Class Attendance Code Setup

Modified on Thu, Feb 29 at 2:11 PM

Introduction to Class Attendance Codes

"Daily Attendance" is a student's official attendance for the day. "Class Attendance" is a student's attendance for a single period or class.

"Class Attendance" is a student's attendance for each individual course section or period of the day.

Daily Attendance Codes must always be setup: Class Attendance codes are only necessary if you intend to use Class Attendance.

This article covers Class Attendance code setup only.

Daily Codes are configured on the Attendance>Codes screens and Class Codes are configured on the Class Attendance>Setup>Attendance Codes screens.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Class Attendance Code Flags
Propagating Class to Daily Attendance
The List of Class Attendance Codes
Configuring Daily Attendance Codes
Procedure to Create a New Class Attendance Code
Procedure to Modify a Class Attendance Code
Procedure to Delete an Attendance Code
Reconciling Class Attendance
Procedure to Reconcile Daily Attendance

Period vs. Course Section Attendance

There are two kinds of 'class attendance':

Period attendance – Period attendance means that you are taking attendance by period are interested in knowing how many periods a student has missed. Totals for individual courses (e.g. Phys-Ed) are ignored.
Course section attendance – Course section attendance (also called 'class attendance' – vs. period attendance) means that you are interested in knowing attendance totals by course section (e.g. how many times has a student missed Phys-Ed). Totals for the number of periods are ignored.

For example, if a lab course (e.g. Biology) meets for two periods, in period attendance this will count twice (e.g. absent from periods 3 & 4) but for class (i.e. course section) attendance this counts as one missed class (E.g. absent from Biology).

In setting up Class Attendance Codes, the Affected by the Class Attendance Multiplier field is used to indicate that period instead of course section attendance is being used.

If this flag is set to Yes, then the Attendance Value field of the code is multiplied by the number of periods the course section meets to obtain the total "attendance value" for the student.

For example, if you wish to do period attendance, and a student is absent from a 2 period Chemistry lab and receives a code of Unexcused Absent, if the Affected by the Class Attendance Multiplier field is set to Yes, the attendance value of the "Unexcused Absence" code is multiplied by 2 (the number of periods missed) to obtain the actual 'attendance value'.

Class Attendance Code Flags

Class Attendance codes have various flags (detailed in Section IV below) which indicate how to manage their value to the student and which determine who can post the codes and whether or not a class code can be overridden by a daily attendance code.

Daily vs Class Attendance & Propagation

Genesis allows you to – potentially – interlink Daily and Class attendance such that Daily Attendance can propagate to Class Attendance OR Class Attendance can propagate to Daily Attendance.

You cannot do both. The usual mechanism, when taking class attendance in a school, is to propagate Class Attendance in a designated homeroom period to Daily Attendance.

Propagating Class to Daily Attendance

How this works:

A single period is designated as "the homeroom period". This "homeroom period" is otherwise a normal class period where a regular course section meets. For example, many schools designate either "period 1" or "period 2" as the "take daily attendance" or homeroom class period.
- The Homeroom parameters are set for a school on the Setup>Schools>School Parameters>HR Parameters screen.
Class Attendance taken during the designated homeroom period then "propagates" to Daily Attendance. The mechanism of propagation is the embodied in the "Daily Attendance Code" field that appears at the bottom of every Class Attendance Code.
- The Daily Attendance Code corresponding to a Class Attendance Code is set for an individual code on the Class Attendance>Attendance Codes>Modify Attendance Code screen. See below.
When a Class Attendance Code is given to a student for the designated homeroom period the "Daily Attendance Code" contained in the class attendance code is then used to set the student's Daily Attendance for the day.
- Class Attendance is typically posted by the teacher's Gradebook>Take Attendance or Gradebook>Gradebook>Seating Chart screen.
- Rarely, class attendance is updated by an administrator using the Class Attendance>Update Class Attendance screen.
Class Attendance codes given to the student for all other periods of the day have no effect on Daily Attendance.

The embedded Daily Attendance code is used to post Daily Attendance for the student. Unexcused Absent Attendance Value= 1.0

Daily Attendance Code = Unexcused Absent
Unexcused Absent
Attendance Value= 1.0
Specified Daily Attendance Code "propagates" to the students Daily Attendance for that day.

Class Attendance Code is given to a student for the designated HR period.

Though Daily Attendance can similarly propagate to Class Attendance, It is recommended that you do not do this.

