Update post columns with Gradebook averages

During a grading term, you use the gradebook Online version of a paper book where teachers enter and track assignments, assignment grades, and term grades. If you are searching for this term, consider a more targeted search string like "Entering Grades." to enter all of the grades students earn on assignments in your classes.

With each new grade you enter for a student, the system updates his or her averages columns (for example, their homework average, quiz average, test average, and term average).

The averages appear in columns with the Calculator icon in the grade column header.

As the teacher, you own the averages columns on the Scores side-tab (just as you would in a leather-bound paper gradebook). The office cannot see or edit these values.

Similar to a paper, school-issued grade input sheet, the district and school offices own the post columns. These are the columns containing the information that appears on student transcripts, such as term grades, final grades, and comments.

At the top of each district-defined grading column, a pushpin appears. The pushpin’s color and icon indicate one of the following:

• If the pushpin is black , you can enter grades for this column, but you cannot post them to transcripts yet.
• If the pushpin is green with a triangle , you can enter and post grades for this column.
• If the pushpin is red with a square , you already posted the information to transcripts. If you need to change a grade, you might be able to repost grades yourself, or you might need to contact the office for assistance, depending on your school's grade preferences. Ask your Aspen system administrator.

At the end of a grading term, finish entering all assignment grades for the students in your classes. The term average is complete.

Note: Once you post grades, the pushpin and icon turn red and do not change color if you post again. If your school lets you repost grades, you could potentially change a student's score and forget to repost. (There is no visual reminder to repost, since the pushpins stay red.) To ensure that all of your changes get posted to transcripts, you might want to repost grades for all of your classes before you leave school on the last day of the posting window.

To begin to post these grades to student transcripts, use the Update Post Columns option to copy your term averages (in the Calculator columns) to the district and school office-defined and -owned post columns. This is similar to physically copying students' final averages from your paper, leather-bound gradebook to a school-issued Grade Input sheet.

Note: If your district uses a special calculation for averages, Update appears in the column header. Click Update to update all grades in that column without having to complete the Update Post Columns wizard.

Note: In certain cases, if a post column is an average column, you can click the post column’s name in your gradebook column header to view the grade calculation weights applied to the average’s component grades via a pop-up. This occurs if the following conditions are met: Your administrator has defined that column as an Other Average or Final Average in your district’s transcript definition. The column is associated with a grade calculation, and the grade calculation contains non-grouped weights.

To update post columns with gradebook averages:

1. Log on to the Staff view.
2. Click the Gradebook tab, and then select the checkbox next to the section you want to update post columns for.
3. Click the Scores side-tab.
4. Change your Grade Columns to Post Columns - Term.
5. Click Update Post Columns at the top of the Scores page, or select it from the Options menu. The Update Post Columns wizard appears.
6. Select the Grade Term you want to post columns for and the grades to update (progress or report card).
7. Click Next. Step 2 of the Update Post Columns wizard appears.

8. If reporting standards are aligned to this course, the Update All Rubric Columns field appears. Select one of the following to determine which rubric average you want Aspen to copy to the district (office) column:
• Do not update: Does not update the current values in the columns.
• Trend: Aspen copies the Trend averages into the district post column.
• Average: Aspen copies the Traditional standard average into the district post column.

  Note: When using standards-based grading, the Trend average for a report card is the one that supports the theory of standards-based grading. Trend averages are calculated using the Power Law calculation to determine the student’s progress in reaching the standard. Each student’s goal is to ‘trend up’; students should perform better on a standard towards the end of a term after more instruction and practice. Trend averages calculate a heavier weight to scores entered later in the grade term.

9. The next field displays the name of the post column for the term and grades you selected in Step 1 (for example, Quarter 3 Grade). This is the column you copy grades into. Select the gradebook averages column you want the system to copy grades from.
10. The next field appears if reporting standards are associated with the course. It displays the name of the transcript definition column for the term you selected in step 1 (for example, Term 1 Rubric). If you want transcripts to show the average of all a student's standards scores for this course, select Average of Standards from the drop-down. Otherwise, select Do Not Update.
    

11. Click Next. Step 3 of the Update Post Columns wizard displays your selections.

    Note: Running this procedure will overwrite manually-adjusted grades in a standards-based gradebook. The message on Step 3 of the wizard, "This operation will not update manually adjusted scores," only applies to the traditional gradebook.

    Example: Assume that you have a traditional gradebook and you updated post columns. Later, you manually adjust a student's grade in the district post column from a B- to a B. That grade appears in the post column with the override symbol . (The override symbol might not appear in your gradebook, depending on the column type your district selected. The override symbol does not appear in a standards-based gradebook.)

12. Click Finish. The values in the term average column you selected appear in the post column you select.

Now, you can change these values, enter comment values, and post these grades to transcripts.