Attendance in Online and Blended Learning Environments

Online and Blended Learning Attendance 

Tracking attendance at a school with blended or virtual options presents unique challenges. Districts have the flexibility to define attendance in local policy. Furthermore, districts are strongly encouraged to have a separate local attendance policy for virtual or blended course offerings, if applicable, which may use nontraditional data, such as course progress, engagement, synchronous instructional time, system activity, student logs, etc. to create an equivalency that can meet the rules of traditional reporting. Districts will also want to consult with their student information system (SIS) provider to confirm that the attendance policy can be supported by their SIS.

Following are examples of how districts may define and track attendance in a virtual or blended setting:

1. The district has a policy that defines attendance in an online setting at the course level. In any given week, a student completing an assignment for a course is considered to have 100% attendance for that course for that week. If the student partially completes the assignment the student would have partial attendance for the week. A school may enter daily attendance for the student throughout the week, correcting any entries at the end of the week, depending on how many assignments were completed.
2. The district has a policy that defines attendance in an online setting in terms of 2-way communication per course. A student receiving and responding to communication from a teacher in a course is considered to be in attendance for that week, for that course. Students not responding in the defined time period would be marked absent for the week for the course.

As a reminder, districts with virtual and blended options for students must be responsible for creating and maintaining attendance records for students. Districts cannot ask parents to maintain or provide data for attendance or grading. In addition, districts are encouraged to connect attendance expectations to district policy related to truancy. The following language is used by several districts in the state:

Students not meeting the minimum attendance requirement for any course, (or combination of courses if enrolled in more than one course) for part or all of 5 or more days in which school is held, are considered to be habitually truant and therefore in violation of Wisconsin’s Compulsory Attendance Statutes 118.15 (1) (a) that require a child attend school regularly until graduation from high school, or until the end of the semester in which he/she turns 18 years of age, or until he/she is excused from attendance by the school board.

Habitual Truancy in Online and Blended Learning

When a student is identified as habitually truant, school staff should follow procedures outlined in state statute in a culturally responsive trauma-sensitive manner. Attention must be paid to avoid practices that further punish traditionally marginalized students so that newly developed practices reduce harm and increase connection.

Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) exposure is associated with chronic school absenteeism in school-age children1. Responses to truancy should be considered through the lens of the Trauma-Sensitive Schools (TSS) values of safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. Procedures that are considered through the lens of these values will support all students. Additionally, relationships are foundational for positive conditions for learning and facilitate a student’s sense of belonging. Attention should be paid to how responses to truancy increase a student’s relationships amongst adults and peers and contribute to a sense of belonging in the school community.

Additional Resources:

• Framework and Key Concepts for Leveraging Chronic Absence During the Coronavirus Pandemic - Attendance Works

  Attendance

  • Works developed a multi-phase framework to assist educators and their partners in thinking strategically about supporting students and families. This includes planning a data-informed, restorative transition back to school; strategies for connecting with students and families; and strategies to combat chronic absence. They also have a new data framework with additional metrics, (contact, connectivity, relationships, and participation) for the purposes of establishing early warning systems and informing program and policy decisions.

• Practices Brief: Improving Student Engagement and Attendance During COVID-19 School Closures - American Institutes for Research (AIR) and Insight Policy Research

  • This brief discusses questions about whether and how attendance should be taken and measured in an online environment and highlights the importance of meaningful remote engagement that leads to learning. This includes promising practices and lessons learned through early implementation.

Cross Systems Work on Truancy Plans

At least once every 4 years, in each county, the school district administrator of the school district which contains the county seat designated under s. 59.05, or his or her designee, shall convene a committee to review and make recommendations to the school boards of all of the school districts in the county on revisions to the school districts' truancy plans under sub. (4m). Specific representatives of specific agencies must be included per statute. (See WI county seat map.)

Waukesha County Example

In Waukesha County, systems staff worked together, as other counties in the state have done, and created action plans and resources. They have graciously provided us with examples you can use of a tiered system for attendance interventions and a brochure for parents about the importance of attendance (not a district or county-specific).

1 Stempel, H, Cox-Martin, M., Bronsert, M., Dickinson, L.M., & Allison, M.A. (2017).Chronic School Absenteeism and the Role of Adverse Childhood Experiences. Attendance Works. https://www.attendanceworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Attendance-Wo...