Classroom for Educators

Classroom is a very flexible application. Because of School Data Solution's philosophy of continuous development based on educator input, we have designed Classroom to meet the needs of both a traditional and a standards-based gradebook, allowing educators to work in whatever manner they choose.

The purpose and intent of Classroom is to provide educators with an easy-to-navigate, flexible, web-based application that not only allows creating, managing, and analyzing standards-based questions and assignments but also produces a standards-aligned report card. 

When you first start working in Classroom, consider not what you have historically done to create, manage, and maintain a gradebook but what you would like to do.  Again, Classroom does not dictate how you should work but allows you to work as you like. 

Educators can:

1. Compose questions and assignments or assessments.
   • Create multiple choice, true/false, multi-select, or scored answer questions to be used in assignments or assessments.
   • Align those questions with standards from the CCSS, EARLs & GLEs, NGSS, or district standard banks. Classroom provides integration to third-party item banks, for instance, the NWEA, which has over 75,000 questions aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
   • Assign points to the questions and the threshold for meeting standards.
   • Attach media, like videos, images, passages, math symbols, and links to questions.
   • Add existing questions to an assignment or assessment from a question bank. Classroom provides a repository for your coursework and assessments. There is no need to maintain binders full of paper copies! 
   • Assign performance levels to assignments or assessments for progress monitoring.
   • Add teacher and student instructions and standards to assignments or assessments.
   • Reorder, edit, delete, copy, or print questions and assignments.
   • Share questions and assignments with other educators in the district. Classroom promotes subject and grade-level collaboration across the district.

2. Work on questions, assignments or assessments, and gradebooks.
   • Create gradebooks by subject, period, or student group. For example:
     • If you use different assignments for different periods or grade students period by period, create a gradebook for each period. 
     • If you use the same assignments for every period or if you grade every student at once, create a single gradebook for all your periods.
     • If you are an elementary teacher who has second and third-grade students in your class, create two gradebooks for each grade. 
     • If you are using co-teaching based on a subject, create one gradebook for each subject, which each of you can contribute to.
     • If you are a new teacher with no curriculum or teaching a new grade level or subject, you can ask another educator in your district to share their gradebook with you via a gradebook template to help get you started.
   • Assign standards to gradebooks, add class terms and contributors, and create a syllabus and curriculum.
   • Add assignments and assessments to gradebooks.
   • Reorder, edit, copy, export, or delete questions, assignments, or assessments in gradebooks.
   • Schedule and publish assignments or assessments which students can take online.
   • Exclude any student from a particular assignment or assessment.
   • Print assignments or assessments when a computer is not available to the students.
   • Enter student answers from a printed assignment or assessment directly into the gradebook for automatic scoring.
   • Modify an automatic score or enter a score for a scored answer question.
   • Monitor student submissions in real-time for multiple choice and true/false answers when administered online.
   • View the status of all assignments and how many students have submitted work and/or completed each.
   • Grade students by standard, or traditionally by class terms, and on non-academic measures. 

3. Browse and share questions and assignments or assessments with other educators in the district.
   • Export questions created to a district-managed question bank(s).
   • Assemble questions into assignments or assessments and export them to a district-managed assignment bank(s).
   • Assemble assignments into a gradebook template and share the gradebook via course code.
   • Assemble assignments and gradebooks which constitute an entire curriculum by grade or subject.
   • Browse all shared question and assignment banks belonging to the district. Browse all standard banks belonging to the district. Classroom allows for searchable content by standard, difficulty level, or complexity.

4. Access student profile information and reports, and activate or adjust student account settings.
   • Select a single student to see their profile and high-level information.
   • View a student’s performance by learning standards.
   • View and print a student's report card by learning standards, assignments, or gradebooks.
   • Activate student accounts.
   • Assign student passwords.

5. Analyze questions, assignments, or assessments by standard or score and access reports on student progress.
   • Examine a student's performance relative to the entire group and view aggregate values for questions and standards.
   • Examine group performance on assignments or assessments from a learning standard perspective.
   • View assignment or assessment results for a single student question by question or for a single question student by student. 
   • View the results of identified Classroom assessments in Homeroom.
   • Use assessment results in Homeroom to create tiered student groups.
   • Use assessment results in Homeroom data extracts to create student growth charts.
   • Compare Classroom assessments with other assessments in Homeroom, state, district, school, etc.

Classroom and Homeroom share student groups, student demographics, school settings, and user account settings. Assignments or assessments are available in Classrom and can be linked to Homeroom. Students’ results in Classroom are then available for display in homeroom. 

• Assessment Widget
• Assessments filter of the Student Groups Widget 
• Data Extracts involving assessments 
• As part of Risk Indicators if configured.

Your district data administrator must designate a Classroom assignment or assessment as visible in Homeroom. Once configured, the results of the assessment or assignment are automatically updated each night. When necessary, a data administrator can update results manually.

See Creating a Gradebook Part 2 - Classroom Assessments Visible in Homeroom for more information.