Marking Period Group

Grade groups are used to link courses with marking periods. A grade group can contain several marking periods. Grade groups must either be defined as standard (typically used for letter/effort grades and comments) or skills-based (typically used for skill-based grading and comments). Each class can be attached to one standard marking period and one skills-based marking period if your school uses a hybrid report card.

To get started:

  1. From the persona menu, select Academics.

  2. Choose Grades then Grading setup.

  3. Select Grade groups.

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

  1. Select + Add grade group.

  2. Enter a Grade group name. Try to be as specific as possible (for example, High School Letter Grade, 5th Grade Math, etc.).

  3. Select a Group type, School level, and Style (Traditional or Skills-based).

  4. When you are finished, select Save or Save and add another

To find an existing Grade group, use the Find in this list search bar.

To filter the list of existing Grade groups, select Filter, then choose from the School level, Group type, and Style menus.

To customize the information that appears for each Grade group, select Columns and make your selections.

To edit or delete an existing grade group, select the context menu and then Edit or Delete.

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.