Welcome to the interactive Commonly Asked Questions page! Here you will find answers to commonly asked questions regarding the new Pinnacle Gradebook. If you don't see your question here, please feel free to add it.
Scroll to the bottom of this page to add new questions.
Note: To edit you will need to enter the password "pinnacle" when prompted
Attendance:
Q1. Can I change attendance once the office has entered it.
A1. No, you do not have to make changes to attendance entered in the office. If a correction is needed, contact the front office.
Q2. If all my students are present, do I still have to take attendance?
A2. YES! Even if you have no absent students, you must still log into your gradebook and select All Present in the appropriate class. Otherwise, your front office will be contacting you!!
Grades:
Q1. What special marks can be used in my gradebook for missing or excused assignments?
A1. A grade of "X" can be given to a student who is excused from completing an assignment. A grade of "Z" can be given to a student who is working on an assignment. The "Z" indicates that although the assignment is late, it will be accepted once it is turned in.
Q2. Can I override a grade?
A2. Although this is possible, it is highly recommended that you not do so. Contact your gradebook or your site-assigned IT Trainer manager for support with this feature.
Q3. What is the difference between an achievement grade and a standard assessment score?
A3. An achievement grade relects combined progress of standards and study skills (effort). A standard assessment score reflects progress made towards meeting each individual standard as listed on the report card.
Q4. What subject areas are we required to provide achievement "letter" grade marks for?
A4. Reading/Literature, Writing, Mathematics, Science/Health, Social Studies. Special Areas also receive "letter" grades.
Q5. What is the "Grading Key used in Kindergarten and 1st Grade?
A5. E = Excellent S = Successful P = Progressing N = Needs Support/Assistance.
Q6. How are the standards assessed on the report card?
A6. 3 = Meets 75-100% 2 = Approaches 60-74% 1= Falls Below 0-59% Blank = Not assessed.
Gradebook:
Q1. What does "Hide from tabs:" mean in Options?
A1. If the "Hide from tabs:" field is set to Yes, you will no longer see that class listed as a tab in your gradebook. This option should always be set to No unless a schedule change is made and you no longer need to see that class. If you don't see a class in your gradebook, ensure this field is not set to Yes. (To check, click on Options and on the General tab, view the Hide from tabs field. Hint, use the arrows at the top of the tab to switch from class to class).
Q2. Can I create my own grading scale?
A2. No, grading scales are set by the governing board for the entire district to ensure accuracy on the report cards. Teachers should not have to set this up.
Q3. I am a Special Area teacher. Do I have a gradebook?
A3. Yes, you now have access to your own gradebook.
Q4. Can I set up my categories and weights for one class and have it replicate to my other classes.
A4. This feature is not yet available but will be included in a future release of the software.
Q5. Can I rename my classes?
A5. You can add to the tabs’ names to help identify which class is which. Having 6 “01-Physical Education” is difficult to know (at a glance) is this first grade or the first class they see that day. Teachers can add to the name only! For instance, rename “01-Physical Education” to “01-7M-Physical Education” so that the teacher knows this is the 7th grade class, homeroom teacher McMahon, that is seen in the first period. Teachers will want to ensure they don’t change the beginning number as it’s critical for attendance accuracy.
Q6. Will guest teachers have access to my gradebook?
A6. No, for your protection guest teachers will not be provided access to your gradebook. Guest Teachers will be provided a paper attendance sheet from the front office. Or you can run and print a report entitled Substitute Teacher Report that will list your students along with all possible attendance codes.
Q7. Can I use a total points grade instead of a weighted grade for assignments?
A7. Check with your admistrator for campus level requirements.
Q8. Are the notes I enter now going to be visable to parents when the Parent Viewer (PIV) application goes live?
A8. Yes!! Although there is an option to keep notes private, a general rule of thumb is not to enter ANY information you would not want parents to see.
Q9. What should I do if I am missing one of my classes?
A9. First, be sure you have not "hidden" the class (see Q1). Check with the Data Records Technician in your front office to ensure your classes are accurate in SASIxp.
Q10. How long can I be inactive in my gradebook prior to being logged out?
A10. 10 minutes.
