Getting Started with Grade Reports

In Mosaic, grade reports are the academic reports sent home to families. There are two kinds:

• Report cards — the official grades for a marking period, dated to the end of the term.
• Progress reports — an optional interim snapshot, dated to the midpoint of the term.

Both are built from the same pieces: a grading scale defines what marks mean, a grade report template defines what appears on the printed report, and each division is told which template to use. This guide walks through that one-time setup in the order you should do it. Once it is in place, teachers enter grades, an administrator generates the reports, and families receive them.

Required Access

District Settings — Edit

or School Settings — Edit

Grading scales are configured in District Settings; report card templates and division assignments are configured in School Settings. If you only have View access, you will be able to review the setup but not change it.

School Configuration Checklist

Complete these three steps in order — each one depends on the one before it:

1. Set up your grading scales so Mosaic knows what each mark (A, B, S, N, 1–4, etc.) means.
2. Select and configure your grade report templates so you control exactly what prints on the report card and progress report.
3. Assign a template to each division and set its default grade scale.

Step 1 — Set Up Grading Scales

A grading scale is the vocabulary of marks used throughout Mosaic — on report cards, in the gradebook, and for skills, effort, and conduct. Most schools have several: a percentage scale for academic classes, a letter or word scale for younger grades (E / S / N), and separate scales for effort and conduct.

1. Navigate to Settings → District → Grading Scales.
2. Review the existing scales in the list. Each row shows the Code, Name, whether it is a Percent scale, and whether it is Included in average.
3. Click New to create a scale, or click an existing scale to edit it.

In the New Grade Scale dialog, set the top-level options:

• Grading scale name — a descriptive name (e.g. “Elementary Letters”).
• Grading scale code — a short code used to reference the scale.
• Numeric percentage scale — check this if grades are entered as a percentage (0–100). Leave it unchecked for code-based scales such as E / S / N that never appear as percentages.
• Include in average — check this if marks on this scale should count toward the student’s calculated average and GPA.

Then define the Ranges — one row for each possible mark. A scale must have at least one range:

Column	What it means
Item	The mark itself (e.g. A, S, 4).
Min / Max	The percentage band that maps to this mark (for percentage scales).
Avg %	The percentage a mark counts as when Mosaic averages grades (a letter E might count as 95). Set it near the middle of the Min–Max band; many schools set a failing mark to 50 so a single F doesn’t sink the average.
Description	A friendly label shown to families (e.g. “Excellent”).
Pass	Check if this mark is a passing grade.
Use in GPA / GPA QP	Check to include the mark in GPA, and enter its quality points (e.g. 4.00 for an A).
Exclude	Check to leave this mark out of average calculations.

Editing a scale already in use

If you edit a scale that is already attached to classes or reports, Mosaic warns you. Changing ranges or quality points can affect grades that were already calculated. Whenever possible, finish your scales before the school year begins.

Example Grading Scales

Three common scales, showing every field you would set. (A ✓ means the checkbox is checked.)

1. Standard — a percentage A–F scale used for academic classes Numeric percentage scale: ✓ · Include in average: ✓

Item	Min	Max	Avg %	Description	Pass	Use in GPA	GPA QP	Exclude
A	90	100	95	Excellent	✓	✓	4.00
B	80	89	85	Good	✓	✓	3.00
C	70	79	75	Satisfactory	✓	✓	2.00
D	60	69	65	Passing	✓	✓	1.00
F	0	59	30	Failing		✓	0.00

2. Standards-Based — a 4-point proficiency scale for standards-based report cards Numeric percentage scale: (off) · Include in average: (off)

Item	Min	Max	Avg %	Description	Pass	Use in GPA	GPA QP	Exclude
4	90	100	95	Exceeds Standard	✓		0.00
3	75	89	82	Meets Standard	✓		0.00
2	60	74	67	Approaching Standard	✓		0.00
1	0	59	30	Beginning			0.00

Unlike letter or percentage scales, there is no universal proficiency-to-percentage mapping — the bands above are only an example. Set the Min/Max and Avg % to match how your school converts levels, or leave them blank if teachers enter the proficiency level directly.

