Build Attendance Works - School Attendance Tracking Tool - Student Data Grid

Purpose

The School Attendance Tracking Tool Student Data Grids are designed to enable district staff to quickly assemble and configure the necessary data for the School Attendance Tracking Tool templates by Attendance Works.

Administrators can send the data to those needing it, who can then easily format it for the template, following these directions.

What You’ll Need

Access to School Data (SDS) Student Data Grids

• If you do not have access contact your Homeroom Data Administrator

A copy of Attendance Works School Attendance Tracking Tools
     (attached to this article)

• School Attendance Tracking Tools – ES (K-5)
• School Attendance Tracking Tools – MS (6-8)
• School Attendance Tracking Tools – HS (9-12)

Add Elementary School Attendance Tracking Tool Student Data Grid
From Homeroom, click on the grid in the top right corner of the screen and click the Student Data Grids icon.

• Click Create New Data Grids
• Name: ‘School Attendance Tracking Tool – ES’
• Click the arrow next to the Save button and choose ‘Save & Continue’

Column Configuration

This brings you to the Columns tab where we configure the various columns of the Data Grid. We’ll be using the following data column configurations:

Student: Name, Family Address	Formula: Custom Formula
Enrollments: Current Grade Level	Services: Services
Demographics: Gender & Federal Race Code	Behaviors: Yearly Attendance & incident Counts

Column headers for Attendance Works School Attendance Tracking Tool:

Child First Name:

Find the Student Data Column, then look for ‘Name’

• Click [Configure & Add]
• Click ‘LastName, FirstName’ and choose FirstName from the drop down list
• Click Styles

In the text box to the right of Column Heading Label: type ‘Child First Name’.

• Click ‘Save’ to save the column configuration
• Click Save to save the data column

The Data Column will be displayed below the ‘Add Data Column’ section.

Follow the steps for adding Child First Name to add Child Middle Name/initial and Child Last Name.

Child Middle Name/initial:

Find the Student Data Columns, look for ‘Name’

• Click [Configure & Add]
• Click ‘LastName, FirstName’ and choose MiddleName from the drop down list
• Click Styles

In the text box to the right of Column Heading Label: type ‘Child Middle Name/initial’

• Click ‘Save’ to save the column configuration
• Click Save to save the data column

 Child Last Name:

Find the Student Data Columns, look for ‘Name’

• Click [Configure & Add]
• Click ‘LastName, FirstName’ and choose LastName from the drop down list
• Click Styles

In the text box to the right of Column Heading Label: type ‘Child Last Name’

• Click ‘Save’ to save the column configuration
• Click Save to save the data column

You should now have 3 data columns.

• Click in the ‘Sort Order’ box for column 3 – Student – LastName – 1:C and type in the number ‘1’. This will order your data grid by the students last name.
• Click Save.
• Note: It’s always a good idea to save periodically to ensure the loss of Internet connectivity doesn’t loose the most recent work done.

Grade in School:

Find the Enrollments Data Column, then look for ‘Current Grade Level’

• Click [Add]

Gender:

Find the Demographics Data Column, look for ‘Gender’

• Click [Add]

Race/ethnicity:

Find the Demographics Data Column, then look for ‘Federal Race Code

• Click [Configure & Add]

Click check box for ‘Federal Race

• Click Styles 

In the text box to the right of Column Heading Label: type ‘Race/ethnicity’.

• Click the ‘Select’ button to the right of ‘Value Mapping’

Find ‘Final Federal Race Value Mapping for Attendance Works’.

• Click the + button to the right.
  • Note: This will ensure the Homeroom Federal Race Value’s are mapped to the Federal Race values that Attendance Works needs for their template.
  • Note: If you do not see this Value Mapping, contact your School Data (Homeroom) Administrator.

Find the Column Configuration of ‘Value to display in Grid’

• Click ‘Value’ and choose ‘Mapped Value’ from the list
• Click ‘Save’ to save the column configuration
• Click Save to save the data column

Now would be a good time for one of the periodic saves so,

• Click the blue ‘Save’ button in the top right corner.

If you scroll through the data columns you can see we now have 6 of them, FirstName, MiddleName, LastName, Current Grade Level, Gender and Race/ethnicity. These are the data for the first 6 columns in the School Attendance Tracking Tool.

