We have the same problem that Chelsy mentioned except some of our keen teachers have used Rubrics which makes changing this setting even more complex (requiring the data team - which I am thankful for) or destructive (the teacher has to delete all their rubric data and grades).

We have the opposite problem. If a teacher starts entering assignments before setting up their grade book, it automatically defaults to setup by Marking Period, which we DON"T want. We want the ability to set the default for all teachers to by YEAR. OR, make the system ask the teacher to complete setup before entering assignments- for example, when they go to enter their first assignment, it prompts them to first set up their gradebook. This causes us problems each year, as teachers enter assignments, not having set up their gradebooks yet, then it gets stuck in the default mode of Marking Period, and there is no way to undo it other than deleting all entries and assignments, correcting the setup, then re-entering them. That is a pain.

Please add this feature! Teachers often change their minds on how they would like to calculate grades from one marking period to the next. If they don't understand the implications of selecting year and they select that option, then they are unable to go back to marking period which is frustrating!