This lesson provides an overview on the differences between Save, Publish and unlocking Grading Periods during entry with Report Cards.

During the report card entry process there is the option to Save entered grades. You should always Save as grades are entered, or when a student's grades have been changed.
This will save all field types with the exception of Gradebook/Assessment data-linked fields. Manually Gradebook/Assessment or overwritten fields will save with this step. If just save is used, various Administrative and Audit reporting isn't available.
If you have Gradebook/Assessment fields as part of your Report Card Setup, you will want to encourage teachers to both Save and Publish.

Publish will only appear after Save has been confirmed and will save all data and all field types. You can publish grades as often as needed within a grading period, before it has ended.
Publishing records a timestamped value of the Gradebook/Assessment fields (and all other fields) to use in various Administrative reports and auditing.
Grading Periods close on the Window End Date and will automatically Publish all report card or grades data.
Need more time? Don't change the date! Simply call your Customer Success Manager or Support Specialist to unlock the grading period. Changing the dates will be time consuming and often only needs to occur at a single site. it will unlock the grading period, allowing for additional entry or access to enter grades for teachers for 24 hours and then automatically republish and lock again.
Where Can I See This Data?
When publishing occurs, Audit Logs will be a helpful tool that stores published data for up to 30 days. These audit logs will not provide information if teachers only Save their data during the grading period and data will not be available untilafter the Grading Window closes.

After the Grading Period closes, the data becomes part of your site's meta-data, or data ready for Custom Reports. After being shared to you, the following will be available when creating Custom Reports:
- Type: Report Cards
- Categories: YYYY [Report Card Name]
- Matching Columns: a column for every field of data that was collected in the selected report card
To review how to share and manage Custom Report Data, visit Manage Custom Reporting Data for details.
I Don't See the Data! Give Illuminate a call to install your Elementary Report Card Data, but once installed you can share and use the data for Custom Reports, On-Track, and more!
Next Steps
Review the entry options for your teachers by visiting Elementary Report Card Grade Entry Overview..
Comments
2 comments
Having a hard time understanding the sentence "These audit logs will not product information is teachers only Save their data during the grading period and will only be available after the Grading Window closes." Can you please clarify this statement? Publishing vs. Saving has always been a confusing concept for me. Thanks.
Thanks for reviewing that piece and letting us know! It has been revised and should be saying:
"These audit logs will not provide information if teachers only Save their data during the grading period and data will not be available until after the Grading Window closes."
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