(Last updated on Jan 12, 2001)

Carver Schools is using GradeQuick from Jackson Software (www.Jacksoncorp.com) as our electronic gradebook for grade keeping and attendance. It has an interface specifically designed to exchange information with our Student Data system (P.A.S.S. by IMG Software Corporation). This document will present answers to the most common questions asked by our staff.

The GradeQuick HELP supplied with the software is clear and very comprehensive. If you can not find the answer to your question here, try the HELP pull down menu.

General Questions:

Where can I get help using GradeQuick?

Can I install GradeQuick on my PC at home?

Should I maintain a backup copy of my GradeQuick gradebook?

Something is wrong with my gradebook, can you restore an older version?

How do I bring my gradebook home to work on my home PC?

Changing how your Gradebook appears and operates:

Why do my changes disappear the next time I use GradeQuick?

How can I get more than three columns (tests) on my screen?

How can I alphabetize or otherwise rearrange my roster?

How can I get the cursor to move horizontally to enter data for one student?

Can I set up one course and copy the settings to my other courses?

Can I highlight the current row (i.e. student) for better visibility?

Entering and Changing Grades:

Why did my newly entered grades disappear the next time I opened my gradebook?

Is there an UNDO button?

How can I delete an entire column (test)?

Can I use letter grades and numeric grades?

How can I rearrange the order in which my columns (tests) are displayed?

Can I clear an entire column or set an entire column to a specific grade?

How can I get rid of "Category" entries that I don’t use anymore?

How can I use + and – with my letter grades or add "E" as a grade?

Can I over-ride the GradeQuick calculated grade with my grade?

Can I assign Pass/Fail grades to some or all of my class?

How can I give students extra credit for an assignment?

Mid-term and Final Exams:

How do I enter mid-term exam grades ?

How do I enter final exam grades ?

Using Weights:

General weighting tips

How can I weight my grades (e.g. Homework 20%, Exams 40%, Quizzes 40%)?

How can I change weights between terms (term1 tests = 40%, term2 tests = 30%) ?

Do I need the "Weight" row at the top of my GradeBook? How can I remove It?

Can I track zero credit assignments that do not contribute to the class grade?

Print outs and Reports:

Can I print out a blank roster for attendance or a temporary grade sheet?

How can I print out a grade summary sheet for my class without names?

How can I get my reports to remember my favorite settings?

Attendance:

Why do I have to "Clear Attendance" if I'm not using GradeQuick Attendance module?

Interaction with the PASS Student Data system:

How can I download my class rosters?

How can I upload my grades to the student data system?

How can I upload my progress reports to the student data system?

If a student transfers into my class, will his previous grades appear?

Will my attendance information automatically be transferred to PASS ?

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General Questions:

GradeQuick has extensive Help files included with the software under the Help menu at the top of the screen. It includes a Contents, Getting Started and a Tutorial section with a demonstration gradebook (due to space limitations the demo gradebook is not available on the server but only on home installations.

The Ramsay library has a single copy of the GradeQuick Users Guide that explains in detail the capabilities of the software. This Guide is for reference only and may not be checked out.

The GradeQuick web site has some technical information and its own Question and Answer section that is focused on maintaining the software.

Yes, our license permits teachers to use the network version available in school and to install GradeQuick on their PCs at home. You can check out an installation CD and instructions in the Ramsay Library. The software will run on most PCs equipped with a CD drive. Once installation is complete, please return the CD to the library as it is not required to run GradeQuick. We are not licensed to use the Macintosh version of GradeQuick.

Yes! The authoritative version of your gradebook is maintained on the network server and a backup copy is created each weeknight. However, you should maintain a personal backup of your gradebooks on paper and on diskette for emergencies.

To create a backup, logon to GradeQuick at any PC in the High School or Middle School and then from the FILE menu select FILE MANAGEMENT and then select BACKUP FILES. After selecting the gradebooks to be backed up, make sure you select the correct destination for the files (usually the A: drive).

