17
Nova Scotia Public Education System Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide Revision Date: Oct 27, 2014
Nova Scotia Public Education System
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6
Quick Reference Guide
Revision Date: Oct 27, 2014
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
3
1. WHAT MUST BE ENTERED AT WHICH GRADE LEVEL ............................................................................................................. 4
2. TO ENTER VALUES INTO THE GRADEBOOK ............................................................................................................................ 5
3. HOW THE SCORE INSPECTOR WORKS .................................................................................................................................... 9
4. MANUALLY ENTER COMMENTS AND GRADES .................................................................................................................. 12
5. USING THE STUDENT VIEW .................................................................................................................................................... 14
6. COMMENTS ............................................................................................................................................................................ 16
7. COMMENT BANK .................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
4
1. WHAT MUST BE ENTERED AT WHICH GRADE LEVEL
Teachers of grades Primary to Six create the report card by entering values for the social development/work habits, strands, subject marks and comments. Depending on the grade and subject, different values must be entered into the Gradebook.
Grade Learner Profile
Comment Social Development / Work Habits
o Consist o Usually o Prompts o Rarely o NA
Strands only for ELA/FLA and Math
o A o B o C o D
Grade
o A o B o C o D
Comment: All subjects have an overall comment
Primary Comments are entered in the Homeroom Class for Term 1, and the Homeroom, Music and Physical Education Classes for Terms 2 & 3
Values are selected in the Homeroom Class
N/A N/A For term 1 the only comments required are for French or English Language Arts and Mathematics
1 - 3 Comments are entered in the Homeroom, Music and Physical Education Classes
Values are selected in the Homeroom Class
Grades are selected for each strand in ELA/FLA/Math
Grades are selected for all other subjects
All subjects have a comment
4 - 6 Comments are entered in the Homeroom, Music and Physical Education Classes
Values are selected in the Homeroom Class
Grades are selected for each strand in ELA/FLA/Math
Grades are selected for all other subjects
All subjects have a comment
The Gradebook information is migrated into PowerSchool and used to generate the report cards. The components that make up the Learner Profile are stored using the Homeroom Class.
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
5
2. TO ENTER VALUES INTO THE GRADEBOOK
1. In the Gradebook, select the year or term from the Classes section and the correct Reporting Term for the report card being generated. If the wrong year or reporting term is selected then the values you enter in the Gradebook will not be displayed on the report card.
2. Click the Scoresheet tab. 3. Click the button: Final Grades. A series of columns are displayed.
a. From Classes, select a course. i. If you choose Homeroom (AM) there is a Learner Profile
Comment and the Social Development / Work Habits for the Learner Profile listed. Please note that although there is a Learner Profile for Completes Homework for Grades 1 – 6 that it will only be displayed on the report card for Grade 4 – 6.
You can move your cursor over the column to display the description horizontally for ease of reading.
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
6
ii. Enter a comment for the Learner Profile. After a comment is entered for a student a blue circle with the letter 'c' is displayed in the Learner Profile Comment column. When entering a comment you may either manually enter the text or select a comment from the Comment Bank and click the Insert Selected button.
iii. For each Social Development/Work Habit, you assign the appropriate description (e.g., Consist, Usually, Prompts, Rarely, or NA) which corresponds to the options available on the report card (e.g., consistently demonstrates, usually demonstrates, demonstrates with encouragement or prompts, rarely demonstrates, not applicable).
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
7
iv. If you select French Language Arts, English Language Arts or Mathematics, first there
is a Strand Comment column for the subject itself, then each strand is listed (e.g., Speaking and Listening). Grades (i.e., letter grades of A, B, C, or D) can be assigned to each of the strands. Grade Primary will not have grades, just a comment for the subject.
Grade Primary
Grade 1 – 6
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
8
v. For all remaining subject areas, no strands are listed. For grades 1-6 enter the
appropriate grade (e.g., letter grade – A, B, C, D) for each student under the column containing the course name, and a comment in the comments column. For grade Primary enter a comment in the comments column.
vi. Music and Physical Education teachers will enter Learner Profile Comments for Grades P-6 into the Learner Profile Comments Column for the appropriate course.
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
9
4. When all comments, descriptions and grades for the students are completed for each class
including the Homeroom class, click on the box that displays the term in progress
5. In the window Final Grade Completion Status, check the box to indicate that all final grades are
entered. Enter any comments (for Administration only) and click OK. The text in the box will change to Grade Complete for the selected term.
There are three methods to enter scores and comments; the Score Inspector, Fill Scores, and the Student View, each is described below.
3. HOW THE SCORE INSPECTOR WORKS
The Comment Inspector is a tool that allows easy navigation between students and columns. You are able move from student to student by using the down arrows or move between columns using the left and right arrows.
