Google Classroom: Sorting Student Scores by Student Last Name

Posted on by Alice Keeler

Google Classroom Grade Export

For now, Google Classroom sorts students by their first name. This of course does not match how the students are listed on our rosters or in our gradebooks. If you are putting student scores into Google Classroom you can export the scores, per assignment.

Click on Download

Google Classroom Download Grades

Go into the assignment in Google Classroom. Click the “Download” button to download a CSV file. If you open the file it will open in an Excel spreadsheet.

Google Sheets

If you prefer to use Google Sheets you can drag the CSV file into Google Drive. Right click on the grades.csv file and choose to “Open with” “Google Sheets.”
right click on file in google drive

Insert Columns

For both Excel and Google Sheets you will want to insert blank columns to the right of the name column. You are going to separate the first and last name into the blank columns.  I would recommend 3-5 blank columns. You need enough columns to account for students with two last names or extra middle initials.
insert blank columns

Google Sheets

Freeze the top row.

In the B column write this formula =Split(A2,” “) into cell B2. This will split up the names at the spacebar. Press enter.
Screen Shot 2014-09-16 at 1.56.56 PM

Click back on cell B2 and double click on the fill down square in the bottom right hand corner of the cell. This will copy the formula down to the bottom of the student roster list.
double click fill down

Excel

If you opened the CSV file in Excel you will need to select “Text to Columns” from the data tab and choose the space as the delimiter.

Sort by Column C

Column C should be the student last names. In Google Sheets you can hover over the column indicator to reveal a drop down arrow. Choose to “Sort sheet A->Z.” Now your grades are listed alphabetically by last name.
google sheets sort A to Z

 

Excel users will go to the “Data” tab in the ribbon and choose the “Sort” icon.

Related Alice Keeler Blog Posts:

  1. Peer Evaluation in Google Classroom
  2. Google Classroom – Grade the Folder
  3. Google Classroom: Self Evaluation Rubric
  4. Google Classroom: Pull Student Paragraphs and Give Feedback

4 thoughts on “Google Classroom: Sorting Student Scores by Student Last Name”

  1. Pingback: Google Classroom: Sorting Student Scores by Student Last Name | Teachers Blog

  2. If you know your school’s Google Apps Administrator, see if they’d be willing to switch the way the students names are entered as Google users. I’m the Admin for my school and figured out that if I put my students’ last names (followed by a comma) in the “First Name” field and put their first names in the “Last Name” field the students names will alphabetize by last name.

    For example,
    First Name: Cullen,
    Last Name: Deborah
    Will appear and sort as: Cullen, Deborah

    I’m only working with <200 students though, so this trick may not work for everyone.

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