manages own materials and belongings • Uses time efficiently

Interactions with Others

• Interacts positively • Resolves conflicts appropriately • Works collaboratively

Responsibility and Independence

• Accepts responsibility for own actions • Arrives on time for class • Follows instructions/directions/rules and routines • Respects school property and the property of others • Works independently

Teachers of grade 7 and 8 ELA, FLA or Mathematics will notice the Learner Profiles will come after the strands.


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3.2. Methods that can be used to Complete the Learner Profile

You can hover your mouse cursor over the words in the column header to display the description horizontally for ease of reading.

3.2.1. Method 1: Direct Entry 1. Click on an entry location.

2. Type the appropriate abbreviation for the entry (Consist, Usually, Sometime, Rarely, N/A) NOTE: N/A only applies to junior high courses

3.2.2. Method 2: Right Click 1. Right-click on an entry location.

2. Click ‘Grades’.

3. Select the appropriate abbreviation for the entry.


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4. COMMENTS

4.1. Overview

Comments are required to be included for all students in all subject areas. The comments reflect student achievement in relation to the expected learning outcomes specific to the course. Be sure the reporting term is set to the correct reporting term before entering any student comments. Comments are entered in the Final Grade section of the Gradebook. Once a comment has been added for a student, a comment icon ( ) will appear. Comments that are saved electronically in MS Word or MS Excel format can be copied and pasted into the Gradebook.

For report card comment writing tips, please visit the iNSchool site at: http://bit.ly/ReportCardsNS.

4.2. Entering Comments

To add a comment for a student, you will need to use the Score Inspector (note: this is the same Inspector box that is used to manually override a student’s grade). 1. To access the Score Inspector, right-click on a student’s

mark (in the Final Grade section) and select ‘Show Score Inspector’ or CTRL + SHIFT + I on the keyboard (COMMAND + SHIFT + I on a Mac).

2. Enter the comment for the student in the comment box. Use the functionality of the Score Inspector to quickly move up or down to the next student.

3. If you are copying comments from another document (such as MS Word or MS Excel), paste comments in the Gradebook by using the following method (right-click option does not work in Gradebook):

• To Copy, press CTRL + C • To Paste, press CTRL + V


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4. If using your personalized comment bank to insert comments, select My Comment Bank. Choose a comment from the list and click Insert Selected.

a. There is a Find box, type in a word you know is in the comment; the comments that contain this word are the only ones now selectable. Clear this field to see all the comments again.

b. Double click on the comment to bring it down to the comment box, or, if you want to insert multiple comments, select multiple comments, (CTRL Click on a PC or Command Click on a MAC) then click Insert Selected.

c. Once the comments are in the comment box you may edit them. DO NOT add any HTML code in the comment box.

For more detailed instructions on how to set up your personalized comment bank, refer to the support document located on the iNSchool website at https://inschool.ednet.ns.ca . Afterwards, navigate to Teachers (click Learn More) > User Guides > PowerTeacher

Gradebook > Using the Personal Comment Bank in PowerTeacher Gradebook – User Guide. d. Be aware that there are comment length restrictions. These limitations vary among courses

as well as grade level. Values indicated below are total number of characters per student comment (and spaces do count as characters).

Grade Level

ELA/FLA Math Other Subjects

Grades 7-9 800* 800 400 Grades 10-12 400 400 400

*Grade 7-9 Immersion report cards will have a comment count for ELA of 400.

There is a character counter that indicates how many characters have been entered. If a character limit has been set, Gradebook will prevent you from entering more than the specified number of characters. If a comment is pasted into

the comment box that exceeds the number of allowable characters, the whole comment will be displayed with a warning message. Please note that if your comment exceeds the character limit, only the portion of your comment not exceeding the limit will display on the report card.

https://inschool.ednet.ns.ca/


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4.3. Using Smart Text Tags when Writing Comments

Smart Text is a code that will automatically replace the inserted code with the appropriate student information. These are converted by decoding the Smart Text directly within the Gradebook when you save the comment. The Smart Text that is available to use with comments is listed below. Since these codes are immediately decoded within the Gradebook when you save, they offer some advantages to the smart pronouns previously used:

• Teachers will know that the code has worked when they save the comment in the Gradebook. • Teachers will have an accurate character count in the Gradebook. • Comments will appear properly within the portal.

<first name> note: there is no underscore <last name, first name> <first name last name> <He/She> <last name> note: there is no underscore <he/she> <His/Her> <Him/Her> <his/her> <him/her>

4.4. Viewing your Comments Administrators

• From the start page of PowerSchool, click on Systems Reports. • Click on the Customs tab. • Click on the down arrow for the word Grade to show the reports under that section. • Select 7-12 Comments. • Choose a Teacher, Year and a Term.

Teachers

• From the start page of PowerTeacher View My Comments 7-12. • Select a Year and Term.


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5. ALL THE GRADES AND COMMENTS ARE IN FOR A CLASS. NOW WHAT? When all the comments and grades for all the students are entered in a course, click on the box that displays the term in progress. This must be done for each class as you complete it.

In the Final Grade Completion Status window check the box to indicate that all grades, learner profiles and comments are entered. Enter any comments (for Administration only) and click Ok.

Documents

PowerTeacher Gradebook Report Card Guide for 2019-2020 ......Nova Scotia Public Education System PowerTeacher Gradebook Report Card Guide for 2019-2020: Grades 7-12 User Guide Revision