1. 6 th Annual Focus Users’ Conference 6 th Annual Focus Users’ Conference Grades, Report Cards & Transcripts Grades, Report Cards & Transcripts Presented by: Christine Lee Presented by: Christine Lee

2. Agenda Viewing Grades Final grades GPA and class rank Gradebook grades Grade breakdown report (for posted marking period or grade book grades) Gradebook usage report Posting Grades Regular vs. Standards-based Options for pulling vs posting or a combination of the two Grade Posting Scheme Report Cards Letterhead for report card Options for selecting Locking the checkbox options by letterhead Transcripts Transcript letterhead One page transcript (FL and TX) Questions

3. Viewing Grades

4. Final Grades, GPA and Class Rank Final Grades, GPA and Class Rank GPA can either be calculated automatically by Focus or manually by the user. To view a student’s Final Grades, Class Rank or GPA, click the Grades Menu and select Final Grades, GPA, & Class Rank. This will navigate the user to the Final Grades, GPA, & Class Rank Student Search screen; enter a specific student’s name or search for all students to view the GPA Report. Be sure to select the desired Grading Period or Course History tab, to view student data within the specified timeframe.

5. Final Grades, GPA and Class Rank Final Grades, GPA and Class Rank Included in the Final Grades, GPA, & Class Rank Report are several pertinent columns, including the Student’s Name, Grade Level, Cumulative GPA, Cumulative Weighted GPA, Custom GPA, Class Rank, Custom Rank, Weighted Class Rank, and Unweighted Class Rank. Note: As shown in the example above, Custom GPA and Rank fields are based upon customizations at the District level. (These will not be featured in all client versions of Focus.)

6. Calculating GPA

7. Focus generates a GPA for all students through the Calculate GPA function, which is available, based on a users profile permissions. Focus recommends using the Calculate GPA function at least once a marking period. GPA can either be calculated automatically by Focus or manually by the user. To automatically calculate all students grade point averages navigate to the School Setup and click System Preferences. To calculate grade point averages for one school click the school preferences tab. To calculate grade point averages for all students at all schools select the Default School Preferences tab.

8. Calculating GPA Calculating GPA Manually To calculate all students grade point averages manually navigate to the Grades Menu and select Calculate GPA. Calculating GPA Automatically Turning on this feature allows Focus to keep GPA’s up-to-date automatically. In addition, the Weight by Credits option will allow the auto calculation feature to work in elementary schools where credits aren’t granted. Note* The auto Calculate GPA feature does not calculate Class Rank. Class Rank must always be manually calculated.

9. Calculating GPA Calculating GPA Manually To calculate all students grade point averages manually navigate to the Grades Menu and select Calculate GPA. Note* This updates GPA only- Class Rank is only updated when the option in the Grades Menu for calculating GPA is used.

10. Calculating GPA Once the GPA has been successfully calculated users will see a green checkmark. Note: This overwrites existing records. In the calculate GPA and Class Rank screen, select whether to calculate the GPA and class rank (this updates awarded credits, GPA, and class rank) for current marking period, semester, or for the full academic year. Users have the option to calculate GPA for all grade levels, or a specified grade level. Once all pertinent options have been chosen select ok.

11. Calculating GPA Grading Scales assign letter grades and GPA values to specific percent ranges. The grading scale also determines GPA and for which grades a student earns credit. The grading scales are assigned to individual sections. GPA and weighted GPA points are used to calculate GPA unless a there is a custom GPA setup. Note* Districts can put a service ticket to have a custom GPA set up by Focus. To create a new grading scale, open the Grades menu and select Grading Scales & Comments. Then, click the tab with the plus sign

12. Gradebook Grades

13. To view a student’s Gradebook Grades user will navigate to the Grades Menu and select the desired student. This report shows the student’s current Gradebook Grades. If the user clicks on the course name it will drill down the results for the user to see the assignment grades.

