School Year Setup

Setting up a school year involves taking the Grade Groups , Marking Periods, and Grade Columns you have already created and associating them with the established terms in your school year for the purpose of recording grades.

  • Grade Groups are used to link courses with Marking Periods. There are two types of Grade Groups: Standard or Skills-Based.

  • Marking Periods, which are added to Grade Groups, are the periods when grades are recorded. They also determine whether the grades recorded for that period should contribute toward credit accumulation.

  • Grade Columns, which are added to Marking Periods, are the grades actually being recorded by the faculty member. Grade Columns are associated with the Grade Categories , and therefore the Grade Translations , that have already been prepared. When a faculty member goes to record a grade for a course, what they encounter (typing in a numeric grade vs. selecting a grade from a menu) is dependent on the configuration of the Grade Category and the corresponding Grade Translation table options. The Grade Columns can be designated as either End of Term or (if enabled) Final, which will impact credit accommodation based on the grade recorded by the teacher and the specifications of the Grade Translation table.

To get started with School Year Setup:

  1. From the persona menu at the top left, select Academics as your product.

  2. Choose Grades and then select Grading setup.

  3. By default, you will arrive at the School year setup page.

Tip: For a tutorial on setting up grading at your school, see The Guide to Grading Setup.

Marking Periods are the periods when faculty are able to record grades. Therefore, Marking Periods should be added and available based on the need for display on a grade report.

Note: Marking Periods must already be created in order to proceed with adding them to an existing Grade Group.

  1. Use the School Year, Group Type, School Level, and Grade Groups filter options and select View to refresh the screen.

  2. Select Add next to the term to which you want to add the marking period.

  3. Enter the following information:

    • Plan Description:

      Choose the appropriate Description from the dropdown. This list is populated with Marking Period entries from Grading setup > Marking periods.

    • Due Date:

      The last day on which faculty members will collect grades for the marking period. This date is typically the end of the term.

    • Grading Start Date:

      The date on which faculty can begin recording grades.

    • Grading End Date:

      The date after which faculty will no longer be able to record grades. This date impacts the grading countdown on Faculty, My Day.

    • 'End of Term' marking period:

      Provides the ability to enter term grades/final grades for GPA and transcripts.

      • End of Term grades will trigger credits to be applied for the term, dividing the course credit by the number of terms it was offered.
        For example: If your course credit = 1 and you have End of term grade in your 1st quarter; 0.25 credits will be awarded for a passing grade.

        Tip: Typically this is enabled for the last Marking Period that appears in a term (ex. the end of Semester or Trimester). Only one Marking Period per term can be marked End of Term.

      • Final grades will award credit for single-term courses, while End of Term will award credit for multi-term courses.

        Note: Final grades will only be available for selection if Final grades is enabled for your school.

    • Number of grades/comments to be included in this marking period:

      The number of grades and/or comments that faculty will be recording. The number you enter here will impact the number of Grade Columns you can select from.

    • Review Start Date (optional):

      If the school has a grade/comment review process, this is the first date that reviewers or grading managers will be able to review grades.

    • Review End Date (optional):

      If the school has a grade/comment review process, this is the last date that reviewers or grading managers will be able to review grades.

    • Select the default 'Review By' option for reviewing grades (optional):

      This is the default way in which the grades will be available for review. This can be changed at any time and can also be changed from the review screen.

  4. Select Next.

  5. Select the Description from the dropdown. The Description dropdown is populated with entries from Grading Setup, Grade Columns.

  6. Choose the Grade Category from the drop down list. The Grade Category will determine what grade options are available, how grades appear to faculty when recorded, and the basic GPA weight formula that each grade option is assigned.

  7. Enter a sort Order; this is the order which faculty will see the grade columns.

  8. Check off the Required box if the grade or comment will be required for all faculty. Faculty will not be able to mark their grades as ready for review (if the review process is used) if there is a grade or comment missing.

    Tip: If your school has Midterms, but some classes do not take midterms, then leave this field disabled.

  9. Check off Include on Transcript Builder if you want the ability to pull the grade onto the Transcript. Final and/or term grades are automatically included in the transcript builder.

  10. Select Save & Exit.

If you need to add an additional grade or comment, click the hyperlink located at the bottom of the screen labeled "Add Grades/Comments." This will provide you with an additional row to add a grade or a comment.

  1. From School year setup, use the filter options to find the grade group and select View to refresh the page.

  2. Select Add next to the term you'd like to add a Marking Period to.

  3. Enter the following information:

    • Plan description: Choose the appropriate Description from the dropdown. This list is populated with Marking Period entries from Settings, Marking Periods.

    • Due date: last date of the grading period.

