Gradebook Settings

Gradebooks are where teachers record day-to-day grades for assignments, assessments, and other types of student work. Assignment grades inside a gradebook can be imported into the grade plan for report card grades. Depending on the options an administrator selects in Gradebook settings, access to student grades can be controlled by an administrator or set by a course's teacher.

To get started:

  1. In Academics, select Grades, then Grading setup.

  2. Select the Gradebook settings tab.

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

Marking periods allow the Gradebook Manager to break up school terms into separate gradebook terms. For example, if your school is semester-based, you can use marking periods to create quarters within the semester. Teachers would then have four distinct gradebooks, one for each marking period. Marking periods must exist within terms.

  1. Under Marking period & grade access, use the School Level and Academic Year menus (if applicable) to specify the terms in which you would like to create a marking period.

  2. Select + Add marking period.

  3. Enter the following information:

    • School year

    • School level (only applicable if your school has multiple levels)

    • Term

    • Marking period name: For example, "Fall Gradebook" or "Quarter 2 Gradebook"

    • Marking period start date and Marking period end date: Either enter the dates using the format MM/DD/YYYY, or select the dates using the calendar option.

  4. Select the Grade access settings for users based on their role. For each role. choose from the following:

    • Set access globally to apply the access rules to all users in this role for every course's gradebook. Have teachers set access to let each teacher decide who gets access to the gradebook for their course.

    • If you are setting access globally, you can choose from the following options for each grade or comment type: Hide, Always show, or Show only during these dates. The third option requires you to set start and end dates.

  5. Select Save when you are finished.

  1. In Gradebook settings, under Marking period & grade access, use the School Level and Academic Year dropdown menus (if applicable) to specify the terms for which you would like to modify access.

  2. Select the context menu beside an existing marking period and select Edit marking period.

  3. Scroll down until you see the first Grade access heading. Here you can set access rules for roles including Advisors, Dorm Supervisors, Parents, Students, and Coaches.

  4. Make your changes. Select Save when you are finished.

Warning: Once a teacher has set up their gradebook for a Marking Period, the Marking Period cannot be deleted.

  1. In Gradebook settings, under Marking period & grade access, use the School Level and Academic Year dropdown menus (if applicable) to specify the terms for which you would like to modify access.

  2. Select the context menu next to the marking period you would like to delete.

  3. Select Delete marking period.

  4. Select Yes to confirm your decision.

As a Gradebook Manager, you can set the default calculation method in Gradebook settings.

To edit the default gradebook settings for a school level, select the context menu beside the school level and then Edit defaults. From the Faculty view, teachers can view these settings by launching a gradebook, selecting More, then Settings, and then selecting Grade calculation or Mastery calculation on the left side of the screen.

The default settings are broken into three sections for Gradebook Managers:

  1. Under Gradebook calculation, select whether gradebooks will calculate by Year or Marking period by default.

  2. Select the Gradebook cumulative display format: 

    • Numeric (Label) - Example: 96 (A)

    • Label (Numeric) - Example: A (96)

    • Numeric - Example: 96

    • Label - Example: A

  1. Select the default Letter grade scale.

  2. Select the Number of decimal points to show. This setting cannot be modified by teachers in their own gradebooks.

  3. Enable Show gradebook calculation to display the gradebook calculation for students viewing their grade details from their Progress page.

  4. To prevent teachers from modifying these settings in their own gradebooks, select Restrict teacher of class from changing settings.

    Note: When Restrict teacher of class from changing settings is enabled, the settings are grayed out for teachers in their gradebook settings, but Gradebook Managers can still edit the settings within individual gradebooks.

  1. Set the default Calculation method to one of the following:

  • Percentages: The assignments are averaged together within each assignment category, the average is used to calculate the cumulative grade based on the weights the teacher has entered. Select this option if the cumulative grade is based on something like 30% homework, 40% quizzes, and 30% exams, but each assignment within those categories count equally.

    Formula:

    For each assignment type: sum(assignment grade / maximum points * assignment factor) / sum(factor) = Assignment type grade

    Then: sum(assignment type grade * weight) / sum(weight) * 100 = Total cumulative grade

  • Total Points: In this calculation method, the students' cumulative grade is based on the total points earned divided by the total points attempted. Select this option if the cumulative grade is based on straight points, and you do not take into account the type of assignment when calculating the grade.

    Formula:

    sum(assignment grade * assignment factor) / sum(maximum points * factor) = Total cumulative grade

  • Total Points with Weight: In this calculation method, the students' cumulative grade is based on the total points a student earned, divided by the total points attempted within each assignment type. The assignment type grades are then averaged together based on their weights. Select this option if the cumulative grade is based on something like 30% homework, 40% quizzes, and 30% exams, but each assignment within those categories is worth varying points.

    Formula:

    For each assignment type: sum(assignment grade * assignment factor) / sum(maximum points * factor) = Assignment type grade

    Then: sum(assignment type grade * weight) / sum(weight) * 100 = Total cumulative grade

Note: For examples of the three gradebook calculation types, see the help topic Gradebook Setup - Calculations.

  1. To prevent teachers from modifying these settings in their own gradebooks, select Restrict teacher of class from changing settings.

    Note: When Restrict teacher of class from changing settings is enabled, the settings are grayed out for teachers in their gradebook settings, but Gradebook Managers can still edit the settings within individual gradebooks.

Note: Mastery display defaults are only available if your school uses Mastery.

  1. Under Default landing page, select to display Total points or Skills by default when students or parents select See grade details.

  2. Enable Show computation method to display the selected computation method to students and parents when they select See grade details

  3. To prevent teachers from modifying these settings in their own gradebooks, select Restrict teacher of class from changing settings.

    Note: When Restrict teacher of class from changing settings is enabled, the settings are grayed out for teachers in their gradebook settings, but Gradebook Managers can still edit the settings within individual gradebooks.

A letter grade scale is useful for teachers who do not want to give students a numeric grade for certain assignments. Instead of entering a numeric value, the teacher will select a letter grade from a drop down list box. The letter grade corresponds with 1 distinct numeric value which is used to calculate the cumulative grade.

Tip: If you use the letter grade scale, it's good practice to give teachers a copy of the letter grades with their corresponding numeric value. What you think of as an "A" might not be what a teacher thinks of as an "A" and it will affect the cumulative score.

A Gradebook Manager can add and modify letter grade scales to be used with assignment types in gradebooks.

To create a new grade scale:

  1. Find the Letter grade scales heading and select + Add scale.

  2. Enter a Scale Description (for example, "A-F scale" or "Upper School Letter Grades"). This is the name of the scale that will be viewable by teachers when they are choosing the scale in their gradebook configuration.

  3. Enter the following for a letter grade:

    • Letter: The label that the teacher will choose as the grade

    • Numeric value: The numeric equivalent to the letter grade. This value will be used in the cumulative grade calculation.

    • Min. score: The minimum parameter of the letter value. This is for informational purposes and is not used in the calculation.

    • Max. score: The maximum parameter of the letter value. This is for informational purposes and is not used in the calculation.

  4. Select + Add another and enter more letter values as needed.

  5. Select Save.

To modify an existing letter grade scale, select the context menu beside it and then Edit scale. If no teachers have used a letter grade scale yet, you will see the option to Delete scale.

Scales created in Gradebook settings will be available as options for teachers in their own gradebooks when they open Settings and go to the Grade calculation area. They will not be available for assignment types that do