For 2011-2012, we will be using the same process as we have in past years for closing out each trimester for grades 3-8, verifying grades, and publishing report cards. The one change that will take place this year is that, with the opening of the Parent Portal, middle school students will no longer receive specific, separate Mid-Trimester Progress Reports.

Mid-Trimester 1

• October 6 - Mid-Trimester Date
• October 14 - Mid-Trimester Progress Reports Go Home (No more Mid-Tri Progress Reports in Grades 6-8)

Trimester 1

• November 22 - End of Trimester 1
• November 28-9 AM - Grades Due--Academic Grades, Learner Quality Grades/Marks, Comments Due in PowerTeacher Gradebook
• November 28 & November 29 - Verification Period--School offices will print & distribute verification sheets. Teachers make corrections to verifications directly in the Gradebook.
• November 30-9 AM - Final Grades Due--All corrections must be complete by teachers in the Gradebook by 9 AM.
• November 30 & December 1 - Report Card Printing--School offices will print & distribute trimester report cards.
• December 2 - Report Cards go home with students (Grades 3-8) at the end of the school day.

Mid-Trimester 2

• January 20 - Mid-Trimester Date
• January 27 - Mid-Trimester Progress Reports Go Home (No more Mid-Tri Progress Reports in Grades 6-8)

Trimester 2

• March 2 - End of Trimester 2
• March 5-9 AM - Grades Due--Academic Grades, Learner Quality Grades/Marks, Comments Due in PowerTeacher Gradebook
• March 5 & March 6 - Verification Period--School offices will print & distribute verification sheets. Teachers can make corrections to verifications directly in the Gradebook.
• March 7-9 AM - Final Grades Due--All corrections must be complete by teachers in the Gradebook by 9 AM.
• March 7 & March 8 - Report Card Printing--School offices will print & distribute trimester report cards.
• March 9 - Report Cards go home with students (Grades 3-8) at the end of the school day.

Mid-Trimester 3

• April 20 - Mid-Trimester Date
• April 27 - Mid-Trimester Progress Reports Go Home (No more Mid-Tri Progress Reports in Grades 6-8)

Trimester 3
Timeline will be published when the final day of school is determined in the Spring.

Please remember that do to the impact of attendance, we would ask the following two things of all staff members:

• Please do not enter grades between 9-9.30 and 1-1.30 if at all possible.
• Please remember to LOG OUT when you are done using PowerTeacher, particularly after taking attendance.

As we move forward with the opening of the Parent Portal this year, and as we anticipate the process of moving our Primary teachers in to PowerTeacher and the PowerTeacher Gradebook, we are excited about the potential of capturing high-quality detailed assessment data that can be used to differentiate instruction for all students across all grade levels and classrooms.

Tags: Report Cards, Gradebook, Grades

At the Board of Education Meeting on April 28, 2011, the final day of school for the 2010-2011 school year was officially announced. As a result of the snow days in early February, the last day of classes will be June 8, 2011.

Based on that information and considering that school offices will need to print Trimester 3 Report Cards and 2010-2011 Power Standards Summary Reports for all third through eighth grade students this year, the following timeline for final academic grade, Learner Quality, Power Standard, and comment entry in the PowerTeacher Gradebook will be as follows:

• Tuesday, May 31st--All Academic Grades, Learner Qualities, Power Standards, and Comments due in PowerTeacher by 3.30 PM. (Middle school offices will be able to print verification sheets after school.)
• Wednesday, June 1st--Elementary school offices will be able to print verification sheets upon arrival to school in the morning. All third through eighth grade teachers verify Academic Grades, Learner Qualities, Power Standards, and Comments. Teachers make any changes that are necessary themselves in the PowerTeacher Gradebook.
• Thursday, June 2nd--All verifications must be complete and changes made by 3.30 PM. (Middle school offices will be able to queue Report Cards and Power Standards Summary Reports after school.)
• Friday, June 3rd--Report Card and Power Standard Summary Report Creation & Printing. (Elementary Schools will be provided with a schedule as to who can print when. Middle schools can print from already queued report cards. Middle schools cannot queue report cards between 8 AM and 3.50 PM.)
• Monday, June 6th--Report Card and Power Standard Summary Report Creation & Printing continues.
• Tuesday, June 7th--Report Cards and Power Standard Summary Reports must be complete and distributed to teams.
• Wednesday, June 8th--Report Cards and Power Standard Summary Reports are sent home with students on the final day of classes.

