PEMS Terminology
Letter Mark
In the US, grades are usually awarded as letters, A, B, C, D and F. There is no grade of E. Other countries use a straight number system with a maximum of ten. It is normal to call letter marks just 'grades' in American English, but this can be confusing as a student's grade is also "kindergarten" or 6th grade. In other countries, this definition of grade is usually called a 'form', like the sixth form. Letter Mark refers the the letter given in the US for overall course scoring.
Grade Points
Because the US uses letter for marks, there needs to be a numerical system in order to determine how the student is doing over all. Grade points are awarded based on the letter grade. For example, 4 points are awarded for an A, 3 for a B, and so on.
Grade Point Average
The Grade Point Average is the unit-weighted average of the student's grades. Each class has a number of units (also called credits) assigned. If a student earns an A in a class worth 5 units, the total points awarded for that class is 5 x 4 = 20 points. For a given term all the points are added, then divided by the total units to arrive at the students GPA.
Weighted GPA
If students take more advanced courses, the grade points may be increased. For example, if a student earns a A in an advanced English class of 5 units, the student earns a 5 instead of a 4, and the total points for that class is 5 x 5 = 25 points. The higher number of points are used to calculate the student's weighted GPA.
Academic Years
Academic years ore the specific years the school is in operation. Academic years can be defined before the school is in operation. In this case the academic years are used to keep records on classes a student wants to transfer into the school that were taken at other schools prior to enrollment.
Terms
A term is the division of the academic year into grading periods. Terms may be semesters or quarters. The term record is a record that indicates the start and end date of each term. Multiple terms are related to academic years. Terms are also related to a Term Label record.
Term Labels
Term Labels are the names of the terms a school is running, like Spring, Fall, etc. The number of Term Label records indicates the number of terms the school operates. Term Labels indicate if that term is required or optional, like a summer term.
Student Terms
There is one term record for every term the school operates. A student term record contains student-specific information about how the student performed academically in the term, such as the student's grade point average for that term. All the classes a student takes (enrollment records) are linked to the student term. A student has a term record created for each term they are in attendance.
Grade Level
A grade level is the student's year in school, first grade, second grade, third grade and so on. The term 'grade level is used to differentiate between the grade or mark a student received in a class and the year the student is in.
Grade Span
A grade span covers multiple years of school and can be defined by the administrator. A plan can not exceed a grade span. The purpose of defining grade spans is to help set academic goals and gates.
Schools
Schools refer to legal definitions in a jurisdiction of various grade levels. In the US this is Elementary School, grades K through 5, Middle School grades 6 through 8, and high school, grades 9 through 12.
Other Schools
Other Schools are the schools that student attend prior to starting at the school. Other schools will provide transcripts that must in incorporated into the student record. For this reason, each enrollment record on the transcript may be related to an 'other school' to show where the credit was transferred in from.
Classes
Classes appear on the student's transcript and are sometimes called courses. However, PEMS does not use the term 'course' in any of its modules. In general, the word 'course' can refer to a specific class, like Algebra 1, or it may also refer to the set of classes that lead to a degree or certificate. For example, "I followed a course at the University in wine making" could mean a series of classes. The world "class" also has a secondary meaning. A student can be in the "second grade class" which would mean all students in a particular classroom. PEMS uses the word class to mean the subject of study for which units are earned, commonly called a course.
Curriculum
Curriculum general refers to the books and exercises used by the teacher to further the student's knowledge. In Moodle, the curriculum is a Moodle Course. Any class may be taught with multiple curriculum, or different text books, and so there are multiple Moodle courses that may be used to teach a Class.
Subject
Subjects are families of classes. For example, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II are all in the subject of Math. Schools can define any subjects they need, and identify any class as belonging to that subject area. Subjects are mainly used to assist the administration in checking the student is meeting requirements when creating a plan .
Enrollment
The term enrollment has two meanings in the USA.
- Enrollment is used to describe the process where a student joins the school
- Enrollment is also used to describe when a student enrolls in a specific class in a specific term
The term "Enrollment Process" will refer to the processes that are triggered with a student decides to come to the school.
The term "enrollments records" will describe the table in the database the keeps information of which classes students are taking in which term.
In summary, Enrollment is the process of signing up for a class. An enrollment record in the PEMS is the class as student takes in a specific term, and stores the student's final grade. The set of completed enrollments is the information displayed on the student's transcript.
Transcript
A transcript is a report of completed enrollments. Transcripts are formatted in various ways to use the minimum amount of paper. A transcript shows the classes the student has taken at the school, the grades received and the units earned.
Plans
The plans are sometimes referred to as "Programs of Study." Plans are defined by the administrator as a series of classes taken across all subjects to meet an educational objective or graduation requirements over a grade span. Any number of plans may be developed, and a student may be assigned only one plan at a time. The plan contains the information needed to auto-enroll student in their classes (create enrollment records) in each term covered by the plan.