Nov. 11, 2015
Getting To Know Attendance In Online Education
(Provided by CalPac, Wednesday, November 11, 2015)
Students attending a traditional “brick and mortar” school know that if they physically are present at school that day, they will earn attendance credit. For students enrolled in a strictly online school, there is no physical location to attend; therefore, attendance credit is earned in a different manner.
Many online students and parents may think that if they login to their course(s) that day then they have earned attendance credit. This is because they are thinking of online schooling in the same terms as a traditional brick and mortar school. Online charter schools, otherwise known as non-classroom based independent study programs, give attendance credit based on the work that a student did that day.
A successful online student (in terms of attendance) will complete work in one or more course each school day. This means that the student must login to a course and complete a work assignment. The work completed should be something that can be printed out and shown to a teacher. For this reason, students are often asked to complete at least one quiz and/or test each school day in one or more of their courses.
Another big difference between attendance in traditional and online schooling is excused absences. In a traditional brick and mortar school, students are allowed excused absences with legitimate and documented excuses. In non-classroom based independent study programs (like CalPac), there are no excused absences. This is a rule set by the California Department of Education in which CalPac must comply with.
No excused absences means that if a student has done no work on a particular school day, then that day will be marked absent regardless of the reasons why a student was absent. This concept may be puzzling to some students and parents who feel that if a student is ill or has a family emergency to attend to that the absence should be excused. But the benefit of online courses is that students are able to work at anytime of the day and from any location in which they have computer and online access.
California Pacific Charter Schools lists their attendance policy on their Master Agreement as well as in the student handbook. CalPac also provides homeroom teachers to whom students can refer to if there is any assistance required. Students attending CalPac are encouraged to reach out to their homeroom teacher or any of their subject matter teachers anytime. Attendance is very important to the success of online students in two ways:
1. Attendance keeps students in good standing to remain enrolled
2. CalPac’s goal is for each student to be academically successful and by completing work every school day a student’s likelihood for success increases!
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Email - enroll@cal-pacs.org
