Your PowerTeacher Gradebook and ParentCONNECTxp

ParentCONNECTxp (PCXP) is an easy to use website that is a convenient home-to-school collaboration tool that allows parents/guardians of AACPS students to keep track of their childrens academic progress, including students assignments, schedules, grades, attendance, and course history. It works in conjunction with your PowerTeacher Gradebook and is a read only application. PowerTeacher and PCXP are designed to work together. Teachers should be aware of the following information when working with their gradebook and how it impacts what appears on the PCXP website.

A-Class/Course Content
If you insert a class description on the Class Content tab in your gradebook, the Description will show as a clickable note icon under the course name on the PCXP website. Providing as much information to parents as you can will help to answer any questions that may arise and serve to save time in the future. Depending on the particular class, this may only need to be updated on a quarterly basis. The Custom Display Name if used will not be visible on PCXP.
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You can insert your own content including pathways to Web Sites containing PDF documents, Text files, Word, Excel, PowerPoint documents, as well as Video and Audio Files. Pathways to all of these appear on the PCXP website.

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B-Assignments
On the Assignment tab for each assignment, detailed information including the Name of the assignment, the Category, and Date Due will be visible on the PCXP website. In the Description box, you may insert a description for the assignment as well a website link for student use. The description and link will show as a clickable note icon under the name of that assignment. In particular, parents would appreciate details with regard to the expectations of assignment completion and any grading explanation that might be needed.
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Options for Publishing Assignments and Scores

On the Publish tab of an assignment there are options to control when an assignment appears on the PCXP website. The default option is Immediately, but other options are available: On Specific Date, a specific number of Days Before Due, On Due Date, or Never.
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AACPS/OSD/GM/JC

A graded assignment must be published for it to be included in the students marking period grade. Never may be used for ungraded situations, for example, textbook numbers, field trip permission slips, etc., and these assignments will NOT display in PCXP. Unchecking the Publish Scores box has no impact; any score will show. In order to save time, it is best to grade all papers for an assignment and then login in order to enter those grades all at once. As scores are entered, the Final Grade average for each student will update automatically. Be sure to double check your work when creating assignments with regard to Points Possible and Weighting.

C-Scores
Data is refreshed once daily from teachers gradebooks. Parents/guardians are able to view current grades in teachers gradebooks on the PCXP website, as well as grades for classes from previous marking periods. Assignments can be tagged as Collected, Late, Exempt, and/or Missing. Only the Missing tag shows on the parent portal under the Remark column. The Collected, Late, and Exempt tag if applied will be visible in the gradebook but not visible to parents on the website.

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If Exempt is selected and a score is recorded, the assignment will not show for that student on the PCXP website but will be calculated in the marking period grade. If Missing is selected, there is the possibility that once a score is entered the students overall average could decrease. When parents register to use the PCXP website they have the option to sign up for automatic email alerts to be sent to them for a missing assignment. If a teacher tags an assignment as Missing, a missing tag appears under the Remark column on the parent/student portal and an email message will be sent to the email address on file. A score of 0 (zero) will trigger a Remark of Fail next to the assignment. If that assignment is also tagged as Missing the remark of Fail supersedes the Missing tag and will appear on the PCXP website. Any comment entered using the Score Inspector will be visible on the PCXP website as a clickable note icon shown below. Comments from the previous marking period can also be viewed.

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PCXP

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PowerTeacher Gradebook

A Class/Course B Assignment C Score

ParentCONNECTxp

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So What Now?
The use of ParentConnect can be an amazing tool that you can take advantage of to facilitate communication between teachers, students, and their parents. The goal is always for our students to be successful as possible. With this tool, you can easily disseminate information with regard to content and academic expectations to all parties concerned. Below are some highlights to consider as you move forward!

As soon as possible at the beginning of the year, enter in class/course descriptions. Then only update as necessary throughout the year. In some cases, these descriptions are available from existing curriculum materials that have been provided to you. Grade all materials for one assignment before entering grades into the gradebook. This will not only save time and having to login on multiple occasions for the same assignment. In addition, this will stop unnecessary alerts from being sent to parents regarding missing assignments. o Enter an assignment description at the same time you create the assignment in the gradebook. Be sure to include any information with regard to grading standards here as well. o Be aware of Points Possible and Weighting when setting up an assignment. After entering scores, tag as appropriate but note that only Missing and Fail will appear in ParentCONNECTxp. o Add notes to scores, as necessary, to further explain to parents reasoning for a particular grade/score on an assignment in addition to any information with regard to makeup opportunities. This is NOT necessary for every score entered.

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