Your institution controls which tools are available in the Original Course View. The gradebook is always available to instructors in the Ultra Course View.
Access the Grade Center
Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Ultra" help about accessing grades.
You access the Grade Center from the Control Panel. Expand the Grade Center section to display the links to the Needs Grading page, the Full Grade Center, and the smart views.
More on accessing the Grade Center with JAWS®
On the Needs Grading page, you can begin grading assignments, group assignments, tests, blog and journal entries, wiki page saves, and discussion posts.
More on the Needs Grading page
The Full Grade Center link displays all columns and rows in the Grade Center and is the default view of the Grade Center.
The smart view links appear as an indented list in the Full Grade Center section. A smart view is a focused look at the Grade Center and shows only the data that matches a set of criteria. You can use smart views to quickly find data when the Grade Center includes a great number of students and columns. For example, the default Tests smart view displays only test columns.
You can customize your view of the Grade Center and create grading schemas, grading periods, categories, and columns to present and gather the information you need.
Grade Center functions
Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Ultra" help about grading functions.
You can perform many actions in the Grade Center with the functions appearing in two rows at the top of page.
These functions appear in the first row:
- Create Column: Create a grade column.
- Create Calculated Column: Open a menu with options to create calculated columns.
- Manage: Options include grading periods, schemas, categories, color coding, row visibility, email, and column organization.
- Reports: Create reports from Grade Center data and access the grade history for all students.
- Filter: Narrow your view of the Grade Center data. Select Filter to expand the field and select an option from these menus:
- Current View: Includes the Full Grade Center view, smart views, and grading periods. You can select one of the views to use as the default view with the Set Current View as Default icon.
- Category: Includes all default categories and those you've created.
- Status
- Show attempts that don't contribute to user's grade: The default view in a grade cell's menu shows each attempt made. You can clear the check box and see only the attempt you need to grade in each grade cell's menu.
- Work Offline: Work with Grade Center data outside of Blackboard Learn.
These functions appear in the second row:
- Move to Top: Select one or more check boxes for users and select Move to Top to move the rows to the first positions in the grid.
- Email: Select one or more check boxes for users, select Email, and make a selection.
- Sort Columns By: Open a menu with options to sort the Grade Center items.
- Order: Sort the data in ascending or descending order. The view remains until you sort columns again or log out.
Access Grade Center menus
Throughout Blackboard Learn, items may have menus with options that are specific for each item.
In the Grade Center, all cells and column headers have a menu. For example, a test column's menu includes options for Column Statistics and Grade Questions. For a non-grade column, such as First Name, you only have the options to hide the column and sort the cells. If an option doesn't appear in the menu, you can't perform the action on that column, row, or cell.
Point to a cell or column header to see the Click for more options icon. Select the icon to open the menu.
You won't see some menu options if your institution uses an older version of Blackboard Learn or disables some functions.
