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Due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, a new end-of-year grading process has been implemented for the 2019-20 school year at the middle and high school levels. Because of these changes, grades will appear differently on the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal. This document will help explain how to interpret grading information on the portal.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Accessing the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal
Accessing the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal
For the 2019-20 school year, student end-of-year grades will be posted to the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal, at the following web address:
https://powerschool.niskyschools.org
Students can access the portal using their District Login credentials (also used to access Google services).
Parents and guardians need to set up their own access account in order to see student grading information. Documentation is available for this process below:
If you are unable to access the Parent/Student Portal, please contact the Niskayuna CSD IT Department by email:
Quarter 3 (Q3) Grades - Pass (P) or Incomplete (I)
Quarter 3 (Q3) Grades - Pass (P) or Incomplete (I)
Any Quarter 3 student assignment that was due on or before March 13 is included in Quarter 3 grading for the current school year. Teachers used these assignments to calculate a percentage score for each student. If the percentage score was 64.5% or higher, the student received a grade of Pass (P) for Quarter 3. If the percentage was less than 64.5%, the student received a grade of Incomplete (I) for Quarter 3.
Students will be able to make up work to replace a grade of Incomplete (I) with a Pass (P) until a future date. This date has yet to be determined, but will not be until after we are all back together at school.
Both the Q3 letter grade (P/I) and percentage score are visible on the "Grades and Attendance" screen of the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal, under the "Q3" column heading. You can click on the letter or percentage grade to see a summary of assignments that were included in the calculation, as well as any teacher comments.
If you have any questions, please contact your teacher. You can find teacher email addresses by clicking on their name on this screen.
Quarter 4 (Q4) Grades - Evidence of Learning (EOL) or Not Yet Learned (NYL)
Quarter 4 (Q4) Grades - Evidence of Learning (EOL) or Not Yet Learned (NYL)
Quarter 4 grades are calculated using a simplified, non-traditional model of grading based on measures of student learning:
Evidence of Learning (EOL) = Student has demonstrated learning of essential curriculum based on what was taught and assigned.
Not Yet Learned (NYL) = Student has not completed assignment, or work completed does not yet demonstrate learning of essential curriculum. Student will be given the opportunity to redo and re-submit work to demonstrate learning.
Quarter 4 letter grades (EOY/NYL) are visible on the "Grades and Attendance" screen of the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal, under the "Q4" column heading. You can click on the letter grade to see a summary of assignments that were included in the calculation.
If you see an "[i]" symbol (1) in place of a Q4 grade for a particular course, it means that the teacher has not yet finalized Q4 grades. However, you can click on the "[i]" to see a list of assignments and the associated letter grades.
You may see an associated percentage score (2) with each EOL (160%) or NYL (150%) letter grade. These are required by the particular grading system we use in PowerSchool, but have no meaning for Q4 grades; they are merely placeholders.
Quarter 4 grades will be used to track student learning throughout the end of the 2019-20 school year, but will not be used in calculations of final course grades.
Final Course (F1) Grades - Pass (P) or Incomplete (I)
Final Course (F1) Grades - Pass (P) or Incomplete (I)
Final Course (F1) grades for each course are calculated by averaging the Quarter 1, 2 and 3 percentage grades equally. By default, if the percentage score was 64.5% or higher, the student received a grade of Pass (P) for the course. If the percentage was less than 64.5%, the student received a grade of Incomplete (I) for the course.
Students will be able to make up work to replace a grade of Incomplete (I) until a future date. This date will not be determined until we are all back together at school.
Both the Final Course letter grade (P/I) and percentage score are visible on the "Grades and Attendance" screen of the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal, under the "F1" column heading. You can click on the letter or percentage grade to see a summary of assignments that were included in the calculation, as well as any teacher comments.
Students in grades 9-12 (or Accelerated Algebra at the Middle School) have the option of replacing a "P" grade with the percentage grade for their permanent transcript. Please see the section below for more information.
If you have any questions, please contact your teacher. You can find teacher email addresses by clicking on their name on this screen.
Other Grades (E0, L0, and R0)
Other Grades (E0, L0, and R0)
The E0 (Exam score - MS only), L0 (Local exam - HS only), and R0 (Regents exams - HS Only) columns are still visible on the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal, but only to display grades that were earned prior to the current school closure. No full-year or 2nd-semester courses will include E0, L0, or R0 grades in the final course grade calculations.
Student Option to Take Percentage Final Grade (HS Only)
Student Option to Take Percentage Final Grade (HS Only)
Students in grades 9-12 (or in Accelerated Algebra at the Middle School) have the option of replacing a "P" grade with the percentage grade for their permanent transcript. The percentage score will be visible on the "Grades and Attendance" screen of the PowerSchool Parent/Student Portal. It can be found beneath the "P" letter grade in the "F1" column for each course.
Students may elect to take this option for all, none, or a subset of their courses. In order to do so, they must notify their teacher(s) in writing prior to June 12th, 2020.
If you have any questions, please contact your teacher. You can find teacher email addresses by clicking on their name on this screen.
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