lecture hall with students at long tables and instructor in the front

Attendance Policies to Support Student Learning

Low-lift approaches to encourage student attendance

At a Glance

  • While there is evidence that attendance policies can enhance student learning in a course, they can be punitive to some students and disconnected from the goals of the course. Students with disabilities or family obligations that require occasional absences may be particularly impacted.
  • Clear attendance policies that are flexible, have a supportive tone (as opposed to punitive), and are tied to learning goals minimize students feeling surveilled or disadvantaged in the course.

Benefit and Challenges 

Recommendations 

Low-lift Methods for Tracking Attendance

Examples

References and Resources 

Benefits and Challenges of Attendance Policies

Consistent classroom presence can lead to better academic performance and improved learning outcomes by deepening student engagement and providing critical opportunities to ask questions, seek support, and collaborate with peers (Credé et al., 2010; Dey, 2018; Karnik et al., 2020). Regular attendance can especially benefit students with greater academic needs or who start off with lower performance (Ha et al., 2024). However, rigid or “mandatory” policies can disadvantage some students and shift the focus from meaningful engagement to compliance. When we apply strict attendance policies to a course, this could be to the detriment of students: 

  • With a disability or chronic illness
  • Experiencing depression or anxiety
  • With family or caregiver obligations
  • With transportation challenges
  • Experiencing poverty or food insecurity
  • Observing religious holy days

A rigid attendance policy can result in lower grades, a student failing or withdrawing from a course, increased anxiety, or even distrust within the classroom environment (Lofgren, 2025; Lamb et al., 2020). Furthermore, they can remove student autonomy (O’Brien, 2025), hindering their development of metacognition and self-directed learning skills (i.e., “learning to learn”). 

How can we, as instructors, communicate an attendance policy that is seen as less of a requirement and more integral to student learning? How can we encourage classroom presence while remaining flexible for unexpected or life emergencies, and provide space for student autonomy while still maintaining clear boundaries? 

Recommendations

  • Clearly explain to students on the first day of class—and reinforce throughout the term—why attending class matters for their learning process.
  • Consider using low-stakes active learning activities—such as brief check-in questions, live polling, or short peer discussions—for attendance grades, rather than passive roll-taking.

  • Articulate to students how attendance data helps you support them (e.g., it helps you notice patterns early and follow up with resources—not surveil students).
  • Involve students in open discussions regarding classroom expectations and attendance rules to foster buy-in and a sense of shared responsibility.
  • Utilize class time in a way that demonstrates the importance of their presence by asking for their input and contribution, integrating collaborative activities, or giving them access to resources that they couldn’t get by watching a recording of the class or getting notes from others in the class.

  • Provide all students with a set number of flexible options to excuse an absence, drop a low quiz score, or make up in-class work during office hours. This approach means students do not need to disclose personal information to their instructor, and the instructor doesn’t have to spend time deliberating about what counts as an excused absence. More information about flexible policies and reasons that Dean’s Extensions should not be the only determinant of an excused absence can be found in former Faculty Fellow Charles Bailyn’s Student Well-Being, Mental Health, and Accommodations: Guide for Yale Instructors.
  • Some instructors have experimented with an opt-in, or “student choice,” attendance policy, which has led to increased student motivation and engagement compared with a mandated policy (Cullen & Oppenheimer, 2024; Gerald & Brady, 2019).
  • Ask for and be open to student feedback about how the attendance policy is working for them. Additionally, in a pre- or early-semester survey, you can include a question about accessibility needs where students can address any concerns or challenges they might have with your attendance policy.

  • Communicate with students why you have an attendance policy, including if attendance is an expectation of a school, program, or department.
  • Be explicit about how you will implement your attendance policy. Some instructors prefer the term “participation” instead of “attendance” to strengthen the connection to learning activities, even when their main goal is to encourage attendance. This can create ambiguity, since other instructors might have a higher bar for participation grades, making it especially important to define what you mean by participation (e.g., will you grade on the quality of the work or just that they have done it?) if you choose to use this language.
  • Be clear with students about how and when they should communicate with you if they need to exceed the number of missed days that you have allotted. Give examples of the extenuating circumstances for which you will allow additional flexibility, such as long-term health challenges or family emergencies.
  • Consider how to support students who do miss class but want to stay on top of their learning (e.g., access to recorded lectures, make-up assessments, contributing to collaborative notes or discussion boards, getting access to peer/student group notes, etc.)

