PSU 2012 Attendance Reports

Attendance Reports
PowerSchool contains several built-in attendance reports. Run reports to find which teachers have not
taken attendance, get a daily absence list, identify students with chronic attendance problems, or
verify and audit attendance.
In this class:
Run attendance reports, and learn how to use each
Calculate ADA (Average Daily Attendance)
Import an attendance report template
Use attendance DATs (data access tags)
Common attendance questions:
1. Who is absent today?
2. Have attendance records been verified?
3. Which students have attendance problems?
4. What is the overall attendance picture?

Finding Who Is Absent

The most frequently asked attendance question is: Who is absent today? To answer this question, use
the Absentee report. Also, schools use this report to follow up with a students parents to determine
why the student was not in school.
To access most reports, click System Reports on the main menu. However, you can also find reports
by clicking Attendance on the Start Page. The activities in this handout specify which link to select to
access which reports.

Teacher Attendance Submission Status and PowerTeacher Attendance

Before you run the Absentee report, you want to know that teachers have submitted attendance. Use
the Teacher Attendance Submission Status report to view a progress indicator for all teachers at your
school. At a glance, youll know who has and who has not submitted attendance.
Also, run the PowerTeacher Attendance report to see which teachers have not submitted attendance.
If your school takes meeting attendance, you might run the report each period. If your school takes
daily attendance, you might run it once or twice a day. Both the Teacher Attendance Submission
Status and PowerTeacher Attendance reports indicate which teachers have not submitted attendance.
To view examples of both of these reports, see Appendix B.

The Absentee Report

Now youre ready to find students who were marked absent. Run the report in either Daily mode or
Meeting mode. Like the PowerTeacher Attendance report, run the Absentee report as needed.
Use the Absentee report to generate single-day, period-by-period attendance information. The report
lists students who match the attendance code(s) you specify. Generate additional information such as
student number, grade level, phone number, and verification information. Search by using any
attendance code or combination of codes, except the Present code (blank).
 Attendance Reports

Activity 1 Run the Teacher Attendance Submission Status and Absentee

Reports
Practice running attendance reports.
1. On the Start Page, click Attendance > Teacher Attendance Submission Status
2. From the Order By list, select No Att taken first, and click Submit to see who hasnt taken
attendance yet
3. On the main menu, click Attendance > Absentee Report
4. Choose an attendance mode
5. Include all students in the report
6. Select a single grade level
7. For Attendance Codes, select A (Absent)
8. For Period(s), check 1
9. For Number of Blank Lines, enter 2
10. Check Include Verification Line
11. Use the remaining default values, and click Submit
12. If your report has a status of Running, click Refresh
13. When the status is Completed, click View
14. Click the Back button on your browser to return to PowerSchool

Verifying Attendance Records

Correct any errors in attendance records by providing teachers with weekly verification reports. The
following reports help identify potential attendance errors and provide a paper trail when your
attendance records are audited. Some schools distribute these reports and require teachers to look
them over and submit the signed report to the office. View examples of these reports in Appendix B.

Weekly Attendance Summary (Meeting or Daily)

The Weekly Attendance Summary report shows a snapshot of the weeks attendance based on the
attendance codes you requested. All students enrolled in the class appear on the report, regardless of
their attendance. Run the report for all teachers and periods, or for specific teachers and periods. The
report you choose depends on which attendance method (meeting or daily) your school uses.

Period Attendance Verification

The Period Attendance Verification report is helpful for schools that use meeting attendance. Use the
report to find students who have been marked absent in all of their classes except the number you
specify. For example, if your school has seven periods per day, use the report to find students who
were marked absent for six of the seven periods. Then ask the teacher who marked the student
present to verify that the student was present on that day.

Enrollment Audits
Use the School Enrollment Audit and Section Enrollment Audit reports to identify enrollment errors.
The School Enrollment Audit report detects potential errors in the enrollment record. The Section
Enrollment Audit report detects potential errors in scheduling, such as when a student is enrolled in
school but not enrolled in any classes.

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Identifying Attendance Problems

PowerSchool has several reports you can run to find students who have excessive attendance
problems. The report you choose depends on what attendance information you need. Run each of
these reports for either daily or meeting attendance. Refer to Appendix B to view examples of the
reports.

