Cycle Grades

The Cycle Grades page allows you to review and enter end-of-cycle and end-of-semester grade data, including cycle and semester averages, working final grade, override grades, exams, citizenship grades, and comments. When all data has been entered correctly and is ready to post, you must submit the cycle and/or semester grades to Administration.

Note:  If the page displays an error indicating that there is invalid data on the page, but there is no indication of which data is invalid, contact the database administrator to have the invalid data cleared out of the database.

To update grades:

  1. From the Grades menu, select Cycle Grades.

The Cycle Grades page will be displayed allowing you to review and enter end-of-cycle and end-of-semester grades and submit the grades to Administration when they are ready to post.

  1. The Semester field defaults to the current semester. Click to view another semester.

  2. In the Course Section field, click to select the course section for which you wish to enter cycle and/or semester grades.

  3. Click Retrieve Data. The semester/cycle grades table will display all students currently enrolled in the course section sorted by last name.

  1. The ID field displays the student's ID. You may click the student ID to view the student's profile.

  2. The Name field displays the name of the student in this course.

  3. If the course is set up to post alphabetical grades, the Show semester averages as alpha check box is displayed. To display averages as alphabetical grades, select Show semester averages as alpha. To display the averages as numbers, deselect Show semester averages as alpha.

For courses that use alphabetical grades, a cookie will be set to remember the setting, and the page will always default to display averages according to the setting. Averages will also be displayed on the Assignment Grades page according to the setting. Courses that use numeric grades will always display grades numerically.

To hide withdrawn students, deselect Show Withdrawn Students.

  1. For transfer students, the prior cycle grades are entered at the campus level.

  2. Once saved, failing grades are highlighted in pink.

  1. The columns may be sorted according to your preferences. An arrow indicates the column and order by which the table is currently sorted.

Closed cycles/semesters

For cycles and semesters that are closed, the following applies:

  1. Posted cycle grades appear under the Posted Cycles heading below the cycle numbers. If you are currently in the first cycle of a semester, the Posted Cycle heading and cycle numbers are not displayed.

  2. If a cycle or semester is closed, the average is pulled from the grade course record and is display-only.

  3. For data on a posted cycle, click the cycle average. A pop-up window will open to display the posted cycle average, citizenship grade, and report card comments for that cycle. Click Close to close the window.

  4. If an override grade was entered for the cycle or semester grade, the override grade is displayed.

  5. The posted semester average is displayed under the Posted Semester heading for closed semesters. If you are currently in the first semester, the Posted Semester heading is not displayed.

Current cycle

For the current cycle, the following applies:

  1. The Average/(Auto Grade) field displays the student's working cycle average, which is based on the data entered up to this point on the Assignment Grades page. This value will be recalculated as assignment grade data is entered or changed for the student. This average will become the student's cycle average, unless the cycle grade is pre-posted or an override grade is entered in the Override field (either by the teacher or an administrator).

  2. If the grade in this field is an auto grade, the grade is displayed in parentheses in a lighter shade than a working cycle average. The auto grade is not displayed if there is a working cycle average for the student.

  3. For more information on calculating averages, view the Help for Weighting Type on the Administer Categories page.

  4. The Override field allows you to override a student's working cycle average with a different grade (e.g., if the student's working cycle average is 69, you may give the student a cycle grade of 70).

  5. If the student's cycle grade is pre-posted, the pre-posted grade will be displayed in this field. You may not override a pre-posted cycle grade.

  6. If you post an override grade for a student even if there are no categories for the course, the weighting type will automatically be set to percentage.

  7. The Citizenship field allows you to enter the student's citizenship grade for the current cycle.

  8. Your campus may have the citizenship grade set to automatically give all students a default grade. If so, you will only need to enter a grade for those students who you wish to give a citizenship grade that is different than the default.

  9. If your campus does not give citizenship grades, or if you are not allowed to post citizenship grades, the field will not be displayed.

