Student groups are useful for informally grouping students from the same school (e.g., tutoring groups, mentoring groups, clubs, F list, students to watch, etc.). Using a student group to add participation saves time because participation can be added to the entire Student Group or a subsection of group members. Filtering reports using Student Groups allows users to monitor data more closely for targeted groups.
Before group members can be added, however, you must create the group in SCRIBE. See How to Create a Student Group Manually. You can add and delete students manually. This tutorial covers how to add students to a group via import.
Create the Student Group File to Import
1. Determine the required and optional fields for a Student Group import. There are two ways:
a. Look at the Student Group Import Template in your grant’s Google Drive folder. Every import template has a tab that has the field headings and a tab that describes each field, whether the field is required, the type of data needed for that field and where to find that data.
Note: Remember to download the Import Template from the Google folder and save it on your desktop before editing it. Click File > Download > Microsoft excel.
b. The second way to determine the required fields: In SCRIBE click Tools > Import. Click Add Import. Select the Import Type. Click the View Specification button.
The Import Specification list will appear in a popup box. The fields with a red asterisk are required.
Note: SCRIBE will consider any fields included in the import that are not listed on the Import Specification list as “unknown” fields during the import process. See Troubleshooting Imports on the SCRIBE Help Desk for more information on unknown fields.
Fields
Fields are the different data categories you can include in the Grades import file (e.g., StudentID, SchoolNumber, etc.) listed as separate columns in the spreadsheet. Some fields are required, meaning SCRIBE will not import your file without them. Some are optional, meaning it is up to you whether or not to include them in the import file.
Note: Fields (columns) can be in the import file in any order. Field headings must be spelled correctly but capitalization does not matter (e.g., SchoolNumber = schoolnumber = SCHOOLNUMBER = sChOOlnUmBer). There are no spaces in the field headings (e.g., SchoolNumber is not the same as School Number).
Fields in a Grades Import (* indicates a required field)
a. StudentGroupID*: unique identifier for each Student Group created in SCRIBE.
In SCRIBE, click Schools > View All Schools.
Click View next to the school where the student group was created.
In the Student Groups tab, click View next to the group to which you want to add students.
In the URL, the StudentGroupID is the number after StudentGroupID= (in this example, 11375).
b. StudentID*: unique identifier for each student used in SCRIBE.
In SCRIBE, click Schools > View All Schools.
Click View next to the school where the student(s) attend.
Under the Students Tab, the students enrolled at the school will be displayed. Copy the student’s Student ID and paste it in the StudentID column in the Service Participation spreadsheet.
c. SchoolYear*: first year in the two year school year (e.g., “2019” for the 2019-2020 school year, “2020” for the 2020-2021 school year)
Note: Import files are limited to one school year per file.
Sample Student Group Import File
Import Student Group Import File
1. Save the Student Group Import file following best practice naming conventions: include the school year, type of import, other necessary details like group name, quarter or semester, school/district name or abbreviation (e.g., 19-20_StudentGroup_TimeTravelers_S1_WBHS).
2. In SCRIBE, click Tools > Import.
3. Click Add Import.
4. Select the Import Type: Student Group Membership
5. Make sure the School Year is correct. Click Browse to select the import file from your computer. Click Upload Import File. Follow the import process.
Additional Resources
How to Import Data PDFs and webinars
How to Create a Student Group Manually
How to Add or Delete Students from a Student Group Manually
How to Run a Student Group Export
Which Reports Can Be Filtered by Student Group?
Download this tutorial as a PDF below.