Gradebook Streamlined for Powerschool Users

From raw marks to individual reports

Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash

In this article, I am going to explain my GradeBook Streamlined for MS/HS teachers. I use this Google Sheet for:

• Topic test grading
• Best-fit grading
• Semester grading
• Parent-teacher conferences
• Importing score to PowerTeacher Gradebook.

This academic year I teach 4 different IB Diploma Mathematics courses. If you teach IB Diploma Mathematics you know that Applications and Interpretation is a new curriculum. This means I have four different grade boundaries. My school uses PowerSchool and its Gradebook. The Gradebook is great for IB MYP but it does not suit the IB Diploma for some reason. The following image is from PowerTeacher Gradebook.

There is no best way to do it. But there must be a better way to do it.

Powerschool Grade book view. Image by Author.

Google Sheets has a template called Grade book. It has a nice individual report but it does not meet my needs. So I started modifying it. I also wanted to use it for parent-teacher conferences and the best-fit grade.

GradeBook Streamlined

Tabs

There are six tabs in the Google Sheet I created: Overview, RawMarks, PercentMarks, Grades, Individual report, and Powerschool export.

Tabs in the Google spreadsheet. Image by Author.

Setup

First, you need to find your grade boundaries. You can calculate them by finding the mean of the last five years of exam results. Enter them to the Overview tab.

Adding grade boundaries in the Overview tab. Image by Author.

Next, you need to enter your student names. If you use PowerTeacher, you need to download student IDs and names. Select one of the assignments and select Tools > Export Scores Template.

In PowerTeacher, go to Tools > Export Scores Template to download student IDs and names. Image by Author.

Save it as a CSV file and open it. CSV stands for comma-separated values. It is a simple file format used to store tabular data. Copy and paste all student IDs and names to the RawMarks tab. That’s all for the setup.

Copy & paste student IDs and names in the Raw Marks tab. Image by Author.

Raw marks

You enter a test name, total test score, and student scores in the RawMarks tab as you can see in the following image.

Adding total test score, and student scores in the RawMarks tab. Image by Author.

Semester grades

In the RawMarks tab, you find Semester and Total Grade. The Semester shows students’ semester grades.

The view of the semester grade. Image by Author.

If you wish to get the semester grade, you need to add the column letter in “Semester start column” and “Semester end column”. It will automatically fill the Semester grades for all students.

Test grades

For the PowerTeacher users, you can find grades for each test in the Grades tab.

Grade tab view. Image by Author.

Export scores and import them to the PowerTeacher

In the Powerschool export tab, you download it as a CSV file and import it to the PowerTeacher.

Exporting a CSV file. Image by Author.

In the Powerschool go to Tools > Import Scores. Before you import you have to create an assignment and select it.

Importing the CSV file to the Powerschool. Image by Author.

Individual student report

For parent-teacher conferences, you can print out an individual report from the Individual report sheet. You can change student names from a drop-down.

Individual student report. Image by Author.

Even though my GradeBook Streamlined is related to PowerSchool, it can be used as a standalone Google Sheet. I hope this GradeBook Streamlined is useful for IB Diploma teachers.

If you modify my Google Sheet, please add your link in the comment so that other teachers can use it.

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