TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Manually Enter Course Grades
• Calculate Averages
• Update GPAs and Credits
• Update GPAs and Credits at the Midyear Without a Midyear or Semester Report Card Column
• Update GPAs and Credits After the Third Quarter Without a Midyear or Semester Report Card Column
  • Step 1: Calculate the Average of All Quarter Grades
  • Step 2: Update GPAs and Credits After the Third Quarter
  • Step 3: Clear the Final Grade Column

The topics in this chapter describe tasks for manually entering grades, calculating averages, and updating GPAs and credits. 

Manually Enter Course Grades

You can efficiently enter students' grades for a course by specifying which report card columns you want to fill and setting keyboard shortcuts.

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Report Cards > Ent. Grades.
2. In the Enter Grades  dialog box, click 1. Enter grades manually, and then click Next.
3. Refer to the following table to set the specifications on Page 1  of the Specifications: Enter Grades dialog box.

4. Click Page 2 and refer to the following table to set the specifications.

5. Click Done.

The Enter Grades Manually dialog box opens.

6. For Enter CRS or CRS/SC, type the course number (and section number, if there are multiple sections) of the course whose grades you want to enter.

Note: To search for a course, click . Click the course, and then click Select.

7. Double-click in a cell, and enter the student's grade.
8. Press Enter to move your cursor to the next column you chose, indicated by  above it.

Note: To move your cursor back a column, press the Shift and Tab keys at the same time. To move between rows, click the up and down arrow keys

9. In a comment column, press F6 on your keyboard or click Lookup [F6] on the left of the Enter Grades Manually dialog box to select a comment.
10. After entering grades, do either of the following:

• To save your changes, click Accept [F10].
• To undo your changes, click Abort [Esc].

11. Click Done.

Calculate Averages

Calculate report card column averages through the Calc Avg feature in the Report Card module. You can assign column weights to individual columns after you choose which columns to calculate the average of.

How are averages calculated?

Averages are calculated according to the following:

• Any column with a weight of 0 isn't included in the calculation.
• Any column that already has a grade is skipped, unless the Replace Existing Grade option is set to Yes, in which case the grade is overwritten.
• If any grade is in the Final column, and the Final average isn't the desired average being calculated, the column is skipped.
• If a grade of I, W, WP, or WF appears in a weighted column, that grade becomes the average.
• If any user-defined grade is in an Exam column, the exam grade isn't included in the calculation, and the remaining columns are weighted against each other when the average is calculated.
• If any user-defined grade is in a weighted column, other than an Exam column, an average can't be calculated for this course because the system doesn't know how to process these grades.
• If a blank entry is found in a weighted column, that column is skipped, and the remaining columns are weighted against each other.
• When calculating number grade averages, the quality points table isn't used and the value used is equal to the number. Averages are calculated to six decimal places, and then rounded to the closest grade. Fives are always rounded up. For example, a grade of 89.5 becomes a 90, and a grade of 89.49 or 89.499999 becomes an 89. Also, number grades below the minimum grade are raised to the minimum grade when calculating averages.
• If you choose to calculate averages using Administrator's Plus, averages are calculated to six decimal places using weights in the same manner as number grades. Then the grades are converted back to letter grades based on the following table, which comes programmed into Administrator's Plus and can't be edited:

• Warning: It's not advisable to calculate letter grade averages using Administrator's Plus, and teachers should manually calculate averages

Calculate Averages

1. In Report Cards, click Calc Avg.
2. Click 1. Calculate averages, and click Next.
3. Click next to the Calculate Which Column drop-down list, click a column to calculate, and click Select.

4. Choose whether or not to replace existing grades by clicking Yes or No for the Replace Existing Grades specification.
5. Choose which type of grades to calculate by clicking Letter or Number for the Calculate Letter Or Number Grades specification, and click Done.

6. Enter the weight for each of your columns, and click Done.

Tip: Enter column weights in the following format: 20% =020.00.

Note: The column for which you're calculating an average displays THIS COLUMN BEING CALCULATED.

7. Click 1. All sections, and click Done.
8. Optional: To view a report with students' averages for each marking period, click 6. View log, and then click Next.

Update GPAs and Credits

You can update GPAs and credits for all students in a grade or for individual students. When you update, you can choose to generate a summary report that lists students’ previous and new GPAs and credits or a detailed report that shows a breakdown of how the GPAs and credits were calculated.

Important: If your school does not have a midyear or semester report card column, the process for updating at the midyear or after the third quarter is different. See Update GPAs and Credits at the Midyear Without a Midyear or Semester Report Card Column or Update GPAs and Credits After the Third Quarter Without a Midyear or Semester Report Card Column.

Warning: We recommend creating a backup of your data before proceeding. See Create and Schedule a Backup.

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Report Cards > Stat Reps.
2. Click 2. Grade point averages, and then click Next.
3. Click 4. Update/un-update GPA’s/credits, and then click Next.
4. Click 1. Update GPA’s & credits, and then click Next.
   The Specifications dialog box appears.
   
5. Next to 1. Update Based On Which Columns, click .
6. Refer to the following table to select the correct column for the update you want to perform:

7. Next to 2. Which Years, click .
8. Select the year you want to update, and then click Select. If you select an archival year, read the Warning message, and then click Done.

Example

A student transferred to your school for their third year of high school. You have entered their courses for the current year and their courses and grades for their first and second year of high school. To calculate this student's GPAs and credits, you would select Archival Year: -2 to -1 , because there are two previous years. Once there are grades in the current year, this student's GPAs and credits can be updated by selecting Current Year: Year 0 .

