Courses Vs. Sections
There is a lot of confusion as to the difference between courses and sections and both end up being called classes which further muddies the waters. An example helps to clarify the topic. In high school there is a course called U.S. History that all juniors need to take. There could be three different teachers teaching it during different periods during the day. A Section is one teacher teaching a group of students during one period of the day during one school year. In a large high school there could be ten sections of the course called U.S. History.
For each section of an academic course a separate gradebook is created therefore it is important to think this through.
Important: All of the grade level courses will sort together if you preface the course Localid with a grade number as shown below. Naming courses according to a well thought out plan will pay off in the future especially when there are staff changes from year to year among office personnel.
For elementary and middle schools wanting to use A - F gradebooks and report cards, the example below is a good one to follow. The subjects generally taught are Math, Science, English or Language Arts, History or Social Studies, PE, and maybe an elective.
Sample Middle School Course Codes
Sample Middle School Course Codes & Names
For elementary schools wanting to use standards based gradebooks and report cards, the example below would be a good one. The subjects generally taught are Math, Language Arts, and Other Skills & Behaviors which is a catchall for the other things that you want to assess such as "exercises self-control".
Inserting a 0 (zero) before K forces K to sort before 1
Sample Elem School Course Codes & Names
High school have very distinct courses which are well defined.