PowerTeacher Gradebook

By permission from

Flora Contreras

SIS Coordinator

Buford City Schools

 

Download and Launch

 

  1. Open PowerTeacher
  2. Enter your username and password
  3. Click the Enter button

 

If asked if you want Windows to remember your password, choose No

 



  1. Click the Gradebook button in the left pane
  2. Click the Launch Gradebook button
  3. As the program launches, you may receive a security warning, click Run.

 

The Gradebook Interface

 

  1. When the gradebook opens you will see a list of current classes and the students enrolled in each class. By default, the Gradebook opens up in the Scoresheet.
  2. The gradebook window is broken into different panes, the panes can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the 3 vertical lines in the upper right corner of the pane.

 

 

The Menu bar

 



File: Save, Revert, Exit
Edit: Cut, Copy, Paste
View: Scoresheet, Assignments, Students, Grade Setup, Class Info, Reports
Tools: Categories, Grade Scales, Score Inspector, Fill Scores, Recalculate Final Scores, Copy Assignment, Preferences
Window: New Window

Help: Contents (online help), About

Add/delete student groups
 

Classes Pane
 

Groups

 
 

ID bar
 

Tabs

 
 

 

NOTE: The Scoresheet window can be filtered by Term (which also includes the current week, the next week, etc…), Category, or Students (active or dropped).

 

Categories

 

Before you can use Gradebook to record student scores, assignment categories need to be defined. Gradebook has four pre-defined category types: Homework, Project, Quiz and Test. You can modify (edit or delete) the existing categories and create new categories.

 

Once your categories are set up, they are available to all of the classes you teach.

 

  1. Go to Tools, Categories

 

Use these buttons to add or delete categories
 




Editing Existing Categories

 

  1. Click on a Category in the left pane
  2. Make any desired changes to the fields that are set up:
    1. Color
    2. Points Possible
    3. Score Type
    4. Include in Final Grade

3. If you wish to delete the category, click the – in the lower left corner of the categories window.

 

Creating New Categories

 

    1. Enter a Name for the category
    2. Enter an Abbreviation
    3. Choose a Color from the drop-down list
    4. Enter the Points Possible (this will be the default point value of any assignments in this category)
    5. Choose a Score Type from the drop-down list
    6. Check Include in Final Grade if appropriate
    7. Enter a description
    8. Repeat steps 1 – 8 until all categories are set up

     
     
    Click the + in the lower left corner of the categories window.



 

Click the Close button when you are finished working with categories.

 

NOTE: One nice use of categories is for tracking non-graded assignments, such as field trip permission forms, etc… You will have the ability to filter the category out of any reports you run. If you choose to do this, make sure you leave Include in Final Grade unchecked.

 

Score Types

 

Mixed, Points, Percentages, Letter

 

Final Grade Setup (this must be done for each of your classes)

 

  1. Select a Class from the Classes pane
  2. Click the Grade Setup tab
  3. Select the term you are setting up
  4. Choose how you want Gradebook to calculate the final grade
    1. Total Points – points earned / points possible
    2. Term Weights – total points x weight of term
    3. Category Weights – total points x weight of each category

 

Calculating the Final Grade using Category Weights

1.     Select Category Weights

 

 



2.     Click Add Category

 

 

3.     Select the checkbox next to each category you want to add

4.     Click OK. The category appears on the Grades Setup window

 

5. Double-click the category’s Weight field. Enter the weight.

6.     Double-click the category’s Drop Low field.

7.     Enter the number of low scores you want to drop from the final grade calculation.

8.     Click Save.

 
 

 

NOTE: Click the Add Assignment button to add an assignment to the final grade calculation (i.e. EOCT)

NOTE: Remove a category by selecting the category and clicking the remove button

Calculating the Final Grade using Term Weights (BES, BA, and BMS)


You can calculate final grades by term weights for reporting terms within the reporting term hierarchy that have shorter reporting terms within them (i.e. S1 = 50% from Q1 and 50% from Q2).

