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 graded assessments sync to your Aeries gradebook.
General Information
Assessments and grades are passed back nightly
Only points-based grades that are whole numbers will pass back
Assessment names must be less than 50 characters in length
Assessments need to be marked “Include Score in Final Grade” and graded in Otus to pass back
Any students’ scores that are marked Excluded in the Otus gradebook will not pass back
Any weighting of grades in Otus will not transfer to Aeries. Weighting can be changed by the teacher in the Aeries gradebook after the score passes back
❗️The Aeries implementation of the OneRoster API does not support grade passback for Elementary Schools without a Master Schedule.
❗️Grade passback is supported for unlinked Aeries gradebooks only.
Setup Process
If you wish to set up this integration, please contact the Otus team. You can expect to work closely with a member of our team throughout the process. The basic steps are outlined in the sections below:
Identify Assessment Category Mapping
When teachers create an assessment in Otus, they must select an assessment “type”. When grades are passed back, the Otus assessment type will be mapped to a corresponding district category code in Aeries. Below is an example of a category mapping from Otus to Aeries:
Otus Assessment Type | Aeries Category Code |
Assignment | Assignment |
Checklist | Classwork |
Homework | Homework |
Journal | Project |
Lab | Lab |
Observation | Observation |
Paper | Project |
Presentation | Project |
Project | Project |
Quiz | Quiz |
Test | Test |
Worksheet | Classwork |
The Otus team will confirm the desired category mapping for your district. The Aeries categories must be district-level (not specific to a site or grade level).
❗️Please ensure that all Aeries category codes in your district's mapping table are included in the Aeries gradebooks of teachers participating in grade passback. This is required for scores to pass back successfully.
💡 Tips:
The categories will map to Aeries as defined by the district and teachers can change the category, if desired, once the grade has been sent to Aeries.
One way to achieve different category mappings by site or grade level is to define a new "generic" Aeries category (for example, OTUS category code) for assessment types that you would like mapped in multiple ways. Then, after the scores are passed back, the teachers can adjust the OTUS category to something else locally in Aeries. For example, a generic category mapping for Otus types Test and Quiz might look like this:
Determine a Passback Effective Date
The effective date is the date that points-based scores will begin syncing from Otus to Aeries once the integration is complete.
Any graded assessments that have been assigned or modified on or after the effective date will transfer to Aeries.
Modifying an assessment includes:
Editing the assessment Type or Title
Changing any assessment Settings, e.g., "Include Score in Final Grade", "Allow Multiple Attempts", etc.
This date can be in the past, present, or future. Selecting a date from the past means that assessment scores from that date and moving forward will flow to Aeries.
There is no restriction on grades being passed back based on grading period; grades after the Effective Date will pass back to Aeries regardless of grading period.
Confirm Aeries API Security Settings
The Aeries SIS Administrator must adjust the following permissions for Otus in your Aeries API Security Settings:
Ensure Otus has READ and UPDATE access for the following:
Gradebook Data
Gradebook Scores
Gradebook Category
Gradebook Assignment
Add Teachers to the Aeries Grade Passback Group
In order for teachers' assessment scores to passback, participating teachers must be members of the Aeries Grade Passback Teacher Group in Otus:
Once your Aeries Grade Passback Teacher Group is created in Otus, you may add participating teachers to the group by following the steps in this article.
Adding a new teacher to the group is all that is needed for their scores to begin passing back each night. Teachers can be added to this group throughout the school year with no additional work required.
❗️In order for grades to pass back to Aeries, the user who has assigned the assessment must be included in the Aeries Grade Passback Teacher Group in Otus.
💡 Tips:
When a teacher joins the Aeries Grade Passback group, all of their eligible assessments will passback retroactively to the beginning of the current grading period (or the effective date, if more recent). To avoid duplicate gradebook entries, Otus recommends adding new teachers to the Aeries Grade Passback group at the very beginning of a grading period.
Otus recommends adding any teacher, co-teacher, or administrator who may be assigning assessments in Otus to the Aeries Grade Passback group.
Assessments assigned directly to a class from an Otus Administrator (who is not synced from your SIS) will not passback to the gradebook. This assessment should be assigned to the class by the teacher or co-teacher.
FAQ and Troubleshooting Details
Click to see FAQ and Troubleshooting Details.
Click to see FAQ and Troubleshooting Details.
Once the above information has been collected, what happens?
The Otus team will take it from there! You can expect the team to update you once the configuration is complete and ready for initial testing.
How does this work for teachers?
Please be sure to review the teacher's guide to Grade Passback (click the link below) and share this article with participating teachers in your district. This will ensure that your team follows the correct steps to successfully utilize this feature. Copy the link here: Teacher Guide for Aeries Grade Passback.