Dashboard Metrics
Class Period Absence Rate
Background
District Dashboard Metrics
Because of the value of attendance as a key leading indicator of student performance, virtually every performance management dashboard should include a measure of student attendance or absenteeism. This need was echoed in focus groups conducted with over 2,600 Texas educators, in which student attendance was consistently named as one of three top data needs.
Primary Metric
- Class Period Absence Rate: percentage of students missing two or more class periods during the past four weeks and year to date, with comparison to the campus goal for each.
User Interface
Dashboard Example
Figure 1 shows the Class Period Absence Rate as seen on the district dashboard.
Figure 1 TSDS Class Period Absence Rate Metric
Status Definition
The Status Indicator is determined by district-specific goals which are displayed in the column for district goal. The TSDS default thresholds for each time frame is 10%.
Table 2 lists the status indicators and trend comparisons as seen on the district dashboard.
Metric Indicator | Comparisons | |||
Metric Name | Sub-metric Name | Metric Status Indicator | Trend | Campus Attainment |
Class Period Absence Rate | Last Four Weeks | Red (Percentage) = if Class Period Absence Rate is greater than or equal to district goal Green (Percentage) = if Class Period Absence Rate is less than district goal | Trend is not shown for the last four weeks | The number of campuses meeting their campus goal |
Year to Date | Red (Percentage) = if Class Period Absence Rate is greater than or equal to district goal Green (Percentage) = if Class Period Absence Rate is less than district goal | Trend is not shown for the year to date | The number of campuses meeting their campus goal | |
(a) The Value column displays the number of students that miss two or more class periods out of the total number of students.
Trends
Currently the dashboards do not support trends for this district metric. The UI supports trends, but the ETL packages have not been developed.
Trend Definition
Table 3 lists the trend indicators for the Class Period Absence metric.
Trend Indicators: Objective is to indicate Daily Attendance Rate | |||
| Up green | If the value for the current time frame is more than 5 percentage points higher than the prior time frame | |
| Unchanged | If the value for the current time frame is less than or equal to 5 percentage points higher or less than or equal to 5 percentage points lower than the prior time frame | |
| Down red | If the value for the current time frame is more than 5 percentage points lower than the prior time frame | |
The trend does not show for the first time frame as data is not available.
Delta Definition
The delta appears only in the campus list and displays the individual campus goals rather than the district goal.
Delta Indicators: Objective is to indicate Class Period Absence Rate | |||
Metric Name | Sub-metric Name | Campus Goal | Delta |
Class Period Absence Rate | Last Four Weeks | Set campus goal | Red (Percentage) = if the calculated delta is less than the campus goal Black( Percentage) = if the calculated delta is equal to or greater than the campus goal |
Year to Date | Set campus goal | Red (Percentage) = if the calculated delta is less than the campus goal Black( Percentage) = if the calculated delta is equal to or greater than the campus goal | |
Periodicity
Since class absence rate is a leading indicator of performance, best practice is to load this data on a more frequent basis, at least weekly, though there is still some benefit from loading it monthly.
Recommended Load Characteristics | |
Calendar | Throughout the school year |
Frequency of data load | Daily, Weekly, Monthly |
Latency | 4 weeks |
Interchange schema | Interchange-StudentAttendance.xsd |
Tooltips
The standard tool tips for the metric definition, column headers, and help functions display for this metric.
The following are tooltips specific to the Class Period Absence Rate metric:
- Green metric status: OK
- Red metric status: HIGH
- ' More' indicates drill down views for this metric
is ‘No change from the prior period'
is ‘Getting worse from the prior period’
is 'Getting better from the prior period'
Business Rules
The Class Period Absence Rate metric displays the percentage of students missing two or more class periods for the specified time frames:
- Last Four Weeks
- Last Eight Weeks
- Year to Date
The following additional rules apply when calculating this metric:
- Both excused and unexcused absences are counted
- A tardy or early release (if captured) is not counted as an absence
The length of each time frame is configurable and is defined by the district—typically either 6 or 9 weeks.
Data Assumptions
- Campus must record student absences at the classroom level for each specified time frame.
- Student absences are categorized (i.e., excused, unexcused).
- District sets the value that drives the campus and student status thresholds.
- The metric does not account for students missing roll call or educators not taking roll.
Computed Values
The district metric is a roll-up for the cohort of current students, at the time of last upload.
Table 6 defines how values are calculated for each time frame. The result of the calculation displays in the Status column on the district dashboard.
Metric Values | ||
Class Period Absence Rate | Last Four Weeks | Number of current students who have missed 10% or more class periods in the last four weeks / Number of students currently enrolled |
Year to Date | Number of current students who have missed 10% or more class periods in the year to date / Number of students currently enrolled | |
Data Anomalies
Footnotes
The following footnotes appear below the metric:
- Students transferring in that have not been present for a full grading period should be noted by a designated icon.
- If the school calendar changes, then adjust the denominator to reflect eligible days.
Date of Refresh
Best practice is for the date of last data refresh to appear next the metric in the following format:
- (Through April 2010)
Implementation Considerations
Late Enrollments
For late enrollment students, class period attendance data may not be available from their prior school. Because late enrollment students still enrolled in the campus are included in the cohort, the class period absence rate may be understated for the time periods when late enrollment students are not present.
Classification of Days as Non-Instructional Days
For the computation of the number of instructional days, use the total count of instructional days in a period or utilize the school calendar to identify specific instructional days for the grading period as the denominator for the percentage. The latter is a more accurate approach to calculating the metric with the caveat that this requires frequent uploading of data throughout the school year.
Types of Absences
It is important to determine what your Student Information System (SIS) captures for the absence types and absence reasons. The type of absences, also known as Attendance Event Descriptor, captured in the SIS consists of tardy, excused, or unexcused absences.
For example, TSDS default for this metric uses excused and unexcused absences. The reason for excused absences is displayed (see Drill Down section). Tardy occurrences are measured as a separate metric.
Students with No Absences
When taking roll at the classroom level, campuses typically record student absences, but do not record if a student is present in a class. The query to compute student absences needs to account for students with null attendance, which is perfect attendance.
Frequency of Uploading Data
The metric computation implementation may vary depending on the periodicity of loading the data. For example, a daily load requires that you load data for only a single day (i.e., the last instructional day). Less frequent uploads require that you load data for each day since the date of the last load.
Drill Downs
Drill Down Views
The dashboards include the option to drill down and see more detail that is associated with a metric. Table 7 lists the drill down views that are recommended for this metric.
| Campus List | List of campuses and whether or not they meet their goal for this metric for the specified period. |