 |
Assignments
In PowerGrade, you can create several assignments either during the same or
different PowerGrade sessions. Later, you can add more or edit existing assignments.
If you taught a specific class before, you probably know in advance that there
are certain assignments, tests, or projects. You can enter them at the beginning
of the term to save yourself time later on.
To change the view of the assignments on the class spreadsheet,
see the section "Assignment
View Options." Standards
You can add standards to assignments and to specific categories.
PowerGrade sends percentage scores for each assignment to PowerSchool,
where they are averaged to determine a standards score. Some states
have curriculum standards. Use this field to track to which standards
an assignment applies. For more information, see the section "Standards."
Extra Credit Assignments
PowerGrade makes it easy to set up extra credit work without penalizing
those who do not complete the work. Create an assignment with zero
points possible so that it doesn't count against students who don't
try for extra credit. When students turn in extra credit, enter
the appropriate scores for the assignment. These points count toward
their grade; however, because the assignment has zero points possible,
the lack of a score does not count against the final grade of those
students who did not complete it.
How to View Assignment Details
- Choose an available class from the Classes menu. The class page for the selected class appears. For more information on accessing classes, see the section "Open Classes."
- Choose Windows > Assignments (or click the Assignments icon). The Assignments page appears.
- Select an assignment from the assignment list on the left side
of the page. Details for the selected assignment appear on the
right.
Note: To create assignments, you need to first set up assignment categories. If you have no assignment categories entered for this class, you have no assignments. When you click Assignments, an error message appears. Click OK. To create assignment categories, see the section "Assignment Categories."
The Assignments page displays the following information:
|
Field
|
Description
|
|
[Assignment List]
|
The list of available assignments appears. If no assignments
are entered, this field is blank.
When you select an assignment, its details appear on the
right side of the page.
|
|
Category
|
Use the pop-up menu to select an assignment category. For
more information, see the section "Assignment
Categories."
|
|
Name
|
Enter the assignment name.
|
|
Abbrev.
|
Enter an abbreviation for the assignment. Various PowerGrade
reports use this abbreviation.
|
|
Pts. Poss.
|
Enter the number of points possible.
|
|
Weight
|
Enter a weight for the assignment (optional). The system
multiplies both the assignment's points possible and the
students scores by this weight when calculating final grades.
For example, suppose that there are three assignments worth
10 points each, and a student earns 5, 6, and 7 points on
them. All of the assignments have a weight of 1 except for
the first assignment, which has a weight of 2. This means
that for this student's final grade, PowerGrade makes the
first assignment worth 20 point, so the student earns
10 points on that assignment. The other two assignments
do not change because they have a weight of 1. Thus, the
student earns 23 out of a possible 40 points.
You can also use this feature to turn off an assignment
by giving it a weight of zero. For more information on weighting,
see the section "Weight
Grades."
You can use decimal weights such as 1.5 or 2.25. If you
do, category subtotals and final point totals might include
several decimal places.
|
|
Date due
|
Click the calendar button to
select the date the assignment is due. Use the arrows to
navigate forward or backward by month or year. After navigating
to the appropriate month and year, select the day the assignment
is due. The selected date displays in the "Date due" field. |
|
Description
|
Enter a description of the assignment (optional). Parents
can read this description when they log in to PowerSchool.
|
|
Web Link
|
Click Web Link to enter any URLs and explanatory text that
might be helpful to students or parents. Parents can read
this information.
|
|
Standards
|
Click Standards to apply standards to this assignment.
The Standards dialog appears.
Standards are statements of what students should learn and be able to do in core subject areas. Each state has identified content standards students are to master at each grade level. By associating an assignment to a specific standard, you can demonstrate how you are striving to teach to the standards in your classroom. For
more information about standards, see the section "Standards."
|
| View Group |
Click View Group to view the class
group to which the current class is associated. Use this information
to determine if you want to copy this assignment to other
classes in the group. To do so, see the field "Apply
to other classes in the group." |
|
Apply to other classes in group
|
Select this checkbox to apply the assignment to other classes
in the group. The assignment only applies to courses in
the same group for the same term.
|
| Other Classes |
In addition to the current class,
the number of other classes that include this assignment appears. |
- Close the dialog and return to the class spreadsheet when you
finish viewing the assignment details.
How to Create Assignments
- Choose an available class from the Classes menu. The class page for the selected class appears. For more information on accessing classes, see the section "Open Classes."
- Choose Windows > Assignments (or click the Assignments icon). The Assignments page appears.
- Click New. The cursor appears in the
Name field.
- Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
|
Field
|
Description
|
|
[Assignment List]
|
The list of available assignments appears. If no assignments
are entered, this field is blank.
When you select an assignment, its details appear on the
right side of the page.
|
|
Category
|
Choose an assignment category from the pop-up menu. For
more information, see the section "Assignment
Categories."
|
|
Name
|
Enter the assignment name.
|
|
Abbrev.
|
Enter an abbreviation for the assignment. Various PowerGrade
reports use this abbreviation.
|
|
Pts. Poss.
|
Enter the number of points possible.
|
|
Weight
|
Enter a weight for the assignment (optional). The system
multiplies both the assignment's points possible and the
students' scores by this weight when calculating final grades.