NO !!! We do not provide disaster recovery services; we do not maintain a copy of your gradebook as it existed yesterday, last week or last month. You are responsible for maintaining a backup version of your data to cover problems that may occur.

NEVER EVER use the SAVE AS option on the file menu to copy your gradebook.

GradeQuick maintains the authoritative version of your gradebook on the network server and goes to great length to insure that your data is current and not accidentally overwritten by stale or inappropriate data.

The proper procedure to bring your gradebook home is to use the checkin and checkout functions on the FILE – FILE MANAGEMENT menu.

To bring your gradebook home:

Step 1: Checkout your gradebook from the network server at school

1. Login to any classroom computer and start GradeQuick.
2. Make sure all of your gradebooks are saved and closed.
3. Select FILE then FILE MANAGEMENT then CHECK OUT FILE.
4. Highlight the files you want to take home in the "Select files to check out" window and then click the right arrow ">" button.
5. Insert a reliable diskette into the A: drive
6. In the lower right corner of the window, click the drop down arrow in the "Drive" box and select the A: drive
7. Click Okay
8. Do NOT remove the diskette from the drive until the drive light turns off.

Step 2: Checkin your gradebook on your home PC

1. Login to your home PC and start GradeQuick
2. Make sure all of your gradebooks are saved and closed.
3. Select FILE then FILE MANAGEMENT then CHECK IN FILE.
4. Insert your diskette into the A: drive.
5. In the lower left corner of the window, click the drop down arrow in the "Drive" box and select the A: drive.
6. Highlight the files you want to take home in the "Select files to check out" window and then click the right arrow ">" button.
7. Click Okay.
8. Select OPEN and then select your gradebook name to enter grades.

Reverse the above process to bring your gradebook back to school:

1. Perform Step 1 on your home computer
2. Perform Step 2 on any classroom computer at school

Be sure to select the correct destination for each Checkin and Checkout operation!

Any changes you make to the current settings of any item on the View and Options menu which control the display and handling options (e.g. VIEW C1, C2, C3) are temporary unless you tell GradeQuick to use them as your new default settings. Select SAVE SETTINGS on the OPTIONS menu to make your new settings permanent for all your gradebooks. These settings will also be used as the default for any new gradebooks you may create.

Select the Column Widths option on the View menu to change the width of fields or select the narrow mode option. You may also change the font to fit more characters in the same column.

Remember to do OPTIONS and SAVE SETTINGS to make your change permanent.

GradeQuick lets you re-order your roster in two ways:

1. Click on any entry in the column you want to alphabetize. Click on the UP Arrow or DOWN arrow appearing above your roster to alphabetize the entire roster by the values in that column.
2. Use the VIEW menu SORT option to sort the list by grade average, test score or many other options. You can also set the roster to a random order.

Use the PREFERENCES option on the OPTIONS menu to select where the cursor moves when you press the Enter key. When entering comments, effort and conduct information for each student, you should select "Enter key moves selection … right". When entering grades you should select "Enter key moves selection … down".

Remember to do OPTIONS and SAVE SETTINGS to make your change permanent.

There are two ways to accomplish this:

1. If you have not yet created any new classes, then create your first class to suit your taste and use OPTIONS and SAVE SETTINGS to make these settings the default for all new gradebooks.
2. Set up one of your existing gradebooks to suit your taste, then from the EDIT menu select GRADEBOOK TO GRADEBOOK COPY. This option will allow you to copy information such as grade scales or test descriptions from one gradebook to another. You must have at least two gradebooks open to use this option. It is not currently possible to copy settings from one gradebook to several other gradebooks in a single operation - you must do a separate copy for each pair of gradebooks

No, you can not highlight the row you are working on but you can make the colors brighter. GradeQuick automatically shades every two rows in a different color to help separate the data visually and you have the ability to brighten or darken the colors to suit your taste. Select OPTIONS then ADJUST COLOR to change brightness levels. Every click on the BRIGHTER COLOR or DARKER COLOR buttons changes the brightness by a few notches. You may have to press the button 20 or 30 ties before there is a noticeable change on your screen.

