Standards Gradebook
Creation of Codes
This guide is being provided to assist you with the creation of codes that will be used in conjunction with
Standards Gradebook. This guide is broken down into two sections: Grade Marks and Grade Comment
Codes. Any Code suggestions in this guide are based on common examples and are not mandatory. A
checklist has been provided to get you started on the basics of setting up this area.
Essentials Checklist
Create each Grade Mark for scoring Subjects, Skills, and Events
Create built in Comments for Report Cards if applicable
Updated on 12/28/12
page 1 of 8
1. Grade Marks (WS\EA\GB\ST\PS\CO\GM)
Grade Marks allows for the use of Grade Mark Groups within an Academic Area and determine what
Grade Marks are available to teachers for scoring Events and for manual entry of Skill and/or Subject
Grades.
Items to think about when creating Grade Marks:
Any key on a standard keyboard can be created as a Grade Mark. However, it is not advised to
create an asterisk as a Grade Mark as this is already used by the gradebook to represent Not Yet
Graded. There is a Codes Import Utility to import standard Grade Marks (like the A, B, C, D, F
scale or 100 point scale) located in PS\CA\TO\CI.
Make sure you know before creating your Grade Marks if you will need to calculate a GPA as this
affects the fields necessary to fill out for each Grade Mark. GPA Points are used in the
calculation of GPAs for Transcripts and for the Skyward calculated Honor Roll.
Grade Marks are Entity specific but can be cloned from one Entity to another in
WS\OF\GR\PS\UT using the Clone Grade Marks/Grade Comments from Entity to Entity utility.
Grade Marks are School Year specific but are cloned to the next School Year during the Year End
Process or can be manually cloned in WS\OF\GR\PS\UT using the Clone Grade Marks from Year
to Year utility.
Common Grade Marks include:
o A, B, C, D, F
o 1, 2, 3, 4
o E, S, N, U
o P, F: Pass, Fail
o I, M, EX: Incomplete, Medical, Exempt
o WP, WF: Withdraw Pass, Withdraw Fail
o 100, 99, 98, 97, etc. if you are using individual percentage based Grade Marks
o +, -, +/-, /
Note: Grade Marks are typically set up as part of
Grading configuration. It is possible that all needed
Grade Marks have already been created.
Updated on 12/28/12
page 2 of 8
A
B
C
D
E
I
J
F
G
H
A. School Year is automatically calculated based on the current School Year of the Entity. However,
you can create Grade Marks for previous School Years or the next School Year if it has been
created.
B. High Graduation Year can be used to create separate Grade Mark Descriptions for different
Grad Years (example: The same Grade Marks have different meanings for 1st grade vs. 2nd grade)
or they can be used when changing from one point scale to another for GPA purposes (example:
We used to calculate our GPA on a 16 point scale but starting with the freshmen of this year we
will begin to calculate our GPA on a 4 point scale. This would require use of the High Graduation
Year so that the system can maintain the prior students’ GPA points and the current students’
GPA points for the same Grade Marks. This is also sometimes referred to as “grandfathering in”
a new point system).
C. Grade Mark is the value that teachers and/or administrators will assign to a student. This is the
value that will be entered and seen in the gradebook.
D. Speed Input Key gives a user the capability to enter a key to use for manual entry of grades, as
opposed to the Grade Mark, to make entry quicker (example: entering a numeric key as the
Speed Input Key so that a number pad can be used when entering grades for several students at
a time). Note: This option does not work with the gradebook. It only works with the manual
entry of grades through the Student Profile or Grading.
E. Report Card Mark allows for the entry of a character that would replace the Grade Mark listed
in the Grade Mark field when printing Report Cards (example: at a lower grade level teachers
may want to enter E, S, N, and U but have A-F print on the report card. One could enter E as the
Grade Mark and A as the Report Card Mark for this purpose).
F. Transcript Mark allows for the entry of a character that would replace the Grade Mark listed in
the Grade Mark
G. EDI Qualifier is no longer used.
Updated on 12/28/12
page 3 of 8
H. Description is a 15 character field that can be the same as the Grade Mark or can be used to
give a longer description of the Grade Mark. The Description will show if a Grade Mark legend is
printed.
I. Detailed Description is a field where a more detailed description of the meaning of a Grade
Mark can be entered. There is a maximum limit of 300 characters for this field. There is an
option when printing Report Cards to display the Detailed Description as opposed to the
Description.
J. SIS Grade Earned or other State Reporting related field should be filled out if you report Grade
Marks to the state and need to tie your Grade Marks to an equivalent state Grade Mark.
K
A
L
M
P
N
O
Q
K. Use In GPA should be checked if this Grade Mark should be included when GPA is calculated
(example: This should be checked for A, B, C, D, F. It should not be checked for P when used in a
Pass/Fail scenario or for Grade Marks like I or INC that represent Incompletes).
L. Use In Earned should be checked if this Grade Mark should be included when Earned Credits are
calculated (example: This should be checked for A, B, C, and D. This should not be checked for F
since the student would not earn credit for a failing Grade Mark and it should not be checked for
Grade Marks like Incompletes).
M. Use In Failed should be checked if this Grade Mark represents a failing grade (example: This
should be checked for F Grade Marks or any other failing Grade Marks). These are used when
calculating a student’s Failed Credits.
