Elementary Teacher Grade Reporting Directions-Intermediate

10/11/2016 – Elementary Teacher Grade Reporting Directions –Intermediate TAP.doc

A GUIDE FOR INTERMEDIATE
GRADES (3-5) TEACHERS

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PAPER

ELEMENTARY TEACHER GRADE REPORTING DIRECTIONS FOR REPORT CARDS
INTERMEDIATE GRADES (3-5)

The purpose of this Technical Assistance Paper (TAP) is to provide step by step procedures for preparing
and finalizing grades for extraction from the gradebook for report cards. Login to the Gradebook from
the district’s homepage click on VCS Intranet>Staff Applications>VIMS (Gradebook)>Gradebook
(VIMS). Logon to VIMS and click Gradebook Grid.

Teachers must “Finalize Grades” in the gradebook by the end of the day on the designated day below.

GRADE PERIOD TEACHERS MUST FINALIZE GRADES BY THE END OF DAY
1 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2016
2 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016
3 FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2017
4 FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2017

STEP 1 – GRADEBOOK VERIFICATION

Prior to the end of each grading period, we recommend that you verify your gradebook using the
following guidelines:

1. Make sure each assignment is categorized correctly.
2. Open every assignment to double-check that you have the Max value and weights set correctly.
3. Verify every grade for every student using the gradebook grid. Please pay close attention to

students with grades ‘X’, ‘M’ and blanks. Please be reminded of the following:
 Assignments with a blank grade will be excluded from the student’s calculated grade.
 Assignments with a grade of ‘X’ will be excluded from the student’s calculated grade.
 Assignments with a grade of ‘M’ (missing) will be included in the student’s calculated
grade as a zero.

4. Be sure to enter the student’s transfer grades, if applicable.

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10/11/2016 – Elementary Teacher Grade Reporting Directions –Intermediate TAP.doc

GRADING SCALE – GRADE 3-5

A 90 - 100 Outstanding Progress
B 80 - 89 Above Average Progress
C 70 - 79 Average Progress
D 60 - 69 Lowest Acceptable Progress
I0 In Progress Towards Grade Level Proficiency in Skills and
Concepts
– Intentionally Left Blank
NG
See STEP 4 No Grade Assigned. Student is a recent transfer
regarding Recent within the last 15 days of the grading period or
Transfers, No a portion of the curriculum has been suspended
Grades for the student in order to provide state
mandated intensive intervention in reading.

STEP 2 - HOW TO OVERRIDE THE CALCULATED GRADE OR UPDATE AN OVERRIDDEN GRADE

Be sure to select
the correct

grading period.

You may override a student’s calculated grade in the
Grading Period Calculated Grade Column. For example,
you may choose to override the student’s calculated
grade from a D to a C.

To override the student’s calculated grading period
grade, click on the student’s grade in the calculated
grade column.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you override the grade with a letter grade,
the student’s percentage will be changed as follows:
A = 95; B = 85; C = 75; D= 65; F = 50;

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The Override Grade dialog box will be displayed.
Click the radio button for Override Grade. The following
are the valid override grades:

A, B, C, D, F, I - (Intentionally Left Blank)
Enter the student’s Override Grade and click SAVE.
Note: In order to report a student “In-Progress”, you

must enter the grade of “I” in the Override Grade
field.
The student’s Override Grade will be displayed in bold.

If you change your mind and wish to update the
overridden grade, you must click directly on the grade.
The Override Grade pop-up will be displayed.
The student’s override grade will be displayed. Select
Calculate Normally to re-calculate the student’s grade or
click Override Grade to change the override grade.
Click SAVE.

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10/11/2016 – Elementary Teacher Grade Reporting Directions –Intermediate TAP.doc

STEP 3 – UPDATE GRADE REPORTING FIELDS (PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT)
The grade reporting fields include the Personal Development/Behavioral Rating indicators and Report
Card Messages. These fields are reflected on the student’s report card. It is imperative that you update
as needed for all students in the class.

On the Homeroom tab, click the dropdown arrow
next to Assignments.
Select Grade Reporting Fields.
The Grade Reporting Fields for Intermediate Report Cards will be displayed. To view the valid values for
the Grade Reporting Fields, click in the first cell and press the space bar.