AZ State Standards:
Q1. How are standards sorted?
A1. Based on overwhelming requests from our test sites last year, we have added the Standard/Concept/PO string to the beginning of each PO following the grade level and subject area code. This should help teachers quickly locate the PO they need.
Q2. I am an elementary teacher and often times my assignments cross subject areas. Will I have access to all AZ State Standards or only those pertaining to my subject?
A2. Elementary teachers will have access to all AZ State Standards.
Q3. What is the best way to grade assignments with multiple standards assigned?
A3. You can add multiple standards to any assignment by clicking the box in front of the standard or by clicking and dragging the standard to the assignment. Coming in August will be the ability to separately grade each PO attached to a particular assignment! Look for information to come on Component Scoring!
Q4. What subject areas are required to give "standard" grade marks?
A4. Please refer to question 4 in the 
Teacher Guide.pdf for this list.
Report Cards/Progress Reports:
Q1. How can I provide Progress Reports?
A1. There are many Reports available in the Grading section of Reports. Once you find the report best suited for your students, you can print the report or email it home (see next question regarding emailing reports). With the PIV, parents will be able to access student grades, progress at any time and Progress Reports will begin to fade away.
Q2. How can I email my Progress Reports home?
A2. Select the report you would like to provide. Once the report runs, select Print from the File meu. Instead of selecting a printer for a hard copy of the report, select the CutePDF option. Save the report to your H: drive. You can now email the report via Microsoft Outlook.
Q3. I am a Special Area teacher. Do I have to send Progress Reports home? When do I issue grades?
A3. Check with your administrator for campus level requirements. Special Area teachers only issue Semester grades.
Q4. What do the new report cards look like?
A4. Rough drafts of the report cards can be found here.
Q5. What grades are given to what area of the report card?
A5. The Course grade for KG and 1st graders are: E, S, P, N. The Course grade for 2nd - 8th graders and all grade levels of Specials are: A, B, C, D, F. The Standards grade for each Strand (all grade levels) are: 3, 2, 1, Blank. A "+", check mark and "-" symbols are used for the Behaviors that Promote Learning area of the report cards.
Q6. Not all schools offer Technology. Will this area of the report card just be blank for those schools?
A67. Yes
Other:
Q1. Can I access my gradebook from home without being connected on VPN?
A1. YES! You can access your gradebook anywhere by logging on using this link. http://gradebook.dysart.org/pinnacle
Q2. What are the password requirements for my gradebook?
A2. Passwords must be 6 - 10 characters long and must include at least one number for security reasons.
Q3. I have misplaced that handy Quick Reference Card. Where can I find another one?
A3. The Quick Reference Card can be found here.PWQuickRefCard.pdf
Q4. Where can I find an electronic copy of the Teacher Guide that was distributed during my school training?
A4. The document can be found here. Teacher Guide.pdf
Q5. Is there a way that coaches can have access to their player's grades?
A5. Yes! Coaches can have access to the Eligibility Viewer application.
Q6. I am a Resource Teacher how should I be grading? Should I be providing my grades to the "Homeroom" teacher?
A6. There are various options for this scenario. The decision of which option should be used for each different teacher scenario should be made by the Administrator, IEP Team and the teachers involved. Below, please find various grade entry options may be used in any school, any grade level. These options are necessary since only the Teacher of Record has access to enter grades in the gradebook. Resource and Inclusion teachers who are not the ToR will need to utilize one of the options listed below or approriate alternatives as determined by the IEP Team to include special education accomodations or modifications to the grading.
Option 1a: The option should be used where possible as it is the most transparent. With this option, the student is assigned the same assignments as the rest of the class however; the grading scale is modified. This offers the student, parent, teachers and administrators the same capabilities for grade viewing etc...that all other students have.
Option 1b: With this option, the student is assigned separate assignments from the rest of the class. This assignment is entered into the gradebook then "X"d out for all other students.
Option 2: With this option, the Resource or alternate teacher compiles the student's weekly possible and achieved scores for the week. Weekly, this information is provided to the Teacher of Record who then enters a 'Weekly Assignment' worth the total possible points for that week. This teacher then (as in the option above), enters the student's points earned for the week and places an "X" for all other students.
