Schoology, PowerSchool, and Grades

The PowerSchool app is installed in your Schoology course so that you can sync materials and grades from your Schoology gradebook to your PowerSchool gradebook. You can use the PowerSchool app in your course to determine which categories in your Schoology gradebook correspond with the categories in your PowerSchool gradebook.

How do teachers configure the app?

1. Open the PowerSchool app on the left-hand side of your course.

2. When the app is launched, first save settings in the Configuration tab of the app.

3. Map your Schoology grading categories to one or more PowerSchool grading categories. Depending on the grading categories in the course, teachers can map more than one Schoology grading category to a single PowerSchool grading category.

4. Be sure to check the box to automatically shorten assignment titles. Assignment titles over 50 characters will result in an error when synchronizing with PowerSchool.

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What information transfers from Schoology to PowerSchool?

Once the configuration settings are saved, teachers can view the status of graded items and grades from the Sync Status Log in the app. The column on the left displays the Title of the graded item. The column in the middle displays the date the item was most recently synced successfully.

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The following information is sent to PowerSchool:

• The name of the graded item.

• The max number of points for the graded item.

• The due-date for the graded item.

• The grading category mapped by the teacher in the Configuration area of the app.

• The raw score a student received on the graded item.

• Whether the grade item has a status of Published or Unpublished.

If there has been an error in the sync, a red message icon will appear. Hovering over the icon displays a message that details the error.

• First, make sure that you have set up your Schoology gradebook to synchronize grades with PowerSchool. Make sure the categories in your Schoology course exactly match the categories in your PowerTeacher gradebook.

• Second, make sure you have entered a due date in the Schoology assignment. Schoology items without due dates will be synchronized to PowerSchool using the last date of the course's term - so a semester-long course will use the last date of the semester, and a year-long course will use the last date of the year. That may cause the assignment to appear in a different grading period in PowerSchool.

• Third, make sure the assignment title is less than 50 characters, or that in Schoology, PowerSchool App, Configuration tab, you have checked the box to Automatically Shorten Assignment Titles.

• Fourth, make sure you haven't created the assignment in PowerSchool already. Schoology will create the assignment when it syncs with PowerSchool, but will not sync with an assignment that was manually created in PowerSchool.

Finally, make sure there are no errors in the PowerSchool App sync screen. In your course, click on the PowerSchool App on the left side. In the Sync screen, press the one-click sync button in the upper right to transfer changed grades from Schoology to PowerSchool. If there are errors, try syncing again. Note that it may take some time (sometimes up to a few hours) for grades to appear in PowerSchool after being synced from Schoology.

In PowerTeacher Pro, you can create custom names for your classes, and then sort the drop-down list of classes by those custom names.

1. Select one of your classes in PowerTeacher Pro, then click on the Settings gear icon on the far left

2. Select Class Descriptions in the middle left area

3. In the Custom Class Name box, give the class a custom name and click the green Save button in the lower right (clearing the box will restore the default class name)

4. Select your other classes and give them custom names if desired

5. In the class drop-down menu at the top, click the Settings link on the right side

6. Change the Display and Sorting option to Section Number (Sort by Course / Custom Name)

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One of the features in the Schoology gradebook are grade exceptions. There are 3 types of grade exceptions in Schoology:

• Excused: Removes the assignment from the overdue items list, does not count against the student's grade, syncs to PowerSchool as a blank

• Incomplete: Keeps the assignment in the overdue items list, does not count against the student's grade, syncs to PowerSchool as a blank

• Missing: Removes the assignment from the overdue items list, counts as a zero against the student's grade, syncs to PowerSchool as a zero

Each grade exception can be filled in for all students with a blank grade in a Schoology assignment:

1. In the Schoology gradebook, find the assignment column you wish to fill

2. Click the 3 dots to the right of the possible points at the top of the assignment column

3. Select which exception you wish to fill:

   • Mark Empty Cells 'Excused'

   • Mark Empty Cells 'Incomplete'

   • Mark Empty Cells 'Missing'

Each grade exception can also be highlighted in the Schoology gradebook, which will show up as a different color in the Schoology gradebook. For example, you can highlight specific cells that have been marked 'Missing' but where the student has submitted the assignment. Then, you can click on the assignment icon to go right to that assignment and grade it:

1. In the Schoology gradebook, click the View dropdown menu near the top center

2. Select Marked 'Missing' with Submission

3. Scroll through the gradebook to find any highlighted cells where you have marked the student and assignment 'Missing' but the student has submitted the assignment

4. Click the small paper icon in the upper right of the highlighted cell to view the student's submission

Video explaining the feature and demonstrating the view option (5:50 to 7:45)