Also see our video on Using Advanced Skill Grading in the Gradebook

The Skills Spreadsheet in the Gradebook

There are 2 views for the Skills Spreadsheet.  The first view is by Skill which shows you each skill that has been graded across the top of the screen.  Within each Skill column, each assignment that contains the skill is shown with the grade for that assignment.  This allows the teacher to see a progression of achievement for each student.

The second view is by assignment.  This displays each assignment in the marking across the top with the skills for each assignment listed under the assignment.

A major change to the functionality of this spreadsheet is that it allows teachers to grade the skills directly on the screen.  Simply click on the box under the skill and then you will be able to enter the grade.  No saving is required as the grades are automatically updated.  In addition, each grade is validated as you enter it so that you will be sure that your grade is a valid grade.  If you type an incorrect value for a skill that only receives a 4, 3, 2 or 1, the screen will allow notify you immediately and provide the grades that can be entered.

Teachers can make the Skill Spreadsheet the default spreadsheet when they enter the Gradebook by going to the Gradebook - Home - User Profile screen and changing the "Default Spreadsheet Screen" field to Skills.  Once saved, the gradebook will always bring them to the Skills Spreadsheet when they click on the Gradebook tab.

Skills Spreadsheet – By Skill

When viewing the skill spreadsheet By Skill, each skill that is being scored for the selected marking period will be displayed at the top of the spreadsheet.  Each assignment within the skill is shown beneath the skill, along with the score for each student.

The skill grade for the assignment can be updated directly on this screen.  The overall Skill grade for the marking period is shown in the far-right column for each skill.

If a teacher clicks on the skill description at the top, a popup will appear with all of the students in the class and all the assignments that included the skill.  The teacher will be able to see the class average for the skill and the student's grade for each assignment compared to the class average.

Skills Spreadsheet by Skill

Skills Spreadsheet – By Assignment

When viewing the skill spreadsheet By Assignment, each assignment that is tied to a skill for the selected marking period will be displayed at the top of the spreadsheet.  Each skill within the assignment is shown beneath the skill, along with the skill grade for each student.  The skill grade for the assignment can be updated directly on this screen.

If a teacher clicks on the chart icon under the skill code, a popup will appear with all of the students in the class and all the assignments that included the skill.  The teacher will be able to see the class average for the skill and the student's grade for each assignment compared to the class average.

This view also allows you to export the skills grades to an Excel spreadsheet by clicking on the Excel icon on the top right corner of the screen.

Skill Spreadsheet by Assignment

Assigning, Grading and Viewing Skills in the Gradebook

Adding Skills to Assignments

Skills can be added to assignments from the Create or Modify Assignment screen.  Assignments will have a Add Skill button that can be clicked by a teacher.  This will bring up a popup with all available skills for the course (Skills already assigned to the assignment will be left out).  Check off the skills that you would like to be attached to the assignment and then hit the Add Skills button.  These skills are now part of the assignment and can be graded when grading the assignment.

Add Skills to an Assignment

Grade Assignment Screen

The Grade Assignment screen allows the teacher to enter an Overall Grade for the assignment as well as the grade for the skills. 

Grade Assignment with Overall Grade

The overall assignment grade can be removed from the screen by clicking on the Tool Icon in the top left, clicking on Screen Options and then unchecking “Display Overall Assignment Grade”.  If the overall grade is removed, only the skills will be able to be graded.

Student Skills

Each student has a screen which shows each skill, the overall marking period grade as well as the assignment and scores that make up that grade.  In order for a teacher to view this screen, a role attached to their user must have the gradebook.gradebook.student.skills location.

Skill Grades for a Marking Period

Teachers also have an Overall view which shows each skill with each of the Overall Marking Period Grades.

Overall View

Viewing Skills under Student Data

You can view an overall view of a student’s gradebook skills on the Student Data -> Modify Student -> Gradebook -> Skills screen.  Each gradebook is displayed on this screen along with the skills that have been graded.  The overall score for each skill is displayed.

Student Skills under Student Data

Helpful Tip: Posting skill grades to the report card can be a tedious process for your teachers. Using the Gradebook - Post Grades - Post Grades By Student screen helps make the process cleaner and much more efficient. This screen allows a teacher to post all the skill grades for a student on one screen. Teachers can also use a Update All Grades link to populate all of their skill grades in all of their gradebooks in one click. The skill grades are on this screen are populated by the overall skill grade for the marking period, making the process easier and more time efficient.

Skills in the Parents Module

Setup

You can enable a Skills view within the Parents Module so parents can see a view like the Student Skills screen within the Gradebook.  To enable this screen, go to the Gradebook -> School Setup -> Advanced Skills Setup screen and check the “Show Skills Grading screens inside of the Parents Module” checkbox under the Activation section.  Once saved, parents will be able to view the screens. 

Inside the Parents Gradebook

The skills for each assignment can be viewed on two screens within the Parents Module.  The first screen is the Assignment List screen, which shows parents the assignments in a list form.

Assignment List screen showing Skills

The second screen is a Skills Summary screen, which allows parent to switch courses and marking periods to view. 

Skills Summary in Parents Module