Troubleshooting Gradebook

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This topic describes solutions for potential issues teachers may encounter in Teacher Access Center's Gradebook.

Tip

Gradebook includes a Student Detail report which is a useful tool to help you troubleshoot gradebook issues. The report can be limited to a single student and mark type. It shows the assignments included for the mark type and a category section at the bottom of the student's report shows how the average was calculated. Refer to the Teacher Access Center help for information on how to print this report.

Gradebook Setup Issues

Teachers cannot assign a scale to students.

Make sure that Gradebook scales have been defined for the building.

Teachers cannot define how the report card average should be calculated for a mark type that should be posted when the teacher loads marks from Gradebook.

There are several items that you should check:

• • Is the mark type issued in the marking period that is displayed on the Gradebook Setup page? Teachers can only set up mark types that are issued in the marking period that they have displayed.
  • Does the course receive this mark type in the marking period? Check the Master Schedule record to confirm that the course is set up correctly.
  • Is the mark type set up to use an average setup for the Receive Gradebook Results?
    If yes, check the following:
    Is there an average setup defined for the mark type for the marking period for which the mark should be posted. If an average setup is defined, check that the course is assigned to the average ID in the Master Schedule. If the average setup is defined as the MAIN average, the setup is used for courses that have an average ID of MAIN or blank. Otherwise, if the average setup is defined with a different average type, the course must have that average ID entered in the Master Schedule.

Teacher cannot change the values shown on the Report Card Averages tab in Gradebook Setup.

Is the mark type set to use an average setup for the Receive Gradebook Results?

If yes, then check that the Allow Teachers to Override Average Weights checkbox in the MR Building Configuration is selected. If it is not selected, then the building is currently defined to not allow teachers to change the weights for these types of averages.

If no, then check if the teacher's access is limited because a Gradebook category type is assigned to the course.
First, review the options selected in the Limit Teachers to Pre-Defined Gradebook Category Types section of the MR Building Configuration. If none of these checkboxes are selected, then this building is not defined to limit teacher access to Gradebook setup for mark types that receive results for a period of time. The teacher should be able to edit weights and other settings for these mark types.

If any of the checkboxes in the Limit Teachers to Pre-Defined Gradebook Category Types section are selected, then check the Master Schedule for the course-section to see if a Gradebook category type has been assigned. If a category type is selected, then the teacher will not be able to change weights on any of the tabs in Gradebook Setup. If you determine that the teacher should not be limited to the rules specified in the Gradebook category type, remove the Gradebook Category Type value from the Master Schedule. The teacher will then be able to add, edit, or delete categories from their setup.

For more information on Gradebook Category Types, refer to Gradebook Category Types Overview.

Gradebook Entry Issues

Dropped indicator is not showing for lowest scores.

Teachers can select a number of low scores to drop from the average for a category.

Are enough scores entered for the software to drop low scores? Scores will not be dropped until there is at least one more score than the number entered in the Drop Lowest field for the category. For example, if the teacher has selected to drop the two lowest scores, no scores will be dropped until the teacher has entered three scores.

What filter is selected on the Gradebook Entry page? When a category or All Categories is displayed, TAC uses the Drop Lowest value entered on the Categories tab. When a mark type is displayed, TAC uses the Drop Lowest value entered for the categories included in the mark on the Report Card Averages or IPR Averages tab. Make sure that both tabs have the Drop Lowest value set correctly for the category.

Verify that the assignment you think should be dropped does not have the Cannot Drop box checked on the Gradebook Setup page? Teachers can check this box to specify that an assignment is never dropped even when it is the assignment with the lowest score. Verify that the teacher is not dropping a score for an assignment that was defined as cannot be dropped.

Entering score for extra credit assignment is dropping student averages.

Is the extra credit assignment the only score entered for a category? If a student has a category in which the only score is for an extra credit assignment, the student's average will be incorrect for any mark types that include the category. A category must have at least one non extra-credit score in order to calculate averages correctly.

Gradebook Entry Average Issues

Averages are calculating to zero.

Are weights assigned to categories on the Categories tab and the Report Card Averages tab? If the weight for a category is 0 (zero), averages may either be equal to 0.00 or may be inaccurate. If categories should be weighted equally, assign a weight of 1 to all categories.

Averages for marks that receive Gradebook Results by marking period, term, year-to-date, or end of course are incorrect.

