Enter Assignment Grades for a Class (special codes)

In the Staff view, on the Gradebook tab, the Scores side-tab is similar to an online version of a class page in your leather-bound 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.". This is where you enter assignment grades:

To determine the information that appears:

At the top of the page, you can select the following information you want to view for this class on this page:

• Student Fields: You can select the student fields you want to view on the page. Student fields appear to the left of the grid lines next to the student names. For example, you might want to see each student’s year of graduation next to his or her name. If the default field set a custom selection of columns that appears on list pages does not contain the fields you want to see, create a field set. Student field sets you create are available for all classes in your gradebook.

Note: Next to each student’s name, the medical, legal, "other" alert, or IEP Individualized Education Program symbol might appear if allowed by your gradebook preferences. Click the symbol to view details. For example, click to view details of the student’s medical alert.

• Grade Columns: You can determine the set of grade columns you want to view. The system automatically creates a set of grade columns for each of your categories, district post columns, and all averages—including term and category averages. For example, assume you want to view only homework assignments and the student’s homework average—you would select the Category: HW grade column set. If the grade columns in the menu do not contain what you want to view, click to create a new grade column set. Grade column sets are only available for the classes in which you create them.

Note: The Grade Columns setting will default to your most recent selection from the Class List’s Scores page. For example, if you selected Category: Hmwk the last time you were on the Scores page, the Grade Columns would still be set to Category: Hmwk.

Use the following tables to understand the icons that appear in the Grade Column headers:

Assignment Type	Visible in Student and Family Portals	Included in Grade Calculations	Icon Description
Private	No	No	Students and their families do not see this assignment in the portals.
Public	Yes	Yes	Students and families can see both the assignment details and the scores received for this assignment.
Public - no grades	Yes (assignment details only - no grades)	Yes (assignment details only - no grades)	Students and families can see the assignment details in the portals, but cannot see the scores you enter for the assignments.

Icon	Description	Icon Behavior
Envelope	Indicates that students have uploaded their assignments from the Submit Assignments widget.	Click to download one zip file containing all submitted files for the assignment.
Red envelope	Indicates that a student submitted an online assignment after the date it was due.	Click to download one zip file containing all submitted files for the assignment. The date and time that an online assignment was submitted appear in the Single Assignment and Single Student views.
Lock	Locks the column to make scores read-only and prevent accidental grade changes.	Click to lock the gradebook column.
Unlock	Unlocks the column for you to enter scores.	Click to unlock the gradebook column.

Note: After you enter scores for a public assignment , you can lock the column so you do not accidentally change grades that are already visible to students and parents in the portals. You can unlock the column to make any changes you need to at any time.

• Term: You can determine which term(s) you want to view grade columns for.
• Status: Select if you want to view students currently enrolled in the section or those who have withdrawn.
• Class. Use this drop-down to quickly select another class to view on the Scores page.

Note: You can enter new assignments directly on the Scores page. Do one of the following: Press CTRL+A. Click the Add button in the last column. Select Options> Add Assignment.

To enter grades:

1. Do one of the following:
• Click a student’s name to enter grades for a single student; or
• On the Scores page, click in the box you want to enter a value in, and continue with the steps below:

• 

2. Use the following table as a guide when entering scores:

3. Desired action	What to do
   Move around the columns and rows	Press the arrow keys or use your mouse to click directly in a cell. To move across rows or down columns, press TAB (as specified in your gradebook preferences) or Enter.
   Select a Special Code an entry in the Gradebook that takes the place of a missing grade, Grade Scale or Footnote	Press CTRL+L, or go to Options > Lookup.
   Enter the same value for all (or most) students	Enter a grade for the first student, then press CTRL+D or go to Options > Fill-Down Values. Manually edit the few different values.
   Revert a score to the last saved value	Press CTRL+K, or go to Options > Revert Current Cell.
   Enter a text comment for a student	Click in a text comment column.
   Mark a score exempt (so it does not count toward a student's average)	Select the score, and then press CTRL+E or go to Options > Exempt Current Cell. Note: Press CTRL+E to remove the exempt status.
   Enter Assignment feedback (for review in the Student and Family portals) or Teacher's Notes (for you to see in your gradebook)	Click in a cell; then click , and enter the text. To edit the text, click CTRL+M, or go to Options > Edit Remarks.
   Give a student a zero (0), or no credit, for an assignment.	Enter 0. Aspen does not count blank grades towards averages.

3. Enter a value for each student. After you enter a grade and leave the cell, the system automatically saves the grade you enter. If you have entered an invalid value, such as a letter for a numeric text comment code field, the system displays an error message in the upper-right corner of the page.

Notes:  If a grade column is based on a rubric, the Plus sign appears in the column header. Enter grades for the rubric. If you are grading an assignment created by another teacher and press CTRL+L or Lookup, the pick list displays that teacher's special codes, not your own. To give the student a zero, or no credit, for an assignment, you must manually enter a zero (0). The system does not count blank grades toward averages.

4. Look at the average column. A calculator appears in the column header of each average column:

5. 

Each time you enter a new score, the system saves it and updates the average that appears. There is no Save button. The average column that appears depends on the Grade Columns you select to display. For example, if you are viewing all HW (homework) grade columns, the average column displays the average of all homework scores you enter. To view a student’s term average, select to view the Averages grade column set, or create your own grade column set. Also, you can determine that averages appear next to the student’s name, instead of at the end of each row, in your user preferences.

Note: If you select to view semester running averages in your gradebook, they appear in the column named Semester # (such as Semester 1).

You can use the record navigation bar to move to another course section.

At the end of a grade term, finish entering grades for your assignments, and begin the 'post grades to transcript' process.