Low-lift Methods for Tracking Attendance

One major hurdle for any instructor considering an attendance policy is the challenge of easily and accurately tracking student attendance. There are a number of strategies and Yale technologies to help with the process.

How it works

The Ed Discussions attendance tool displays a rotating QR code or a password that can be regularly refreshed to allow students to check-in during class.

Benefits

  • By refreshing the check-in method, you minimize the possibility that students can share the QR code or password with their peers to check-in even when not present in class, enhancing accuracy even in large classes.
  • The program syncs with Canvas gradebook for easy tracking and communication.
  • Students can double-check whether they were checked in each day through Ed Discussions.
  • Ed Discussions is a tool frequently used for students to ask questions or to post responses to discussion prompts, so it may already be a tool that you and your students are already familiar with.

Drawbacks

  • Not innately linked with course learning outcomes, making it even more important to explain (and frequently reiterate) your rationale for taking attendance.
  • The easiest way to set it up in the Canvas gradebook without creating errors in syncing means that student grades will be displayed as a percentage of the total number points for the whole semester. As a result grades displayed before the end of the semester will appear to be low as attendance grades are accumulated. Communicating and reminding students of this will be important to minimize panicked emails if you sync the grades before the end of the semester.
  • After checking in, students may not feel compelled to stay in class, especially if they can access the class material through lecture recording or other methods.

How it works

PollEverywhere displays poll questions that can be used to check student understanding, ask students to make predictions, survey student opinions, in addition to many other types of questions. Students access your polls by going to your PollEverywhere site or to text, which they can get to through a QR code or by using a phone number displayed on the question. 

Benefits

  • By asking poll questions that are directly connected to your course learning objectives, it makes it easy for students to see their pedagogical benefit. 
  • While it is possible for students to access polls outside of class, since your website remains the same, they have to make sure they do so while you have the poll open. Therefore, it is a relatively accurate accounting of student attendance, but not perfect.
  • The program syncs with Canvas gradebook for easy tracking and communication.
  • Instructors can use multiple polls in a class that count toward attendance/participation grades, giving students incentive to stay for the full class session.
  • It is a program that is commonly used across the university, so students are likely familiar with it from their other courses.
  • Poll results can give you feedback on student understanding, which can inform your teaching choices in real time (e.g., how much time you want to spend on a topic, what additional resources to suggest to students, etc.).

Drawbacks

  • While students do need to answer questions during the time period when you have a poll open, it can be relatively easy for students to access the polls outside of class, making it a highly imperfect accounting of student attendance. If using for a grade, we suggest making it worth a small amount to keep it very low-stakes. 

How it works

Use products created during in-class activities as a means to take attendance or count toward the participation grade (our Classroom Assessment Techniques page provides a lot of activities that can support various course goals). If your course is small, you can input grades by hand. However, there are several technologies that can be used to collect and easily grade student work, even if students are handing in physical pieces of paper: 

  • Canvas graded survey- you can have students upload digital assignments or photo scans of their handwritten work, which can automatically be graded as complete/incomplete if you set up a Canvas New Quiz as a graded survey.
  • Gradescope- you can ask students to upload a photo scan of their handwritten work into an assignment in Gradescope, which can make it easy to give feedback, especially to a larger number of students. However, there is no method to automatically grade for completion, so you have to add grades manually for each assignment.

Benefits

  • Potentially less reliant on technology. If you like this option because you are hoping to go device-free in your classroom, consider policies that balance access needs with minimizing distractions.
  • Clear connection with attendance/participation grades and student learning outcomes.
  • A quick scan of student work can be used to inform your teaching choices in future classes (e.g., revisiting a topic where there seems to be a lot of misunderstandings).

