Grading periods define the start and end dates associated with quarters, trimesters or semesters. They are different than terms. You will need to enter grading periods even if terms have been set in Illuminate. Setting up grading periods correctly is critical for the use of Gradebooks and Report Cards.
Required Permissions: View Grading Periods, Create Grading Periods, Edit Grading Periods, Push Grading Periods
If you will be using elementary and secondary grading periods, set up all elementary grading periods first. Not doing so, could cause issues with elementary report cards.
Elementary: Grading period numbers impact report card entry and printing for elementary report cards.
Secondary: Grading period number order should follow the order grading periods will land when printing during the school-year.
Where to Start
- Click Grades.
- Select Grading Periods.
- Click Add.
Create Grading Periods
- Name the grading period.
- Enter the first and last dates that grades will be recorded. This controls the Gradebook and how data is collected from a Gradebook.
- Enter the first and last dates that teachers can enter/post grades for the final mark. This controls when shared Report Cards are available for data entry. If using Report Cards, it is recommended that the first grading period provides a longer window of time to accommodate for training and first-use practices.
- The grading period number is sequential, beginning with 1.
- The term type is selected based on CALPADS.
- Make the appropriate choice. For clients using Elementary Report Cards, always select K6 Report Card; Selecting "Secondary" is most common for Illuminate SIS clients and the use of secondary report cards.
- Select No to Disable the GPA if you select Secondary (Final Grade). DNA only clients will skip this option.
- Select the Term and sites you would like this grading period to apply to. To select multiple sites, hold down command/CTRL and select all of the sites you like. It is best practice if selecting multiple or a few sites, to always include the "district".
- Click Save to apply changes.
Repeat these steps for each grading period throughout the year. Change your Control Panel site to set grading periods for each individual site.
Grading periods cannot be created to overlap terms.
Review Grading Periods
When grading periods are entered, you will see a summary of this information.
- Click the paper/pencil icon to Edit the information of the grading period selected. To learn more about editing Grading Periods, visit Edit Grading Periods.
- Print a list of all Grading Periods by means of Microsoft Excel, Adobe PDF, Other Formats, or with additional printing formating tools.
If you need a Grading Period deleted, please reach out to help@illuminateed.com.
Next Steps
Now that you have created Grading Periods, learn more about Getting Started with Standards Based Grading, or for building Elementary Report Cards, take a look at Step 3 - Create a Student Group!