Enabling the eKadence to Aeries Gradebook Sync is easy, and can be done at any time in your grading term. However, it is always easiest to begin with fresh, empty gradebooks, and you will be able to more easily see the data move, as time goes on.


Initial Setup (for each section)

We must first go through some steps, to ensure the data on both sides are matched up initially. There are many settings that can affect the gradebook and final class grade calculations, so it is important that these settings match across both eKadence and Aeries.


The following are setup steps that must be done for each section that you have in Aeries and eKadence:

  1. In Aeries, create the gradebook for this course. If you already created your gradebook in Aeries, it is recommended that you make a backup of any existing data.

  2. In Aeries, set up your grading categories, including category weighting (if any).

  3. In your Aeries gradebook, add your students. This is a critical step, because a gradebook without students will not be able to receive scores from eKadence.

  4. In eKadence, it is highly recommended that you have the same number of grading categories, and use the same category names. It is very important that these will match, for the bi-directional integration.

  5. In eKadence, go into your class and navigate to the Setup Class page. Under the SIS Sync section, click the Enable gradebook sync button:
  6. On the first setup screen, you will have a dropdown to select the Aeries gradebook to link to this class. Because Aeries allows you to create multiple gradebooks, please be sure to select the correct gradebook at this step.
  7. The second screen will ask you to match up the grading categories between both systems. (For convenience, eKadence will attempt to automatically match up similarly named categories!)
  8. The next screen will detect any existing activities/entries in Aeries, and will attempt to match those to corresponding activities in eKadence. See sample screenshot below:

    For each row, you can choose to:
    • "Create New" (create a new corresponding activity in eKadence)
    • "Ignore" (meaning this gradebook item will be maintained in Aeries only, and not in eKadence)
    • Match to an existing activity in eKadence
      • When you match to an existing eKadence activity, you will also have the option (using the available checkbox) to overwrite any existing scores in eKadence with the values in Aeries.
  9. Finally, after clicking "Next >>", you will be taken to the confirmation screen to review the steps we are about to take. Once you click Confirm and Sync, we will begin the process of syncing both gradebooks, according to your selections! Depending on the number of activities and scores, this may take some time, so we ask that you please be patient during that process. (Fun tip: You can also go to your Aeries gradebook and refresh, to see the new data get pushed over in realtime.)  
  10. If all goes well, you will see your Gradebook is now synced!
  11. If all your grading is done in eKadence, and all you need from syncing is the final grade, we encourage you to use the "Sync Final Grades Only" mode. Enabling this will archive all your existing gradebook items, and keep just one active item representing students' class grades. Simply turn on the Final Grade Sync toggle shortly after you are done syncing your gradebooks.

  12. Finally, to ensure that class final grades are calculated the same way between both systems, these flags in BOTH systems must match:
    • The weights of each grading category (if weighting is used)
    • "Apply scores immediately" setting
    • Grade Scales
    • "Grading floor" 
      • In Aeries, this may also be referred to as "Scale Min/Max Assignment Values in Total Grade" or Minimum grade; in eKadence, this is configured as a "Grading Floor"

  13. After the above steps have been completed for each class, you can now link your sections in eKadence. More information on Linking Sections 


NOTE: It is recommended that you link sections only in eKadence. While Aeries does have a Link Gradebooks feature, this is not officially supported yet, and some unexpected behavior may happen if you choose to do this.


Realtime push to Aeries

When you save a single score in eKadence, that will push to Aeries immediately and automatically. There is no need to remember to click a sync gradebook action; the change is pushed immediately.


Force sync button

If, for any reason, the gradebooks become out of sync, there is a "Force gradebook sync" button in your Setup Class page that you can utilize.


Conclusion

Steps 8 and 9 are the most critical and sensitive. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not proceed with this process, and feel free to first contact support@ekadence.com for guidance.