Course Catalogs And Course Masters - Study Guide

Districts can use Course Masters to define and even lock down elements of courses (e.g. course numbers and names) so they can't be changed at the school level. These masters are added to Course Catalogs, which are then assigned to the schools that are to use them. Elements can be changed at the district level and pushed down to the schools, increasing efficiency, uniformity and accuracy.

Districts that would benefit from being able to centrally manage course configurations for their district (e.g. districts with several high schools offering the same courses under the same course numbers, or growing districts that are adding schools) may consider using Course Catalogs and Course Masters.

Create Catalogs and Masters

A Course Catalog contains a collection of Course Masters that can be assigned to one or more schools. After a Course Catalog has been created, Course Masters can be created and assigned to it. The catalog is then assigned to the school(s) that will be using it. 

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Create Course Catalog(s)

First, create the course catalog or catalogs that will hold course masters.

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Create A New Course Master

Course Masters can be used to define elements such as course names, course numbers and grading setup from a district level. Course Masters are added to a Course Catalog which is then attached to one or more schools.

Note: The district determines which of these elements to set up, as well as whether to define additional elements for a course master (e.g. grading tasks, standards, categories, grade calc options and/or assessments).

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Define Grading Tasks on a Course Master

Grading Tasks represent types of grades reported for students, such as Progress, Term, Semester or Final. The Grading Tasks tab is used to assign grading tasks to courses and define when they will be used. Grading tasks can be copied from a source course master to other course masters.

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Define Standards on a Course Master

The Standards tab is used to attach the standards that are to be graded for the selected course.  Standards can be copied fom a source course master to other course masters.

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Define Categories on a Course Master

Categories are used in Campus Instruction to sort assignments into groups. Categories need to be created before assignments can be created. Districts can choose to set categories up on Course Masters to ensure that all sections of a course use the same categories and calculations. Categories can easily be copied from a source course master to one or more destination course masters.

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Define Grade Calculation on a Course Master

After Grading Tasks and/or Standards have been assigned to a course master, the district may wish to set the calculation options for grading the course. 

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Configure Cumulative Grading for a Course Master

Grade Calculation Options can be used to set up cumulative grading for standards and tasks aligned to a course master so that grades can be calculated consistently.

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Define Assessments Aligned to a Course Master

Districts can choose to align standard tests, district tests or teacher scored tests to a course master. 

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Manage Changes To Course Masters

From time to time a district may wish to update course masters and push those changes to schools where those course masters are being used. The district may also wish to copy a course master to another catalog. Detailed information regarding setup of course masters and associated elements is located in the Course Master Creation section of this study guide.

Push Course Master Data to All Linked Courses

The Push All Course Masters tool is used to push locked grading setup and course master attributes from all course masters in a selected catalog to associated courses.

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Push Course Grading Setup To Sections

Push To Sections is used to push selected grading setups from a course to its associated sections.

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Push Course Grading Setup Data to All Sections

The Push All Courses tool pushes grading setup from all courses in the selected calendar to their associated sections.

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Reports

Course Audit

The Course Audit report is used to identify any differences between Course Masters and their associated courses.

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Course Master Awaiting Push

The Course Master Awaiting Push report is used to identify grading setups that still need to be pushed from course masters down to the courses that use them.

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Grading Changes Not Pushed

The Grading Changes Not Pushed report identifies courses with grading setups that could not be pushed from course master to course. Reasons the setups could not be pushed are also identified on this report.

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