Canvas to JMC Integration

We have used Canvas and JMC for years. Our teachers are asking about setting up a gradebook sync. Has anyone done this with JMC? If so we have some questions.

Do all staff have to be involved in the sync or can we run it for a smaller subset of staff?

Do all assignments have to be synced, or can the teacher designate which assignments to sync?

Can we have assignments in JMC that do not exist in Canvas or will they be overwritten when the next sync happens?

I know I'll have more but these will get things started. Thanks for your time!

Find more posts tagged with

SIS Integrations

Accepted answers

All comments

KatieSuka

You shouldn’t need to sync every teacher if your directory/SIS supports filtering.
For similar Canvas SIS sync tools, admins frequently choose which courses/classes go through nightly grade passback, and teachers enable sync at the course level — not every staff member. Instructure Community
However, Canvas teacher involvement (e.g., enabling Grade Sync per course) is often required to activate sync.

👉 Outcome: Likely you can configure sync for a subset of teachers, but this depends on how your SIS/JMC integration is set up.
(Verify with your local admin or JMC support.) With Canvas SIS/Grade Passback and similar LMS integrations (e.g., Focus grade sync):

teachers often have a “Sync to SIS” toggle on each assignment that determines which assignments get included in the gradebook sync. Upper St. Clair School District

Canvas’s Grade Sync tool lets teachers designate assignments to sync to the SIS/gradebook:

“Next to the publish button for each assignment is a Sync to SIS button. Click to enable sync for that assignment.” Upper St. Clair School District

So in most Canvas sync setups, teachers do control which assignments participate in the grade sync.

You should confirm if the JMC workflow respects that Canvas flag, or if it pulls all assignment data for courses integrated to JMC. Can you have assignments in JMC that don’t exist in Canvas?

This is a common concern with grade sync workflows:

In most integrations, if an external system (Canvas) is the “source of truth,” assignments created only in the SIS (JMC) won’t be overwritten by Canvas sync, as long as they aren’t mapped to Canvas assignments.
Conversely, if the sync process is one‑way from Canvas → SIS, then Canvas assignments may overwrite or create entries in the SIS.

For example, in other grade sync integrations:

If you sync scores from Canvas into a SIS gradebook, then syncing again can overwrite data if assignment identifiers match. SharpSchool

So:

✅ You can keep SIS‑only assignments — as long as Canvas doesn’t try to map/replace those columns.
❗ But if JMC sees an assignment with the same ID/identifier from Canvas during sync, it may overwrite it — which depends on how your JMC integration is configured.

This is exactly the kind of detail you’ll want from JMC support or your district tech team, because the behavior isn’t globally documented.

Recommended next steps for your team.

Ask JMC support these specific questions

How exactly does JMC interpret Canvas SIS/Grade Sync feeds?
What fields control assignment sync vs ignore in JMC?
Is the sync one‑way (Canvas → JMC) or bi‑directional?
Can teachers choose which assignments sync?

JMC support is usually responsive and may have internal documentation specific to your setup.

B) Check how your district’s SIS feed is configured

If your district uses OneRoster/SIS integration to populate Canvas roster/grades, that same feed often controls sync behavior, including:

which teachers sync,
whether assignments sync,
and whether SIS‑only assignments are preserved.

melodyc_lam

@p_breitbach So I'm not familiar with JMC in particular but if it supports OneRoster it should basically work the same as other SIS systems like PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, etc.

Also, if you want to do a gradebook sync and you don't currently have an existing setup with Canvas, you will need to contact Instructure to determine if it's compatible with your SIS.

As for the questions:

Not all staff need to be involved with Grade Sync.
1. Normally how Grade Sync works is that you have two options — manual trigger, meaning the teacher will sync grades as they like, and nightly sync, which is automated usually during an off-peak period (like 3AM).
2. As an admin you can run grade sync for particular courses but normally your role is to ensure that syncs are working and if there are any issues, troubleshooting them — there's not a "mass sync button" on our side of the house.
For assignments, teachers can pick and choose. This is a good thing, so that teachers don't sync assignments that are outside of your quarters/terms. Depending on the SIS integration setup there's a way to automatically turn off sync for anything that's outside your grading period, but you can also do this with some API work/scripting.
Yes, you can have assignments in the SIS gradebook that don't exist in Canvas. On a technical level, when you sync from Canvas to a gradebook, there's a special identifier that allows for subsequent syncs to target the correct assignment. The grade sync will only sync assignments that are enabled for sync and only sync new grades to that target assignment.

Hope this helps! For the record my state uses Infinite Campus for our SIS but previously had PowerSchool and I'm familiar with both.

Unanswered Questions

Sync ungraded assignments with Veracross
Is there ANY way to automate/force Canvas to sync ungraded assignments with Veracross SIS? right now our only solution is to require teachers to enter a fake grade, sync, and then remove it. I am willing to entertain 3rd party solutions if there is one available.
Grade sync with Jenzabar
Hello, Is anyone doing a grade sync from Canvas to Jenzabar? Thanks!
Late Canvas assignments not being marked late when synced to Skyward
When a student turns in a late assignment, I need it to also show as late in Skyward. Having to go in and manually mark multiple assignments late for 130 students is tedious and time consuming. If Canvas recognizes the assignment as late, the same mark needs to be sent to Skyward when it is synced.
Adding students to existing benchmark tracker
How do I add a student to an existing benchmark assessment tracker? The students were imported from our SIS when tracker was created and this student has recently enrolled.
SIS import script - change from regular CSV file import to a full batch import for each term
My school has traditionally used a script to send files for SIS import, and sends CSV files for users, enrollments, courses, etc. I want to transition this import to use full batch imports for each term. I saw the full batch import script below for Powershell, but we use Linux servers. Does anyone have a version they would…