    • Grading Period: the Skills-Based Grading Periods to associate with the marking period.

    • Grading start date (optional): first date that faculty will be able to grade.

    • Grading end date (optional): last date that faculty will be able to grade.

    • Number of skill types included in this Marking Period: number of skill categories (not skills) that faculty will be assessing students on. For example: classwork, homework, conduct rather than "student comes prepared to class".

    • Review start date (optional): used if the school has a grade/comment review process, this is the first date that reviewers or grading managers will be able to review grades.

    • Review end date (optional): used if your school has a grade/comment review process, this is the last date that reviewers or grading managers will be able to review grades.

    • Select the default "review by' option for reviewing grades (optional): this is the default way in which the grades will be available for review, this can be changed at anytime and can also be changed from the review screen.

  4. Select Next.

  5. Enter the Descriptionfor each of the skill categories, the Sort Order, and the Number of Grades/Comments included in each (for example, "student comes prepared to class"). The category should describe the Skills that are added to it. Skills will appear within their respective categories on a grade report instead of a letter or number grade.

  6. Select Next.

  7. Select the Description from the dropdown. The Description dropdown is populated with entries from Settings, Skills.

  8. Choose the Grade Category from the drop down list. The Grade Category will determine what grade options are available, how grades appear to faculty when recorded, and the basic GPA weight formula that each grade option is assigned.

  9. Enter the sort order, which influences the appearance of the Skills in the Skills-Based Category.

  10. Mark if the skill is Required. If Required, faculty must record a grade.

  11. Select Save & Exit.

  1. From School year setup, use the filter options to find the grade group and select View to refresh the page.

  2. Select View beside the name of a Marking Period to open its Marking Period Details.

  3. If you would like to edit this marking period, select Edit.

  4. Make your changes, then Save & Exit.

Note: For more information about Marking Period setup, see the help topic Create Marking Periods.

Formulas can be associated with Grade Columns, effectively providing a structured and consistent means for recording grades. The formula affects the Calculate button that faculty can select when they record grades for students.

Formulas serve one of two primary purposes:

  • Calculate a term average based on multiple Grade Columns for a course

  • Calculate term scores based on cumulative scores in the Grade Book for a course

Below, we will walk through two possible scenarios where a school might want to use a formula.

To calculate a term average based on multiple Grade Columns:

Grade Columns can influence the overall grade of another Grade Column. For example, if your school offers midterms, and those midterms are meant to influence another recorded grade, you can use formulas to determine the weight of the midterm in calculating students' final grades.

Another example might pertain to an End of Term Grade Column for the fall semester. In that example, you could have that grade compiled using the Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Midterm grades. The compiled Fall Semester grade would then be used on grade reports, transcripts, and so forth.

  1. From School year setup, use the filter options to find the school year, school level, and term you would like to set up.

  2. Use the Filter Options to find a Standard Marking Period. (Formulas do not apply to Skills-Based Marking Periods, which do not use numeric values.)

    Note: If no Marking Periods exist during a term, you can create one by selecting Add on that row.

    Select View beside a Marking Period that contains the Grade Column that should be influenced by another Grade Column.

  3. Select Edit.

  4. Select Formula beside a Grade Column

  5. Select one of the following:

    1. Add Single Term
      The formula to follow for courses that start and end in the same term.

      OR

    2. Add Multi Term
      The formula to follow for courses that occur across more than one term.

    Note: If you separate Grade Groups by course term length (Single term courses and Multi Term courses, for example), then add the corresponding formula type to each Grade Column in each Grade Group. If your Grade Group contains both single and multi-term classes, then add a formula using both options to a Grade Column in that Grade Group.

  6. (Optional): Add a Sort Order. The lower the number, the higher the formula will appear on lists.

  7. Add a Description. This describes what the formula is calculating (for example: "End of Term Grade - Semester 1").

  8. Select a Grade Report Grade. This is an existing Grade Column recorded during the same term, and it will be used in the formula.

  9. In the as field, enter the percentage that grade should count in the calculation. Select Add Another, as needed, to incorporate more Grade Report Grades in the formula.

    For example, if the End of Term Grade (Semester 1) should be calculated with equal weight from 2 other Grade Columns (Q1 and Q2 grades, for example), you would select the Grade Report Grades containing those two grades, and set as to 50% for each.

  10. Grade Book Cumulative: If the cumulative grade from the course's gradebook is included in the calculation, enter the percentage it should count here.

  11. Decimal Places & Round: Decimal Places and Round work together to determine how your final grade is expressed. If Round is checked, the grade can be rounded up according to the Decimal Places setting. If Round is not checked, the grade will round down to the nearest value according to the Decimal Places setting.

