This is of interest to teachers who have set up their own gradebook without any imports and then need information provided by the district Student Extracts. The end result is a ‘standard’ format district gradebook with all original data intact.
Back up current gradebook.
Make sure that student ID numbers are entered for every student.
Move any custom data that is important under the Student Tab to columns Custom 8 through Custom 12.
Create Student Extracts and import them in the standardized way.
Grades, assignments, attendance, (anything shown on the other tabs) will be untouched.
Create student extract files from the District Connection / Student Information and save them on your computer as shown in directions elsewhere.
Confirm that your gradebook is backed up. (Maybe even select Save a Copy from the File menu)
In your gradebook, select the Student tab and consider the columns carefully. (You do not need to worry about data shown on any of the other sheets.) Everything to the left of the column, Custom 8, will be replaced with standardized information. (If you have renamed Custom 8, count back from the right. Custom 12 is the last column before Com1.)
Copy and Paste the contents of any column that you wish to keep from the columns on the left to those on the right, starting with Custom 8. (Click and drag to select the contents, then from the Edit menu or keyboard shortcuts, use Copy and Paste.) There are 5 columns available. (Examples: book numbers, nicknames) You can rename the column headings by double-clicking on a name and entering them, but most would wait until after the import.
Check (or add) student ID numbers found in the second column. See instructions below if you wish to import these and you are ready to work carefully. The import data are referenced by ID number, not by name.
From the File menu, select Import and select your extract file. Students with ID numbers that match the file will be updated, other students will show up as new at the bottom of the list. If a mistake has been found, correct the ID number, delete the new entry, and import again. It is important to NOT delete the original entry, because then the grades of that student would be lost.
Double-click on any student name and edit the column headers as you see fit.
Erase the two ‘bogus’ students: the one with column names and the one with the -------.
You are done.
It is possible (and fairly easy) to add student IDs from the extract, but only if the teacher is ready to work VERY carefully and to check his/her work.
The import process is driven by the ID numbers. If the ID number does not match, the student is added at the bottom. But ID numbers can be copied and pasted like any other data.
Follow instructions listed above to move data columns that you wish to keep.
Sort students by Last Name (View Menu / Sort Students)
Import from your Student Extract file. All of your students will come in as new students, listed alphabetically, that will be shown at the bottom of your class file, below the two rows with column headers and ------.
Look carefully at the list of ‘old’ students at the top and ‘new’ students at the bottom. If they match up exactly, highlight the IDs from the bottom, copy, and paste into the spaces at the top. If they do not match up exactly, you can still copy and paste blocks, just work VERY carefully to match them up properly. If you are wrong, students will get the wrong parents, e-mails, and passwords.
Delete the ‘new’ students from the bottom half. Do NOT delete the students in the top half, because then you would delete their grades, too.
Import the Student Extract again.
Check your work to make sure that students appear to match up with the proper parents.
You are done.