Search By Grades/Attendance
Find students with attendance issues by using the Search By Grades/Attendance function. This search
generates a list of students on the Group Functions page, and produces a list of students and sections
that match your search criteria.

Attendance Count
The Attendance Count report generates a list of students who were absent at least the minimum
number of times specified. The report shows a list of students and the number of absences for each
period. Modify the report to view daily absences.

Consecutive Absences
The Consecutive Absences report shows consecutive absences by absence code for students who have
at least the minimum number of consecutive absences specified. Also, the report shows the dates of
the first and last consecutive absences.

Activity 2 Run the Weekly Attendance Summary Report

Run a weekly attendance report for one teacher.
1. On the main menu, click System Reports > Weekly Attendance Summary (Meeting)
2. For Weeks, choose the current week
3. For Teachers, select the name of one teacher
4. Leave Period(s) fields clear
5. For Absent, enter P,S,I,O,V,F

6. For Unexcused, enter A,U,X

7. For Tardy, enter T,TE
8. For Audit Students, choose Ever in Class
9. Check Include Verification Line
10. Click Submit
11. If necessary, click Refresh
12. When the status is Completed, click View
13. Click the Back button on your browser to return to PowerSchool

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Activity 3 Run the Attendance Count Report

Now practice running the Attendance Count Report.
1. On the main menu, click System Reports > Attendance Count
2. Choose an attendance mode
3. Include all students in the report
4. For Grades, check either 10 or 11
5. For Attendance Codes, press and hold Control (PC) or Command (Mac), and select A
(Absent), U (Unexcused), and X (Truant)
6. For Begin Date and Ending Date, enter 6/1/2012 and 6/30/2012

7. Leave Period(s) fields clear

8. For Minimum Number of Total Occurrences, enter 5
9. Click Submit
10. If necessary, click Refresh
11. When the status is Completed, click View
12. Choose a student from the list, and enter his/her name here (you will use this student in
another activity): _______________________________

Understanding the Overall Attendance Picture

Use PowerSchool reports to gain an understanding of the condition of your schools overall attendance.
Before you submit state reports, run one or more of the following reports to conduct an internal audit
of your schools attendance records. Decide which report or reports fit your needs. For examples of
the reports, refer to Appendix B.

Attendance Summary by Grade

The Attendance Summary by Grade report shows the total number of students (for each grade level)
at the beginning of the reporting period, the number of students gained or lost, and the total number
of students at the end of the reporting period. In addition, the report summarizes ADA (Average Daily
Attendance) for each grade level. Specify the reporting period by either choosing a reporting segment
or by entering the beginning and ending dates. Also, use this report to view the same attendance
information for special programs in your school, such as Gifted and Talented or Special Education.

Student Attendance Audit

The Student Attendance Audit generates a student roster with the daily attendance value and the total
attendance and membership for a certain date range. In addition, the report shows the number of
days a student was enrolled. Use this report to audit daily attendance values and the total attendance
and membership for a certain date range.

Class Attendance Audit

The Class Attendance Audit generates a section-specific attendance roster for meeting-attendance
schools. The report shows membership and totals for a certain date range. Run the report for
vocational classes only if your school reports attendance for state-funded vocational programs. Note
that teachers can access this report through PowerTeacher.

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Monthly Student Attendance

Use the Monthly Student Attendance report to generate a student roster (by grade level) that shows
the days that students were present, absent, or not enrolled during a certain month. By grade level,
view summaries of the total number of students at the beginning of the month, the number of
students gained or lost, and the total number of students at the end of the month.

Year-to-Date Attendance Summary

The Year-to-Date Attendance Summary shows (for each grade level) the total number of membership
days, the number of calendar days, and the ADA for each reporting segment for your school. To use
this report, you must have Reporting Segments set up. For information about your schools reporting
segments, contact your PowerSchool system administrator.

