This document discusses attendance management systems and the use of electronic attendance reporting (eAR) in New Zealand schools. It provides details on eAR implementations, benefits for schools, students, caregivers and the Ministry of Education. Key points include increased communication between schools and caregivers, faster identification of truancy patterns, improved attendance rates and student engagement, and a reduction in unjustified absences nationally. Challenges to eAR adoption like lack of teacher buy-in and infrastructure issues are also examined. Definitions of attendance codes and reporting metrics are provided.

1. SMS Services – Tauranga Seminar
Attendance management
LMS & ePortfolios
28 October 2010

2. SRT
Online systems/LMS/Parent portals
Identity and access management (single sign-on)
ePortfolios
Attendance management
Reusable and portable content
ENROL integration
Assessment (including National Standards)
National standards moderation
Behaviour management
SMS Key work strands

3. The SMS market share (July 2010)
Musac Kamar PCSchool Musac Kamar PCSchool
2005 2010
Sec 9—15
(236)
173
73%
12
5%
1
0%
87
37%
126
53%
11
5%
Sec 7—15
(103)
77
75%
4
4%
0
0%
50
49%
39
38%
7
7%
Intermed
(123)
94 1 0 64 5 0
Composite
(147)
68 3 2 46 32 2

4. SMS market share by students
% market share by students in schools having
students in
Years 1—8 Years 9—15
MUSAC 45.5 35.4
KAMAR 3.6 50.9
eTAP 24.9 0.6
PCSchool 1.0 6.1
Schoolmaster 18.8 0.1
Synergetic 0.8 2.9

5. Attendance code explanations changes 2011
• More examples are provided of when to use each code
• Supervised study is treated like any other timetabled period
• Unsupervised study (at school) and sitting exams will be calculated as
present for ½ day summaries
• Updated details are provided around school closures, attendance and the
impact on the length of the school year
• paid union meetings
• emergencies – fire, flood, epidemic, earthquake
• strike
• Changes will also be introduced in 2012 that will include code changes
and additional statistical reports

6. Attendance anomalies & questions
1. Strikes and rolling strikes
2. Start and end-of-year dates are different for different year levels
3. Exam leave, unsupervised study, on and off-site
4. Sitting exams
5. School-organised overseas trips
6. Overseas holidays and internal New Zealand holidays
7. Principal discretion
8. Intermittent unjustified
9. Unjustified Vs unexplained

7. eAR and early notification uptake
Early Notification Intermediate, Composite, and Secondary Schools
School Links 96
TxtStream 55
MGM 34
Approved for eAR
Composite 65
Secondary 300
Intermediate 40
Primary 700

8. Why is the take-up so slow?
Some possible reasons:
a. Schools not ready – their process needs reviewed
b. Too many classrooms without network availability
c. Specialist teachers don’t have laptops in the classroom
d. Schools believe they already have attendance well managed
e. They know it’s not good and don’t want it confirmed

9. Some answers and their real meaning
• schools are busy places – I don’t want to think about it
• what we do now is meeting our needs – I have no idea if truancy is a
problem
• kids that truant have parents that don’t care – our classes are better off
without these kids
• some parents have no cell phone contact – that’s my story and I’m
sticking to it
• we won’t be able to afford it after the MoE funding ceases – I just don’t
see it as a priority
• my senior staff don’t think truancy is an issue – EN may provide
information I don’t want to know
• teachers are very busy people – we have trouble getting our teachers to
complete their attendance requirements

10. EN requires rigorous attendance management
To send messages to caregivers alerting them of their child’s unexplained
absence requires confidence in the:
• accuracy of the data
• timeliness of the data
• completeness of the data
• process to maintain frequent contact changes of people and numbers
• accuracy of the relationships between student and receiver of message

11. EN requires rigorous attendance management
To have confidence in the information requires:
• process efficiency and completeness
• top-down direction and support
• rapid follow up for staff who have not completed their collection on
time
• a process that includes relievers
• a process that allows for teachers with and without access to the
computer network
• procedures that are well known and consistently followed
• a policy and process both communicated to and supported by the
community
• students that are aware of the consequences of absence and lateness
• a high expectation of attendance as the norm

12. Does EN reduce truancy?

13. National attendance figures

14. National attendance figures

15. National attendance figures

16. EN trial – should it be continued?
• Evaluation of EN trial – we want to convince the Ministry that EN funding should
be continued
• What measurements would be convincing?
• What do schools like about EN?