14. Grade Breakdown Report Grade Breakdown Report The Grade Breakdown Report shows the user the grades that students are receiving in each teacher’s class, as well as the overall percentage of each letter grade. In order to view this report, navigate to the Grades Menu and select Grade Breakdown: Once in the Grade Breakdown Report, users will be able to specify a User for which to view grades, or can view results for All Users by simply clicking Search.

15. Grade Breakdown Report Grade Breakdown Report The Grade Breakdown Report can be modified in order to view Posted Grades or to view grades within the Teacher Gradebook. Select the appropriate options to continue and generate results: Once grade posting is complete users can view the Grade Breakdown for the posted grades for the specified quarter by clicking the appropriate quarter from the pull-down menu.

16. Grade Breakdown Report Grade Breakdown Report Results can also be displayed based solely upon Teacher (all of that teacher’s students grouped together regardless of course or section), based upon Teacher & Course (breakdown based upon students in each Course Number) or based upon Section (each individual class period by teacher). Select these options at top-right: The report will return results based upon student Overall Grades. This report does not take individual assignments into account; rather it just looks at the gradebook or posted grade for individual students.

17. Gradebook Usage Report

18. Navigate to the Grades Menu and select Teacher Gradebook Usage. If the user conducts a non-specific search a list of all Teacher-Users at the school will be displayed; if the user has rights to more than one school, the desired school should be selected from the drop-down at the top of the page.

19. Gradebook Usage Report The Teacher Gradebook Usage screen will show the Number of Assignments for each teacher, as well as the Assigned and Due Dates for the most recent assignment, and the Most Recent Grade Change. Teachers who are utilizing the gradebook will have dates listed under the creation, assigned, and changed columns.

20. Posting Grades

21. Posting Regular Grades At the conclusion of each Marking Period and Semester, teachers will need to post final grades to be transferred to course history. Once the Grade Posting Window is open, teachers will receive a Portal Alert letting them know it is time to post grades. Navigate to the Grades Menu and select Post Final Grades. Note: This process will need to be completed for EACH section the teacher has, even if custom groups are defined and or the sections are combined in the gradebook.

22. Posting Regular Grades Once the user has navigated to the Post Final Grades screen, a variety of options will need to be configured. First, verify that the proper Marking Period or Semester is selected for grade posting. Note: The window, during which grades can be posted, is also specified here. Once the posting window has ended, teachers will be locked out of posting grades. After this information is verified, click the Use Gradebook Grades link to transfer and post grades for the entire class.

23. Posting Regular Grades If blank assignments exist in the teacher’s gradebook, the system will respond with an error message stating that all gradebook grades must be entered before grade posting can take place.

24. Posting Standards Based Grades Posting Standards Based Grades The purpose of the Post Standard Grades function is to allow the teacher to post standard grades where standards are used in lieu of final letter grades. Using this feature, teachers can use Gradebook standard grades and post them for student and guardian review. To Post Standard Grades complete the steps below.

25. Pulling Grades for Report Cards Pulling Grades for Report Cards Report Cards can be pulled by selecting Pull Grades for Report Cards from the Grades Menu. Once inside of the Pull Grades Menu, the user will need to specify a number of options in order to make sure that the grades are pulled in the proper manner. First, specify the proper Term then select a Marking Period that coincides with the Marking Period that students are currently in.

26. Pulling Grades for Report Cards Pulling Grades for Report Cards Users must specify how the system should interpret Blank Grades in the gradebook. Next, select whether or not grades that have already been pulled should be updated, as well as any specific Course Numbers that should be pulled. Select update existing & create new grades if pulling for the entire school. Select only create new grades when pulling grades after teachers have posted or already updated their grades.