Remember to do OPTIONS and SAVE SETTINGS to make your change permanent.

There are several possibilities:

1. Were you logged on to several classroom computers at the same time? The final version of the gradebook will be the one saved by the last user to logoff. All changes made on other PCs will be overwritten when the last person logs off so it is good practice to login to only one PC at a time.
2. Did you CHECKIN or Restore an empty gradebook? Any time you tell GradeQuick to save a gradebook, the current gradebook is overwritten.
3. Did you use the EDIT and GLOBAL CHANGES option to change multiple grades at once? By default, GradeQuick will apply GLOBAL CHANGES to every grade in your gradebook unless you tell it to apply the changes to just a column or student.

NO! But most changes are not saved until you explicitly save the gradebook or exit. If you make a catastrophic error just exit the gradebook WITHOUT saving it.

Select ADD/DEL STUDENTS or TESTS from the EDIT menu. A window will appear that allows you to select the column (test) you want to remove.

Yes, GradeQuick allows you to switch back and forth between letter grades and numeric grades as you wish. If you want to calculate the final grade as a number, select GRADING PREFERENCES on the GRADING menu and then check "Use numeric grades instead of grade scale".

NOTE: All grades must be submitted to the PASS Student Data system as numeric grades not letter grades - PASS will assign the final grade according to school policy.

From the VIEW menu, select the SORT and then the TEST option. Now select how you want the columns arranged, chronologically, by name or by category. For example you can have all your homework assignments displayed together.

Yes, From the EDIT menu select GLOBAL CHANGES. This option allows you to perform several operations on many scores at once (e.g. clear sheet, replace every C with C+).

Select FILL COL/ROW WITH to fill a column or row with a particular score.

Select ZAP COL/ROW to erase all data in column or row.

IMPORTANT: make sure you select the appropriate "Apply Change To" option before making the change!!!! The default is change every grade in your gradebook.

When you double click "category" in a gradebook column and then click the drop down arrow, the list contains old or misspelled entries.

GradeQuick displays a category name in the drop down list if there is at least one column in the gradebook that uses that name. To remove a category name from the drop down list, verify that no columns are using that category name – change any column that is still using the objectionable name.

If the objectionable category name still appears in the drop down list then you will have to reassign the category name to each column in the gradebook until you find the one that is "stuck".

GradeQuick separates grades into GRADING SYMBOLS (the symbols such as "A-" that you type in) and the GRADING SCALE (the symbols that GradeQuick assigns to students based on scores).

Grading Scale:

To add "+" and "-" to the grading scale, select GRADING and SET GRADING SCALE then click the "Standard A,B,C,D,F with +/-" button. Note that any special entries you made (e.g. "E" grade) will be lost when you do this.

To add a new entry (e.g. "E") on the Grading Scale, scroll down the grades in the window until the entry "New Grade" can be seen. Click on "New Grade", enter "E" in the GRADE field, enter 50 in the CUTOFF field and then click on "Make Change".

Grading Symbols:

GradeQuick recognizes A,B,C,D,F with "+" and "-" by default. It also recognizes Check, Check plus and Check minus (use CTRL "C" to enter a Check), Good, NC (no credit) and "X" (exempt). A grade of "**" can mean exempt or zero at your discretion.

To add a new entry (e.g. "E") to the Grading Symbols, select GRADING and SET GRADING SYMBOLS. Scroll down the grades in the window until the entry "Undefined" can be seen. Click on "Undefined", enter "E" in the SYMBOL field, enter 50 in the VALUE field and then click on "Change Now".

Yes, double click and delete the GradeQuick grade and enter a grade of your choosing. Note that your grade will turn green to indicate that it is a manually assigned grade and that GradeQuick should never change its value ever again. If you want GradeQuick to again calculate the grade, then double click the grade and delete the existing grade but do NOT enter a new grade.

For classes where you want to give all Pass/Fail grades, select GRADING then SET GRADING SCALE then CLEAR GRADING SCALE and then modify the grading scale. Define your new grade as P and assign its lowest value, for example, to be 60. Then define F with a value of 0. All students receiving 60 or above would receive a P and the rest an F.