Activity 4 Run the Student Attendance Audit Report

Run the Student Attendance Audit report for one grade level.
1. On the main menu, click System Reports > Student Attendance Audit
2. For Attendance Mode and Attendance Conversion, choose Use Defaults
3. Include all students in the report
4. Select a single grade level
5. Select Begin Date and Ending Date, and enter 6/1/2012 and 6/30/2012
6. Click Submit
7. If necessary, click Refresh
8. When the status is Completed, click View

Average Daily Attendance and Average Daily Membership (ADA/ADM)

Reports
Average Daily Attendance, or ADA, is the average number of days that a student attended school
during a certain period of time. Average Daily Membership, or ADM, is the average number of days
that a student was enrolled during a certain period of time. ADA is the mean of the daily attendance
value. Daily attendance is based on attendance calculations set up at your school using the following:
Student attendance records
Student FTE (Full Time Equivalency)
School bell schedule
State agencies require some type of attendance and membership information. Use the ADA/ADM
reports to view your schools overall attendance before you submit state reports. In addition, use
these reports to troubleshoot discrepancies. If you notice a discrepancy, use your schools attendance
calculation and associated variables to find the problem.
PowerSchool includes these built-in ADA/ADM reports:
ADA/ADM by Date The total number of students who attend school each day versus the
total number of students who are enrolled each day, for a certain date range
ADA/ADM by Student The total number of days attended versus the total number of days
enrolled for each student, for a certain date range
ADA/ADM by Minute The total minutes attended versus the total minutes enrolled,
aggregated for all students, for a certain date range
For examples of these reports, refer to Appendix B.

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Activity 5 Run the ADA/ADM by Student Report

Now run the ADA/ADM by Student report.
1. On the main menu, click System Reports > ADA/ADM by Student
2. For Attendance Mode and Attendance Conversion, choose Use Defaults
3. Include all students in the report
4. Choose a single grade level
5. For Begin Date and Ending Date, enter 6/1/2012 and 6/30/2012
6. Check Include Absent Column
7. Click Submit
8. If necessary, click Refresh
9. When the status is Completed, click View

Communicating Attendance Issues

Although current attendance information is available to parents through the PowerSchool Parent
Portal, many schools mail letters home when a student has significant attendance problems.

Report Templates
Create attendance letters using the Form Letter or Report Card templates in PowerSchool. In addition,
import reports that other PowerSchool users created, and modify them to suit your needs. A great
source for custom reports is the Download Center in PowerSource. To access the Download Center, log
in to PowerSource (http://powersource.pearsonschoolsystems.com) and click Community >
Download Center.
PowerSchool reports that you export to share with other users are in .pst format. After you locate and
download the report you want, import the report into your school districts PowerSchool database.

Activity 6 Import a Report Template

Import a report template to add a new attendance letter.
1. On the main menu, click System > Import Report Template
2. From the menu, choose the appropriate character set for your computers operating system
3. Browse to select the file
4. Navigate to the template in the PSU activity files titled Attendance_Letter.pst, and click Open
(PC) or Choose (Mac)
5. Click Import when directed by the trainer
6. Return to the Start Page, and click System Reports > Setup > Report Cards
7. Select your imported attendance letter report as directed by the trainer
8. In the Template Name field, add your initials to the name of the report; for example
Attendance Letter EC

9. Click Submit

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Attendance Data Access Tags

Use attendance data access tags (DATs) on form letters, report cards, and object reports. These tags
add current student attendance information.
Some common attendance DATs include:
Membership Days ^(*DM)

Days Attended ^(*DA)

Days Absent ^(*DABS)

PowerSchool returns attendance data based on the Years & Terms setup. Specify which terms
attendance totals you want by adding the term abbreviation to the data access tag. For example, to
print the total number of a students daily absences for the first quarter, enter ^(*DABS;Q1) in your
report. If you dont have quarters set up on your Years & Terms page, enter the quarter start and end
dates using this format ^(*DABS;MM/DD/YY;MM/DD/YY). DATs are not case-sensitive.
Or, format the code to generate attendance totals for the term selected in the navigation bar. For
example, to reformat the code from the previous example, enter ^(*DABS;^(termabbr)).

Perfect Attendance
Many schools recognize students who have perfect attendance. Some schools even create a perfect
attendance certificate and print the certificates right from PowerSchool. When you search for students
with perfect attendance, students who meet the criteria become your current selection.

