Teacher looking for grading software

[shan21non]

I'm a high school teacher looking for a free mac software program for grades. My school uses Grade Machine, which I don't particularly like (and isn't compatible with my mac). I calculate my grades based on percentages instead of total points (i.e. their average homework grade is 15% of their total grade)

Can anyone recommend something free and offer a download link?

Thanks,
Shannon

ETA: While I prefer a free program, I'd be willing to pay up to $40 for a good program.

 

[miles01110]

Will an Excel-type program do the job? It takes a little more work to set up the template spreadsheet, but once you get going all you'll have to do is enter in a number and the formulas will do the rest.

 

[Tallest Skil]

Numbers in iWork has a nice grading template that you could try.

Download the iWork trial to see if it would be what you need, and then buy the suite if it works well for you.

 

[shan21non]

Will an Excel-type program do the job? It takes a little more work to set up the template spreadsheet, but once you get going all you'll have to do is enter in a number and the formulas will do the rest.

I've tried excel, but I've always had trouble figuring out the necessary formulas. I need a program that will do it automatically for me. (can you guess I'm not a math or science teacher?)

 

[miles01110]

I've tried excel, but I've always had trouble figuring out the necessary formulas. I need a program that will do it automatically for me. (can you guess I'm not a math or science teacher?)

Humm, well I'm sure that you can find some pages dealing with a system similar to yours if you googled "How to weight grades in excel" (it's not that hard in the first place).

I tried searching and none of the programs I found were free :-( One that looked intriguing was this:

http://www.gradebusters.com/

There is a demo available, perhaps you could download it and try it out.

 

[MisterMe]

...

ETA: While I prefer a free program, I'd be willing to pay up to $40 for a good program.

The only "free" gradebook is a spreadsheet constructed using an spreadsheet app that you already have. Spreadsheets give you enormous flexibility. In their flexibility, spreadsheets are only as accurate as the people who create them.

Dedicated gradebook apps like Grade Machine are less flexible, but are virtually guaranteed to produce reliable results. Unfortunately for you, it appears that Misty City has dropped support of Grade Machine for the Mac.

Fortunately for you, there are numerous other options. You can find them here. Of these, the highest rated is Easy Grade Pro. It is the one that I use. However, Orbis Software could use a lesson is accurate advertising. EGP has a lot of power and a lot of features that can be difficult to navigate. Download the demo and check it out for yourself. I switched to EGP from MicroGrade, a powerful gradebook that doesn't look much like a paper gradebook.

My advice to you is to download the demos for each gradebook app that looks interesting to you. Give each a spin. Chose the one that best fits your grading philosophy.

 

[Molnies]

Numbers in iWork has a nice grading template that you could try.

Download the iWork trial to see if it would be what you need, and then buy the suite if it works well for you.

Agreed. I just checked out the grade book template in Numbers and I'm actually amazed at how simple and useful it was. I've never really looked into Numbers, but that template seems to be exactly what shan21non is looking for, or at least could easily be customized to fit the needs.