Competency Setup Page

On this page:

Use this page to add or update a competency group and the report card items associated with it. Competency groups can be defined to be assigned to students based on student criteria or course enrollment.

For information on how teachers are associated with students for a competency group, refer to Assigning Students to Teachers for Competencies.

View competencies

1. Select Administration > Mark Reporting Setup > Standards & Competencies > Competency Setup.
2. If needed, enter criteria on the search page for a Simple or Advanced Search, and then click Load.
3. On the Search Results panel, click the competency group's link.

Add competency groups

1. Select Administration > Mark Reporting Setup > Standards & Competencies > Competency Setup.
2. Click Add.
3. Enter the new Competency Group information. Each Competency Group code must be unique; therefore, you cannot add a state group with a competency group code already used for a district group, or vice versa.
4. Select the competency type Student or Course.
5. Define how the competency group is associated with students.
   • If you selected a competency type of Student, define the criteria to select the students who the competency group applies to.
   • If you selected a competency type of Course, select the course codes that the competency group applies to.
6. Complete the blank row in Competency Detail panel as needed to add a competency.
7. Use the arrows in the Level field to set the competency level.
8. Repeat steps 6-7 as needed.
9. To change the order of the competency within the group, click the tab to the left of the Level field and drag to the desired location.
10. Click Save.

Add competencies

You can add a competency to an existing competency group.

1. Select Administration > Mark Reporting Setup > Standards & Competencies > Competency Setup.
2. If needed, enter criteria on the search page for a Simple or Advanced Search, and then click Load.
3. On the Search Results panel, click the competency group's link.
4. Complete the blank row in Competency Detail panel as needed to add a competency.
5. To change the order of the competency within the group, click the tab to the left of the Level field and drag to the desired location.
6. Use the arrows in the Level field to set the competency level.
7. Repeat steps 3-5 as needed.
8. Click Save.

Copy competency groups

You can create a copy of an existing competency group using the Copy option. For example, if two grades have similar items, you can copy from one group to the other. Once you copy the group, you can make changes as needed.

1. Select Administration > Mark Reporting Setup > Standards & Competencies > Competency Setup.
2. If needed, enter criteria on the search page for a Simple or Advanced Search, and then click Load.
3. On the Search Results panel, click the competency group's link.
4. Click Copy.
5. In Copy Competencies To window, enter the information for the new competency groups.
6. Click OK.
7. Click Search to search for the group you copied to, then click its link.
8. Make changes as needed.
9. Click Save.
10. Repeat steps 6-8 for each competency group you created.

Change competency groups

1. Select Administration > Mark Reporting Setup > Standards & Competencies > Competency Setup.
2. If needed, enter criteria on the search page for a Simple or Advanced Search, and then click Load.
3. On the Search Results panel, click the competency group's link.
4. Change values as needed.
5. Click Save.

Enter alternate language translations for competencies

1. Select Administration > Mark Reporting Setup > Standards & Competencies > Competency Setup.
2. If needed, enter criteria on the search page for a Simple or Advanced Search, and then click Load.
3. On the Search Results panel, click the competency group's link.
4. In the Competency Detail panel, click

   

   (Additional options), and then select Show Alternate Languages to display the Alternate Language Description column next to the Description column.
5. Select the language you are entering translations for.
6. Enter descriptions as needed.
7. Repeat steps 4-5 for each language you are translating.
8. Click Save.

For information on how to set up and generate report cards in multiple languages, refer to Printing Alternate Language Report Cards.

Delete competencies

You can only delete competencies for which students have no marks.

1. Select Administration > Mark Reporting Setup > Standards & Competencies > Competency Setup.
2. If needed, enter criteria on the search page for a Simple or Advanced Search, and then click Load.
3. On the Search Results panel, click the competency group's link.
4. Select the

   

   (Delete) checkbox for each record to delete.
5. Click Save.

Delete competency groups

You can only delete competency groups for which students have no marks.

1. Select Administration > Mark Reporting Setup > Standards & Competencies > Competency Setup.
2. If needed, enter criteria on the search page for a Simple or Advanced Search, and then click Load.
3. Select the

   

   (Delete) checkbox for each record to delete.
4. Click Save.
5. Click Yes.

Fields

General Panel

Competency Group Definition Section

Select Students Section

This section displays when the Competency Type field is set to Student. Use this section to specify criteria to select the students who will be graded for these competencies.

Courses Section

This section displays when the Competency Type field is set to Course. Use this section to add or delete courses for the competency.

Competency Detail Panel

The order of the competencies affects how the competency group prints and displays on pages where marks can be entered. To reorder a competency, click the tab to the left of the Level field and drag to the desired location.