The following are values for Personal Development/Behavioral Ratings fields:
1 – Satisfactory – Default – All fields left blank will be printed as a ‘1’ Satisfactory on the
student’s report card.
2 – Needs Improvement
3 – Unsatisfactory

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10/11/2016 – Elementary Teacher Grade Reporting Directions –Intermediate TAP.doc

STEP 4 – UPDATE GRADE REPORTING FIELDS (REPORT CARD MESSAGES)

The following messages will print on the front of the student’s report card when an ‘X’ is placed in the
selected field:

Grade Reporting Field Report Card Message

Recent Transfer, No Grades: “RECENT TRANSFER, NO GRADES ASSIGNED”

Use for out-of-county transfer students if they are a recent transfer
within the last 15 days of the grading period or a portion of the
curriculum has been suspended for the student in order to provide state
mandated intensive intervention in reading.

Note: If this message is accidentally marked, the grades on the
student’s report card will be ‘NG’. The ‘X’ must be removed to
post grades for the student.

Conference Requested: “CONFERENCE REQUESTED “

Use this when requesting a conference with the student’s
parent/guardian.

Promotion in Danger: “PROMOTION IN DANGER”

This may only be used during the second and third grading periods if the
student is having documented difficulties in language arts, and/or
mathematics. This message will not print on the report card for grading
period 4.

ESE Summer School “ESE SUMMER SCHOOL RECOMMENDED”
Recommended:
This may only be used during the third and fourth grading periods for
ESE students that are being recommended to attend summer school in
an ESE class. NO MESSAGE WILL PRINT ON THE STUDENT’S REPORT
CARD. These students will be identified on the report STD_C00208 –
Elementary ESE Summer School Recommendation Listing.

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Insufficient Progress 10/11/2016 – Elementary Teacher Grade Reporting Directions –Intermediate TAP.doc
Towards IEP Goals:
(ESE Students only) NO MESSAGE WILL PRINT ON THE STUDENT’S REPORT CARD.

ESOL-ELP Message As required by law, the case manager must report the student’s progress
toward meeting his/her IEP goals and objectives at each midterm and at
the end of each grading period. This field must be marked for any ESE
student that is making insufficient progress toward his/her IEP goals and
objectives. A blank in this field will indicate that the ESE student is
making sufficient progress toward his/her IEP goals and objectives.

IMPORTANT NOTES: 

 For students making insufficient progress toward their IEP goals
and objectives, the case manager must complete an ESE
Progress Report for each student. This report must be
distributed at the time of report cards.

 For students making sufficient progress an Annual Goals Letter
will be produced by your school’s data staff. The letter must be
distributed at the time of report cards.

Use this message for ELL students only. This message will generate the
following statement under the Language Arts section on the student’s
report card.

“Your child is being graded according to the English Language Proficiency
Standards. His/Her class work has been accommodated to help him/her
learn English. The grades on this report card are based on his/her
academic performance on State Standards and progress on English
language acquisition.”

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STEP 4 – UPDATE GRADE REPORTING FIELDS (PROMOTION – 4TH GRADING PERIOD ONLY)

During the fourth grading period, the promotion field MUST BE UPDATED for each student. This is
Mandatory. The promotion field is located on the Homeroom tab under the Grade Reporting Fields. If
this field is left blank, the end-of-year promotion code will not be printed on the student’s report card.
To view the valid promotion codes, place your cursor in the Promotion field and click the space bar.
Please note: 1: FSA Level 1 pertains to grade 3 only.

The promotion message will print on the front of the student’s report card during grading period 4 only
as follows:

Gradebook Report Card Message
Promoted: “Promoted to Grade XX”

Retained: “Retained in Grade XX”

Administratively Assigned: “Administratively Assigned to Grade XX”
(Grades 4 and 5 only)

Administratively Assigned Good Cause: "Your child is exempt from retention for good cause
(Grade 3 only) due to..." (see Good Cause Exemption messages on
the following page).
FSA Level 1:
(Grade 3 only) “Retained in grade 3 pending successful continuation
and completion of a portfolio of acceptable work at
the Grade 3 Summer Reading Camp or achieving a
passing score on the alternative assessment.”

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10/11/2016 – Elementary Teacher Grade Reporting Directions –Intermediate TAP.doc

IMPORTANT NOTES: 

 All Grade 3 FSA Level 1 students are either RETAINED OR *ADMINISTRATIVELY ASSIGNED FOR

GOOD CAUSE.

* Please be reminded that in order for a student to be reported as Administratively

Assigned for Good Cause a completed Request for Good Cause Exemption Form
2004-274-VCS must be signed/approved by the Superintendent and your Area
Superintendent. Please contact your principal to confirm that the Request for Good
Cause Exemption Form is on file for the student.

