Report Cards – Creating and managing school-level reporting periods

Reporting periods are created by the school office. Reporting periods define a submission period by supplying a start date and a due date.

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What happens when – report card stages in Edsby

Creating a Reporting Period

Report Period Setup Form

Editing Reporting Periods

Adding Classes to a Reporting Period

Changing Report Card Templates

Managing Submitted Report Card Sheets

Publishing a Reporting Period to Parents and Students

Managing Reporting Periods

Printing Student Report Cards

Report Cards Zoom 

Group Report Cards

Overview

Here’s a video on how to create report cards.

 

 

Teachers complete and submit report cards sheets during the submission period.

School administrators can choose to review report cards either by class or by student before they are made available to parents and students.

Report Cards are printed by exporting data to another system or printed from within Edsby. Report Cards can also be published and made available to students and parents on their Edsby home screens.

Definitions

Reporting period

A reporting period defines the date range of assessments and attendance information included in report cards. A reporting period creates an average column in class gradebooks. The dates also determine which students to include in the report card sheets.

Report Card Sheet

Adding classes to a reporting period creates a report card sheet for the class. A teacher can open the report card sheet from within each class or by clicking the Report Card button on the home screen. A report card sheet lists all the enrolled students in the class during the reporting period.

Report card template (input and print)

The report card template includes all the required and optional information teachers enter to complete report cards. Report card templates can include both an input template and a print template.

Record

A student has one record for every class to which he or she is enrolled. Edsby combines the records to produce a Report Card.

Report Card

A report that includes grades and other required information from all a student’s teachers.

 What happens when

What	School office	Teachers
Reporting period created	A new reporting period is added to the Report Cards Zoom. A link to Report Cards is available on the home screen when one or more reporting periods have been defined. A Report Card link is added to the Class. A reporting period subtotal column is added to the Gradebooks.	A Report Card link is added to the Class. A reporting period subtotal column is added to the Gradebooks.
Submission period is open	The Report Cards zoom displays which report cards sheets have been completed. A Report Card button appears in the teacher’s Classes panels. Report card sheets can be submitted to the office. Changes can be made and resubmitted by the teacher.	Report Card buttons appear in the teacher’s Classes panel. Report card sheets can be submitted to the office. Changes can be made and resubmitted by the teacher.
Submissions period ended	The Report Cards zoom displays which report cards sheets have been completed. Report card sheets can be unlocked for editing if changes are needed. Report card sheets can be submitted. Report cards sheets cannot be changed unless unlocked by the office.	Report card sheets can be submitted. Report cards sheets cannot be changed unless unlocked by the office.
Report card sheets reviewed	School administrators can review report card sheets by class or collated records for a student.
All report card sheets submitted	Report card information can be exported. Report cards can be printed, if available.

Creating a reporting period for all classes or a set of classes

On your home screen, click Classes. If required, use Filters to create a list to the classes you want to include in this reporting period. The reporting period can automatically include a variety of report card templates.

Click Add to Report Card and complete the Reporting Period Setup form. Complete the Reporting Period Setup form. Click Save. The Report Cards Zoom will appear.

The Report Card Zoom is available when at least one reporting period exists.

Reporting period setup form

Add to which reporting period	Setting this field to Create New will add a new reporting period. Add classes or groups to an existing reporting period by choosing the name from the list.
Template to use	If set to Select Automatically the report card will be based on grade level and/or subject. The list will include the school’s report card templates. Select Automatically is the recommended setting.
Force deploy	Some Student Information Systems tag classes with a report card indicator. Classes like homeroom or study periods do not require a report card. Clicking the checkbox will override the SIS setting.
Allow Multiple Sheets	Generally used for split classes. For example, in 6th grade a level is displayed on the report card, while 7th grade report card displays a percent. This class would require two report card sheets.
New Reporting Period Details
Name	The name chosen is visible to teachers on the report card sheets. When report cards are published the name is visible to students and parents.
Type	Choose the correct type from the list. The list varies by school and district. Interim and Final are two common types.
Previous Reporting Period	If the report card includes a section for every reporting period, enter the previous reporting period. If the report card does not include previous reporting periods, leave this field blank.
Period Start	The reporting period will include any assessments on or after this date.
Period End	The reporting period will not include any assessments after this date.
Report Card Due	The date and time teachers are required to submit report cards. Teachers can continue to submit report card sheets once the deadline has passed, but cannot unlock the report card sheet for editing. Once the deadline has passed, administrators can view unsubmitted report cards.
Advanced
Don’t include period average in gradebook	When enabled, gradebooks won’t display an average column for the reporting period. Typically used for progress reports.
Maximum comment length	If the template includes a comment field, this field sets the number of characters allowed in the comment. In most cases, the report card input template has a comment length pre-defined. If the district is using one of the default templates the maximum length is set to accommodate the requirements of the printed report card. The default is 450 characters.
Submission Start Date	The date teachers can submit reports cards. On this date, teachers will see a Report Card button under the Class Name. By default, the submissions start date is 7 days before the Report Cards Due date. Once provisioned, teachers can enter information in the report cards, but they cannot submit Report Cards until the date set here.

