Grade Passback is available for districts that utilize Aeries as their student information system to transfer points-based assessments and scores nightly from Otus to Aeries. Here we outline the steps needed to make sure that your grade assessments sync to your Aeries gradebook.
❗️Grade passback is supported for unlinked Aeries gradebooks only.
If you are interested in setting up this feature for your team, our Admin Guide for Aeries Gradebook Passback will provide more information.
Ensure Membership in the Aeries Grade Passback Group
Ensure that you are a member of the Aeries Grade Passback teacher group in Otus. If you are not already a member of that group, please contact your district's Otus Admin to be added to the group.
💡Tip: In order for grades to passback to Aeries, the user who has assigned the assessment must be included in the Aeries Grade Passback teacher group in Otus. We recommend that any teacher, co-teacher, or administrator who may be assigning assessments are added to the Aeries Grade Passback teacher group in Otus.
Assessments assigned directly to a class from an Otus Administrator (who is not synced from your SIS) will not passback to Aeries. This assessment should be assigned to the class by the teacher or co-teacher who is a member of the Aeries Grade Passback teacher group.
Create a Points-Based Assessment
Create an Otus assessment using the Points grading scale. Only assessments created using Points will passback. If you select a Standards Based Grading Scale for your assessment, the data will not passback to Aeries. The image below illustrates how to select the correct grading scale when creating your assessment.
💡Tip: The selected Assessment Type in Otus will be sent to a specific category in Aeries that has been defined by your administrators. Teachers can change the category in Aeries once the grade has been sent.
Assign the Assessment
You'll need to select the class that is taking the assessment and then any other assessment settings you'd like. The only ones that are critical to the passback process are as follows:
Setting 1: You must specify a due date when assigning the assessment, as Aeries requires a due date for the scores to transfer. If you do not specify a due date, the due date sent to Aeries will be calculated during the sync process by adding 7 days to the date the assessment was created or assigned.
❗️Assessments with due dates outside of the current grading period in Aeries will not passback. Please keep this in mind when approaching the end of a grading period.
Setting 2: You must select Include Score in Final Grade for the scores to passback to Aeries. If the box below is not checked, the score will not passback to Aeries.
Plus (+) Assessments
When adding plus (+) assessments to the Otus gradebook, please note these slight differences from other types of assessments:
The "Include Score in Final Grade" is a toggle that must be toggled ON for the scores to passback.
Add a Due Date in the appropriate field. If a due date is not specified, Otus will calculate the due date by adding 7 days to the Submission Date.
Grade the Assessment
Once the student has submitted their assessment, all auto-scored questions will be graded. Please be sure to grade any ungraded items so that the assessment has a status of “Graded” in Otus. If you see a status of “Turned In,” that assessment score will not passback until all ungraded items are graded.
After all items in your assessment are graded, you can expect scores to passback with a nightly sync, and the scores will be visible in your Aeries gradebook the following day.
💡 Tips:
It may be necessary to check the “Is Grading Complete?” box in your Aeries gradebook for an assessment after a nightly gradebook sync. Even if you checked this box already, you may need to check the box again after a sync.
Otus scores will not passback to a closed Aeries grading period. Make sure your Otus assessments are graded and have a due date before the close of a grading period for your scores to passback.
A student will be missing a score in Aeries if any of these situations are true:
The student did not complete the assignment; therefore Otus has no score to passback.
The assignment was not assigned to that student but was assigned to another student in the same class/gradebook.
The score did not post successfully to Aeries via the passback process.
FAQ and Troubleshooting Section
Click to see FAQ and Troubleshooting Details.
Click to see FAQ and Troubleshooting Details.
If I marked an assessment as missing or late for a student, will that status pass back to Aeries?
No. The status of each assessment in Otus (Excluded, Excused, Missing, Late) will not pass back to Aeries. You'll need to make that adjustment directly in Aeries.
My assessment grades are not passing back to Otus. What is wrong?
First, you'll want to make sure you are in the Aeries Gradebook Passback teacher group. You'll need to verify with your administrator. Next, make sure that your categories are enabled in your Aeries gradebook. Most often those categories are Test, Quiz, Assignment, and Worksheet.
I added weighting to my gradebook in Otus. Why aren't those category weights applying to the grades in Aeries?
Any weighting of scores needs to be done in Aeries. The weighting in Otus does not pass back.
What if one of my students earns partial credit so they have a 27.5 as an assessment score?
Assessments with a total score that includes a decimal (e.g., 27.5 points) will not pass back.
Which changes made to an assessment in Otus will be synced to Aeries?
Otus re-sends all scores if you make any of these adjustments in Otus:
Edit the assessment Title
Edit the assessment Type
Adjust any assessment Settings, e.g. "Include Score in Final Grade", "Allow Multiple Attempts", etc.
Otus re-sends an individual score if you edit the score in Otus.
I overwrote the scores for an assessment in Aeries. Am I going to lose that work?
No, if you edit a score in Aeries but not in Otus, Otus will not overwrite the score in Aeries unless one of the re-send triggers above occurs.
Why do I see students have a 0 in Skyward for an assessment?
If the due date has passed and the student has not submitted the assessment, it will pass back to Aeries with a score of 0 (zero).