Zip Code:

Find the Student Data Column, then look for 'Family Address'

• Click [Configure & Add]
• Click the check box next to 'Family Zip Code'
• In the text box under Styles: type ‘Zip Code’
• Click ‘Save’ to save the column configuration

 Child has IEP?

Find the Services Data Column, then look for ‘Services’

• Click [Configure & Add]
• Click the ‘Select’ button to the right of Service:

Scroll through, or ‘search’ for the service your district uses to specify IEP.

In this instance we have chosen ‘Special Education’ by clicking the + button to the right of the Special Education service.

• Click ‘Add Services’

Under Columns to Include, click the box next to Status

• Click Styles
• Click the Select button to the right of ‘Value Mapping’

Find ‘Final Service Value Mapping for Attendance Works’ and click the + button to the right.

• Note: This will ensure the Homeroom Service Value’s are mapped to the Service values that Attendance Works needs for their template.
• Note: If you do not see this Value Mapping, contact your School Data (Homeroom) Administrator.

Find the Column Configuration of ‘Value to display in Grid’

• Click ‘Value’ and choose ‘Mapped Value’ from the list

Find Column Heading label: and type ‘Child has IEP?’ in the text box 

• Click ‘Save’ to save the column configuration
• Click Save to save the data column

English Learner?

Follow the same steps used for ‘Child has IEP?’ 

Free/Reduced Lunch?

Follow the same steps used for ‘Child has IEP?’

There are now 10 columns in the Data Grid.

• Click ‘Save’ in the top right to ensure all the data is saved.

Two more to go, unless you are creating a Middle School & High School Student Data Grid. In that case there are three more columns to configure. The extra is ‘Suspensions’. To learn how to configure that column go to the last page of this Reference Guide. It’s best to do it now, and come back to configure the last two.

Total days present

Find the Formula Data Column, ‘Custom Formula’

• Click [Configure & Add]

In the Formula text box, paste in this: =INDIRECT("L" & ROW()) - INDIRECT("M" & ROW())

This basically says, take the next two columns and subtract the number in cell M from the number in cell L.

• Note: In a MS & HS data grid, these cell numbers will be different, the Formula should this: =INDIRECT("M" & ROW()) - INDIRECT("N" & ROW()) as there is an extra ‘Suspensions’ column.
• Click Styles

In the text box to the right of Column Heading Label: type ‘Total Days Present’

• Click ‘Save’ to save the column configurations.
• Click ‘Save’ to save the data column

Total days absent

Find the Behaviors Data Column, look for ‘Daily Attendance

• Click [Configure & Add]

Under Set Time Span: check the box for Limit to current year

Type 180 in the box next to the limit to current year

This will ensure finding the attendance for the entire current school year

Under Columns to Include:

• Click the box next to Number of Days Enrolled
• Click the box next to Sum of Effective Daily Absence
• Click ‘Save’

There should now be 12 columns

Note: 13 columns for the HS & MS Student Data Grid

• Click ‘Save’ in the top right to ensure all the data is saved.

The Elementary School Attendance Tracking Tool is ready to send. For information on how to send refer to the ‘School Attendance Tracking Tool Student Data Grid Reference Guide’

To create a Middle School & High School Data Grid these same steps can be followed, adding Suspensions for 11, following these directions.

School Attendance Tracking Tool - HS & MS Data Grid

The MS & HS Data Grids vary from the ES by the Suspensions column. To add the column look for Behaviors, then ‘Incident Counts’.

• Click [Configure & Add]
• Click the ‘Select’ button next to ‘Limit to the following incident consequence types:’
• Click the + button next to ‘Expulsions’, ‘In School Suspensions’ and ‘Out of School Suspensions’
• Note: This is the SDS default configuration. The district can choose to utilize these or any other configuration they choose.
• Click ‘Add Incident Consequence Types’
• Click in the box under Styles and type ‘Suspensions’
• Click Save

If you already have a School Attendance Tracking Tool – HS & MS Data Grid, you could copy that data grid and just remove the Suspension column. There is a copy button the ‘My Data Grid’ screen, and if you’ve read through these notes you should have enough information to remove a single column.

 

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For information on building Risk Indicators with Attendance Works risk thresholds read this article.