Confirming a class is included in a reporting period

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Select a reporting period.
3. Search for the class name or filter by teacher, template, grade, or subject.

If the class is displayed in the list, the class has a report card sheet. Until the report card sheet is submitted, or the due date has passed, Office staff will not see the reporting period listed in the class.

Editing a reporting period

1. On the home screen, click Report Card.
2. Choose the name of the reporting period from the drop down list.
3. Click Edit Details.
4. Complete the changes then click Save.

Note: Schools cannot edit District level reporting periods.

Adding classes to an existing reporting period

• On the home screen, click Classes.
• Filter the class list to the classes that need to be added to an existing reporting period. The list can also be filtered by names, code, grade, subject, or teacher name.
• Select Add to Report Card.

• The Template to Use field is normally set to Select Automatically, but a specific report card template can be set.

• Choose the reporting period from the list and click Save.

While in the Report Card zoom, the Add Class or Group button can be used to add a Class or Group.

Changing Report Card Templates

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Enter the name of the class in Search, or filter the list by grades, subjects, report card templates, or teachers.
3. Click the Gear icon. To select all listed classes in the list, click Sheet Name checkbox or select individual classes by clicking the checkbox beside the class name.

Click Change Template. Select a report card template from the list. Click Save.

Canceling a report card sheet

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Enter the name of the class in Search, or filter the list by grades, subjects, report card templates, or teachers.
3. Click the Gear icon. To select all classes in the list, click Sheet Name checkbox on the toolbar or select individual classes by clicking the checkbox beside the class name.
4. Click Cancel Sheets.

If report card sheets are canceled in error, add the class back to the reporting period to restore the sheets and their contents.

Managing submitted report card sheets

Approving a report card sheet

Report card sheets can be approved. This optional step is used by administrators to help them identify which sheets have been reviewed. Once approved, teachers can no longer unlock a report card sheet, even if the due date is still in the future.

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Click on the Sheet Name to open the report card sheet.
3. Click Approve.

Returning a report card sheet for correction

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Click on the Sheet Name, to open the report card sheet.
3. Click Request Correction. Enter a message for the teacher. Click Proceed. Teachers can unlock their own report card sheets during the submission time frame but after the due date has passed, report cards need to be unlocked for the teacher.

Unlocking a report card sheet to make corrections

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Click on the Sheet Name, to open the report card sheet.
3. Click Unlock for Editing and make corrections. Click Resubmit to office or Approve. Both the teacher and school administrators can make corrections and resubmit to office.

Printing Report Cards

1. To print all sheets, Select Student View from the top right of the report cards screen. Make sure the filters are set to All.
2. Click the checkbox at the top of the student list to select all students.
3. Choose a print template. Click the Print button. A print preview of the report card is opened.
4. Click print to print the report cards.
5. The browser Print dialog appears.
6. Set the browser print options and click Print.

Printing by Grade Level

The report card sheets can be filtered by using the filters on the left side of the screen

1. Click Student View.
2. Choose a print template.
3. Select a grade or grades.
4. Click Print.
5. The browser Print dialog appears.
6. Set the browser print options and click Print.

Printing by Teacher

1. Click Student View.
2. Click on the teachers column to sort by teacher.
3. Choose a print template and Click Print.
4. The browser Print dialog appears.
5. Set the browser print options and click Print.

Printing by Selected Students

1. Select Student View.
2. Choose a print template.
3. Click the gear button in the top right corner of the page. Click the boxes beside each student’s name whose report card will be printed.
4. Click Print. The browser Print dialog appears.
5. Set the browser print options and click Print.

Setting Print Options

School administrators can choose to set the print options for all Report Cards at their school.

Navigate to the Student View of the Report Cards Zoom and click Print Options. 

A menu opens to customize the printed Report Cards. Add a school statement, school logo, principal signature, or school council chair. Each field is optional. 

When the print options are customized, click Save. The printed report cards will include the information specified in the Print Options.

Chrome Print Options and removing the header/footer

The Chrome browser, depending on local settings, may add a header and footer to the printed report card.

Expand the printer settings, then disable Headers and footers.

Publishing a reporting period to parents and students

As soon as one report card sheet is submitted, the Publish button will appear on the reporting period’s toolbar in Sheet View. Clicking the Publish button will publish all submitted and approved report card sheets.