If only some students are taking the class Pass/Fail, set your main grading scale. Then directly type over those grades in the gradebook itself for the students taking the class Pass/Fail, entering either P or F to monitor those student’s final averages, since the Pass/Fail overwritten grades will not change even if the students’ final averages do.

Following these procedures will raise the average of a student who earns extra credit, but will maintain (not reduce) the final average of a student who does not earn extra credit.

1. Enter more points for a student score than is entered on the Possible row for that assignment. If a quiz has 100 possible points, you could give 110 to a student which will earn him extra credit, regardless of your weighting system.
2. Enter an extra credit assignment as its own test column. You may count an entire assignment as extra credit only if you are not weighting individual test or assignment columns. (It is conceptually inconsistent to both weight an assignment and also count it as extra credit.) Do this by assigning it 0 possible points and then entering the scores earned. You may use this method if you are weighting categories or terms, but only if you have other columns that have possible points in the same category as the extra-credit column. You may not have an extra credit column with 0 possible points if it is the only assignment in a category and you are weighting categories because it will not affect their average.

Mid-term and Final Exams:

The mid-term exam grades must be handled differently than other assignments because they must be transmitted to PASS for display on the report card and they must be weighted independently from the other assignments. A mid-term exam behaves exactly the same as any other exam with four exceptions:

1. The exam name MUST be Semex1.
2. The term number must be blank.
3. The category should be set to midterm or something similar.
4. You must turn on term weighting and assign weights to term1, term2 and Semex1.

Note: when you clear the number in the term field GradeQuick will automatically display the weighting dialog window and ask you to assign weights. At this point you must assign weights to each category, to each term and to the mid-term exam.

If you want Term 1 and Term 2 to each contribute 25% of the mid-term grade while the mid-term exam contributes the remaining 50%, then your window would look like:

GradeQuick will automatically transmit your mid-term grades when you upload your other grades to the PASS student data system.

Final exam grades are handled exactly the same as described above for mid-term exam grades with two exceptions:

1. The exam name MUST be Semex2.
2. The category should be set to final or something similar.

The GradeQuick HELP on this subject is excellent !

GradeQuick has an extremely rich weighting scale available to you. You can assign weights individually by test, assign weights by category (e.g. homework 60%, tests 40%), assign weights by term or a combination of all three. Weighting can be very complex, I strongly recommend that you create a new spreadsheet and experiment with the various options before using weighting with real classes.

1. Caution! Category names are very important and must be used consistently. If you use "HW" as your category name for homework assignments then EVERY homework assignment must use the same name. Use the drop down arrow to select category names as you enter new tests etc.
2. From the GRADING menu select WEIGHTING to set up your preferences.
3. Enter at least one instance (e.g. test, quiz or homework) of each category BEFORE assigning weights. You can enter student grades at a later time if you do not currently have grades available.
4. Any category with a weight of zero is excluded from all calculations - all columns in a zero-weighted category effectively do not exist.
5. Examples here assign weights as percentages because it is often easier to understand. GradeQuick does not require percentages and any numbering scheme is acceptable. For example, assigning homework=60 and tests=40 is identical to assigning homework=15 and tests=10.

The example below demonstrates weighting by category ONLY! Grade averages are calculated from ALL exams, homework etc. given during the school year using the percentages you assigned each category. Semester grades may change based on work submitted later in the year.