The Daily to Class propagation is time sensitive and fraught with various issues of coordination.

The List of Class Attendance Codes

The list of currently defined Attendance Codes for your district can be found on the Class Attendance>Attendance Codes>Attendance Codes List screen.

Class Attendance Attendance Codes.Attendance Codes:

The Class Attendance.Attendance Codes.Attendance Codes List screen displaying the currently defined set of Class Attendance Codes

The List of Class Attendance Codes
The list of Class Attendance Codes can be located on the Class Attendance>Attendance Codes>Attendance Codes List screen.

Note that Class Attendance codes, like Daily Attendance codes, are district-wide.

You can, now, click to modify an individual code on this screen - and set the availability per school, as well:

Though class attendance is essentially a 'single school' consideration, it is primarily used in secondary schools (high school and occasionally middle school).

Configuring Daily Attendance Codes

Modify Class Attendance Code:

Figure 2 –The Class Attendance>Setup>Attendance Codes>Modify Attendance Codes creen

Configuring a Class Attendance Code
A "Class" Attendance code is used to "give" a student their attendance information for either one period of the day or one meeting of a course section.

Attendance codes can be complex, having a large number of settings which control how they interact with other functionality within Genesis.

Each Class Attendance code can be linked to a Daily Attendance code. If you propagate Class to Daily Attendance (during a designated HR period) set these as appropriate.

Every attendance code has the following fields of information:

The code itself - The identifier for the code itself (e.g. "A" for 'absent'). This cannot be altered once created. I.e. it is set only on the "New Attendance Code" screen.
Description – A description of the code
Attendance Value – This field indicates how to "count" the code. To count as either a "present", an "absence" or a "tardy" this value must be > 0. It is almost always "1.0". A value of zero (0) means the code is not counted (attendance values are summed).
This is the value of the period or class meeting.
WARNING: this must be set to "1.0" for the code to count as either an absence, tardy or day present.
If this code is set to "0" it is treated as not counted A zero (0) does not mean "absent" nor does it mean "present" – it means "do not count this as a day".
Values of ".5" and ".25" are also valid but much less frequently used.
Credit Loss Absence Value – This is only meaningful when computing credit loss because of absences. This is how to value this code when doing credit loss calculations.
Codes which indicate how to count this code:
- Excused absence – This code is treated as an excused absence.
- Excused tardy– This code is treated as an excused tardy.
- Unexcused absence– This code is treated as an unexcused absence for the school district. It remains a State of NJ unexcused absence. The day is treated as "unexcused" in NJ State reports.
- Unexcused tardy– This code is treated as an unexcused tardy.
- Left Early – This code indicates the student left the class early.
Special flags indicating where the student was:
- Nurse Visit
- Counselor Visit
Time required flag – If set to "Yes", the user will be required to input a time (e.g. 10:45AM) when they choose the corresponding code.
For Teacher use– Teacher can post this code on the Class Attendance screen. If no, Teachers do not have access to this code. It is reserved and only appears on the "Daily Attendance" screen used by administrators (i.e. the main office).
Used for Letters– This code counts when doing Attendance Letter processing.
Used for Autiodialers - This will be included in an Autodialer interface you may have
Affected by the Class Attendance Multiplier - – This is the "convert from course section to period attendance" indicator. When set to Yes, the code's Attendance Value is multiplied by the number of periods for which the class meets to compute the total attendance value.
Font Color – There is one color field that controls the font color for the Class Attendance Codes. This is the font color for this code on the Student's Class Attendance Calendars.
Sequence # - This just indicates the order in which to list this code in any list.
Daily Attendance Code – If class attendance during a designated HR period is being propagated to Daily Attendance, this drop down specifies the Daily Attendance code to post when the student receives this class attendance code in the designated HR period.

Procedure to Create a New Class Attendance Code

Navigate to the Class Attendance>Attendance Codes>List Attendance Codes screen.
Click the "New Attendance Code" tab. This brings up the Class Attendance>Attendance Codes>New Attendance Code screen:
Fill in the fields as described below and click "Save Attendance Code" when finished.
1. Code – Select a one or two character identifier for this code. WARNING: this code cannot be altered later.
2. Description – Enter a description of this code (e.g. "Unexcused Absence").
3. Attendance value– Set to 1.0 or .5 for all possible days. Set to zero only if this is not a possible day (e.g. a weekend or holiday). WARNING: this must be set to "1.0" for the code to count as either an absence, tardy or day present. If this code is set to "0" it is treated as "Not a Possible Day". A zero (0) does not mean "absent" nor does it mean "present" – it means "do not count this as a day". Values of ".5" and ".25" are also valid but much less frequently used (in NJ).
4. Credit Loss Absence Value – How this code counts towards credit loss. E.g. a Tardy might be worth 0.25 while an unexcused absence would be worth 1.0.

