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SIS 2000+ Gradebook

Sec. 4, Entering Grades

4.1 Find a teacher
Grade books are set up per teacher. The default teacher selected in the Gradebook Main Form will be the teacher that has logged on. Other teachers may be accessed via the Find command, but only if the user has System Administrator status. See Step 2.1 for more details on the Find command.

4.2 Select a Grade Book by selecting parameters
Elementary school teachers will normally have only one grade book defined per term, with many Subjects and Categories. Numerous Grade Books may exist for a secondary school teacher according to the tracks, terms, and classes (course sections) in which they have been scheduled. Select parameters as follows:

Fig. 44

4.2.1 Select the target Track
If there is only one track available, this field will be read-only.

4.2.2 Select the Term
If there is only one term available, this field will be read-only.

4.2.3 Select a Class Description
Select a class from the drop-down list or use the VCR buttons to scroll forward or backward through available classes. If there is only one class available, this field will be read-only. The students enrolled in the class selected will be automatically displayed in the roster below.

4.4 Set Preferences
This procedure sets column width, grade calculation method, and active/inactive student filter, and the inclusion of teaching assistants . The preferences set here are only applied to the selected teacher.

4.4.1 Open Preference dialog
Open the File menu from the task bar at the top of the form (Fig. 45) and select 'Preferences'. This action opens the Preferences dialog screen (Fig. 46)


Fig. 45


Fig. 46

4.4.2 Set Abbreviation Size / Task Column Width Preference
The width of Task columns in the grading grid can be adjusted for optimum viewing of the abbreviations in the column headers. Normally, the column width should be set to accommodate the longest abbreviation among all the Tasks in the Subject. In the 'GradeBook Preferences' dialog screen (Fig. 46) enter a value representing column width (number of characters allowed) in the Abbreviation Size field. This field will be initially unset (blank) until a value is entered and saved. The default column width is set in the Preference Editor application in the File Menu. However, this default value is not displayed in the field.

4.4.3 Set Calculation method
The final grade-to-date for the class is calculated by comparing the cumulated percentage points earned to date (displayed in the Percentage column) with the grading curve defined for the Subject. The corresponding grade is displayed in the Grade column. There are two ways to calculate the final grade-to-date:

• On -

When this preference is set to "On" the final grade in the Percentage and Grade columns will be calculated using only the marks entered for Tasks with a due date of up to and including today's date. That is, the calculation will only compare points possible with points earned up to today's date when calculating the cumulative percentage. Scores not entered for a task will not be included in the calculation.
• Off -

When this preference is set to "Off" the calculation will the compare the points possible for all Tasks defined, including those that are due at future dates, and compare them with the points earned-to-date. This method will cause all students to start out with the lowest possible cumulative percentage and grade, such as "0 %" and "F". Their final grade will then build up from there as the marks from Tasks are entered when they come due. This is the default method of calculation.

Both the 'Off' and 'On' options will initially be unset (blank) until one of them is checked and the selection is saved. If no option is selected the Calculate preference will effectively be 'Off' by default, although there will be no check mark in the radio button to indicate that status.

4.4.4 Assign Default Percentages for new Grading Scales
Setting this preference is explained in the Preferences section of this documentation.

4.4.5 Highlight Task Option
This option is set to "Off" by default. When set to "On" the appearance of the grading grid will change as follows: When ever the focus is on a task, either in the read only mode or the edit mode, the Task column header abbreviation and the Task information fields will be highlighted in violet for easier reading (Fig. 47).


Fig. 47 - highlight preference "On"

4.4.6 Active student filter option
Set the Display Roster of only Currently Active Students option to "On" to filter out inactive students from the class roster. Inactive students are students who were enrolled in the class at one time but were subsequently withdrawn. If this option is set to "Off", all students who were ever enrolled in the class will be shown in the roster. In this case the inactive students will be listed in red font (Fig. 47a) and the active students will be displayed in the normal black font. Students will be considered active or inactive according to the System Date displayed in the menu bar.


Fig. 47a - when the filter is "Off"; roster shows both active an inactive students in the selected class.


Caution!
This Active Student filter option will affect whether inactive students are included or excluded from class Average calculations.

4.4.7 Set teaching assistant flag
Students enrolled as teaching assistants in certain classes may or may not need to be graded. When Include Students Enrolled as Teacher Assistants option is to "On", students enrolled as teaching assistants will be displayed at the bottom of the class roster. Their last name will be preceded by a teaching assistant flag (TA). When this option is "Off", teaching assistants will be excluded from class rosters.

4.4.8 Save Preferences
Click on the Done command button to save the preferences and exit the dialog, or Cancel to discard any changes made since the last save.

4.4.1 Activate the edit mode
Click on the Edit command button to activate the edit mode, signified when the column headers in the grid turn from gray to dark blue (Fig. 48)

Fig. 48

4.4.2 View Tasks in the grid
All Tasks from all Categories defined under the selected Subject will appear to the right of the student roster as columns in a grid, labeled with abbreviations. The Tasks are sorted in ascending chronological order from left to right according to the Date Due (Fig. 48).