1. From the GRADING menu select WEIGHTING to set up your preferences.
2. Turn on "Weight Categories" and your categories should automatically appear in the window. Make sure that "Weight Terms" and "Weight Tests" are turned off.
3. For each category; click on the category name, enter the weight as a percent of the final grade then click "Change" to save your weights.
4. Click "Okay"

Your window should look something like this:

There are two ways to accomplish this depending on your requirements:

1. If you do not want the calculations for each term to change (because of data entered later), then you should create categories per term (e.g. T1exam, T2exam, T3exam, and T4exam). For example, you may only give quizzes in term 1 but you want each term to contribute 25% of the final grade …
   

Weight Terms	Weight Categories	Weight Tests
Off	ON	Off
	T1quiz = 50
	T1exam = 50
	T2exam = 100
	T3exam = 100
	T4exam = 100

2. If you want to customize the contribution of each term to the final grade then you need to turn on Term Weighting. For example, you may want homework, quizzes and exams to have equal weighting but you want the term 4 assignments to count as 40% of the final grade …

GradeQuick inserts the "Weight" row at the top of your gradebook whenever you turn on weighting. It is ONLY used when you want to use the "Weight Tests" option – not when you are using Weight Category or Weight Term.

You can temporarily remove "Weight" from your gradebook display but it will come back the next time you open the gradebook as long as you are using weighting. To temporarily remove "Weight" from your gradebook display – select VIEW then TEST INFO and clear the check mark to the left of "weight".

If you need to track mandatory assignments that do not contribute to the course grade, you should assign a category to all such assignments (e.g. "zero") and then set the weight for that category to zero. Grades entered for all columns in that category will be ignored.

Yes, select the BLANK GRADEBOOK option on the REPORTS menu, which will print a current roster in a grid format.

You may also select the GRADEBOOK SPREADSHEET option on the REPORTS menu and remove various tests or other items to print a quick summary of the students progress to date in a grid format.

1. Sort your students by ID before running the report (click on any ID then click on the up arrow).
2. Select REPORTS then SUMMARY then OVERALL WITH TERMS
3. In the report window, select STUDENTS then STUDENT INFO
4. Clear the check mark for NAME and add a check mark for ID NUMBER and click on okay

Create your report and customize its appearance to suit your taste. While you are still viewing the report, select PRINT and SAVE CONFIGURATION. The next time you open your report, these settings will be restored automatically. Unfortunately GradeQuick does not remember every setting but it should remember most of them. Note that your report will appear with your custom settings for all gradebooks.

Attendance:

If you use the GradeQuick Attendance module on a daily basis for recording attendance, GradeQuick will automatically submit the correct information to PASS when you upload your grades. If you do NOT use this module you must manually enter the attendance into a field similar to "ABS Term 1" before uploading data to PASS.

The GradeQuick attendance information will ALWAYS over-ride manually entered data. If you ever examined or experimented with the Attendance module, GradeQuick thinks that you are actively using it and will over-ride your "ABS Term 1" data.

Tell GradeQuick that you are NOT using the GradeQuick Attendance module by opening each gradebook and then selecting EDIT then ATTENDANCE and then CLEAR ATTENDANCE.

GradeQuick will automatically create and maintain your rosters for you. To create your gradebook at the beginning of the year follow this procedure. Each time you open your gradebook on the network server, it will automatically update your roster to reflect the actual students in your class. Note that dropped students are not removed but their grade is changed to WITHDRAWN.

NOTE: You must create your rosters using this procedure if you intend to upload grades or progress reports! The student name and ID must exactly match the data in PASS.

1. Login to any classroom or instructional PC and start GradeQuick
2. From the FILE menu select NEW
3. Select YES from the prompt that appears
4. Enter the course and section as it appears on your printed class roster (e.g. 478-01)

GradeQuick will directly transfer your grade information to the PASS system. Use the following procedure for EACH of your classes:

