Configuring the Attendance Marking Method
The Attendance feature is ready to use out of the box. However, you can also fine-tune a few characteristics of it.
About the Options
The attendance marking method determines the exact options that are available each time you record a student’s attendance. By default, the system is set up to use the simplest attendance marking method (Grade using statuses).
Grade Using Statuses
The Grade using statuses option is the simplest setup option, and it also is the default choice. With this setup, you mark a student's attendance by selecting a status such as Present, Absent, or Tardy.
When you set up your Gradebook, you can choose to give attendance a value. If you plan to do this, and if you choose the Grade using statuses marking method, note the following:
The system will automatically reduce the student’s total attendance credit if the student has one or more unexcused absences. The amount deducted is proportional to the number of unexcused absences.
You can configure the system to treat a specific number of tardies as an unexcused absence. For example, three tardies might equal one unexcused absence. In this scenario, a student who is habitually late will not get full credit for attendance, even if they did show up for every session. If you don’t use this option, students are not penalized for being late.
You can configure the system to eliminate the student’s attendance credit after he or she is marked Absent (Unexcused) a certain number of times.
Grade by Entering Time
With the Grade by entering time option, you mark a student's attendance by entering the number of minutes the student was present. The minutes for which the student was not present are considered unexcused.
You can choose to give attendance a value within Gradebook. If you plan to do this, and if you choose the Grade by entering time method of tracking attendance, note the following:
The system will automatically reduce the student’s total attendance credit if the student is late, or if the student has one or more unexcused absences. The amount deducted is proportional to the total amount of time the student missed. (Excused absences do not count against the student, even though they show up as giving the student zero minutes/hours for the session.)
You can configure the system to eliminate the student’s attendance credit after he or she is absent for a certain number of minutes or hours. (Excused absences do not count against the student, even though they show up as giving the student zero minutes/hours for the session.)
Navigate to the appropriate Attendance feature instance.
Click Attendance Settings
The Attendance Settings page displays with the Attendance marking method tab selected.
Select Grade using statuses or Grade by entering time.