Coming next summer: new Infinite Campus grade book features

Earlier this month, I had a chance to see the future version of the Infinite Campus grade book.  Here are some of the highlights…

What are the major highlights?

Java will no longer be used or required to run the grade book.  Instead, it will switch to using HTML5, meaning that more devices should be able to connect to the grade book, including iOS devices such as iPads.

Another highlight – lots of additional visual representations and quick stats that are available to teachers. The usage of built in visual graphs will make it easier to spot students who are struggling as well as see how the entire class did on a particular assignment.

When will the new version be available?

Select districts across the country are testing the new version now – however, our district will probably not take the upgrade until next summer, as we typically don’t like to change the grade book features during the school year.

Will this change how the grade book is viewed by parents?
No.  The new tools and graphs being added are only available to teachers and are not available on the parent portal.

Can we see some of the specifics?

This is a view of the new grade book that will available to teachers next summer. In this example, a specific student has been selected and additional visual queues are provided to assist with understanding the students progress.

This is known as a box and whisker chart, which display the four quartiles. The area between the top green line and the green box is the 1st quartile, the green box is the 2nd quartile, red box is 3rd quartile, and between red box and bottom red line is the last quartile. In this example, the specific student is the yellow circle, showing that they scored in the 1st quartile compared to the rest of the class.

Teachers will be able to see basic stats for each assignment, including: Mean, Median, Range, Std Dev

Teachers can also view these basic stats by scrolling the mouse over each assignment.

The process will be slightly different for posting grades – there is now a clearer process for deciding WHICH grade gets posted to WHERE.

Palo Alto, California is one of the beta test sites and they have posted a more detailed view of the new gradebook.  http://www.paly.net/stafflinks/IC_gradebook_beta.pdf

Past Due Fees Reminders

Past due fee notices will be sent to families starting this week.

Q1. Why is this being done?
A1. School fees are typically taken care of during school registration in August. However, we’ve learned that our school district has not been following up with families that have past due fees.

Q2.What do you mean by “notices” will be sent?
A2.  We will begin by sending a gentle email reminder, eventually working up to automated phone calls.

Q3. Exactly what message is being sent out via email?
A3.

Dear Parent/Guardian of (student First Name student Last Name),

Your student has past due fees of $XX.XX   These fees do not include past due lunch fees and they cannot be paid through PaySchools.  If you have questions regarding these fees, please contact the school office.

Your prompt attention to this matter will be appreciated.  Please send your payments to the school office.

Thank you.