Attendance Collection and Reporting

2004-05 and Beyond

Attendance is face-to-face contact between a student and a teacher during which PK-12 educational services are provided. Most students receive educational services in school buildings, and these services are typically provided by district teachers during full-day school sessions. Some students participate in district supervised programs that operate on a partial-day or partial-week basis. Some district supervised programs operate off-site and may be staffed by third parties through district contract or agreement. Wisconsin school districts (ch.119 and ch.120, stats.) and nondistrict charter schools (s. 118.40(2r), stats.) are responsible for submitting actual and possible days of attendance for all students enrolled in all the above attendance situations consistent with the information provided below.

Data Element Description/Comments

Actual Days of Attendance Actual days of attendance is the total number of days (reported to the one-half day) of face-to-face instructional contact between a student and a teacher during a school term.

A student must be present for a minimum of one hour in any one-half day** to be considered in attendance for that one-half day.

If a school district has decided that a student can be present for less than one-half day (as occurs in certain pre-kindergarten/kindergarten programs) and that student is present, the actual days of attendance should be reported as 0.5.

Note that atypical situations are addressed in the ANSWERS section below.

Possible Days of Attendance The total number of days (reported to the one-half day) of face-to-face instructional contact between a student and a teacher that could occur in the school calendar established by the district.

If a student is enrolled for less than the entire school term, possible days of attendance must reflect that reduction.

If a school district has decided that a student can attend school for one-half day or less than one-half day (as occurs in certain pre-kindergarten/kindergarten programs), the possible days of attendance should be reported as 0.5.

Note that atypical situations are addressed in the ANSWERS section below.

**One-half day is one-half the clock time of a standard full day at the district providing primary educational services.

USES: Attendance will be used for multiple data reporting and accountability purposes including Wisconsin School Performance Report, ESEA Report Card, and Adequate Yearly Progress. Districts will need to record attendance data at the individual student level beginning in the 2004-05 school term and submit these data (as part of ISES) in October 2005 for each school attended during that school term. Reporting and Accountability will be by school, by grade level, and by student group. Student group, e.g. primary disability, English language proficiency level, etc., will be determined using the most current data provided for each enrollment period at each school attended. Data at all grade levels (including pre-kindergarten) are used for these purposes.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT ATTENDANCE

Time during which students are present for instruction after placement in an in-school suspension room is counted as in actual attendance time.
When services are provided pursuant to contract or agreement, the contracting district is expected to collect attendance data from third party contractors for students they serve and submit these data to DPI. Examples of third parties include technical colleges, community-based organizations, nonprofit-nonsectarian agencies, universities, school to work program providers, cooperative educational service agencies, out-of-state school districts, private schools, residential care centers, Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Wisconsin School for the Deaf, County Children with Disabilities Education Board schools, etc.
Time spent receiving district-supervised educational services off school grounds (e.g. at a library, hospital, county correctional facility, college, home, etc) is counted as actual attendance time.
If a student subject to out-of-school suspension or expulsion is receiving district-supervised educational services off school grounds, count this time as actual attendance time. Possible attendance days would be time during which these services are offered or scheduled whether or not the student is present to receive these services.
For expelled students who continue in enrollment status but who are not receiving educational services, submit zero as the actual and possible days of attendance. Permanently expelled students (with no early reinstatement conditions) have exit dates so no attendance data are collected. See also s. 118.16(1m), Wis. Stats.
Normally, attendance during summer classes is not counted in Actual Days of Attendance or Possible Days of Attendance because these classes are operated after the end of the school term. Summer classes may be operated during the school term of a year-round school, and attendance for these classes should be included in the counts of Actual and Possible Days. See definition of school term.
Very young students may receive limited educational services (such as speech and language) with possible attendance less than one hour per day. In these situations, possible days should be counted as 0.5, and, if students are present for that time period, then actual days should be counted as 0.5.