• Under the Comment column, right mouse click (Windows), or command + click (Mac). • Select Show Comment Inspector • Enter the comment for the first student in the Comment section or select a comment from My Comment Bank then click the Insert Selected button
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
10
Underneath the Comment section notice the character count, the number of characters available decreases as you start entering a comment. When there are no more characters left an error message is displayed stating the number of characters have exceeded the limit. However, for existing comments that exceed the character count limit a warning message is displayed underneath the comment stating how many characters have exceeded the limit. Characters that exceed the character count limit may not be displayed on the report card. • Some comments may contain
smart text ( e.g <he/she>) and depending on the smart text used the character counter will either
o Count the number of characters of the smart text (e.g. <his/hers> is 10 characters) because even though the smart text is recognized by the Gradebook it is not one of the smart text values available in the Smart Text drop-down box on the Personal Comment Bank entry screen
o Count the number of characters of the value added to the comment by the smart text (e.g. <first name> would be saved as the student's actual first name and the characters are counted using that value) because this smart text is available in the Smart Text drop-down box on the Personal Comment Bank entry screen
• Be aware of the length of your comments because the counter may not be a definitive number of actual characters that are printed on the report cards depending on the smart text used in the comment
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
11
• Click the right-arrow button in the Comment Inspector to move to the next column and add a
description or grade. The Outcome Comment Box changes to the Outcome Final Grade Box as you move to a grades inspector. Note: if there are no more columns click the down-arrow button to move to the next student.
• Select either a letter grade (strand) or a description (learner profile) • When you have completed entering comments and/or grades for each student in the class click the
Close button
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
12
4. MANUALLY ENTER COMMENTS AND GRADES
If you do not want to use the Score Inspector for grades 1 - 6, follow these steps:
1. Under the column containing the subject area and the letter ‘c’, right mouse click (Windows), or command + click (Mac), select Show Comment Inspector.
2. Enter a comment for the student. 3. Click Close to save. 4. Move down to the next student to add a comment. You can continue to enter comments until each
student in the class is done or move to the next column. 5. Under the Strand column right mouse click (Windows), or command + click (Mac) and select a
grade for the student. 6. If the class is ELA/FLA or Math you can either select grades for the other strands for the selected
student or move to the next student to enter a grade.
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
13
Fill Scores
PowerSchool offers a quick fill routine that will allow teachers to select a grade or a comment for the first student and fill the same grade or comment down for all the students in the class.
1. Right mouse click or Command Click on the first student, under the comment column or the grade column and select either Fill Comments (comment column) or Fill Scores (grade column).
2. Choose which comments or grades to fill. a. Students who currently have no comment b. Replace the comment or grade for all students
3. Enter the comment or grade and click OK.
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
14
5. USING THE STUDENT VIEW
Another method to enter marks and comments is to use the Student View.
1. From the Scoresheet section, select Student View, the same information is entered but the window is one student at a time.
2. Click on the buttons under the student’s name to see assignments (assessment events), terms and comments.
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
15
3. At the bottom of the page, right mouse click (Windows) or command click (Mac) to enter grades or values.
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
16
6. COMMENTS
Important notes on Comments Grades PR-6.
• The approximate number of characters that will be displayed on the report card for the comments are:
Grade Level
Learner Profile
Learner Profile for Music and Phys Ed
English Language Arts
French Language Arts
Math Other Subjects
Primary 450 250 Only applicable for term 2 and 3
1500 1500 1500 700 Only applicable for term 2 and 3
1 - 6 450 250 1500 1500 1500 600
• You will notice a countdown as you type, an error message will be displayed when you reach the
character count limit. • Some comments may contain smart text ( e.g <he/she>) and depending on the smart text used
the character counter will either o Count the number of characters of the smart text (e.g. <his/hers> is 10 characters) because
even though the smart text is recognized by the Gradebook it is not one of the smart text values available in the Smart Text drop-down box on the Personal Comment Bank entry screen
o Count the number of characters of the value added to the comment by the smart text (e.g. <first name> would be saved as the student's actual first name and the characters are counted using that value) because this smart text is available in the Smart Text drop-down box on the Personal Comment Bank entry screen
• Comments entered for each subject, (under the column with the course name that has the letter ‘c’ on it), are printed on the report card in the Strengths/Needs/Suggestions area.
In addition to existing smart pronouns, our latest version of PowerSchool includes new smart text functionality to enhance comment entry in PowerTeacher Gradebook. Smart text provides an easier, more consistent way to add smart text to your personal comment banks.
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
17
Please note that all existing smart pronouns will still work. You may continue to use the existing functionality or you can use the new functionality.
Benefits of the new smart text are:
• Presentation and storing of the actual text so that you have more accurate character counts. • This new feature can be used by all teachers in all grade levels.
Smart Text
<first name> note: there is no underscore <last name, first name> <first name last name> <preferred name> <last name> note: there is no underscore <he/she> <his/her> <him/her> <He/She> <His/Her> <Him/Her>
Smart Pronouns
~(He/She) ~(son/daughter) ~(he/she) ~([01]first_name) ~(His/Her) ~([01]last_name) ~(his/her) ~([01]lastfirst) ~(him/her) ~([01]Grade_level)
~(Son/Daughter) ~([01]Home_room)
Report Card Guide- Grades PR-6 Quick Reference Guide
November 4, 2014
18
7. COMMENT BANK
A Teacher can create a set of reusable comments within PowerTeacher Gradebook 1. Click Tool > Preferences in the menu bar 2. On the Comment Bank tab click the Add button 3. Enter a Code and Category 4. Enter a Comment and select the a Smart Text field where appropriate