Menu options for columns
Each column's menu displays options specific for that column. These options may be available.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Quick Column Information | Displays information about the column in a pop-up window. |
| Send Reminder | You can send email reminders from Grade Center columns to students and members of groups who have missing coursework. |
| Grade Attempts | Provide a grade for an attempt made for this item. |
| Grade with User Names Hidden | Provide grades for this item with student identities hidden. |
| Item Analysis | Provides statistics on overall test performance and individual test questions. This data helps you recognize questions that might be poor discriminators of student performance. Use this information to improve questions for future test administrations or to adjust credit on current attempts. |
| Attempts Statistics | Displays the Statistics page for tests and surveys. Each question for a test or survey appears, along with its score information for tests or percent answered for surveys. On the Survey Statistics page, you can view the survey results. The percentage of students who selected each answer appears. You can't view individual results for surveys. |
| Download Results | Download Grade Center data for this column as a delimited file that is used in other applications, such as spreadsheet programs or statistical analysis programs. |
| View All Attempts | Displays the View All Attempts page for tests. From this page, you can grade the attempts, grade them anonymously, or grade by question. |
| Grade Questions | Provide grades for all of the responses for a specific question at one time. |
| Assignment File Download | Select and download files students have attached to their assignments. |
| Assignment File Cleanup | Select and delete the files attached to an assignment. |
| Edit Column Information | Displays the Edit Column page for this column. |
| Column Statistics | Displays the Column Statistics page for this column. Statistics include column details, status distribution, grade distribution, and basic statistics, such as range, average, median, and variance. |
| Set as External Grade | The results in the External Grade column are shared with your institution as your students' final grades for your course. You decide which column is set as the external grade. In new courses, the default Total column is the default external grade column, and the External Grade icon appears in the column header. |
| Hide from Students (on/off) | Hide this column from users. If you hide the column, the column remains in the Grade Center grid, but your students won't see it in My Grades. In the grid, the Column Not Visible to Users icon appears in the column header for any column hidden from students. Select again to show the column to users. |
| Clear Attempts for All Users | Displays a separate window where you can clear attempts for all users. You can clear attempts based on criteria or a date range. |
| Sort Ascending/Sort Descending | Display the items in the column in an ascending or descending order. |
| Hide from Instructor View | Hides the column from view in the Grade Center. To show the column, select the Manage menu and select Column Organization. |
Menu options for cells
To see the Click for more options icon, point to the cell in the Grade Center grid. Select the icon to open the menu.
Example:
When you open the menu for a user's name cell, you have options to hide a user's row, hide other rows to focus your attention on one row, or email a user. You can view which items are visible to a user based on availability and adaptive release rules or which items a user marked reviewed.
You can also view the User Statistics page which provides statistical information related to a user's performance.
Can I show just one student's row?
Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Ultra" help about showing one student's row.
You can narrow your view to show only one student's row and focus on that student's attempts and grades. You can also share grades with the student in a live office session. The grades for other students are protected and privacy is maintained. When you hide user rows, the data is retained and you can show them at any time.
Open the menu for a student's name cell and select Hide Other Rows.
From the Row Visibility page, you can hide and show user rows. Only your view of the Grade Center grid is affected. Student availability isn't affected. Open the page from the Manage menu.
If you've made a user unavailable on the Users page in the Control Panel, the User Unavailable icon appears in the user's first cell in the Grade Center. But, the row isn't hidden in the grid. Unavailable users can't access your course.
You can also filter, order, and sort your gradebook.
Grade Center icon legend
In the lower-right corner of the Grade Center, select Icon Legend to view the icon descriptions. Icons can appear in the Grade Center cells, attempt menus, column headers, on the Grade Details page, and on the Needs Grading page.
You won't see the "Does not contribute to user's grade" icon if your institution uses an older version of Blackboard Learn. Learn more about choosing which attempt to grade.
Video: Gradebook Overview
Watch a video about the gradebook
The following narrated video provides a visual and auditory representation of some of the information included on this page. For a detailed description of what is portrayed in the video, open the video on YouTube, navigate to More actions, and select Open transcript.
Video: Gradebook overview shows the grading interface.
ULTRA: Access the gradebook
Instructors, you're in the right place!
Students, view grade information specific to students.
Administrators, view grade information specific to administrators.
See what you need to grade in all your courses. Or, drill right into a course and get started.
Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Original" help about accessing grades.
Global Grades page
Do you want to see everything that needs grading in all your courses?
This information also applies to organizations.
In the list where your name appears, you have access to all your grading tasks on the global Grades page. Select an item's title to open it in a layer. Choose a submission and start grading!
All your grading tasks are organized by course. No need to navigate to each course to see what's ready to grade. Want more details? Select a title, and view all the work and management functions.
You see items that are ready to grade or which assignments, tests, and graded discussions are overdue for how many students.
If you participate in courses as an instructor and a student, the page shows information for both roles.
Original and Ultra Course Views appear together in alphabetical order.
In the Original Course View, you complete your grading tasks in the original Grade Center interface.
Course gradebook
Ready to start grading?
Inside your course, you can open the course gradebook from the navigation bar. Select the Gradebook icon to access all the coursework that's specific to the course you're in.
