What should my school consider before setting up Academic Reporting and Markbook? (SK)
This article is intended for Academic Reporting Administrators, Principals and/or Deputy Principals. It aims to prompt discussions and aid in decision-making before setting up Academic Reporting Periods and Markbooks. Understanding your setup requirements is crucial for applying correct configurations and coordinating the academic reporting process.
The TASS Knowledge Base provides ‘general guidelines’ to follow for Academic Reporting. As each school has different requirements, some steps outlined may not be required, or alternatively, other steps may need to be added to the process to achieve desired outcomes. It is recommended that you have your own Academic Reporting guidelines for Teachers to follow based on your data entry and result calculation preferences to avoid any confusion.
In the Academic Reporting process, there are multiple roles involved. Certain steps must be completed by Teachers, Heads of Departments (HODs), Department Administrators, Subject Area Central Repository Coordinators, Academic Reporting Administrators or Reporting Users with ‘Teacher Class Access’, ‘Restricted Supervisor Access’, and ‘Unrestricted Supervisor Access’. It is essential to consider each of these roles when determining who will be responsible for each task. Each user will need appropriate user permissions applied in TASS.web. For more information, refer to What user permissions and access levels are required for Staff Kiosk Assessment?
Before Academic Reporting can be set up, the timetable, including teacher and student subject and class allocations, must be finalised. Staff Kiosk Assessment depends on timetable information to populate teacher access and class list information. For example, you cannot allocate activities to a subject class if there are no teachers or students in the class.
Do you want to use a Progressive Assessment or Final Assessment configuration? Will your Teachers assess Activities progressively throughout the Semester/Term to calculate a final result, or will they just be entering a Final Grade for the reporting period? For more information, refer to What is the difference between Progressive Assessment and Final Assessment?
Determine your preferred result data entry method for entering and/or calculating results. Options include ‘Activity Assessment’, Enter Results and Comments’ or ‘Result Grid’. For more information on each option, refer to the Markbook Overview article on TASS Knowledge Base.
If using a Progressive Assessment configuration, all three data entry options are available in Staff Kiosk Assessment > Markbook and Staff Kiosk Assessment > Enter Results and Comments. You can also enter results for Activities in Staff Kiosk Assessment > Activity Planner.
If using a Final Assessment configuration, you may opt to use three data entry options in Markbook or limit teachers to only use the ‘Enter Results and Comments’ and ‘Results Grid’ by restricting access to Markbook and accessing these screens via the Staff Kiosk Assessment > Enter Results and Comments module.
Consider how many Academic Reporting Periods your school will have throughout the Year and how the Final Result(s) and Overall Subject Grade(s) will be calculated in each Reporting Period.
Will each Reporting Period have separate Final Result(s) and Overall Subject Grade(s) calculations using results from one Academic Reporting Period at a time?
Will any Reporting Periods have Final Result(s) and Overall Subject Grade(s) that accumulate progressively over multiple Reporting Periods? (e.g. Term/Semester results accumulate to reach a Year End result).
Or will you use a combination of both methods?
For more information, refer to How do I select the right Markbook configuration for my school?
Consider what information you want to appear on your Academic Reports. Review the Academic Report formatting options in TASS.web program Student Admin > Academic Reporting > Report Processing > Generate Student Reports, and consider:
Will all Semesters/Terms have the same Academic Report Type format, or will they look different and use different Report Types?
Will all Year Levels have the same Academic Report type/format, or will they look different?
For each Year Level, which Subjects will appear on Academic Reports?
Which Objective Results and Comments will appear for each Subject? (Objective Results could be derived from Activity Assessment Criteria Objectives, Final Result Objectives or Overall Subject Grade Objectives)
Do you want any of these Objectives grouped together under a specific heading or section on the report?
Consider the following for each Report Type you determined in the dot point above, and each Year Level and Subject currently in your Timetable.
What Objectives will be used to record results for each Year Level and Subject?
What Assessment Methods will be used for marking each Objective? (e.g. a numeric 0–100 point scale, A+-E- grade scale, VHA-VLA grade scale, Competent/Not Competent, etc.).
If using a Progressive Assessment configuration, which Activity Assessment Criteria Objectives results will contribute towards Final Results calculations, and how will these Final Results be calculated?
Which Activity Assessment Criteria Objectives results or Final Results will contribute towards the Overall Subject Grade, and how will this Overall Subject Grade be calculated?
When determining calculations, ensure that your Assessment Methods are compatible with the calculations that you want to perform. For more information, refer to How do I select a Calculation Rule and Calculation Method that is compatible with my Markbook Assessment Methods?
If you plan to use the ‘Calculate Results’ feature in Markbook, also consider if Calculation Rules are needed to translate non-numeric results to numeric results.
Should you need additional assistance or have further questions, our dedicated Professional Services team can provide expert services for a chargeable fee. Contact our Professional Services team for more in-depth information and personalised support tailored to your school's needs.