To view the valid Good Cause Exemption codes, place your cursor in the Good Cause Type field
and click the space bar.

 GRADE 3 FSA LEVEL 1 STUDENTS CANNOT BE PROMOTED.

GOOD CAUSE EXEMPTIONS FOR GRADE 3

CODE DEFINITION

1 Limited English Proficient Students who have had less than 2 years of instruction in an
English for Speakers of Other Languages program based on the initial date of entry into a
school in the United States.

2 Students with disabilities whose individual education plan indicates that participation in the
statewide assessment program is not appropriate, consistent with the requirements of State
Board of Education Rule.

3 Students who demonstrate an acceptable level of performance on an alternative
standardized reading assessment or English Language Arts assessment approved by the
State Board of Education.

4 A Student who demonstrates through a student portfolio that he or she is performing at
least a Level 2 on the statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessment.

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5 Students with disabilities who participate in the statewide, standardized English Language
Arts assessment and who have an individual education plan or a Section 504 plan that
reflects that the student has received the intensive instruction in reading or English
Language Arts, for more than 2 years but still demonstrates a deficiency and was previously
retained in kindergarten, grade1, grade 2 or grade 3.

6 Students who have received the intensive remediation in reading or English Language Arts
for 2 or more years but still demonstrate a deficiency and who were previously retained in
kindergarten, grade 1, grade 2 or grade 3 for a total of 2 years. (Section 1008.25(6)(b)7, F.S.)

7 Students who have received intensive reading intervention for 2 or more years but still
demonstrate a deficiency in reading and who were previously retained in kindergarten,
grade 1, grade 2, or grade 3 for a total of 2 years. A student may not be retained more than
once in grade 3. (Section 1008.25(6)(b)6, F.S.)

STEP 5 – UPDATE GRADE REPORTING FIELDS (EFFORT)
The following will be used for Effort for Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies for
students in grade levels three, four and five. Effort is the only column displayed when selecting the
Grade Reporting Fields under the individual subject area tabs.

1 – Satisfactory (1 is the default)
2 – Needs Improvement
3 – Unsatisfactory
Enter the student’s effort or select the appropriate effort
code from the dropdown menu.
IMPORTANT NOTE: 
Any cell that you leave blank will default to a ‘1’ on the
student’s report card. The ‘1’ will not be displayed in the
gradebook.

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STEP 6 – FINALIZE GRADES

When you have verified all grades, grade reporting fields and promotion assignments (grading period 4
only) and your gradebook is complete for the grading period, you must Finalize your grades for each
tab, including Homeroom.

IMPORTANT NOTES: 

1. Grades from numeric sections will not be extracted, posted in CrossPointe or print on the
student’s report card. The student’s homeroom teacher will be responsible for reporting the
student’s grades. An example of a numeric section is displayed below. The section number is
displayed after the course number.

2. This step must be completed for all tabs. If you do not complete this step, your grades will not
be extracted from the gradebook, the student’s grade on the report card will be blank and a
grade change will be required.

To Finalize your grades, click the dropdown arrow
at the top right of the calculated grade column.

Select Finalize Grades from the dropdown.

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The Finalize Grades pop-up window will be
displayed. Select the current Grading Period from
the list.
Click SAVE.

A pop-up window will be displayed indicating that
your grades for this tab have been Finalized and
are ready for export. These steps must be
repeated for each tab. (To un-finalize grades, click
the change link in the window displayed).

IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING FINALIZING GRADES 

1. This step will notify your administrator that your grades are finalized for this class and ready to be
extracted from the gradebook. Again, please remember that if this step is not completed for each
class, your grades will not be extracted from the gradebook and the grade on the student’s report
card for this course will be blank.

2. Once your grades are finalized you will not be able to make updates to the grading period grades
unless you click on the change status link. This will allow you to unlock your grades to make any
necessary grade changes. It is important that you remember to Finalize Grades after the change has
been made.

3. If grade changes occur after the grading period ends, please be sure to:

 Make the grade change in your gradebook;
 Complete a “Grade Change” form;
 Provide the completed form to the appropriate staff member at your school. The staff

member will make the grade change in CrossPointe and;
 Finalize your grades.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Grades of ‘I’ (In Progress) must be reconciled within an 18-week period. The
teacher must update the grade in the grade book and complete the appropriate grade change form as
listed above.

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SAMPLE INTERMEDIATE REPORT CARD

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