    If Decimal Places is 0 and Round is OFF, then the grade is rounded down to the nearest whole number.

    If Decimal Places is 0, and Round is ON, then the grade rounds up if the score exceeds .5 (ex 76.5 becomes 77). If the score's decimal value is lower than .5, then it rounds down (ex. 76.4 becomes 76).

    The same Round principle applies if Decimal Places is 1 or higher: The calculated grade will round to the nearest decimal value.

  12. Select Close when you have finished editing the formula.

  13. Select Save or Save & Exit.

To calculate term scores based on cumulative scores in the Grade Book:

Formulas can be used to quickly draw from faculty members' entries in a Grade Book to calculate the grades for an entire class roster.

For example, if a faculty member is recording grades for a Q1 Progress Report, if a formula is set up to draw from the gradebook cumulative score for that Grade Column, then clicking Calculate will automatically populate the Q1 Progress Report with cumulative scores from the Grade Book. This functionality reduces the need for manual grade entry, and thus reduces user error.

  1. From School year setup, use the filter options to find the school year, school level, and term you would like to set up.

  2. Use the Filter Options to find a Standard Marking Period. (Formulas do not apply to Skills-Based Marking Periods, which do not use numeric values.)

    Note: If no Marking Periods exist during a term, you can create one by selecting Add on that row.

    Select View beside a Marking Period that contains the Grade Column.

  3. Select Edit

  4. Select Formula beside a Grade Column

  5. Select either:

    1. Add Single Term
      The formula to follow for courses that start and end in the same term. If the Grade Group contains Single Term courses, then you will need to add a formula to accommodate for that course length.

    2. Add Multi Term
      The formula to follow for courses that occur across more than one term. If the Grade Group contains Multi Term courses, then you will need to add a formula to accommodate for that course length.

    Note: If you separate Grade Groups by course term length (Single term courses and Multi term courses, for example), then add the corresponding formula type to each Grade Column in each Grade Group. If your Grade Group contains both single and multi-term classes, then add a formula using both options to a Grade Column in that Grade Group.

  6. Add a Description. This describes what the formula is calculating (for example: "Q1 Progress Report").

  7. Grade Book Cum: Enter a percentage representing how much the gradebook cumulative grade for the marking period should count toward this grade. When the faculty member selects Calculate while recording grades, that percentage of the Grade Book cumulative score for each student is calculated.

    Tip: Enter 100% to automatically use only the gradebook entries to calculate students' scores.

  8. Decimal Places & Round: Decimal Places and Round work together to determine how your final grade is expressed. If Round is checked, the grade can be rounded up according to the Decimal Places setting. If Round is not checked, the grade will round down to the nearest value according to the Decimal Places setting.

    If Decimal Places is 0 and Round is OFF, then the grade is rounded down to the nearest whole number.

    If Decimal Places is 0, and Round is ON, then the grade rounds up if the score exceeds .5 (ex 76.5 becomes 77). If the score's decimal value is lower than .5, then it rounds down (ex. 76.4 becomes 76).

    The same Round principle applies if Decimal Places is 1 or higher: The calculated grade will round to the nearest decimal value.

  9. Select Close when you have finished editing the formula.

  10. Select Save or Save & Exit.

Here are some important definitions to know during grading setup:

  • Grade Translations are grades (such as A, B, C, D, or F) and the criteria associated with them for use in GPA calculations.

  • Grade Categories determine how Grade Translations appear on report cards. They are linked to courses through Marking Periods. You should create a Grade Category for each Grade Translation table.

  • Marking Periods (formerly Grade Plans) are the periods during an academic year when grades are recorded. They are time-sensitive buckets that teachers drop grades into. Marking periods are added to Grade Groups.

  • Grade Columns (formerly Grade Plan Grades) are what you allow teachers to record during a Marking Period, whether they are comments or traditional grades. If Marking Periods are buckets, then Grade Columns are the contents of those buckets.

  • Grade Groups (formerly Grade Plan Groups) are used to link courses with Marking Periods. There are two types of Grade Groups: Traditional or Skills-Based.

  • Grade Calculations use student grades to generate Grade Point Averages, academic performance awards, and class rankings.

  • Transcript Categories determine how courses are grouped together on a transcript.

  • Traditional Grading (formerly Standard Grading) uses letter grades or percentages to summarize a student's overall performance in a course and grades are used to calculate GPAs.

  • Skills-Based Grading (formerly Assessment Grading) evaluates how well a student has mastered specific skills or learning standards. Instead of an overall course grade, it shows progress on each skill to provide clear insight into a student's strengths and areas for growth.