The gradebook is populated with students when they're enrolled in your course. You can grade coursework, manage items, and post grades from two views:
ULTRA: Gradable Items list
Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Original" help about grading functions.
The Gradable Items list is your default view of the course gradebook. You can view all the coursework you've assigned and your grading progress. You can also access the management functions.
You can switch to the Students tab to view an overall picture of each student’s engagement.
Determine your view. Change from list view to the student grid view.
Open items. Select an item's title to open a new layer. See whose submissions need grading and who hasn't received their grades yet. Use the Filter menu to display only those submissions that need grading. At this time, you can filter by All statuses and Needs grading. The Filter menu doesn't appear for group and discussion items. At this time, you can only grade journal submissions from the student grid view. Enhancements to the journal grading workflow are in progress at this time.
More about the submissions list
Check your progress. See how many submissions you need to grade and grades you have to post. Complete indicates you have no outstanding grading tasks for that item. All graded appears when all submitted attempts are graded and posted, but some students haven't submitted work yet and don't have grades.
Manage grades. Open an item's menu to access the management functions, such as Edit and Delete.
Add a row. Select the plus sign wherever you want to add a row:
- Add Item: Add a row for coursework, such as a participation grade. Your title is limited to 255 characters. Choose the grade unit, such as points or letter.
- Add Calculation: Add a row for a calculation, such as an average assignments grade.
- Add Attendance: Add a row for attendance. After you add attendance, the add option won't appear in the menu again.
Rearrange items. Press the Move icon in the row of the item you want to move. The Move icon is the one with the two paired arrows. It won't be visible unless you mouse over the desired item row at the far right end of it. The item row won't move unless you select it by pressing on the corresponding arrow icon. Only then, you can drag and drop it to the new location.
Drag the item to the new location and release. The order you choose also appears in the grid view and on students' Grades pages. You can't move items in the grid view at this time.
ULTRA: Students tab
View information about your students and their engagement in your course from the Students tab.
- Change your view. Easily navigate between the Gradable Items and the Students tab to see your grading tasks and up-to-the-minute information about your students.
- View student information. View a list of your students along with columns for Student ID, Username, Last Access, and Overall Grade. For the Overall Grade column, you need to set up the overall grade for grades to appear in the grade pills. You can sort the list in ascending, descending or default order by clicking the corresponding column header arrow icon.
- Search for a student. Limit your search to a few letters or the first or last name for the best results. You can also search by student ID and username, if the latter is made visible by your institution.
- Set your view. Use the Items per page menu to select how many student rows to show on a page.
- Navigate the list. Use the menu at the top or bottom of the page to move to the previous and next pages in the student list.
- Accommodations and Messages: Select the three dot menu at the end of each student row to view or create accommodations for a specific student, or to send direct messages.
You can also sort the list by column selecting the arrow icon next to a column's name. Every time you select an arrow icon it will change to show the student list in ascending, descending or default order.
If you don't see any information under the Username column, you can ask your Administrator for guidance. Your institution may have privacy protection policies in place.
Select student names to view their submissions on their individual Student Grades page. In the Status column, you can see completed work, items that need grading, and grades you need to post. You can also view the grades and feedback you’ve provided, create accommodations and send direct messages.
You can select items that need grading and the submission opens.
If you provide a grade directly on the Student Grades page, the Override label doesn’t appear in this view. The Override label does appear on the item’s Submission page.
ULTRA: Send messages from the student list view
From the student list, you can send a message to anyone involved with your course.
Select the three dot menu at the right end of a student row. Select the Message Student option. The Message panel will open at the right side of the screen.
Messages you send from the student list view also appear on the Messages page.
You can send an email copy of a course message. Students might see, read, and act on important announcements and course messages when they receive a copy in their inboxes. Email copies are only delivered if recipients have valid email addresses in their Blackboard Learn profiles. When you select this option, all recipients of the message receive an email copy.
Recipients can view your message in their email inboxes, but won't be able to send an email to reply.
