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ISBE Student Attendance file

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) collects data about student attendance in the Student Attendance file. This file can be exported from SchoolInsight based on data collected in the Attendance module and uploaded directly to the ISBE’s SIS, or it can be downloaded to the district admin’s computer and uploaded manually through your SIS account.

Before uploading or downloading the file, it should be generated at the school level. SchoolInsight will parse the data and notify you of any missing data or errors to fix them.

This article will cover multiple topics listed below:

Checking for missing data and errors

To check for missing data and errors in the ISBE Student Attendance file:

  1. Go to the school level
  2. Go to School Main > Import/Export > Export ISBE Files 
  3. Select the Student Attendance file type
  4. Choose the correct academic year and time frame
  5. If your school uses the e-learning check-in attendance option you have the option to report check-ins in the Remote Learning, E-Learning, or In-Person total days
  6. Click Preview
  7. The next page will render a row for each attendance type code per student, and the Messages column will indicate if a row is missing any information

Common student attendance errors and fixes

The Entry Date field is required

This error means that the student is missing the entry date. This is the date when this student’s enrollment started.

To fix this issue for a single student:

  1. Click the edit link below the message
  2. Select the entry date
  3. Save

To fix this issue for multiple students at the same time, you can mass edit students to assign an entry date as follows:

  1. Go to School Main > Students multi-view > Mass Edit
  2. Select an entry date
  3. Scroll down and check the checkbox next to all students you would like to update
  4. Save

The Student State ID field is required

This error happens when the student record has not yet been submitted to the ISBE via the ISBE Student Demographics/Enrollment. When this file is exported to the ISBE and you click on verify ISBE response next to it, the student state ID numbers get populated.

Student has X days with attendance codes not aligned with the state

This error is generated when one of the absent daily attendance codes used is not marked as excused or unexcused. By default there is an A - Absent attendance code that is commonly used in period attendance, but the attendance admin should review those codes daily and switch them to excused or unexcused absences in accordance with the school policy. This is an ISBE requirement as absence totals are tallied in the Absent Excused Days and Absent Unexcused Days in the ISBE Student Attendance file.

To fix this error you need to view the student’s attendance in the given period, and replace each A - Absent with an AE or AU as follows:

  1. Go to School Main > Students single-view
  2. Search for and select the student
  3. Go to the Attendance tab
  4. Scroll down until you see A - Absent and click enter attendance next to it
  5. Select AE - Absent Excused or AU - Absent Unexcused
  6. Save

If the student does not have any A - Absent codes selected, then you need to check the absent attendance codes themselves to indicate if they are set up properly.

To mark and absent attendance code as excused or unexcused:

  1. Go to Main > Attendance > Attendance Codes
  2. Look for attendance codes where type is set to absent, but the status is unknown
  3. Edit the code
  4. Set the status to excused or unexcused
  5. Save

Student is missing attendance for X days

This error indicates that the student was expected to attend school for X days, but there is no attendance code entered for them.

To fix this error you need to enter missing attendance for the student as follows:

  1. Go to School Main > Students single-view
  2. Search for and select the student
  3. Go to the Attendance tab
  4. Look for any date that has no attendance entered
  5. Click on enter attendance
  6. Select the proper attendance code
  7. Save

Student has X quarantine days missing a calendar code

This error indicates that the student has a span of time when they were self-isolated/quarantined, but there is not an appropriate calendar code for their attendance on those dates.

To correct this error, you need to enter a Default Quarantine Calendar Day code for all students on self-isolation/quarantine as follows:

  1. Go to District Main > COVID-19 Screenings > Options > Edit
  2. Select a Default Quarantine Calendar Day code
  3. Save

How to differentiate in-person, e-learning, and remote learning days total

Starting in 2020-21 Illinois schools are required to report the total number of times each student is present in these three categories as defined by the ISBE:

  1. In-Person Days: The full day or partial days represented as a decimal that the student was present. The precision will be 3 decimal points.
  2. E-Learning Days: Pursuant to state law, a school district may draft and adopt an E-Learning program within the specifications of Section 10-20.56 of the School Code. Additionally, the E-Learning plan must be verified by the applicable regional office of education or intermediate service center. As originally composed, the E-Learning law allowed districts to use an E-Learning day in lieu of an emergency day—and the number of Elearning days used cannot exceed the number of proposed emergency days on a district’s school calendar. However, amendmentatory language due to the pandemic allows a district with an E-Learning plan to use E-Learning days as its form of remote instruction if operating schools remotely. In such cases, there is not a limit to the number of E-Learning Days that may be used, provided they are being used due to the public health emergency.
  3. Remote Learning Days: If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, the State Superintendent of Education may declare a requirement to use remote learning days or blended remote learning days for a school district, multiple school districts, a region, or the entire State. During remote learning days, schools shall conduct instruction remotely. A district may meet the requirement of a remote learning day in a number of ways, provided 5 hours of instruction and school work are provided. Further, ISBE strongly recommends that 2.5 hours of the 5 hours be synchronous instruction. See 105 ILCS 5/10-30.

When a student is present, SchoolInsight checks the student’s academic calendar day code to determine which total to increment on the ISBE Student Attendance export. The table below explains how the system makes this determination:

Calendar Day Code

ISBE Student Attendance Column

X - Student Attendance Day

In-Person Days

XELD - ELearning Day

E-Learning Days

XRLD - Remote Learning Day

Remote Learning Days

To check or change any calendar day code:

  1. Go to District/School Main > Academic Calendars 
  2. Hover over the calendar and click
  3. Edit a month
  4. Select the Attendance Key Code from the dropdown menu
  5. Save

Uploading the file to the ISBE

To upload the ISBE Student Attendance to the ISBE:

  1. Go to School District Admin Main > Import/Export > ISBE Files 
  2. Click the Export ISBE Files button
  3. Choose the school or schools to include in the report
  4. Select the Student Attendance file type
  5. Choose the correct academic year and time frame
  6. If your school uses e-learning check-in attendance option you have the option to report check-ins in the Remote Learning, E-Learning, or In-Person total days.
  7. Click Preview
  8. If your data is correct, click Upload Directly to ISBE