For example, suppose that there are three assignments worth
10 points each, and a student earns 5, 6, and 7 points on
them. All of the assignments have a weight of 1 except for
the first assignment, which has a weight of 2. This means
that for this student's final grade, PowerGrade makes the
first assignment worth 20 points, so the student earns
10 points on that assignment. The other two assignments
do not change because they have a weight of 1. Thus, the
student earns 23 out of a possible 40 points.
You can also use this feature to turn off an assignment
by giving it a weight of zero. For more information on weighting,
see the section "Weight
Grades."
You can use decimal weights such as 1.5 or 2.25. If you
do, category subtotals and final point totals might include
several decimal places.
|
|
Date due
|
Choose a date due from the pop-up menus or enter the date
using the format mm/dd/yyyy.
|
|
Description
|
Enter a description of the assignment (optional). Parents
can read this description when they log in to PowerSchool.
|
|
Web Link
|
Click Web Link to enter any URLs and explanatory text that
might be helpful to students or parents. Parents can read
this information.
|
|
Standards
|
Click Standards to apply standards to this assignment.
The Standards dialog appears.
Standards are the average scores for tests and assignments,
and are typically used for state reporting purposes. For
more information about standards, see the section "Standards."
|
| View Group |
When creating an assignment,
click View Group to view the class group to which the current
class is associated. Use this information to determine if
you want to copy this assignment to other classes in the
group. To do so, see the field "Apply to other classes
in the group."
You cannot edit this field after initially saving the assignment. |
|
Apply to other classes in group
|
When creating an assignment,
select this checkbox to apply the assignment to other classes
in the group. The assignment only applies to courses in
the same group for the same term.
You cannot edit this field after initially saving the assignment. |
| Other Classes |
In addition to the current class,
the number of other classes that include this assignment appear. |
- Click Accept. The new assignment appears on the left.
- Do one of the following:
- Click New Assignment and repeat this process to add other
assignments.
- Close the Assignments page. The new assignment(s) appear on
the class spreadsheet.
How to Edit Assignments
- Choose an available class from the Classes menu. The class page for the selected class appears. For more information on accessing classes, see the section "Open Classes."
- Choose Windows > Assignments (or click the Assignments icon).
The Assignments page appears.
- Select an assignment from the assignment list on the left. Details
for the selected assignment appear on the right.
- Use the following table to enter information in the fields:
|
Field
|
Description
|
|
[Assignment List]
|
The list of available assignments appears. If no assignments
are entered, this field is blank.
When you select an assignment, its details appear on the
right side of the page.
|
|
Category
|
Choose an assignment category from the pop-up menu. For
more information, see the section "Assignment
Categories."
|
|
Name
|
Enter the assignment name.
|
|
Abbrev.
|
Enter an abbreviation for the assignment. Various PowerGrade
reports use this abbreviation.
|
|
Pts. Poss.
|
Enter the number of points possible.
|
|
Weight
|
Enter a weight for the assignment (optional). The system
multiplies both the assignment's points possible and the
students' scores by this weight when calculating final grades.
For example, suppose that there are three assignments worth
10 points each, and a student earns 5, 6, and 7 points on
them. All of the assignments have a weight of 1 except for
the first assignment, which has a weight of 2. This means
that for this student's final grade, PowerGrade makes the
first assignment worth 20 point, so the student earns
10 points on that assignment. The other two assignments
do not change because they have a weight of 1. Thus, the
student earns 23 out of a possible 40 points.
You can also use this feature to turn off an assignment
by giving it a weight of zero. For more information on weighting,
see the section "Weight
Grades."
You can use decimal weights such as 1.5 or 2.25. If you
do, category subtotals and final point totals might include
several decimal places.
|
|
Date due
|
Click the calendar button to
select the date the assignment is due. Use the arrows to
navigate forward or backward by month or year. After navigating
to the appropriate month and year, select the day the assignment
is due. The selected date displays in the "Date due"
field. |
|
Description
|
Enter a description of the assignment (optional). Parents
can read this description when they log in to PowerSchool.
|
|
Web Link
|
Click Web Link to enter any URLs and explanatory text that
might be helpful to students or parents. Parents can read
this information.
|
|
Standards
|
Click Standards to apply standards to this assignment.
The Standards dialog appears.
Standards are the average scores for tests and assignments,
and are typically used for state reporting purposes. For
more information about standards, see the section "Standards."
|
| View Group |
When creating an assignment,
click View Group to view the class group to which the current
class is associated. Use this information to determine if
you want to copy this assignment to other classes in the
group. To do so, see the field "Apply to other classes
in the group."
You cannot edit this field after initially saving the assignment. |
|
Apply to other classes in group
|
When creating an assignment,
select this checkbox to apply the assignment to other classes
in the group. The assignment only applies to courses in
the same group for the same term.
You cannot edit this field after initially saving the assignment. |
| Other Classes |
In addition to the current class,
the number of other classes that include this assignment displays. |
- Click Accept to save your changes.
- Close the Assignments page.
How to Delete an Assignment
- Choose an available class from the Classes menu. The class page for the selected class appears. For more information on accessing classes, see the section "Open Classes."
- Choose Windows > Assignments (or click the Assignments icon).
The Assignments page appears.
- Select the assignment you want to delete. Details for the selected
assignment appear on the right.
- Click Delete. A warning message appears.
- Click Yes.
- Close the Assignments page. The class spreadsheet appears.
| |