Field	Description
Level	Displays a number to indicate the level at which the competency will print. Use the arrows to move an item to a different level. The number of levels are defined on the Standards/Competencies Formatting page. To calculate a mark for an overall competency based on the scores for child competencies, click the right arrow to move the child competencies to the next level and set the overall competency's accumulator to Child Average or Weighted Child Average. For example, if a student's Reading mark should be based on the student's scores for Word Recognition and Vocabulary, Reading for Main Idea, and Comprehension, then you could set up these competencies as follows: Level Competency Accumulator 1 Reading C - Child Average 2 Word Recognition and Vocabulary R - Most Recent 2 Reading for Main Idea R - Most Recent 2 Comprehension R - Most Recent For more information on using the Child Average or Weighted Child Average accumulators, refer to Calculate Competency Marks Using Standards-Based Gradebook. If you click the arrow keys and the level does not change, competency levels are not defined for the district. On the Standards/Competencies Formatting Page, define the levels of competencies to print on report cards.
Description	Enter the text for the level heading or competency. Character/255
Alternate Language Description (Unlabeled)	To display this column, click (Additional options) on the Competency Detail panel, and then select Show Alternate Languages. At the top of the column, select the language for the translations to display. Then for each competency, enter the translated description text, up to 255 characters, to display on alternate language report cards. For information on how to set up and generate report cards in multiple languages, refer to Printing Alternate Language Report Cards.
Heading Only	Checked if this level is a heading and not a competency that will be graded.
Grading Scale	Select the grading scale used to evaluate the competency. If the competency is linked to a building group, all buildings in the group must have the scale defined. If the competency uses the Power Law accumulator type, then make sure you select a grading scale that returns marks based on the score scale that teachers will use to score students. For example, if teachers score using a 4-point scale, then the grading scale you select should use a 4-point scale. If you selected the Heading Only checkbox for the competency, this field is disabled.
Use Default Mark	Checked if you want this competency to use the default mark specified on the Competency Grading Scale Setup page. If you selected the Heading Only checkbox for the competency, this field is disabled.
Issue Marks	In this section, columns display for the mark types for standards and competencies defined for your buildings. To issue a mark for a competency, select the appropriate mark type checkbox. To select the mark type for all competencies, select the checkbox that displays in the mark type's heading. Headings should have at least one mark type checked. The heading will display for the marking periods when the selected mark type is issued. Mark types are defined in the Standards and Competencies mode of the Mark Types page.
Accumulator Type	Indicates the accumulator type for the competency. The accumulator type determines how TAC's Gradebook assignments will be used to calculate a grade for the mark types for the competency. For detailed information on accumulator types and sample calculations, refer to Calculate Competency Marks Using Standards-Based Gradebook. Select: A - Average - to calculate the mark by averaging assignments entered for the competency. Average calculations will differ based on the competencies selected: For a student competency, the average is calculated using the total points for assignments. For a course competency, the average is calculated using the total points for assignments or using weighted category averages. The teacher can select the option to use for a course in Gradebook Category Setup. C - Child Average - to calculate the mark by averaging its children competencies. This option is only valid if the competency has child competencies under it. N - Manual - to have the teacher manually enter the mark in Gradebook. M - Maximum - to calculate the mark based on the percentage correct for the assignment score that was the highest percentage correct for the competency. For example, if a student has a 9 out of 10 for one assignment and a 83 out of 100 for another assignment, the maximum score is 9 out of 10 which is 90%. R - Most Recent - to calculate the mark based on the percentage correct for the most recent assessment entered for the competency. P - Power Law - to calculate the student's performance using the power law. For more information on power law, including best practices and prerequisites, refer to Using Power Law to Calculate Student Performance for Competencies. W - Weighted Child Average - to calculate the mark by averaging its children competencies with weighting based on the number of times the teacher assessed each competency. This option is only valid if the competency has child competencies under it. For more information on how to use the child average options, refer to the Rules for Using Child Average and Child Weighted Average Accumulators section of the Calculate Competency Marks Using Standards-Based Gradebook topic. The Receives Gradebook Results field on the Mark Types page determines whether a mark type will be calculated based on Gradebook assignments, and, if the mark type receives results, which assignments are included when calculating the mark for the mark type. For example, if a mark type is defined to receive results for the term and the competency uses the Average accumulator type, then the mark will be calculated by averaging all assessments for the marking periods included in the term. For detailed information about the Receive Gradebook Results options, refer to Mark Types Page.
State Standard Code	If the competency is defined for a State, this indicates the state standard number; for example, M.1.0.16. If you have loaded state competencies, this ID is assigned automatically.