Add Attendance Category - Field Definitions

Field Definition

ID

System generated ID number for this category.

Name

Name of the Daily Attendance Category. This name is limited to 20 characters.

Abbreviation

A two character abbreviation for a daily attendance category. Abbreviations are used frequently in reports, the Student Information window - Attendance Tab, and on the View/Modify Attendance window. This must be unique.

Value

This is the numerical value of an Attendance Category. For example, Present has a value of 1.0. Absent has a value of 0.0. Attendance values cannot be greater than 1 or less than 0. These values are used when calculating attendance totals for reports.

Type

Daily Attendance Categories can be of one or more types, Present, Absent, Tardy or Dismissed. Assigning a type to an Attendance Category allows the program to aggregate attendance totals for reporting and display. For example, a school might have Absent, Absent Sick, Absent Unexcused as their absent categories. If all of these are set to type Absent, when reports are done totals for all three categories will be merged and printed under Absent.

In some cases, types can be combined. Tardy and Dismissed can be combined. If a category is set to type Tardy/Dismissed, it is counted once in the Tardy count and again in the Dismissed count.

Ignore Class Cuts

This option allows you to indicate the periods of your school day during which a student with this category could not receive class cuts. This field is also displayed on the Class Cut Information window, but it cannot be edited there.

For example, if the category Absent had this field enabled and had periods 1 through 8 selected, a student that was marked Absent could not be marked as having cut class. If someone attempts to enter a class cut for the student, the program rejects the cut if the period for the cut is one of the periods listed in this field.

Periods in this field must be listed in order and separated by commas (i.e. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 ). Ranges are not allowed.

Include in Class Attendance

This option allows you to make this attendance category available for Class Attendance as well as Daily Attendance. If no categories are available for class attendance, teachers simply enter a check mark to indicate that the student was not in class.

Update Attendance Value

This option allows you to remove value from the total Present value for the day when this category is assigned in class attendance. For example, if each period in your day has a value of .125 and this option is enabled, when a student is assigned this class attendance category .125 is removed from the Present value of 1.00. A student would be .125 Absent and .875 Present.

Include In Grade Book

This option allows you to include this category in the class absence totals on the grade book and the report card. When teachers process grades they can choose to include total class absences on reports. If this is an absence category you would enable the Include in Grade Book option. If this is a tardy category, you would not enable the Include in Grade Book option.

Choose Color

This option allows you to associate a color with this Attendance Category. The color is displayed anywhere attendance is shown on the screen, but is not used in reports.

Field	Definition
ID	System generated ID number for this category.
Name	Name of the Daily Attendance Category. This name is limited to 20 characters.
Abbreviation	A two character abbreviation for a daily attendance category. Abbreviations are used frequently in reports, the Student Information window - Attendance Tab, and on the View/Modify Attendance window. This must be unique.
Value	This is the numerical value of an Attendance Category. For example, Present has a value of 1.0. Absent has a value of 0.0. Attendance values cannot be greater than 1 or less than 0. These values are used when calculating attendance totals for reports.
Type	Daily Attendance Categories can be of one or more types, Present, Absent, Tardy or Dismissed. Assigning a type to an Attendance Category allows the program to aggregate attendance totals for reporting and display. For example, a school might have Absent, Absent Sick, Absent Unexcused as their absent categories. If all of these are set to type Absent, when reports are done totals for all three categories will be merged and printed under Absent. In some cases, types can be combined. Tardy and Dismissed can be combined. If a category is set to type Tardy/Dismissed, it is counted once in the Tardy count and again in the Dismissed count.
Ignore Class Cuts	This option allows you to indicate the periods of your school day during which a student with this category could not receive class cuts. This field is also displayed on the Class Cut Information window, but it cannot be edited there. For example, if the category Absent had this field enabled and had periods 1 through 8 selected, a student that was marked Absent could not be marked as having cut class. If someone attempts to enter a class cut for the student, the program rejects the cut if the period for the cut is one of the periods listed in this field. Periods in this field must be listed in order and separated by commas (i.e. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 ). Ranges are not allowed.
Include in Class Attendance	This option allows you to make this attendance category available for Class Attendance as well as Daily Attendance. If no categories are available for class attendance, teachers simply enter a check mark to indicate that the student was not in class.
Update Attendance Value	This option allows you to remove value from the total Present value for the day when this category is assigned in class attendance. For example, if each period in your day has a value of .125 and this option is enabled, when a student is assigned this class attendance category .125 is removed from the Present value of 1.00. A student would be .125 Absent and .875 Present.
Include In Grade Book	This option allows you to include this category in the class absence totals on the grade book and the report card. When teachers process grades they can choose to include total class absences on reports. If this is an absence category you would enable the Include in Grade Book option. If this is a tardy category, you would not enable the Include in Grade Book option.
Choose Color	This option allows you to associate a color with this Attendance Category. The color is displayed anywhere attendance is shown on the screen, but is not used in reports.