If you select the name of a student from the list, you will arrive to the Student Grades page. At the upper right corner you can select the Send message button from where you can also send a message to that student.
ULTRA: Add accommodations from the Student list view
You can set accommodations for individual students. You can exempt students from assessment due dates or time limits. Use accommodations to help students progress in the course even though they may have difficulty with some requirements.
Select the three dot menu at the right end of a student row. Select the Accommodations option. The Accommodations panel will open at the right side of the screen.
If you select the name of a student from the list, you will arrive to the Student Grades page. Next to the student's name you can select the three dot menu from where you can also open the Accommodation panel for that student.
Once you have created accommodations for a student, a purple mark will appear in front of the student's name to indicate the student has accommodations.
You can also give an individual student an exception on a specific test or assignment. An exception includes additional attempts or extended access, even if the assessment is hidden from other students. An exception overrides the two settings applied to everyone else for only that specific assessment.
ULTRA: Student grid
The student grid displays the scores students have earned. Select a cell to begin grading.
If more than one student has the same name, select a student's profile picture. A pop-up profile card displays the student's ID. Duplicate names are ordered by ID.
If you hid student names for assessments without questions, you'll see Anonymous in each student's cell. You can't assign or edit grades.
Manage columns. Select a column title to access the management functions, such as Edit and Delete.
Assign and manage grades. New Submission appears in cells when students have submitted work. Click anywhere in a cell to access the management functions or assign a grade. Select the cell or grade value to edit an existing grade or add a new entry. After you assign a value, click anywhere outside the grade area to save.
View submissions. If a submission exists, select View in the menu to view the student's work. The View option is disabled if no submission exists.
Post grades. When you're ready to release grades to students, select the Post option in the column header. All grades you've assigned for this column are posted for students to see. If you want to post one at a time, click within that student's cell and select Post in the menu. Posted grades appear with a Posted message in the column.
Add items or calculations. Select the plus sign wherever you want to add an item or calculation.
View total points. In each column header, you can view the total points for each item or calculation and easily see the grade each student earned.
View your grading progress. In each column header, the number of graded submissions appears, along with the number of grades you've posted. When you've graded and posted all the submissions, Complete appears.
ULTRA: Search the gradebook
Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Original" help.
In grid view, you can narrow your view to show only one student's row, one column, or an entire category, such as assignments.
For example, you can search for a specific student by name or ID and focus on that student's attempts and grades. You can also share grades with the student in a live office session. The grades for other students are protected and privacy is maintained.
In the search box, type one or more characters. The search results include all students, columns, and categories that match, in that order. Make a selection from the list or refine your search.
After you make a selection, the student's row, column, or category of columns appears. Select the X in the search box to return to the full gradebook grid view.
You can also search an item's submissions list for a specific student or group.
Filter by child courses
You can filter your gradebook view based on merged courses. In the student grid view, select Filter to open the Filter Criteria panel. Filter only appears if you have merged courses. All the students from all your child courses appear in the active filter area.
As you select child courses in the panel, the list of students changes to match enrollment in the child courses. You can select one or more child courses.
The information at the top of the panel shows how many courses you chose. Select the X to collapse the panel and increase the area to view the student grid. Select Clear all to clear the check boxes.
After you've filtered your view, you can use the search function to narrow the results.
ULTRA: Gradebook settings
Doesn't seem familiar? Jump to the "Original" help about grading settings.
From your course gradebook, you can add or make changes to your existing settings to fit your grading methods. Select the Settings icon to access the Gradebook Settings panel.
Gradebook Settings panel
From the Gradebook Settings panel, you can manage Grade Schemas and Grade Categories, add Automatic Zeros and establish Student Performance settings.
Student Performance
From this section, you can adjust the activity performance criteria required to receive alerts in your activity stream such as days of inactivity or limit percentage grades and, in turn, send those alerts to students. The link to View class performance behavioral graphic is visible only for those courses with enough data to populate it.
Select View class performance to open the corresponding graphic and the list of students for the course. You can in turn select any student to check on an individual performance.