9. For 3. Report Detail, do either of the following:

• To generate a report of students' previous and new GPAs and credits, click Summary Report.
• To generate a report that breaks down how students' GPAs and credits were calculated, click Detailed Report.

Note: Because the detailed report can be lengthy, we suggest only generating it if you are verifying how the calculations were done.

10. If you are updating based on one credit column, for specifications 4-7, type the percentage of the course that has been completed. Refer to the following table.

Note: For third quarter updates, when you set specification 8 to Yes , Administrator's Plus automatically sets specifications 4-7. If you are updating based on All Credit Columns , Administrator's Plus ignores specifications 4-7.

11. For 8. Third Quarter Update, if you are updating after the third quarter, click Yes. Read the Warning  message, and if you want to proceed, click Yes. For all other updates, click No.
12. Click Done.

Important: If you did an end-of-year update, we recommend transferring this year’s data to the upcoming year. For information, see Transfer Report Cards Data .

Update GPAs and Credits at the Midyear Without a Midyear or Semester Report Card Column

If you want to update GPAs and credits at the midyear but your school does not have a midyear or semester report card column, you first need to calculate the average of all quarter grades into an empty report card column, such as the final grade column. Next, you update GPAs and credits using the grades in that column. When you are finished printing reports with the updated GPAs and credits, you clear the grades in the final grade column.

Warning: We recommend creating a backup of your data before proceeding. See Create and Schedule a Backup.

Step 1: Calculate the Average of All Quarter Grades

To calculate the average of all quarter grades into an empty report card column, follow these steps:

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Report Cards  > Calc Avg.
2. Click 1. Calculate averages, and then click Next.
   The Specifications dialog box appears.
   
3. Set the following specifications:

4. Click Done.

The Enter The Weight For Each Column dialog box appears.

5. Enter ratios for how 1. First Marking Period and 2. Second Marking Period should be weighted when calculating averages. Set all other report card columns to 0.
6. Click Done.
7. In the Final Grade  dialog box, click 1. All sections, and then click Next.
8. Read the Calculate Average Warning message. If you backed up your data, click Yes.
9. In the Final Grade  dialog box, click Quit.

Step 2: Update GPAs and Credits at the Midyear

After calculating the average of your quarter grades, update GPAs and credits at the midyear by following these steps:

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Report Cards  > Stat Reps.
2. Click 2. Grade point averages, and then click Next.
3. Click 4. Update/un-update GPA’s/credits, and then click Next.
4. Click 1. Update GPA’s & credits, and then click Next.
   The Specifications dialog box appears.
   
5. Set the following specifications:

6. Click Done.

Step: 3 Clear the Final Grade Column

When you are done printing reports with midyear GPAs and credits, clear the final grade column of the averaged grades.

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Report Cards > Calc Avg.
2. Select 2. Blank report card column(s), and then click Next.
   The Specifications dialog box appears.
   
3. Set the following specifications:

4. Click Done.
5. In the Blank Columns for Which Sections  dialog box, click 1. All sections, and then click Next.
6. Read the Blank Column(s) Warning message. If you want to proceed, click Yes.

Update GPAs and Credits After the Third Quarter Without a Midyear or Semester Report Card Column

If you want to update GPAs and credits after the third quarter but your school does not have a midyear or semester report card column, you first need to calculate the average of all quarter grades into an empty report card column, such as the final grade column. Next, you update GPAs and credits using the grades in that column. When you are finished printing reports with the updated GPAs and credits, you clear the grades in the final grade column.

Warning: We recommend creating a backup of your data before proceeding. See Create and Schedule a Backup.

Step 1: Calculate the Average of All Quarter Grades

To calculate the average of all quarter grades into an empty report card column, follow these steps:

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Report Cards > Calc Avg.
2. Click 1. Calculate averages, and then click Next.
   The Specifications dialog box appears.
   
3. Set the following specifications:

4. Click Done.
   The Enter The Weight For Each Column dialog box appears.
   
5. Enter ratios for how 1. First Marking Period, 2. Second Marking Period, and 5. Third Marking Period should be weighted when calculating averages. Set all other report card columns to 0.
6. Click Done.
7. In the Final Grade dialog box, click 1. All sections, and then click Next.
8. Read the Calculate Average Warning message. If you backed up your data, click Yes.
9. In the Final Grade dialog box, click Quit.

Step 2: Update GPAs and Credits After the Third Quarter

After calculating the average of your quarter grades, update GPAs and credits after the third quarter by following these steps:

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Report Cards > Stat Reps.
2. Click 2. Grade point averages, and then click Next.
3. Click 4. Update/un-update GPA’s/credits, and then click Next.
4. Click 1. Update GPA’s & credits, and then click Next.
   The Specifications dialog box appears.
   
5. Set the following specifications:

6. Click Done.

Step 3: Clear the Final Grade Column

When you are done printing reports with third quarter GPAs and credits, clear the final grade column of the averaged grades.

1. On the Shortcut bar, click Report Cards > Calc Avg.
2. Select 2. Blank report card column(s), and then click Next.

The Specifications dialog box appears.

3. Set the following specifications:

4. Click Done.
5. In the Blank Columns for Which Sections dialog box, click 1. All sections, and then click Next.
6. Read the Blank Column(s) Warning message. If you want to proceed, click Yes.