Blackboard is the current grading software available to Cal Poly students and faculty. Students are able to see their grades through an online portal interface. Teachers can add and modify grades through the web interface or by uploading a file that contains the grading data. The blackboard gradebook implementation has a lot of functionality, however the interface can be bloated and cumbersome.

Good Features:

• Covers the basics of grade publishing
• Allows multiple classes to be managed
• Classes can be persistant for as many quarters as needed
• Teachers can download grades as a comma delimited file for use in a spreadsheet program
• Modified comma delimited file can be uploaded after it has been modified
• Grades are backed up so recovery is possible if data is corrupted
• Allows filtering by grading categories
• Has different privilege levels for students and professors to provide appropriate access to data
• Secure login complies with legal privacy requirements
• Handles grades submitted electronically and work done outside Blackboard learning system
• Can create Gradebook Categories of grades, for example an exam category
• Each grade can be weighted individually
• Teacher can create grade to percentage mappings
• Items that have not been scored can be excluded from weighted grades
• Various statistics can be generated for classroom grades including class average, high score, and low score
• Grading items can be set invisible to students
• Order of grading items can be changed