Attendance Tracking and Notification Setup

Washington state reports use ATN for the Unexcused Absences and CEDARS Student Absence File N reports to calculate Unexcused Absences. PowerSchool has provided “seeded” ATN definitions for Washington, meaning the basic ATN setup is complete and districts need to verify the setup.

At the district office, follow these steps to verify the setup:

1. Start Page > District Setup > Attendance Tracking and Notification > Attendance Tracking Methods

1. Check Tracking Methods. One Tracking Method must exist with a name of Percent, and having a Threshold of 50.
2. If Percent does not exist, then create the Percent Tracking Method using the New button. Set the Threshold to 50.
    

• Start Page > District Setup > Attendance Tracking and Notification > Unexcused Tracking Levels

1. Check Unexcused Levels. One Unexcused Level must exist for Unexcused Absences; the seeded value is a level named Unexcused.
2. Check the Unexcused Level values (click the Unexcused link). The Tracking Method must be Percent and Trigger 1 is usually set to a value of 1.
3. If an Unexcused Level does not exist, then create an Unexcused Level using the New button. Set the Tracking Method to Percent and Trigger 1 to a value of 1.

At each school, follow these steps to verify the setup:

1. Start Page > School Setup > Attendance Code Categories

1. Verify a Category named Unexcused exists.
2. If Unexcused does not exist, then create the Unexcused Attendance Code Category using the New button.
   Note: The name Unexcused is not required, but the name chosen is used later with Attendance Codes and Unexcused Tracking Categories.
    

• Start Page > School Setup > Attendance Codes
  
  1. Check each Attendance Code that should be counted as an unexcused absence.
  2. Verify that the box for the Unexcused Attendance Code Category is checked.
     Note: It is recommended to verify each Attendance Code so only the correct attendance codes are marked as Unexcused.
     
     
• Start Page > School Setup > Attendance Tracking and Notification > Attendance Mode
  
  1. Verify the correct Tracking Mode is defined for the school.
  2. If the Tracking Mode is incorrect, click the link and delete the record.
  3. Create the correct Tracking Mode using the New button and selecting the correct Attendance Mode Value.
     
     
• Start Page > School Setup > Attendance Tracking and Notification > Unexcused Tracking Categories
  
  1. Verify the Att Category is the Attendance Code Category set in step 1, usually Unexcused.
  2. Verify the Status is Absent.
  3. If the Att Category or Status is incorrect, click the link and delete the record.
  4. Create a new Tracking Category using the New button and selecting the Attendance Code Category to be used for Unexcused. Set the status to Absent.

After the district and school setups are verified, take the following steps:

1. Optional: Start Page > Special Functions > Attendance Functions > Refresh Premier Attendance Views Data
   
   This function is required when you want to include attendance values for the current day in ATN calculations. The Refresh Attendance Views Data report runs as part of the nightly process, so attendance throughout the school year is included in the view. This report is optional and is used to include today’s attendance in calculations
   Note: It is recommended this report be run from the district office if the state reports will be run district-wide.
    
2. Start Page > Reports > System Reports > Refresh Attendance Tracking Data Report.
   
   This report refreshes attendance tracking and notification records in the PowerSchool database.
   Note: You must run this report from the district office.
    
3. State Page > Reports > Reports (State Reports)
   
   The Unexcused Absences and CEDARS Student Absence File N reports contain an Unexcused Absence count for students who have been absent more than 50% of their school day.
   Note: For additional guidance, review the ATN Cheat Sheet.