Tags: PowerTeacher, Grades, Report Cards

In 2010-2011, we will be using the same process as we have in past years for closing out each trimester, verifying grades, and publishing report cards.

Trimester 1

• November 29-9 AM - Grades Due--Academic Grades, Learner Quality Grades/Marks, Comments Due in PowerTeacher Gradebook
• November 29 & November 30 - Verification Period--School offices will print & distribute verification sheets. Teachers can make corrections to verifications directly in the Gradebook.
• December 1-9 AM - Final Grades Due--All corrections must be complete by teachers in the Gradebook by 9 AM.
• December 1 & December 2 - Report Card Printing--School offices will print & distribute trimester report cards.
• December 3 - Report Cards go home with students (Grades 3-8) at the end of the school day.

Trimester 2

• March 7-9 AM - Grades Due--Academic Grades, Learner Quality Grades/Marks, Comments Due in PowerTeacher Gradebook
• March 7 & March 8 - Verification Period--School offices will print & distribute verification sheets. Teachers can make corrections to verifications directly in the Gradebook.
• March 9-9 AM - Final Grades Due--All corrections must be complete by teachers in the Gradebook by 9 AM.
• March 9 & March 10 - Report Card Printing--School offices will print & distribute trimester report cards.
• March 11 - Report Cards go home with students (Grades 3-8) at the end of the school day.

Trimester 3
Timeline will be published when the final day of school is determined in the Spring.

Please remember that do to the impact of attendance, we would ask the following two things of all staff members:

• Please do not enter grades between 9-9.30 and 1-1.30 if at all possible.
• Please remember to LOG OUT when you are done using PowerTeacher, particularly after taking attendance.

Finally, please note that the PowerTeacher Gradebook now includes an electronic verification solution that we may begin testing this school year with specific teams and/or schools.

Tags: PowerTeacher, Grades, Report Cards

While instruction and assessment should continue through the last day of school, the reality of sending report cards home with students on June 7th, the final day of school, requires that we “close our gradebooks” prior to the last day of the trimester at the end of the school year.

Beginning with Trimester 3 of the 2009-2010 school year, students in grades 3-5 will receive their report card, which includes Academic Grades, Learner Qualities, and Comments, and a separate Power Standards Summary Report. Students in grades 6-8 will receive both documents beginning at the end of the 2010-2011 school year. While the parent/student documents have changed, teacher entry in the PowerTeacher Gradebook has not changed at this time! (Though, Power Standards data collection may look very different next year with this summer’s major PowerSchool upgrade!)

For more information on how to use the PowerTeacher Gradebook, please visit the CCSD21 PowerSchool Support Site. (You will be prompted for your Active Directory username and password to enter this site.) Specifically, elementary teachers will want to review the Elementary School Report Card Learner Quality, Comments, and Power Standards Entry document if you have questions about this process.

For the close of the 2009-2010 school year, the final grade timeline for Grades 3-8 looks like:

May 27, 2010--9 AM
All grades (Academic, LQ, Power Standard) and comments must be entered and completed in the PowerTeacher Web Gradebook by teachers throughout District 21. Then, Technology Office staff members will store grades district-wide, and following that, school secretaries will print verification sheets and distribute those to teachers.

June 2, 2010--9 AM
Teachers will have finished reviewing Academic Grades, Learner Qualities, Power Standards, and Comments. Any corrections that need to be made are made by the teacher or team directly in to the PowerTeacher Web Gradebook by the 9 AM deadline on June 2nd. At this point, Technology Office staff members will store grades district-wide, once again, and following that, school secretaries will begin printing report cards in an order determined by the Technology Office. Report card printing will continue through June 3rd.

June 7, 2010
All students leave school (and the 2009-2010 school year!) with their Trimester 3 Report Card and Power Standards Summary Report.

Tags: Report Cards, PowerSchool, PowerTeacher, Web Gradebook, Grades