Gradebook Setup Overview

Overview

SchoolWise has both Letter-Grade and Standards-Based gradebooks. Either one or both types of gradebooks can be used for the same class. Gradebooks can be enabled for specific classes if desired (1 class, some classes, all classes). 

Letter-Grade Gradebooks support traditional letter based (A-F) report cards. Letter-Grade report cards normally just include 1 overall mark per course but you can add 1 or 2 supplementary marks to the overall mark for every letter-grade course. Any grade in your marking system table can be used for a mark. Letter-Grade report cards can be printed from the Desktop Report Explorer or from the Web Reports.

Standards-Based Gradebooks use standards that are referred to as “skills”. Skill sets are 100% customizable for as the skill description is a free form text field. Standards-Based report card content is dependent on the specific skills linked to specific courses. The report card marks are determined by your grading policies. The report card legend can be customized based on your marking rubrics. Standards-Based Report Cards must be printed from the Web Reports.

If you use both types of gradebooks (Standards-Based and Letter-Grade), Hybrid Standards-Based Report Cards can be printed with marks from both gradebooks. The Standards-Based marks shown on the report card come from the Standards-Based gradebooks. The overall letter grade from the Letter-Grade Gradebooks will be shown as the subject average directly below the course name in the standardized report card. The calculated GPA from the Letter-Grade gradebooks can also be shown. Hybrid Standards-Based Report Cards must be printed from the Web Reports.

Click here to access the Gradebook Navigation Guide

Gradebooks and Report Card Setup Steps

Step 1: Setup Academic Class Sections.

See here for help: https://help.schoolwise.com/docs/course-setup

Once teacher gradebooks have been enabled, a corresponding gradebook is automatically created for every class section and populated with the students enrolled in that class section. One basis for determining how many courses to establish in the desktop SIS is the number of gradebooks that teachers want to have.  

• Lower elementary grades typically have 3 courses: Language Arts / Math / Other Skills & Behaviors.

• Middle school grades typically have 5 courses: Language Arts / Math / Science / Social Studies / PE

Step 2: Configure Gradebook Settings.

See here for help: https://help.schoolwise.com/docs/gradebook-settings

• School Gradebook Settings must be defined for the Combined Average Policy, Full Year Mastery Calculations, Standards Overall Grading Policy, Letter Report Card Options, and Letter Report Card Marking Period Locks.
• Course Gradebook Settings must be defined. Letter and/or Standards-Based gradebooks can be enabled/disabled for each course. The Standards Grading Policy can be customized for each course (if not locked at the school level). 

Step 3: Setup Gradebooks

See here for standards-based gradebook setup help:

• Setup Guide: https://help.schoolwise.com/docs/standards-based-grading-setup
• Training Video: https://help.schoolwise.com/docs/administrative-gradebook-setup-video 

See here for standards-based gradebook teacher training aids:  

• Teacher’s Guide: https://help.schoolwise.com/docs/standards-based-grading-teachers-guide
• Training Video: https://help.schoolwise.com/docs/standards-based-gradebook-video-training

See here for letter gradebook teacher training aids: 

• Teacher’s Guide: https://help.schoolwise.com/docs/letter-grade-gradebook
• Training Video: https://help.schoolwise.com/docs/letter-grade-gradebook-video-training