If the mark type is set up to receive results for term, year-to-date, or at the end of the course, then the average will include all assignment scores and points for the date range of the selected result period. For example, if the mark receives a result for the term, the average includes scores and points for all assignments that are included in the term. This could result in marking period 1 having a greater impact on the average than marking period 2 if there are more possible points in marking period 1.

For detailed information on how these averages are calculated, refer to Overview of Gradebook Average Calculation.

Check the following items to determine why averages are incorrect:

• • Have weights been assigned to categories on the Categories tab and the Report Card Averages tab? If the weight for a category is 0 (zero), averages may either be equal to 0.00 or may be inaccurate. To weight all categories equally, assign a weight of 1 to all categories.
  • Is there a category that has a score for only an extra credit assignment? If a student has a category in which the only score is for an extra credit assignment, the student's average will be incorrect for any mark types that include the category. A category must have at least one non extra-credit score in order to calculate averages correctly.
  • Are you rounding or truncating the average to a whole number? The average is rounded or truncated to the second decimal place.
  • Are you including assignments that are due after the current date? TAC Gradebook averages do not include assignments that are due after the current date, even if the student has a score for the assignment.
  • Are you including scores that are dropped based on the specified number of lowest scores? To see which assignment scores have been dropped, display the dropped score indicator. Note that the teachers can specify that an assignment is never dropped even when it is the assignment with the lowest score. Verify that you are not dropping a score for an assignment that was defined as cannot be dropped.
  • Are you including points for an assignment for which the teacher gave the student an alpha mark that indicates that the assignment is excluded from the average? Averages will not include the points for excluded assignments.
  • Are you correctly calculating points for an assignment for which the teacher gave the student an alpha mark to indicate that a percentage was earned? For example, if a score of S is set up to indicate that a student earned 75% of points, the student would get 7.5 points out of 10 possible points.
  • Are you appropriately processing missing scores for the category on the Categories, IPR Averages, and Report Card Averages tabs?

Averages are not including all assignments for which grades have been entered.

Check the following items:

• • Are you including assignments that are due after the current date? TAC Gradebook averages do not include assignments that are due after the current date, even if the student has a score for the assignment.
  • Are you including scores that are dropped based on the specified number of lowest scores? To see which assignment scores have been dropped, the teacher can select to display the dropped score indicator.
  • Are you including points for an assignment for which the teacher gave the student an alpha mark that indicates that the assignment is excluded from the average? Averages will not include the points for excluded assignments.

Issues Loading Marks from Gradebook

Averages for marks that receive Gradebook Results for an Average Setup are incorrect.

Use the Gradebook Average Calculation Worksheet to verify that the average is calculating correctly based on how the Average Setup is defined.

For information on how this calculation processes marks, refer to Overview of Mark Averages Calculation.

When marks are posted, the incorrect mark is posted based on the numeric average for the student.

When marks are loaded from Gradebook, numeric averages have to be converted to valid marks for Mark Reporting. If you notice that the incorrect mark has been posted, check the following items:

First, confirm that the raw numeric average from Gradebook is correct. The raw numeric average is the average that Gradebook calculated for the mark type before a mark was converted. You can view this average by hovering the mouse over the mark on the Report Card page. A tooltip will display the raw numeric average from Gradebook.

If the average is correct and the mark that is posted is incorrect, there are several items that you should check.
Is the student assigned a gradebook scale on the Gradebook Entry page?

• • Yes. Use the Gradebook Scale Setup option to confirm that the scale is defined correctly. If the student is assigned a scale, the calculation converts the average to a mark based only on the scale defined for that Gradebook Scale. It does not use the Level Table.
  • No. Is the level table defined to convert the numeric average to the appropriate mark? Check the Average Using Value fields in the level table. When marks are loaded, the calculation converts the numeric average to the mark with the closest averaging value. For more information about how the mark is returned from the Level Table, refer to the Average Using Value field description for the Level Table Page.
    Are values defined based on a percentage scale (i.e. 100 - 0)? If values are based on a 4 point scale, then you must either change the Average Using Value for marks or set up a Gradebook Scale. If you use a Gradebook Scale, you must also assign a default scale to be used for all students.
    Is the numeric average above the highest or below the lowest Average Using Value for the valid marks entered in the Mark Types option? For example, if the Level Table is defined with 100 - 50 and a student's average is 49, a 50 will be posted.