17. EN – School benefits
• The school’s administrative burden is reduced, particularly for form teachers
• Increased, and better communication between the parents and school and also
within the home
• Parents encouraged to proactively contact the school when their child is going to
be away or late
• The norm becomes pre-emptive notification including lateness
• The school discharges its responsibility and professional obligation to inform
parents of their child’s absence in a timely manner
• Increased understanding of why students are absent
• Faster and clearer identification of absence patterns
• Better understanding of patterns and family dynamics
• A clear audit trail exists
• Percentage of students contributing to absence decreases

18. EN: School benefits
• Unjustified absences and ratio of unjustified absences to overall absence are
reduced
• Instances of lateness are reduced
• Attendance rates are increased
• Improved accuracy of roll data
• Accountability of teachers
• Students are engaged and tracking themselves
• Better analysis of the data, e.g. school-specific absence targets or like-school
comparisons, not just comparing themselves to the national average of
unjustified absences
• Understanding of the relationship between attendance and achievement
• Continued funding (hopefully an indication from the Minister than EN will
continue to be funded)

19. EN: Ministry benefits
• The national rate of unjustified absences is reduced, particularly for groups over-
represented in the statistics (Maori and Pasifika students)
• A community understanding of – “every day counts” and “it’s not ok to be away”
• The national level of student engagement and achievement is increased
• An understanding evolves about the benefits of EN and we can measure the
difference in attendance and engagement in New Zealand schools
• A better understanding of attendance trends
• Consistent use of absence codes for all schools in order to measure and compare
attendance rates in similar schools
• Better attendance management processes
• Improvement in the national attendance average
• Extend the availability of EN
• Setting good patterns of attendance and punctuality at a younger age

20. eAR: Community benefits
• Not all truants become involved in youth crime but virtually all participants in
youth crime were serious truants!
• Truancy in our community is reduced
• Shoplifting and overall crime rates are reduced
• Safety in our community is improved (both reality and perception)
• We have a more cohesive community

21. EN: Caregiver benefits
• Peace of mind re my child’s safety and attendance (my child is where I think
he/she is)
• I receive timely and accurate information about my child
• I know that the school cares about my child
• Contact with the school is not threatening or intimidating (especially important
for ESOL parents)
• I am informed about my child’s absence but not interrupted (texting is less
intrusive than a phone call if I am at work or in a meeting)
• I am encouraged to be proactive

22. EN: Student benefits
• Knowing my parents and school care about me
• No false positives (i.e. the system doesn’t text my parent to say I’m absent when
I’m actually in class)
• I have a reason to resist peer pressure to be truant (the school is going find out
and tell my parents)
• I don’t become a “truant” and am not drawn into youth crime
• I am being prepared for adulthood by learning self management, punctuality and
responsibility for my own actions

23. eAR: What questions can eAR answer?
1. How many students are away part of or all of any day?
2. What percentage of the absences are unjustified?
3. What year levels have the highest rate of unjustified absences?
4. What period and what days are rates higher?
5. What percentage of the students contribute most to overall non attendance?
6. What are the most common reasons for justified absence when the student is
not sick?
7. What percentage of U is from E and what percentage from T (or ?)?
8. Ratio of U to total absence
9. What percentage of students attend 100% of the required time? – is there a
reward?

24. eAR: What questions can eAR answer?
10. Does any subject or department have lower rates of attendance than any
other?
11. Does the result of #10 mean you should examine the class attendance rates for
particular staff?
12. Is there a gender variation?
13. Do you have a high or low tolerance of lateness?
14. Have you got any data to look at the influence of attendance and achievement?
• Eg credits missed against periods of attendance missed – total course or
subject by subject

25. Definitions of terms
a) 2 accumulated hours of attendance during the day = one ½ day
b) 4 accumulated hours of attendance during the day = two ½ days
c) At least 1 hour but less than 2 hours of U = an intermittent absence (note that
(b) and (c) can both occur in one day. The system prioritises (c).
d) 2 or more hours of U is a ½ day and 4 or more hours is two ½ days absence
e) Justified absences contributing to ½ day absences: M, J, X, O, U
f) Unjustified absences contributing to ½ day absences: ?, E, T
g) Total absence is the sum of (e) and (f)
h) Attendance is (100 – total absence)%.

26. Definitions of terms
i) Note that students can be counted as present for ½ day calculations but not be
present in their regular class. Codes where this applies: S, D, I, N, Q, W, R, K, A,
Y, F, H, C
j) For secondary schools the SMS can calculate attendance rates by ½ day or by
period
k) The old attendance survey looked at a student’s attendance during the day and
rated each day with a single code: I, U, J, P
l) For example attendance for a 5 period day of:
• P P P P P would generate a day’s code of P
• P P P ? P would generate a day’s code of I
• E E P P P would generate a day’s code of U
• M P P P P would generate a day’s code of J
i) Note that the day codes are quite independent from the school codes.

27. Data extract
• With more than 1100 schools approved for eAR we expect most schools in next
year’s data survey to provide an electronic file to the Ministry
• All SMS can provide a data extract between selectable dates
• The data includes the school name and number; and
• School attendance codes for every period as well as the time duration of the
period
• It also provides student id, gender, ethnicity and year level
• Schools with an in-house database guru (or possibly Excel) can extract any
combination of statistics they want
• It does not hold subject data however

28. LMS market share
Intermed Composite 7—15 9—15
Moodle 3 9 20 61
Ultranet 16 3 15 35
KnowledgeNet 21 7 11 27
My Classes 2 3 8 10
First Class 1 1 3 6
Scholaris 0 1 1 3