Grade Schemas
You can make changes to the default grading schema. You can also view the gradebook categories and create and manage rubrics. Last but not least, you can create and manage grade notations to override a student's overall grade and assign automatic zeros.
Categories
When you create a gradable item, it automatically appears in the gradebook and is associated with the appropriate category. You can use categories when you create calculated items, such as an assignments average.
You can create new categories to customize how coursework is grouped in your course. You can use custom categories when you set up the overall grade.
To create a new gradebook category, select the Settings icon. In the Gradebook Settings panel, select Add New Category and type a name.
Each time you create a graded item in your course, you have the option to change the grade category so the item is grouped into one of the custom gradebook categories. On the Gradebook Settings panel, select the custom category in the Grade Categories menu.
More on how to create an assignment
Overall grade notations
You can create and manage grade notations to override a student's overall grade if their performance falls outside the defined schema. For example, if a student has to withdraw from your course in the middle of a semester, you can use a grade notation to indicate the student's circumstance or situation without assigning an actual grade.
Create a grade notation in the Gradebook Settings panel. To apply a grade notation, go back to the gradebook in grid view and select within a student's overall grade cell. In the menu, choose the notation. The cell will turn gray to indicate that you overrode the overall grade.
To remove the override, select the student's overall grade cell and select Undo Override. The overall grade reverts back to the overall grade calculation you defined for the course.
ULTRA: Download and upload grades
You can download the full gradebook or select columns from your Ultra courses. You can export the file in a comma-delimited (CSV) or tab-delimited (XLS) format. You choose whether to save the file to your device or the Content Collection.
You can import your downloaded file into an application such as Microsoft ®Excel® to do statistical analysis or other ad hoc computational work.
You can also upload a grade file you worked on offline and update your gradebook.
ULTRA: Assign automatic zeros
You can choose to automatically assign zeros to missing work past the due date. Students and groups can still submit work after an automatic zero is assigned. Then, you can grade as normal.
After you enable this setting, you don't have to go through your gradebook to manually assign zeros. The automatic zeros setting applies to these graded items:
- Assignments and group assignments
- Tests and group tests
- Graded individual and group discussions
The automatic zeros setting doesn't apply when you collect submissions offline. You manually create the student attempts and submission dates and times.
More on collecting submissions offline
In the Gradebook, select the Settings icon to access the Gradebook Settings panel. Select the Assign automatic zeros for past due work check box.
In new Ultra courses, the automatic zeros setting is enabled by default.
Next, select Assign Zeros. All past due work will receive automatic zeros. Affected students’ point totals will update.
Automatic zeros on the Gradebook page
In list view, students' grade pills display "0" when no submissions exist and the due date has passed. The label Automatic zero appears next to the grade pills. The label Complete also appears as you have nothing to grade. Automatic zeros are posted automatically.
On the Gradebook page in grid view, the column titles are in red when the due date has passed. In student cells, "0" and Automatic zero appear.
Students can submit late to update their grades. You may want to include how late work is graded in item instructions or your syllabus. When a student submits after the due date, the automatic zero is removed. A late label appears with the submission date and time.
Students with due date accommodations aren't affected by this setting. You can add a due date accommodation to revoke an automatic zero. Automatic zeros are assigned to work that's past due when you add a new student or group to your course.
If a member of a group has a due date accommodation, the group inherits that accommodation. No one in the group receives an automatic zero after the due date passes.
More on due date accommodations
Disable automatic zeros
You can disable the automatic zeros setting at any time. In the Gradebook Settings panel, clear the automatic zeros check box. Next, make a selection:
- Keep existing automatic zeros
- Clear existing automatic zeros
Automatic zeros will no longer be assigned. If you cleared the automatic zeros, affected students' point totals are updated.
Change the due date
You can change the due date of an item that already has automatic zeros assigned in the gradebook. You receive a confirmation about the consequences:
- Change due date to a date in the future: Existing automatic zeros for past due work will be cleared.
- Change due date to a date in the past: The item is now past due and zeros will be assigned.
If you select Cancel, the due date reverts to the original due date.