27. Pulling Grades for Report Cards Pulling Grades for Report Cards After specifying each of these options, click Run in order to pull grades for the school or desired courses: Upon selecting Run, the system will ask for a confirmation from the user in order to be sure that they wanted to pull grades for the selected marking period: After confirming that grades should be pulled, the system will pull the grades for all sections specified, and will return a confirmation of the success (and any failures) that were encountered in pulling grades:

28. Pulling Grades for Report Cards Pulling Grades for Report Cards If a teacher does not have any grades in the gradebook for the specified marking period, Focus will be unable to pull grades for that section, and it will show on the report as having pulled unsuccessfully. Note: If there is at least one student in a section that does not have grades the section will be included in the unsuccessful pull number. If a user needs to post grades for a teacher, click the red X for the specific period. This will display the grade-posting screen for the section that period. Note: Additional sections for the teacher can be selected from the pull-down menu at the top of the grade-posting screen.

29. Combination of Pulling and Posting Schools have the option let teachers post and verify grades and at the conclusion of the posting window. If there are teachers that have still not posted grades, the school can either Post for the remaining teachers or they can use the Pull grades process. In this instance the school would use the insert only option to only add new records for the teachers that have not posted. If a user needs to post grades for a teacher, click the red X for the specific period. This will display the grade-posting screen for the section that period. Note: Additional sections for the teacher can be selected from the pull-down menu at the top of the grade-posting screen.

30. Combination of Pulling and Posting Schools also the option to pull before the posting window opens. This option allows teachers to verify and to manually adjust grades if needed. Alternatively, if the teacher’s gradebook grades are accurate the teachers will not have to do anything; administration would simply pull grades.

31. Grade Posting Scheme Grade-posting schemes determine how semester grades and full year grades are calculated for a given section. The schemes are used when the pull-grades program is ran for semester grades or for Full Year grades and when teachers click the Use Weighted Average of Quarters and Final Exam Grades while posting semester grades. IMPORTANT: Grade-posting schemes must be assigned to sections before posting grades. EXAMS The option to post grades for exams is a system preference. Open the School Setup menu and select System Preferences to modify these settings either for the default preferences or for a specific school. Note: The use exams settings should be selected if any course requires grade posting for exams at a school. Grade posting for exams can be disabled for specific courses that do not post grades for exams.

32. Grade Posting Scheme Grade Posting Schemes Setup To set up a new grade-posting scheme or to edit an existing scheme, open the School Setup menu and select Grade Posting Averaging. To edit an existing scheme, click on the name of the grade-posting scheme you wish to edit. To create a new grade-posting scheme, click on “Add a grade posting scheme” and type in a title. You can also choose whether this scheme will be the default. Next, click the Save button in the upper right of the screen.

33. Grade Posting Scheme Grade-posting schemes determine how semester grades and full year grades are calculated for a given section. At the top of the grade-posting scheme window, the title and the short name can be edited and you can choose whether the scheme is the default. To setup the full-year grade calculation, a weighted average of the semester grades can be used or a weighted average of the quarter grades can be used. Enter the percent value (0 to 100) that each term will be weighted in the calculation. Only enter percent values for one of the possible calculations (either semesters or six-week periods). The sum should be 100.

34. Grade Posting Scheme In the example below, the full year grade has been set up to be calculated as a weighted average of the semester grades, where each semester is 50% of the Full Year grade.

35. Grade Posting Scheme Assigning Grade Posting Schemes to Sections To view the grade-posting scheme assigned to a specific section, open the Scheduling menu and select Courses & Sections. Select the subject, the course, and the specific section. The grade-posting scheme for the section will be displayed in the lower right of the section information. To assign a different grade-posting scheme to the section, click on the title of the scheme and a pull-down menu will appear. From the menu, select the grade-posting scheme. IMPORTANT: Be sure that the Graded field is selected for a section if grades are to be posted for the section. The field is located in the lower left of the section information and can also be found on the Master Schedule Report. The grade-posting scheme for sections can also be viewed and be assigned in the Master Schedule Report, which can be accessed through the Scheduling menu.

36. Grade Posting Scheme To assign a grading-posting scheme to a section in the Master Schedule Report, click the field in the grading-posting scheme column for the specific section and select the grading-posting scheme from the list. After making any changes, click the Save button in the upper right of the screen.