N. Use as Medical should be checked if this Grade Mark will be used as an Override Grade Mark to
override a Subject, Skill, Term, Semester and/or Final grade for medical reasons. This is a manual
override that can be done at the administrative level or by teachers by clicking on the header for
a Subject, Skill, Term, Semester, and/or Final column in the gradebook.
O. Use as Incomplete should be checked if this Grade Mark will be used as an Override Grade Mark
to override a Subject, Skill, Term, Semester, and/or Final because it is incomplete. This is a
manual override that can be done at the administrative level or by teachers by clicking on the
Updated on 12/28/12
page 4 of 8
header for a Subject, Skill, Term, Semester, and/or Final column in the gradebook.
P. Use as Other should be checked if this Grade Mark will be used as an additional Override Grade
Mark necessary to be able to override a Subject, Skill, Term, Semester, and/or Final grade
(example: If you would like to override a student’s calculated A-F grade with a Pass). This can be
attached to multiple Grade Marks.
Q. Allow Overwrite by Gradebook/Scanning should be checked if this Grade Mark should be able
to be overwritten by the gradebook’s posting process should a student’s grade change.
R
U
S
T
W
V
X
Y
R. Include in Grade Calculations is for use with a Semester/Final calculation option available to
Secondary Gradebook only.
S. Enter Grade Calculation Value is for use with a Semester/Final calculation option available to
Secondary Gradebook only.
T. Use Another Grade Mark’s Values is for use with a Semester/Final calculation option available
to Secondary Gradebook only.
U. Grade Calculation Value is for use with a Semester/Final calculation option available to
Secondary Gradebook only.
V. Low Range is for use with a Semester/Final calculation option available to Secondary Gradebook
only.
W. High Range is for use with a Semester/Final calculation option available to Secondary
Gradebook only.
X. Grad Yr High is for use with a Semester/Final calculation option available to Secondary
Gradebook only.
Updated on 12/28/12
page 5 of 8
Y. Grade Mark is for use with a Semester/Final calculation option available to Secondary
Gradebook only.
A
B
Z
Z. GPA Sets are named by the School District so the descriptions of the user’s GPA Sets may differ
from this screenshot. The number of GPA Sets may also be different based on the number the
School District uses. GPA Sets are used to enter GPA Point values for different Grade Marks.
A. GPA Methods are named by the School District so the descriptions of the user’s GPA Methods
may differ from this screenshot. The number of GPA Methods may also be different based on
the number the School District uses. GPA Methods are used to print GPA on Transcripts and
other reports as well as being used to run Student Rank.
B. GPA Point Values are entered to represent the amount of GPA Points a student would receive
when they have earned this Grade Mark multiplied by the Earned Credit amount (example: 4.0
multiplied by an Earned Credit value of 0.50 would give a student 2.0 GPA Points for this Grade
Mark).
Updated on 12/28/12
page 6 of 8
2. Grade Comment Codes (WS\EA\GB\ST\PS\CO\CM)
Grade Comment Codes are used to create a body of codes for teachers to select to print on report cards
(example: Nice Work, Needs Improvement, etc.).
Items to think about when creating Grade Comment Codes:
These can be used for phrases that teachers commonly use on report cards.
Special characters like accents are not supported at this time.
These can be translated into Spanish when printing report cards in Spanish by entering the
translations under PS\WS\LT\GR\CO\GC.
These can be copied from Microsoft Word or any other word processing program. However, if
copying from Microsoft Word, replace apostrophes to avoid odd characters printing on the
report card.
These can be used as Special Codes on the New Report Card Format when printing Assignment
information.
Grade Comment Codes are Entity specific but can be cloned from one Entity to another in
WS\OF\GR\PS\UT using the Clone Grade Marks/Grade Comments from Entity to Entity utility.
Grade Comment Codes are School Year specific but are cloned to the next School Year during
the Year End Process or can be manually cloned in WS\OF\GR\PS\UT using the Clone Grade
Comments from Yea r to Year utility.
Please keep in mind that there is the capability for teachers to enter Freeform Comments as
well. This can be turned on in WS\OF\GR\PS\CF\GE by editing the current Grading Entity Year
record. A Character limit can be entered for Freeform Comments in WS\EA\PS\CF\ES. The
number of characters can be between 0 and 2,000.
Skyward Suggestion: Since Comment Codes can be numeric, alpha, or alphanumeric, you
may find it helpful to organize your Codes so that they’re listed in order of common usage.
That is how they will then display for teachers. For example, A1-A9 might be reserved for
behavioral comments while B1-B9 could be reserved for class participation or homework
related comments.
Updated on 12/28/12
page 7 of 8
A
B
C
D
A. School Year is calculated based on the Entity’s current School Year. This field cannot be
changed.
B. Grade Comment Code is the Code that teachers and administrative staff will select to attach a
Grade Comment to a student. The Grade Comment Code can be alphanumeric and up to three
characters.
C. Description should be used to further describe the Grade Comment Code. The Description will
appear in Family Access and on Report Cards. This field has a maximum character limit of 100
characters.
D. Use comment as a special code on the new report card is an option for use with Special Codes
printing on the report card. This option is only available to use with report cards for Secondary
Gradebook.
Updated on 12/28/12
page 8 of 8