In a recent article, we discussed how the gradebook will display an “I” for incomplete, if the system does not know how to calculate a grade, due to missing categories in the gradebook. We heard you, and we now have the option of re-normalizing the calculation by removing missing categories.
To re-normalize, you can go to the “Grading Setup” menu, and select the appropriate “Grading formula behaviour” from the dropdown below. Here’s what the dropdown looks like:
REVIEW: Academic terms are designed to work independently of one another. So for example, if you make changes to subjects, enrolments or grades for one academic term, it will not be reflected in other academic terms. This is true even for grade levels / programs. If you add a new “13th Grade” or a new “Bachelors of Arts” program for this academic term, it will not appear in previous academic terms.
But schools don’t want to have to create all that data (from scratch) over and over again whenever a new academic term is created. And so we introduced this concept of archiving/migrating the academic term. What this does is copies over all the data from the previous academic term, and copies it into the new academic term. From then on, you can make changes to the new academic term safely, without effecting information from the previous academic term.
So let’s go over the various ways that you can create a new academic term:
Creating an empty academic term is useful for purposes of admissions. You would then reserve the actual data archive/migration process for the end of the academic term (so that only the latest data is copied over). This is what the screen looks like:
This screen can be accessed via the “New Semester Setup” > “View All Semesters” screen, or via the “Admissions” > “View All Semesters” screen. Simply use the “Add New Academic Year” and “Add New Term” buttons to create empty academic terms.
Remember, if you use this method to create a new academic term, you should refrain from activating it, because there’s no data in there. Only when subjects are created / copied over do the gradebooks get created as well.
This process is a straight up “archive and migrate”, as was discussed earlier. This is what the screen looks like:
Read More »REVIEW: When you first create a report card grading session, the report cards are editable. All fields are calculated and displayed in real-time. You can override the fields by typing in something yourself. And if you move your mouse over the field, the “Default value” will pop-up over the field.
The report card will display the latest information based on information entered into the various modules. So for example, when teachers update the gradebook, the report cards will be updated automatically with the latest final grade calculations.
QUESTION: Once the report cards are done, and I’ve printed them off, how do I make sure that the report cards don’t change anymore?
Remember that if teachers continue to use the Gradebook and Attendance modules after the report cards are printed (especially if the academic term is not archived), the fields in the report card may get updated as well. And so the report cards that you printed earlier may look different if re-printed again later.
From the main “Report Cards” > “Report Cards” menu, you can follow these steps to print all the report cards in bulk:
1 – Check off all the checkboxes next to the report cards. You can click on the “All” link, but that only checks off the checkboxes on the first page. So page through, and click the “All” link as you go (we’ll improve the way this works in a future release).
Just a quick announcement, QuickSchools will have a booth at the 2011 Annual Conference organized by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS) in Detroit Michigan on Nov 3 – 4. Be sure to come check us out if you’re there. We’d love to hear from you.
If you’re new to our gradebook, you may notice something strange. What’s up with the “I”s? Why do some students have a final grade, and some don’t? Here’s an example of what your gradebook might look like (Notice the “I”s on the far right column):
In this example, we’ve configure the final grade to consist of 60% Assignments and 40% Tests. If you click on “(Formula for final grade)”, the calculation might look something like this:
Need help getting started with your new trial account? We’ve put together a YouTube playlist that describes some of the screens to help you get started. You can check them out here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/quickschools#grid/user/E31B3B0E61BED65E
You can also watch the individual videos using these links:
We’re still in the process of putting together more video tutorials. Please check out youtube channel for the latest videos. Here a link to that as well:
http://www.youtube.com/quickschools
Thank you for trying out QuickSchools. And if you need additional help, please don’t hesitate to chat with us online.
Occasionally in some of the newer accounts, users will realize that there are unfamiliar names in the midst of your students’ list. You may have seen names such as Amber Phillips, Alvin de Silva, Felicity Bradshaw, etc under the Students tab. Why is this?
Remember, when you first start your trial, the account has some test data so that you can see how the major functions of the system work.
And sometimes, as you move from testing the system during the trial to using the system properly to run your school, you may have not realized that those students are still in the list.
To clear the test data, go to the Getting Started page and just click on the checkbox, “Clear test data.”
Once you remove the test data and the Getting Started page, you may lose some of the Features you may have turned on during the test mode. Do not panic. 🙂 Just go back to the Features screen and turn those back on. All your data will be restored safely e.g. Gradebook, Homework, Attendance, etc.
So again, remember to clear the test data to avoid confusing users in your school… 🙂