1.     Select a class

2.     Click the Grades Setup tab

3.     Click the reporting term you want to set up final grade calculation for

 

 

 

4.     Select Term Weights. Term weights for the selected Reporting Term appear

5.     Double-click the term’s Weight field. Enter the weight

6.     Click Save

 

Creating Student Groups

 

Gradebook provides tools for creating groups, matching assignments to groups, and tailoring gradescales to groups. The foundation group is Entire Class.

 

  1. Select a class
  2. Click the Students tab
  3. Click the + in the lower left corner of the screen
  4. Gradebook will create Untitled Set 1 (a set is one or more groups) and Untitled Group 1 “underneath” the Entire Class group
  5. Rename the Set and Group by double-clicking on them
  6. Enter the desired name and press Enter
  7. Right click on a set or group to add additional sets and groups
  8. Enter a name for the set/group
  9. Continue until all sets/groups have been added
  10. Add students to groups by clicking and dragging their name and dropping it on the appropriate group
  11. Multiple students can be moved by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking on student names
  12. Clicking on a group name will highlight all members of the group in the student pane
  13. Clicking on the arrow next to the group name will expand the group, enabling you to see which students are in the group
  14. Clicking on a Set name, enables you to see all the students within that Set
  15. A student may be removed from a group, by selecting the student’s name from the expanded list and clicking the – in the bottom left corner of the window

 

Entering Assignments

 

Once your categories are set up, you will add assignments to the gradebook.

 

  1. Select a class
  2. Click the Assignments tab
  3. Click the + in the Assignments pane
    The lower half of the pane comes up with settings for the assignment

 

 

  1. Enter a Name for the assignment
  2. The Abbreviation field will be populated automatically when you press Tab (you may edit the abbreviation if desired)
  3. Use the drop-down arrow to choose the appropriate Category
  4. Use the drop-down arrow to choose the appropriate Score Type
  5. Enter the Points Possible and Weight (change the weight, if you want an assignment to count more than once)
  6. Click the calendar button to enter a Date Due (you may also enter the Date Due manually)
  7. If the assignment is to be included in the final grade, check the Include in Final Grade box
  8. Enter a description (this is important for students who may have missed class and are accessing their assignments via PowerSchool)

 
 



 




12. Click the Publish tab (this is where you determine when an assignment will be visible to students and parents via PowerSchool)

13.  Use the drop-down arrow to set when the assignment is to be published

14. Uncheck the Publish Scores box, if appropriate

15. Click Save

 

 

NOTE: If you have assignments that are for tracking purposes only, you may not want to publish the score.
 


NOTE: Once an assignment has been created, it will appear in the upper part of the pane. Double-click an assignment to make changes to it.

 

To delete an assignment, click the – in the lower left corner of the Assignment pane.

 

 
 


Copying Assignments

 

Assignments can be set up in one class and copied to other classes.

 

  1. Select the class you want to copy the assignment from
  2. Click either the Scoresheet tab or the Assignments tab
  3. Click on the assignment you would like to copy
  4. Go to Tools, Copy Assignment

 

5. Check the box next to the classes you would like to copy the assignment to

 

6. Click OK

 

7. The assignment will be copied to the class(es) you chose
 

 

NOTE: Deleting an assignment from one class does not delete it from any of the classes it may have been copied to.

 

Sorting Assignments


By default, assignments are sorted by Name in ascending order.

 

  1. Select a class
  2. Click on a column heading to sort the assignments by: name, abbreviation, category, points possible, weight or date due. Assignments appear sorted in ascending order based on the selected column.

3.     Click the same column heading to sort assignments in descending order.

 

 

Entering Scores

 

 

  1. Select a class
    1. The assignments you have entered are listed across the top of the scoresheet.
    2. Click in the cell representing the intersection of the row containing the student’s name and the column of the assignment you want to enter the score for.
    3. Enter the score (make sure the score is appropriate for the assignment score type)
    4. Press Return to advance to the next student
    5. Press Tab to advance to the next assignment
    6. Click Save when you are done entering scores

     
     
    Click the Scoresheet tab

 



 

NOTE: Extra credit can be awarded by entering a score higher than the points possible.