  10. The Report Card Comments field allows you to enter up to five one-character comment codes to specify the comments you wish to print on the report card (e.g., Excessive Talking or Finishes Work On Time).

  11. For a list of valid report card comment codes and descriptions, click Show Comment Legend. The comment legend will be displayed on the right side of the page allowing you to view valid codes. To hide the comment legend, click Hide Comment Legend.

Last cycle

During the last cycle of a semester, the following applies:

  1. End-of-semester information is displayed under the Semester Grades heading.

  2. End-of-semester information includes the following:

  1. The Exam field allows you to enter the student's semester exam grade. If the student is exempt from the exam, type E.

To fill all blank exam grades with E (exempt), click Fill Exempt Exams. All blank grades for the exam will be changed to E.

If the student has a pre-posted exam grade, it is displayed in the field and cannot be changed.

Note:  Some campuses may have a grade conversion value for E. If your campus uses E as a grade, then the numeric value for the grade of E will be used for the semester exam, instead of exempt, for calculating the semester average. In this case, you cannot use E to indicate that the student is exempt from the exam.

  1. The Average field displays the student's working semester average, based on the data entered up to this point. This value will be recalculated every time you access the page, click Calculate Semester Averages, and/or save grades.

  2. The Override field allows you to override a student's working semester average with a different grade.

  1. If it is not the last cycle of the semester, the Semester Average field displays the student's working semester average using the data that has been entered up to this point. This value will be recalculated every time you click Calculate Semester Averages and every time you save grades.

  2. If the semester is closed, the Semester Average field displays the average from the grade course record.

  1. If a cycle grade is blank, the semester grade will not be calculated.

  2. For the final grade, the following applies:

  3. Final grade information is displayed under the Working Final Grade heading.

  4. The working final average includes the posted semester average for any previous semesters and the working semester average for the current semester.

  5. If a posted semester average exists for the current semester, the posted semester average is used in the final average calculation. If there is no posted semester average for the current semester but an override semester grade exists, the override grade is used in the final average calculation.

  6. The working final average is recalculated if a semester exam is administered or an override grade is entered for the current semester.

  7. For students who were enrolled in a different section of the same course during a previous semester, the working final average includes the posted semester average for the other section (RSCCC only).

  8. The working final average is not displayed for campuses that use the semester grading concept.

Self-paced courses

For self-paced courses, the following applies:

To save and print your grades

You must save your grades before you exit this page. Otherwise, your changes will be lost.

Important Note:  Saving grades is different from posting grades. You may only post your grades once at the end of the cycle, as described below; however, you must save any changes every time you visit this page. This allows you to leave this page and return as you enter cycle grades data.

To print the cycle grades displayed on the page, click Print. The Print window will open allowing you to select your printer and settings. Click Print to continue, or click Cancel to cancel printing.

To post cycle and/or semester grades:

All categories must have grades entered. If you have categories that do not have grades, you will not be allowed to post your grades. The Mark grades as Ready to Post link will be disabled until all categories have grades.

After you have entered cycle and/or semester grades data for the course, review your input carefully, and save all changes. Once the data has been posted by administration, you cannot change any data. If you discover an error after grades have been posted, you must contact your campus administrator to correct any errors.

After grades have been posted and the cycle has closed, you can make changes to the grades and view the working cycle average (e.g., for a student who missed the last few days of a cycle due to illness); however, you cannot post any changes. Instead, print your changes and submit your printout to the campus administrator.

When you are satisfied with your input for the cycle grades, notify the system that you are ready to post.

  1. Click Mark grades as Ready to Post. This link is only displayed for current cycles that are open for posting.

  2. In the PIN field, type your four-digit PIN.

  3. Click Continue to indicate that your grades are ready to post, or click Cancel to cancel the action.

Your campus administrator can run a report to determine which teachers have posted their grades and which teachers have not yet posted their grades.