37. Grade Posting Scheme The Master Schedule Report can be filtered by subject using the pull- down menu in the upper left of the screen. Grade-posting schemes can be assigned to multiple sections in the Master Schedule Report by using the mass update feature. When using the mass update feature, the sections currently listed in the report will be affected.

38. Report Cards

39. Report Card Letterhead Report Card Letterhead Upon the completion of posting grades, run the Posted Grades Verification Report. To view this report click on Posted Grades Verification Report from the Grades menu. This report will show any Gradebook Grades that are different from what is posted for report cards. These will be highlighted in red. Note: Administration might require teachers to print, sign, and turn in this report as proof that grades have been posted.

40. Locking the checkbox Letterhead Options Printing Report Cards Navigate to the Grades Menu and select Report Cards. Once inside of the Report Cards window, the user has the ability to configure a number of options related to printing: Select the appropriate display options regarding inclusions that should be made on the output of the Report Cards. Note* These options can be locked and as a result users without edit access to letterhead templates will not see all of the checkbox options. Besure to pick the appropriate marking period.

41. Transcripts Within Focus, there are two separate ways to produce and transmit student Transcripts.

42. Transcripts First is through the use of the student’s Course History screen and Letterhead Templates to populate paper-based transcripts for dissemination. The second method involves transmission of Transcripts to other academic institutions using FASTER. In order to create paper Transcripts, navigate to the Grades Menu and select Transcripts.

43. Transcripts Once inside of the Transcripts Menu, a number of options related to the display of the transcript can be configured, as well as the Students for whom the transcripts are being printed.

44. Transcripts Once the Fields to include on the transcript have been designated, the next step is to designate a Time Frame for the transcript to populate grades. This can be done using the Marking Period radio buttons: Note: Selecting Course History will include all courses on the Transcript where the Course History flag on the section is set to Y. Choosing any of the other options will populate the Transcript with courses designated for those specific marking periods. Once the Marking Period has been designated, the grouping of the Transcript should also be specified:

45. Transcripts The Grouping specifies the way the output of the Transcript will be organized. Year and Course Grouping: Select Year and Course in order to see the output display organized by the school year and the courses taken during that year. Grad Subject Grouping: Select Grad Subject in order to see the output organized based upon the graduation subjects defined in Graduation Requirements.

46. Transcripts 1-Page Grouping: The 1-page selection offers a more compact transcript option, which is displayed in two columns and a compressed font size. One 1-Page, only courses with graduation subjects and credits earned will display. After specifying how the Transcript should be Grouped, the transcript can also be separated into either One or Multiple columns. Specify this preference in the Display options: A Letterhead Template for the transcript can also be specified. If this is an official printed transcript that is being sent to another academic institution, typically it will be sent on an official letterhead that has been established.

47. Transcripts Following Letterhead specification, the user has the ability to save the settings that were entered as the default values for the Transcripts page. The locked settings for the letterhead allows districts to define what should appear. In order to perform this function, click the Save Settings as Default button in the Transcripts Menu: Once the Students are specified and the proper options have been selected for the Transcript, click Continue in order to select students that should receive a transcript. On the next page, individual students that match the search criteria can be chosen.

48. Transcripts Select the appropriate students using the checkboxes to the left of their names. Select All students from the list using the box to the right of the Student column. Once the students have been chosen, select the Generate Transcripts button at top-right to pull the transcripts: Selecting Generate Transcripts will populate a Preview window with the student transcript, corresponding to the options that were selected earlier in the process. From there, the Transcripts can be printed using the icon, or saved as a PDF using the icon

49. Questions? Christine Lee Software Trainer, Focus School Software christinel@focusschoolsoftware.com Christine Lee Software Trainer, Focus School Software christinel@focusschoolsoftware.com

50. Thank You Please be sure to complete the comment card for this session and enjoy the rest of the Users’ Conference!