Option 3: With this option, the student's assignments, scores and grades are tracked outside the gradebook and provided to the Teacher of Record (ToR) at the end of the grading period. The ToR then overwrites this student's final grade in the gradebook. This option should only be used when no other option is viable.
Gradebook Managers and Instructional Coaches should be thoroughly trained on all of these options.
Q7. I would like to print grades or class rosters with more than 20 students per sheet. Is this possible?
A7. Thanks for the feedback! We have requested this of Pinnacle.
Q8. Can I change the print layout of a report from Landscape to Portrait?
A8. Yes! Once the report is created, click on the File Menu and select Print. Here you will see a Properties box where you should be able to change the page layout if the printer and report support that function.
New Questions!
Q1. Will Middle School Teachers also have the capacity to access all standards so they can grade an interdisciplinary unit?
A1. Great question! AZ Standards are linked to each Course. The gradebooks in Pinnacle are driven by the schedule in SASI therefore; Middle School Teachers will have access to any Standards that their assigned Courses dictate. For example: I am a 7th grade teacher and I teach 6 sections of Math. Each of my classes in my gradebook will have the Math Standards available. Alternately, if I am a 7th grade teacher and I teach Math, Science and Social Studies, my Math class will have the Math Standards loaded, my Science class-the Science Standards and my Social Studies class-the Social Studies Standards.
Q2. If you mark one student absent do you still need to click on the "all present" key?
A2. When taking attendance, marking student absent or clicking the "All Present" button will register that you have taken attendance and a green checkmark will appear on that class tab. The green check mark indicates that you have successfully taken attendance.
Q3. Do teachers need to finalize their grades prior to the SASI import by IT date? If so, by what time of day?
A3. Yes, teachers should finalize their grades which will indicate to the front office that you are ready for grades to be imported. The quarter/semester ending days are set by the district. Deadlines to meet this timeline are provided by your front office so they will be able to provide you with the day/time deadline for finalizing grades.
Q4. As a special area teacher it would be handy if when hoving over a student it would list their homeroom teacher as well as the other Sasi information. Is this possible?
A4. Great idea! We will look into importing this information as well. Thanks for the suggestion!
Q5. Can gradebook managers create groups? Can teachers create groups with students from other classes?
A5. Groups are used only in the Attendance Manager, Eligibility, Counselor and Principal Viewer applications.
Q6. Can teachers email progress reports to parents?
A6. Currently the Student Assignment, Student Attendance Summary and Missing Assignment reports are available for emailing. Once the Parent Internet Viewer (PIV) is opened up (August 20th for Pilot Schools. 2nd Quarter for schools new to Pinnacle), parents can log on directly to view their student's grades lessoning the need for teachers to email reports!
Q7. How long will I have to see the huge list of additions and withrawals that appear on the welcome page? Is there a way to remove the list once I have viewed it? After I have seen them for one day they should be removed.
A7. This will depend on how often your school is changing schedules. Students remain on the front page after an entry or withdrawal from the class or school for 10 days.
Q8. What are the keystroke short cuts for filling in grades? It would be nice to have a page of Quick User Tips.
A8. What a great idea! Our district trainers will be posting this page soon!
a. Use “X” to excuse a student from an assignment; perhaps they were absent.
b. Use “Z” to show that a student failed to turn in an assignment and the gradebook program will treat the score just like a zero. However, if the student did turn in the paper and truly missed every single problem/question, I would enter in a zero to reflect this.
c. Use Shift+8 (the star key) to auto-fill the previous score into the other cells. For instance, if the last score entered was a 90, pressing Shift+8 will quickly fill in 90 for the others students.
Q9. Do Special Area Teachers have to update their grades weekly, quarterly or for each semester?