Activity 7 Use Attendance Data Access Tags in a Letter

Your new letter is in place. Now insert data access tags to get attendance data.
1. On the main menu, click System Reports > Setup > Report Cards
2. Select your attendance letter
3. Click Heading
4. In your letter, replace the text in parentheses(insert DM code here), (insert DA code here),
and (insert DABS code here)with the appropriate data access tags

Your completed Report Card Heading field should look like this:

<center><b>^(schoolname)</b>
^([39]schooladdress)
^([39]schoolcity), ^([39]schoolstate) ^([39]schoolzip)
^([39]schoolphone)</center>

<hr>
^[letter.date]

To the Parents of:

^(first_name) ^(last_name)
^(mailing_street)
^(mailing_city), ^(mailing_state) ^(mailing_zip)

Dear Parent:

Attendance is an essential component to a student's academic success. Often,

the number of days that students are absent accumulates without parents
realizing how many days have been missed. According to our records,
^(first_name) has been enrolled ^(*DM;S1) days this term, and has attended

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^(*DA;S1) of those days.

This letter is to inform you that ^(first_name) has accumulated ^(*DABS;S1)

days of absences during the ^(termname) term. At this time, you and
^(first_name) have an opportunity to work towards improving attendance without
further intervention.

Below is a summary of ^(first_name)'s class schedule that includes the number

of absences and tardies in each class.
<br>
5. Click Submit and return to the Start Page
6. Search for the student you identified in Activity 3
7. Click Print A Report
8. For Which report, choose your attendance letter and click Submit
9. If necessary, click Refresh
10. When the status is Completed, click View

Activity 8 Search for Students with Perfect Attendance

Find students with perfect attendance for the month of June.
1. On the Start Page, click a grade level in the Browse Students area
2. Choose Search For Perfect Attendance
3. For Students, select The selected X students
4. For Date range to scan, enter 6/1/2012 6/30/2012
5. For Disregard these codes when searching, enter T,TE,S,F

6. Click Submit
7. Click the current selection
8. Select a student, and verify his or her June attendance

Using Attendance Tracking & Notification

Use the Attendance Tracking & Notification reports to identify students who have reached the pre-set
attendance thresholds. To learn more about how to set up Attendance Tracking & Notification, take
the Attendance Administration class.
1. Refresh the attendance data

The attendance tracking data is not calculated automatically. First, refresh the attendance
data. Refresh data at the district level, not the school level. Navigate to the District Office, and
click System Reports > Refresh Attendance Tracking Data. Click Submit to start the
refresh.
2. Verify that the attendance data is correct for each student

Determine who has reached each threshold for each level. Navigate to a school, and click
System Reports > Truancy and Attendance Letters (View Only) to check the attendance
data. Choose an extraction type, a level name, and a trigger. The report lists students who hit
the trigger and the date they hit the trigger, as well as the dates absent. Review the list to
confirm that the right students are listed. For example, a student may be listed whose
absences should have been changed to excused. Use the list to verify that an excused student
is not listed. At the bottom of the list, click Set as current selection to work with the list of
students and make corrections. Repeat for each level and trigger.

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3. Run the extract

The report setup for the extract is the same as for the View Only. Click System Reports >
Truancy and Attendance Letters (Extract). When the report status is Completed, click
View to see the list of students.
4. Click ReportWorks to save the selection and to print a letter

At the bottom of the report is a link to open the ReportWorks reports available at your school.
Select Truancy Letter. If you dont see the letter, contact your ReportWorks developer to
publish it. To learn more about using ReportWorks, take the ReportWorks: Introduction class.
To see which students reached certain levels, use the Truancy and Attendance - Levels Reached
report.

Key Points
Absentee report Run daily
Consecutive Absences report Shows missed classes
ADA/ADM reports Submit for state reporting
Report templates Import attendance reports that other schools created
Attendance DATs Add to a form letter to notify parents
Search by Grades/Attendance Find students with attendance problems
Additional information about DATs is available on PowerSource at
http://powersource.pearsonschoolsystems.com.

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