29. What holds it all together – the MLE
• An MLE can loosely be described as:
“Software tools and digital content that support learning”
• An MLE comprises many modules
• Consider joining the MLE Reference Group to learn more

30. An MLE – 3 views

31. An MLE
5 of 8
Curriculum & Pedagogy
National curriculum
School curriculum inc. lesson plans (school, subject,
teacher)
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
ePortfolios (record of learning)
Course Management Systems
Assessment tools
Planning tools
Communication
Blogs
Podcasts
Chatrooms
Noticeboards
Social networking
Discussion threads
Audio conferencing
Administration
Student Management Systems (SMS)
Student Record Transfer (SMS-SMS data exchange)
NCEA returns
Calendaring
Timetabling
eReturns
ENROL
Resources
TKI
Websites
Wikis
Digital Learning Objects
Library Management Systems
Content Management Systems
Authoring/publishing/editing tools
Enabling Services
Identification /
authentication National
Student Index
Parental portal
Transport mechanisms
Metadata schema
Interoperability standards
Specifications
Shared content

32. The same thing as a wiring diagram
5 of 8
SMS
ENROLENROL
Student
record
transfer
Student
record
transfer
e-asTTle
PAT
e-asTTle
PAT
Early
notification
Early
notification
eReturnseReturns
Library
system
Library
system
Metadata
searching
Metadata
searching
Web mailWeb mail
Digital
content
stores
Digital
content
stores
IdP
Content
Authoring
Tools
Content
Authoring
Tools
NSINSI
SMS -
directory
integration eportfolioeportfolio
LMS
Parent
portal
Parent
portal
Online
office
suites
Online
office
suites
National
Standards
National
Standards
Electronic
attendance
registers
Electronic
attendance
registers
ENROL
integration
IAM
Reusable and portable contentAssessment support
Attendance support
Authentication flows (existing)
Data flows (existing) Data flows (proposed)
Authentication flows (proposed)

33. Online systems/LMS/Parent portals
•Uptake subsidies now available for many schools
•Working with eTAP, Edtech (Ultranet), Dataview
(KnowledgeNET and Moodle)
•Rapid over-subscription of primary quota but secondary okay
•Intention is to assist 200-300 schools per year
•Check out the SMS-LMS group to learn more

34. ePortfolios
We are currently developing guidelines to ePortfolios – the scope
includes:
1. helpful information about the evolution of digital portfolios
2. information about what they are, what they contain and how
they are used
3. details of their distinguishing features and advantages
4. evidence of why ePortfolios are described as an approach to
teaching and learning
5. their educational benefits and outcomes
6. the relationship between digital portfolios and learning
management systems
7. information about their relevance for staff as well as students

35. ePortfolios
8. the infrastructure and hardware requirements to implement
9. information about the associated pedagogical shift
10.what to be aware of and look out for
11.a strategy for implementing ePortfolios
12.the details of the common systems (and what they include)
available in New Zealand
13.profiles of a number of schools’ implementation processes,
pathways and key learning lessons
14.appendices with some relevant international research
15.a list of frequently asked questions

36. ePortfolios
• We are undertaking research as to what needs to be done to
ensure better interoperability between common LMS and
MyPortfolio
• The providers of LMS that include an ePortfolio are clear about
our position
• At this stage we are quite comfortable with MyPortfolio down
to level 7
• We are funding improvements in usability
• Taster sessions being offered

37. ePortfolios – some definitions
• an ePortfolio is a type of online working environment, or
learning journey that can house or has access to many digital
artefacts and resources in various media formats.
• The artefacts can include goals, reflections, feedback, evidence
of activities, assessment etc.
• The artefacts can be combined in various ways to produce
different ‘views’ for specific audiences, the ePortfolio is
controlled (owned) by the student.
• A view may contain, for example, relevant evidence of a
person's learning progression, competencies and achievement.
There is no one correct model, approach,
or definition of an ePortfolio

38. ePortfolios – some definitions
• For better understanding it is also necessary to think of the use
of an ePortfolio as an approach, or method, or support
structure to teaching and learning.
• That is, an ePortfolio is both a quantifiable thing and at the
same time, a process.
• The use of digital media enables students to record and collect
digitised artefacts including text, audio, video, and multimedia
that represent their ideas, learning experiences, expressions
and reflections.
• The power of the ePortfolio comes from the process – the
interaction between students, peers and teachers as the specific
views evolve and the student’s learning is created, shaped,
expressed, and owned.

39. Collect, Select, Reflect, Publish
• What tools can you use – some common New Zealand examples?
• Commercial
• KnowledgeNet
• UltraNet
• Web 2.0
• Blogs, wikis
• Open Source
• MyPortfolio (Mahara)
• Google Aps
• Blended

40. Reflection – what’s the big deal?
It encourages:
• both independent and collaborative learning
• connections between all strands of learning
• user rationalisation of the ePortfolio’s contents to show how
learning has occurred
• goal setting and time skills
• self-thought about one’s own learning – what has been achieved –
how to improve it
• an understanding that learning is self-determined and controlled
• analysing our past experience and applying it in future activities
• planning of where to and what next