To view the description and attributes of a Task, click on any cell in a Task column. Observe the data displayed in the information fields in the upper right corner of the screen: Category, Weight (of Category), Task, Date (due), Points Possible, Weight (of Task), and Average (computed average score for all students who have received marks for the Task).

Note on Default Task Abbreviations:
If no Task abbreviations were defined by the user in the Add Task procedure (Step 2.5.3) the Grade Book program will assign default abbreviations to all Tasks using the A, B, C, ... format, similar to columns in a spreadsheet. Two prefixes are used in the default abbreviations, as follows:


A column header whose letter is preceded by an "X" signifies that the Task is defined as Extra Credit.

The default Weight of a Task in relation to other Tasks is "1". A numerical value preceding a column header letter indicates the Task's relative Weight if it is a value other than the default value of "1".


4.4.3 Select an entry mode
There are two entry modes available using the entry mode toggle button. Each employs a different tab order to move from cell to cell as the grades are entered. The Task Entry mode is the default mode. When the Task Entry Mode toggle button is clicked the mode switches to the Student Entry Mode, indicated by the changed label on the button. Clicking on the depressed Student Entry Mode toggle will switch the mode back to Task Entry Mode.

Using the Task Entry Mode the tab order moves down the list of students for the selected Task (default). All other columns are inactivated (Fig. 49).



Click the Task Entry Mode button to switch to the Student Entry Mode. In this mode the tab order moves across the columns of Tasks for each student (Fig. 50). This mode must be used when switching Tasks in the edit mode.


4.4.5 Enter grades

4.4.5.1 Activate a target cell
Click on the intersecting cell representing the Task to be graded for a student in the list.


Navigation shortcut! Instead of scrolling down the list to find a student, this shortcut will navigate directly to a student by entering the first few characters of the last name. It is activated by pressing the [F12] key whenever the Task Scores grid has focus - the form may be either Edit Mode or View mode. After pressing [F12], type one or more characters of the student's last name. One quarter second (0.25 sec) after the last character is entered, an attempt will be made to find the student by the characters entered. If found, the grid will be advanced so that the active cell corresponding to the student receives focus. If not found, a message is displayed. In either case, the Find operation is deactivated. To deactivate find before typing any characters, simply click anywhere on the form.

Toggle between the Task Entry Mode and the Student Entry Mode as necessary to activate the target cell. Verify the Task's description in the information fields above the grid (Fig. 48).

4.4.5.2 Enter valid marks
Enter either a letter grade or a numerical score earned for the Task according to the attributes defined for the selected Subject. (see Step 2.4.4)


Fig. 49 - sample "Grades" display grid, Task Entry Mode


Fig. 50 - sample "Scores" display grid, Student Entry Mode


Possible error messages:
Subjects have been pre-defined to display either a letter grade (Fig. 49) or a numerical score (Fig. 50). All values entered must match the format defined for the Subject. If a letter grade is entered for a Task whose parent Subject is defined to display "Scores", the score will default to zero. If a numerical score is entered for a task whose Subject is defined to "Grades", an error message will occur (Fig. 51)


Fig. 51

If a numerical value is entered that exceeds the Points Possible for the Task, an option is given to count the extra points as Extra Credit in grade calculations (Fig. 52).


Fig. 52

4.4.5.3 Assign Options
Available Options have been pre-defined in the Subject Definition Form (Step 2.4.4). To assign an Option to a grade, double click on a grade in a cell. This action opens the 'Grading Options and Comments' screen (Fig. 53)


Fig. 53 - default screen, no Option assigned

Click on the Edit command button to activate the edit mode (Fig. 54). Select an Option in the Mark score with option field using the drop-down list. Enter a comment in the text field, if applicable. Click on Close to save the Option assignment, or Undo to cancel.


Fig. 54 - edit mode


4.4.6 Delete a Grade
In incorrect grade cannot be deleted by entering a zero; the entire cell must be made blank. Click on the cell displaying the grade to be deleted. Click on the Delete command button to delete the grade. This action will return the cell to a blank.

4.4.7 View cumulative grade-to-date
A student's numerical score-to-date will be calculated and displayed as a percent value in the Percent column to the immediate right of each student's name. The corresponding letter grade-to-date will be displayed in the Grade column (Fig. 55). However, at the beginning of a term all grade cells will be blank, therefore, the cumulative percent for each student will start at "0" percent. The cumulative grade will start at "F" or "NA", depending on today's date calculated against the Missing Scores option set in the Subject Definition Form and the calculation method defined in the Preferences.


Fig. 55 - Beginning of term, no grades entered.

As grades are entered throughout the term, a student's Percent-to-date and the Grade-to-date fields will be auto calculated according to their attributes, such as Weight and Method of calculation, assigned to the Subject, Category and Task (Fig. 56).


Fig. 56

4.6 Change Subject, enter more grades
If the class selected has more than one Subject defined, make another selection from the drop-down list in the Subject field and repeat the above steps to enter grades for that Subject.