Electronic attendance system works, schools say

From...

April 27, 2000
Web posted at: 9:05 a.m. EDT (1305 GMT)

by Daniel Keegan

(IDG) -- Baltimore and Philadelphia schools using a swipe-card attendance and security system say it is a huge success.

Under the Comprehensive Attendance, Administration and Security System (CAAS), students must scan a photo identification card when entering the building. The information is then transferred into a computer that prints attendance records for each teacher. The system is used in 14 high schools in Philadelphia and eight in Baltimore.

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For every class, teachers are provided with a list that tells them which students should be there and which ones are legally excused.

The teacher then verifies the list and makes any necessary changes using a "bubble sheet" that can be scanned by a computer. The computer then uses the sheets to create a list of students who are absent or who cut class.

When a teacher is absent, the substitute is provided with the same sheet, but with a picture next to each name, so they can easily identify students.

At George Washington High School in Philadelphia, Principal Sam Karlin said the system helped improve class attendance. When the system was installed in October, there were almost 1,000 cases of individual cuts per day. Now, he said, there are about 250 cuts, done by about 80 students.

Not bad for a school with 3,000 students, Karlin said. "I think itās a wonderful success. It tracks the kids, and theyāre aware of it."

George Washington High is also piloting a component to the program that enables parents to look up their childās attendance online. The information is updated twice daily ÷ once immediately after the students enter the building and again after school ends. With the studentās seven-digit ID number and a password, a parent can see what time the student entered school and if the student skipped any classes.

The system also has an automatic calling feature that calls parents and informs them if their child is absent or cut school. In the future, Karlin said, the school might use personal digital assistants that can be used to scan studentās identifications when the student is in the hall, checking the studentās attendance records.

CASS is a product of School Technology Management Inc.

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