By Rating levels are the single biggest way you make WAVE your school’s own. They are the scale every teacher assesses against, written in your school’s language and values, and they appear on every student’s report and in every trend chart. Take the time to get them right – this is the page schools spend the most thought on.
What a rating level is
Each level has three parts:
- Name – the label teachers pick and parents see (e.g. Consistently, Achieving, or your own wording tied to your school values).
- Description – a clear, parent-friendly explanation of what that level means. This prints on the report, so write it for families, not just staff.
- Colour – shown on the level’s chip, on the reports and in the charts. Use a sensible progression so the visuals read at a glance.
Plan it before you build
A little planning saves a lot of reworking – and in practice schools set their scale once and then leave it, aside from the odd wording correction, so it’s worth getting right the first time:
- How many levels? There’s no set number – it’s whatever suits how your school assesses. Schools using WAVE so far range from around five levels up to ten.
- What order? Decide top-to-bottom (e.g. strongest down to emerging) and keep it consistent – the order you set here drives how reports and charts read.
- Your language. Use names and descriptions that match your school’s values and how you already talk to your community.
Important – set this up before teachers start assessing. Once a reporting period has ratings recorded against it, the levels lock: you can no longer add, edit, delete or reorder them for that period. Finalise your scale first, then let staff begin.
Choose the reporting period
Select the reporting period at the top – you’re building the scale for that period.
Three ways to build your levels
- Add Level (build your own) – click Add Level, enter a Name, a Description and pick a Colour, then Create. All three are required. Repeat for each level. This is how you create a scale that’s genuinely yours.
- From Template – start from a ready-made set. Pick a template, preview its levels, then Use. A good starting point you can then tweak.
- Copy Levels – copy the whole set from another reporting period. This is the easy way to carry your scale forward each term so it stays identical.
From Template and Copy Levels apply to an empty period. If the period already has levels, use Delete All first, or just add/edit individual levels.
Put them in order
The number in the first column is the level’s position. Drag a row by its handle to reorder – set them in the order you decided on, because that order flows through to the reports and charts.
Edit, recolour, or start again
Use the pencil on a row to change its name, description or colour. Delete All clears every level for the period so you can rebuild (this can’t be undone). Remember: all of this is only possible while the period has no ratings yet.
Keep it consistent all year
Once you’re happy with your scale, use Copy Levels into each new reporting period so your values, wording and colours stay the same term to term. (Copying into a period that already has matching levels won’t create duplicates.) Most schools land on their scale once and only ever make small wording corrections after that.
You’re done when
Your school’s scale exists for the period, in the right order, with clear parent-friendly descriptions – and it’s in place before teachers start assessing. Next, bring your classes and students in via Import.