1. Login to any classroom or instructional PC and start GradeQuick.
2. Make sure that your gradebook(s) is current and that your mid-term or final exam grades are entered using the special procedure documented on our web site.
3. DO NOT add students manually! See Sue Smith if your roster is not accurate.
4. IMPORTANT! Verify that you do not have any tests or other assignments with the following Short Names: C1, C2, Effort, Conduct, ABSterm. The download will NOT work properly if you have a Short Name that is the same as or begins with the above.
5. Remove all students from your gradebook that are no longer in the class.
6. Remove all blank rows from your gradebook which do not contain student information.
7. If you are using GradeQuick for your attendance records, you can ignore all references to attendance in this procedure - GradeQuick will automatically submit your attendance for you. If you are NOT using GradeQuick attendance, then make sure you select EDIT then ATTENDANCE then CLEAR ATTENDANCE to avoid problems with your manually entered attendance.
8. Display the following fields on your screen by selecting VIEW then STUDENT INFO. In the "Data fields to show" window, highlight (i.e. click on) C1, C2, Effort and Conduct to display these fields on your screen. Also, please select one of the following to report attendance: ABSterm1, ABSterm2, ABSterm3 or ABSterm4. (Note: this is a temporary change - the next time you open this gradebook, only your normal fields will be displayed. If you want to make this change permanent, select OPTIONS then SAVE SETTINGS.)
9. Clear existing values in the C1, C2, Effort, Conduct and ABSterm columns. Optionally, you can use the EDIT and GLOBAL CHANGES option to zap (clear) any old codes in the currently selected column. CAUTION! The default is to clear the entire gradebook - be sure you only clear the currently selected column.
10. To make entering data easier, you can change the direction the Enter key moves. Select OPTIONS then PREFERENCES and then check the box so that "Enter key moves selection" to the "right". Remember to change this option back to "down" when you are done.
11. Enter your comment, effort, conduct and attendance codes to accompany your grades and save your gradebook.
12. From the FILE menu select SEND and EXPORT GRADES TO PASS.
13. If you make changes after you have exported your grades to PASS, it is allowable to export your gradebook a second time with the updated information. Make sure you answer "Yes" when you are asked whether it is okay to overwrite the existing file.

Note: The next time you open your gradebook the above fields will not be displayed even though GradeQuick still remembers the codes you entered.

GradeQuick will directly transfer your progress report information to the PASS system. Use the following procedure for EACH of your classes:

1. Login to any classroom or instructional PC and start GradeQuick.
2. Make sure that your gradebook(s) is current.
3. DO NOT add students manually! See Sue Smith if your roster is not accurate.
4. IMPORTANT! Verify that you do not have any tests or other assignments with the following Short Names: C1, C2, C3, C4 or C5. The download will NOT work properly if you have a Short Name that is the same as or begins with the above names.
5. Remove all students from your gradebook that are no longer in the class.
6. Remove all blank rows from your gradebook which do not contain student information.
7. Display the comment fields on your screen by selecting VIEW then STUDENT INFO. In the "Data fields to show" window, highlight (i.e. click on) C1, C2, C3, C4 and C5 to display these fields on your screen.
   (Note: this is a temporary change - the next time you open this gradebook, only your normal fields will be displayed. If you want to make this change permanent, select OPTIONS then SAVE SETTINGS.).
8. Clear existing values in the C1 though C5 columns. Optionally, you can use the EDIT and GLOBAL CHANGES option to zap (clear) any old codes in the currently selected column. CAUTION! The default is to clear the entire gradebook - be sure you only clear the currently selected column.
9. To make entering data easier, you can change the direction the Enter key moves. Select OPTIONS then PREFERENCES and then check the box so that "Enter key moves selection" to the "right". Remember to change this option back to "down" when you are done.
10. Enter your comment codes and save your gradebook.
11. From the FILE menu select SEND and EXPORT GRADES TO PASS.
12. If you make changes after you have exported your comments to PASS, it is allowable to export your gradebook a second time with the updated comments. Make sure you answer "Yes" when you are asked whether it is okay to overwrite the existing file.

Note: The next time you open your gradebook the Comment fields will not be displayed even though GradeQuick still remembers the codes you entered.

No, The student will appear on your roster and you will be notified of the change but any work completed with another instructor will not transfer. Note that the student's prior grade(s) will exist in the PASS student data system and will be averaged into the final grade (if appropriate). You may want to ask the previous instructor for a summary of the student's previous assignments and grades.

Yes, if you are using the GradeQuick attendance software to track absences for each of your classes, GradeQuick will automatically submit your attendance records with the grades for your class. It is important that you setup the attendance package and have entered the start date for each term so that absences are reported properly.