Flag Settings - The flags control how the code is handled when computing Class Attendance totals (i.e. total absences, total tardies, total excused absences, etc.):

Excused absence – Set to "Yes" if this code indicates an Excused Absence.
Excused tardy– Set to "Yes" if this code indicates an Excused Tardy.
Unexcused absence– Set to "Yes" if this code indicates an Unexcused Absence.
Unexcused tardy– Set to "Yes" if this code indicates an Unexcused Tardy.
Left Early – Set to "Yes" if this code indicates a student left the class early.
Nurse Visit – Set to "Yes" to indicate that this code means the student was visiting the nurse during the class period.
Counselor Visit – Set to "Yes" to indicate this code means the student was visiting their guidance counselor during the class period.
Overridable by Daily Attendance - Set to "Yes" to indicate that this code can be overridden by Daily Attendance code posted elsewhere. This is only meaningful if you interlink Daily & Class Attendance. See below.
Used for Letters – This code defaults to "Yes". Leave it as Yes to include this code in Attendance Letter calculations. If this code is set to "No", the code is exempted from Letter processing – it does not count for Letters. For example, the ${ABSENCE_DATES_IN_CYCLE} in Attendance Letters will ignore it.
For Teacher Use– Set to "Yes" to include this code as an option for Teacher posting via the HR Attendance screen. If you set this to "No", Teachers will not have access to this code. It will appear only on the "Daily Attendance" screen used by administrators (i.e. the main office).
Used for Letters– This code defaults to "Yes". Leave it as Yes to include this code in Attendance Letter calculations. If this code is set to "No", the code is exempted from Letter processing – it does not count for Letters. For example, the ${ABSENCE_DATES_IN_CYCLE] in Attendance Letters will ignore it.
Affected by the Class Attendance Multiplier – When set to "Yes" this code indicates that the code should be multiplied by the "Class Attendance Multiplier". For example, If you are doing period instead of course section class attendance, and a course meets for two periods, the Attendance value field will be multiplied by the number of periods (2) that the course section meets for. This gives the # of periods – instead of the number of class sessions – that the student is absent for. This code should always be set to "No" if you are doing course section (class) attendance (instead of period attendance).
Color – Select the font color for this code when it appears in student's Class Attendance calendars
Sequence # - Enter the sequence number that positions this code in the list of codes (on the screen).
Daily Attendance Code – If class attendance during a designated HR period is being propagated to Daily Attendance, this drop down specifies the Daily Attendance code to post when the student receives this class attendance code in the designated HR period

Procedure to Modify a Class Attendance Code

Navigate to the Class Attendance>Attendance Codes>List Attendance Codes screen:
Select the Attendance Code to modify and click the corresponding edit icon. This brings up the Class Attendance>Attendance Codes>Modify Attendance Code screen:
Update the fields you want to change. (See fields described above.)
Click the "Save Attendance Code" button at the bottom to save your changes. This is no 'undo' once the code has been updated.
Now you must reconcile class attendance. See the reconciliation procedure below.

Procedure to Delete an Attendance Code

Navigate to the Class Attendance>Setup>Codes screen:
Select the Attendance Code to delete and click the corresponding delete icon. This brings up a delete verification dialog.
Click OK to delete the code and Cancel to abandon the action. If you click OK the selected attendance code is deleted. No additional verification message is displayed. The code is removed.

Reconciling Class Attendance

Whenever an attendance code is updated, attendance calculations must be reconciled with the new code.

This function is located on the Class Attendance>Setup>Attendance Codes screen.

It recalculates Class Attendance totals for every student either in a single school.

Reconciliation takes a significant amount of time and should generally be done when leaving for the day or late at night.

Procedure to Reconcile Daily Attendance

Navigate to the Class Attendance>Setup>Attendance Codes screen:
Locate the "Recalculate Class Attendance for All Class Attendance Codes" control at the very bottom of the screen:
Click the "Recalculate Class Attendance for All Class Attendance Codes" link. This will take a considerable amount of time. You do not need to stay on this screen but can navigate to other screens in Genesis while this process finishes.