3. Pass/Fail — a coded scale for classes that aren’t graded on a curve or GPA Numeric percentage scale: (off) · Include in average: (off)

Item	Min	Max	Avg %	Description	Pass	Use in GPA	GPA QP	Exclude
P	60	100	80	Pass	✓		0.00
F	0	59	30	Fail			0.00

Reusing scales

You don’t need a separate scale per class. Most schools keep a small set — a percentage scale for academics, a proficiency scale for standards-based subjects, and simple scales for effort, conduct, or pass/fail — and reuse them across divisions and report components.

Step 2 — Select and Configure Grade Report Templates

A grade report template starts from one of Mosaic’s built-in layouts and controls what appears on the printed report — which grade columns show, whether teachers write comments, how long those comments can be, and the footer text. You can set up as many templates as you need (for example, a detailed elementary template and a simpler high school template).

1. Navigate to Settings → Academic → Grade Reports.
2. The list shows each template’s Title and its Report style.
3. Click New to create a template, or click an existing one to edit it.

Choosing a Report Style

The Report style is the single most important choice — it is the built-in page layout Mosaic uses to lay out the PDF. Pick the style that matches the age group and the report type. Mosaic includes the following built-in styles:

Report style	Best for
Preschool Report Card 1	Preschool report cards
Elementary Report Card 1–4	Elementary report cards (four layouts — pick the one that best fits your columns and comments)
High School Report Card 1–4	Secondary report cards (four layouts)
Elementary Progress Report 1	Elementary interim progress reports
High School Progress Report 1	Secondary interim progress reports

Report card styles vs. progress report styles

Styles whose names contain Report Card are meant to be used as a division’s report card format; styles whose names contain Progress Report are meant for the progress report format. Create a separate template for each. The numbered variants (1–4) are alternative layouts — if you are not sure which to use, start with 1 and preview a printed report, then try another number if you want a different arrangement.

Configuring What Appears

After choosing a style, turn on the pieces your school reports. Each component can usually be marked Required, which forces teachers to fill it in before their entry is considered complete:

• Academic class grade components
  • Academic grade — the overall class mark.
  • Academic skill grade — a separate mark on a chosen grade scale (e.g. specific skills or standards).
  • Effort grade and Conduct grade — each on its own grade scale.
  • Core class comment / Special class comment — whether teachers write comments, with a minimum and maximum length.
• Conduct grade components — a schoolwide Conduct grade and Conduct skill grade, each on a grade scale.
• Narrative — enable a homeroom teacher narrative and set its minimum and maximum length.
• Footers — up to two footer lines that print at the bottom of the report.

Step 3 — Assign Templates to Divisions

Finally, tell each division which template to use and which grade scale is its default.

1. Navigate to Settings → Division → Grade Reports.
2. For the selected division, set:
   • Default grade scale — the scale used when a class does not specify its own.
   • Progress report format — the template used for progress reports.
   • Report card format — the template used for report cards.
   • Official transcript format / Unofficial transcript format — used for transcripts (see the note below).
3. If your school gives end-of-semester exams, configure the Semester Exams options here: enable semester exams, set the exam weight, and choose whether students can be exempt from exams.

Transcripts are separate

Transcripts are a cumulative multi-year record and use their own templates, configured under Settings → Academic → Transcripts. They are outside the scope of report cards and progress reports, but a division points at its transcript format on this same screen.

What’s Next

With setup complete, you are ready for the term:

• Teachers enter their marks — see Entering Term Grades.
• You track completion before printing — see Monitoring Grade Entry.
• You generate and send the reports — see Generating Report Cards.
• You correct an individual student’s grades when needed — see Adjusting a Student’s Grades.