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Select the reporting period.
3. Click Publish.

Students and parents view the report card by clicking the View Report Cards button that appears on the home screen’s Classes panel.

Managing reporting periods

Retracting a reporting period

Once the reporting period has been published, a Retract button appears on the reporting period’s toolbar. Clicking the Retract button will un-publish all published report card sheets. Parents and students will no longer see the reporting period name listed. If there are no published report cards, the View Report Cards button is removed from the parents and students home screen.

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Select the reporting period.
3. Click Retract.

It is not necessary to retract all report cards to correct information on a specific published report card sheet. Instead, click on the report card sheet to correct and click Unlock for editing. Once the correction has been made, click Approve. Click the Publish button to change the sheet status to Published.

Deleting a reporting period

To delete a reporting period:

1. On the home screen, click Report Cards.
2. Choose the name of the reporting period from the drop down list.
3. Click Edit Details.
4. Click Delete.

Deleting a reporting period will remove all associated report cards from Edsby for all users in all places. The report card period cannot be restored without the intervention of Edsby Professional services. Schools cannot delete a District level reporting period.

Report Cards Zoom

District and School administration have access to the Report Card Zoom, which provides up-to-the-minute information on a reporting period. Report Cards has two views. The Sheet View is focused on providing information about classes, while the Student View concentrates on reviewing and printing student report cards.

Sheet View toolbar & columns

Toolbar
Reporting Period list	Used to navigate to a selected reporting period.
Add Group or Class button	Add a class or a group to the selected reporting period. Classes and groups require student members. An empty class or group without students will not be provisioned a report card sheet.
Edit Details button	Reporting Periods provisioned at the schools level will include the ability to change the Reporting Period Setup form. District level reporting periods will not include an Edit Details button.
Export	Export report card sheet data to a csv file.
Gear icon	Displays Change Template, Cancel Sheet buttons and enables the ability to select individual classes.
Publish	If at least one report card sheet has been submitted, the Publish button appears. Clicking Publish will enable students and parents to view the report card on the home screen.
Retract	If report cards have been published, the Retract button will appear. Clicking the Retract button will unpublish all report cards.
Column Name
Sheet Name	Clicking on the sheet name will open the report card sheet. The report card sheet can be open if the State is Submitted, Overdue, Approved, Returned for Correction, Published.
Class / Group Name	The short name of the class.
Grade	Grade is displayed if provided by the Student Information System.
Teacher(s)	A list of teacher names.
Template	The name of the report card template provided to the class.
Student Status	The number of students in the class.
Sheet Status	Unsubmitted Teacher has not yet submitted the sheet. Percentage of completed required fields is displayed. Represented by a gray circle. Submitted During the submission period, teachers can unlock and modify report card sheets. Represented by a yellow circle. Approved Indicates the Office has approved the sheet. Once a sheet has been approved, the teacher can no longer edit the sheet. Represented by a green circle. Published The report card is visible to a student and parents. Represented by a blue circle.
Mean	The class mean based on the Grade column. Only appears after the report sheet has been submitted.
Median	The class median based on the Grade column. Only appears after the report sheet has been submitted.
# Fail	The number of students who fall below expectations. Only appears after the report sheet has been submitted.
Alert	Indicates if a grade has been adjusted more than 5 points. Only appears after the report sheet has been submitted.

Student View

The Student View enables the Office to view report card records by student. Clicking a student’s name opens the Review Report Card form. The form lists the teachers and classes that make up a student’s report card.

The form also includes the current state of each report card record.

Unsubmitted

Submitted

Approved

Returned for Correction

Published

Group report cards

Administrators can add Groups to report cards to include extra-curricular activities in students’ report cards. Moderators of the groups can assign students a performance indicator and a comment, which become part of the student’s report card.

To add a set of groups to report cards:

1. Access the Groups zoom from the Edsby home page.

2. Filter the groups that should be added to the Report Cards.

Click the gear to specifically select certain groups. Changing the filters will not unselect the selected groups.

3. Once all groups have been selected, open the drop-down menu by clicking the down arrow in the upper right corner.

4. Click Add to report card.

All filtered (or selected) groups will be added to the report card after the subsequent Reporting Period Setup form has been filled out and saved.

5. Fill out the Reporting Period Setup form. To add the Groups to a reporting period that already exists, click the drop-down box labeled Create New.

Otherwise, administrators must set-up a new reporting period. Click here to learn more about setting up a reporting period.

6. Click Save once the form is filled out to add all filtered (or selected) groups to the report cards of the selected reporting period.

Note: Monitor and List Groups, due to their privileged nature where they are hidden from students and parents, cannot be used in Report Cards.