Drawbacks

  • Potentially heavier lift to grade student attendance/participation, depending on the technique used, which can make it harder for larger class sizes to implement.

Examples of Attendance Policies

Do you have a policy regarding devices that you would like to share as an example? Please email faculty.teaching@yale.edu. We can also keep your name anonymous if you prefer.

Class attendance is an essential piece of everyone’s growth as writers. In this course, we will do many in-class writing exercises designed to help us practice the writing skills that are crucial for the major and minor assignments. All our core essays will also build upon group discussions of the readings as well. Although participation is a key portion of all these exercises, class attendance is the vital first step. Therefore, missing too many classes will influence your overall class performance in many ways.

However, I also understand that there are circumstances beyond our control, and we may occasionally need to miss classes and catch up on our own time. There are also pandemic restrictions and guidelines to consider, and it is equally essential that you take care of your own and others’ health. Therefore, I am instating the following policy for attendance this semester:

  1. You may be absent twice without explaining the reason to me; you only need to communicate with me about how to make up the work.
  2. I will approve two additional absences if you communicate with me why you will be absent along with how you will make up the work.
  3. You are excused for religious holidays, Covid-related quarantine or isolation, or occasional sporting events and school events, as per university regulations and guidelines; please communicate with me ahead of time if you know you are going to be absent! Depending on what is happening in class, I may offer Zoom access.
  4. If you need an extended absence for illness or other reasons, please communicate with me about how to handle it and keep up with the course.

Absences beyond those detailed above will begin to affect your grade as specified in the course grading policy. In all the above cases, you will be responsible for making up any missed work. If you do not, this will also affect your grade as specified in the course grading policy.

Missing up to six classes (the equivalent of three weeks) without communicating with me will result in lower grades, down to and including an F. 

References and Resources

  • Credé, M., Roch, S. G., & Kieszczynka, U. M. (2010). Class attendance in college: A meta-analytic review of the relationship of class attendance with grades and student characteristics. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 272-295.
  • Cullen, S., & Oppenheimer, D. (2024). Choosing to learn: The importance of student autonomy in higher education. Science Advances, 10(29). 
  • Dey, I. (2018). Class attendance and academic performance: A subgroup analysis. International Review of Economics Education, 28, 29–40. 
  • Gerald, J. K., & Brady, B. L. (2019, January 23). Time to make your mandatory-attendance policy optional? The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  • Ha, W., Ma, L., Cao, Y., Feng, Q., & Bu, S. (2024). The effects of class attendance on academic performance: Evidence from synchronous courses during Covid-19 at a Chinese research university. International Journal of Educational Development, 104. 
  • Karnik, A., Kishore, P., & Meraj, M. (2020). Examining the linkage between class attendance at university and academic performance in an International Branch Campus setting. Research in Comparative and International Education, 15(4). 
  • Lamb, S., Chow, C., Lindsley, J., Stevenson, A., Roussel, D., Shaffer, K., & Samuelson, W. (2020). Learning from failure: How eliminating required attendance sparked the beginning of a medical school transformation. Perspectives on Medical Education, 9(5), 314–317.
  • Lofgren, A. (2025). College students and class attendance: How poverty and illbeing affect student success through punitive attendance policies. College Teaching, 73(4), 205–213. 
  • Majewska, A. A., Anyanwoke, C., Sanchez, L., Khan, A., & Richards, R. (2026). Autonomy-supportive and controlling language in undergraduate biology syllabi. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, e0000126. 
  • Moores, E., Birdi, G. K., & Higson, H. E. (2019). Determinants of university students’ attendance. Educational Research, 61(4), 371–387. 
  • Mowreader, A. (2025). Data shows attendance improves student success. Inside Higher Ed (6-13-25). 
  • O’Brien, D. (2025). Turning up: The effect of mandatory and assessed attendance on educational experiences and student wellbeing. In Accessibility, inclusivity and diversity in education and beyond (pp. 3-16). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
  • UMass CTL (2025). How do I provide flexibility and ensure attendance?