A9. The quarterly tabs don't combine to create a semester grade. It's not cumulative. However, specials only report a semester grade; not a quarterly grade. This can be tackled in 1 of 2 ways. Special Area teachers can input grades into the first quarter. This way parents who currently have access to the Parent Interactive Viewer (our former piolot schoools), can see their child's current grade. When the 2nd quarter arrives, special area teachers will make 1 assignment as a summative score, input that into the 2nd quarter tab as so that it will properly print that class's grade onto the report card. This is the ideal option for our past pilot schools. Another option is for teachers to only input grades into the 2nd quarter. This will still allow the grades to print on the report card accurately. However, when the 3rd quarter arrives, we'll probably want all schools to go with the first option. I would have your site admin make the decision as to which option your special area teachers use so there is consistency at a site level.
Q10. When I create a new assignment, I can't see all my classes on the Classes tab?
A10. There are two options to get to all these classes.
To view those classes at the bottom of the list and off the screen, click on the last class (the name, not the checkbox) and hit the TAB key. This will take you to the next class. To return to the top, continue pressing the TAB key until it takes you back to the top. anotehr option ( and better in my opinion) is to press down on the left mouse button on the whitespace near the class checkboxes, then drage the pointer down until the screen starts to scroll. Check the boxes you want. Press down on the left mouse button on the whitespace again, and drag the pointer up.
Q11. Is there a way to create other special codes for grades? For example in Integrade you could create a code for latework (L) and then when you entered in the L it would calculate the % you had assigned to the code i.e. 75%.
A11. Currently this is not available, however we will take this great suggestion and send it to the creators of the On-line gradebook. Maybe we will see this implemented in an upcoming version. Thank you!
Q12. We use to be able to see the grades for other courses when we looked at a students schedule, now we can't. Where did that feature disappear to? It was very handy to check studnet's progress in other classes and see if it was an isolated issue without contacting the seperate teachers.
A12. This was inadvertently given to the teachers by the company who designed the On-line Gradebook. If a teacher needs to know a child's grades in other courses, you must either contact the teacher directly.
Q13. There was a feature at the beginning of the year where we could look up a student in a student search that didn't need to be on the teacher's roster. That feature has disappeared. It is very handy for clubs and sports and tutoring teachers. Will it return?
A13. This feature will not return. Coaches can get access to students' grades through a viewer specifically designed for this purpose. If a coach needs this access, they should contact their administration who can request access for the duration of their sporting season.
Q14. For special area teachers it is sometimes necessary to look up a student to find out what class they are in. Sasi used to allow us to do this. Since SASI access was taken away we no longer have the ability to look up the students. It would be nice if in Pinnacle we would have this ability. Also when are student pictures going to be imported?
A14. All teachers have access to run a report called Student Schedule Listing. You can find this report under the heading "Other". Student pictures are imported after the Office Manager at each schools sends the disk of student pictures to IT.
Q15. I can't see my objectives in the online gradebook?!
A15. Please be sure your screen is opened all the way up. If not, the objectives may not be viewable.
Q16. Is there a manual for the Administrator Viewer? I am a Gradebook Manager and would like to assist my Principal.
A16. The manual can be found here. Please disregard the section on discipline.
Administrative Viewer.pdf
Q17. The list of inactive students in my tabs in the gradebook is long due to schedule changes. They don't disappear like the list on the homepage. Is there a way to get rid of these?
A17. You will never be able to remove students, even inactive students from your gradebook, because you do not want to lose any grade record you have for the child. We are told by Excelsior, the company who creates the On-line Gradebook that a future version will have an option to hide these students, but we do not have an estimated release time.
Q18. How do coaches get the eligibility viewer?
A18. Principals can request that coaches get eligibilty viewer to review grades and attendance for the their team. Principals may also remove this access at the end of the coaches season.
Q19. As a band teacher, I am frequently pulling kids from other classes for band. Part of my grading is participation and students are docked if they don't come to class, but are in school. My Pinnacle attendance doesn't show when students are absent from school. Last year I could look up attendance in SASI, but you took that access away. How can I check attendance without depending on hearing from homeroom teachers?
A19. Band is only included in the gradebook for the purpose of band grades showing up on report cards. If you need access to view attendance for students, you may request access to run attendance reports in Pinnacle from your Principal. Similar to an athletic coach would do for their team members.
Q20. I want to print a report of missing tests for all my students. Is there a way we can limit the Missing Assignment Report to just tests?
A20. We have sent this as a request to the company. It would be a great feature for many of the assignment reports.
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