 

NOTE: An assignment can be marked as collected, late or exempt by right-clicking on the score and choosing the appropriate item.

 

 

Summary

 

Click the Summary button in the lower left corner of the Scoresheet to view the mean, median, and mode score of each assignment.

 

Fill Scores

 

Fill Scores allows you to enter the same grade on an assignment for several students. It also allows you to mark whether the assignment has been collected, was received late, or is exempt. Additionally, you may add comments.

 

  1. Click in a score cell
  2. Go to Tools, Fill Scores

 

3. Click the appropriate radio button :

          a. Fill empty scores

          b. Replace all scores

 

4. Check the appropriate boxes:

          a. Collected

          b. Late

          c. Exempt Score

 

5. Enter the Score

6. Add a comment by either clicking on the comment bank or entering one in the text box.

 

7. Click OK

 

NOTE: If you click on a cell that already has a score entered, the score in that cell will be in the Score box.
 
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The Score Inspector

 

The Score Inspector can be accessed for individual student grades on assignments as well as the final grade. It allows you to add additional information to an individual grade or override a final grade. You can also enter your grades via the Score Inspector.

 

Assignment Grades

 

  1. Click on the student’s grade that you want to add some details to.
  2. Go to Tools, Score Inspector

 

Alternatively, right-click on the score and choose Show Score Inspector

 

 

3. Check the appropriate boxes:

          a. Collected

          b. Late

          c. Exempt

 

4. Add a comment by either entering one in the text box or choosing one from the Comment Bank.

 

5. Use the X to close the Score Inspector dialog box.

 

NOTE: Clicking Clear, clears all information for the score.

 

NOTE: When you add a comment or mark an assignment as late, there will be an indicator (c, l) next to the score.

 

Use the arrows to move through your roster and assignments
 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Grades

 

  1. Double-click on a final grade
  2. The Score Inspector dialog box opens

 

3. If you want to override the final grade:

 

a.     Check the manual override box

b.     Enter the Percent

c.     Enter the Grade

 

4. Either enter a comment in the text box or choose one from the Comment Bank.

 

5. Close the Score Inspector dialog box with the X.

 

NOTE: When you add a comment there will be an indicator (c)  next to the final score.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Student Information

 

  1. Click the Students tab
  2. A list containing the students’ names, student numbers, birthdays, genders, grades and home phone numbers will come up.

 

 

  1. Clicking on the arrow next to the student’s name will bring up their information in the lower part of the pane – this information includes parent names, emergency contact information and a link to a guardian e-mail address.
  2. Click the x in the upper left corner to close

 

NOTE: The student number and home phone have been removed from the above picture.

 

Class Info

 

  1. Click the Class Info tab

 



  1. Enter a description for your class and any web links that are needed for the class.
  2. Click Save

 

Reports

 

There are 7 reports available in PowerTeacher Gradebook.

 

  1. Click the Reports tab

 

2. Select the report you want to run

 

3. Click the Run Report button in the bottom right corner

 

4. A Save Report dialog box will open

 

5. Navigate to the location you would like to save the report to

 

6. Click Save

 
 

 

 

 

Preferences

 

  1. Go to Tools, Preferences

 

 

Grades should be rounded and stored with 0 decimal places.

 

 

Exiting the Gradebook

 

  1. Go to File, Save
  2. Logout of PowerTeacher

 

 

Attendance

 

Attendance is taken in PowerTeacher outside of the Gradebook program.

 

  1. Navigate to PowerTeacher (BCSS webpage, Employee Portal, PowerSchool, Teacher Login)
  2. Enter your username and password
  3. A list of your classes will come up

 

 

  1. Click the Chair icon of the appropriate class
  2. Use the drop down arrow to choose the attendance code
  3. Click in the