---
title: "Track Attendance with Roll Call"
canonical: "https://servicedesk.shu.edu/space/PUBLICKBA/2544664585/Track%20Attendance%20with%20Roll%20Call"
format: markdown
---
The Attendance (Roll Call) tool is an external app used for taking attendance in Canvas courses. The Attendance tool can be enabled for all courses in Canvas, including online or face-to-face courses.
> Macro (toc)
## Setting Up Attendance in a Course
In order to use the Attendance tool, you must first add it to your course navigation.
1. Click **Settings **in the course navigation.
2. At the top of your settings page, click the **Navigation** tab.
3. Drag and drop **Attendance** from the disabled menu to the enabled navigation menu.
4. Click **Save**.
## Take Attendance
Once the attendance tool is set up in your course, and your course is published, you can start to take attendance using Roll Call. The attendance tool is set by default to allow attendance to be taken seven days a week, which is helpful for courses that may have events outside the regular school week. However, grades in the gradebook will only be calculated based on the total number of days attendance has actually been recorded.
Currently you can only view Roll Call on a day-by-day basis. To view additional dates you can [run an attendance report](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-run-Roll-Call-Attendance-reports-in-a-course/ta-p/1023) for your course.
> ℹ️ **Note: **Students do not have access to the Attendance tool; only instructors can take attendance. However, students can see the Attendance assignment on the Assignments page and view their attendance report through the Roll Call Attendance submission details. If attendance is used for grading, students can also view their attendance grade on the Grades page.
1. In Course Navigation, click the **Attendance** link.
2. By default, Roll Call displays the **List View **tab, which shows all students in a list format. To view the class in the seating chart format, click the **Class View **tab.
3. If your course includes sections, both views show a drop-down menu with the names of course section(s). To view students in a specific section, click the section drop-down menu. This menu displays even if your course only contains one section.
**Note: ***When a student is enrolled in multiple sections, any attendance that has been marked in one section does not display in all other section filters where the student is enrolled. *
4. By default, Roll Call will display the current date. You can edit attendance records for a different date by:
1. Using the **arrow** icons next to the date
2. Cicking the **Calendar** icon.
5. In List View, you can take attendance by toggling the attendance mark next to each student's name until you reach the desired mark.
1. To mark the student as present and on time, click one time (green **check mark **icon).
2. To mark the student as not present, click two times (red **X **icon).
3. To mark the student as late, click three times (orange **clock **icon).
4. To unmark the attendance status, leave the button as the default (gray **no symbol **icon). The unmarked attendance status also indicates an excused absence.
5. You can also take attendance by clicking the **Mark All Present** button.
6. If you need to start over or clear all attendance entries, click the **Unmark All **button.
6. In Class View, you can also toggle the correct mark next to each student's name (present, absent, or late), or click the **Mark All Present** button.
1. To unmark all student entries, click the **Unmark All **button.
## View Attendance
With the Attendance tool, instructors can keep track of course attendance by taking roll electronically. Your roster will automatically populate in this tool, allowing you to:
- Choose to view the tool in a list or grid format.
- Customize the placement of each student in the seating chart by dragging and dropping student names onto the seating chart layout grid.
When you take attendance using Roll Call, Canvas automatically adds Attendance as an assignment. The default point value for attendance is 100 points. To avoid Attendance calculation errors, **never delete, rename, or unpublish** the Attendance assignment.
*Note: Although students cannot view the actual attendance tool, they can still view the attendance assignment in the Assignments page. This assignment cannot be hidden from students. However, you can keep them from getting grade notifications by changing the assignment to **[Manual Grading Policy i](https://canvas.rice.edu/courses/31333/pages/using-the-grade-posting-policy)**n the Gradebook.*
## Track Attendance
The attendance status set for each student is associated with a percentage value. Statuses include present and on time, not present, late, and unmarked (excused absence).
## Graded Attendance
The Attendance tool also creates an assignment in the Gradebook and calculates attendance as a percentage of a student's grade.
### If you **do not want**** **Attendance to factor into the final grade:
1. Navigate to **Assignments **from the course navigation menu.
2. Click the **Roll Call Attendance **assignment.
3. Click **Edit Assignment Settings** on the right-hand side.
4. Choose **Do not count this assignment toward the final grade**.
5. Click **Save**.
### If you **do want**** **Attendance to factor into the final grade:
#### **View Gradebook Scores**
The Attendance Gradebook column will update every time you take roll call in the Attendance tool. In the Gradebook Attendance column, by default Canvas displays the assignment based on percentage of the point value. For instance, if the point value is 100, and roll call has been taken twice, a student with one present value (100%) and one lateness value (calculated at 80%) will have a score of 90 points, or 90%.
#### **Lateness Value**
By default, the value of being late is 80% of the present value. So if a student is late, the student will receive 80% for the day instead of the full 100%. The late value can be adjusted in Roll Call settings.
## Export Attendance Reports
At both the account and course levels, the Attendance tool allows users to create attendance reports. Within the Roll call interface, the gear icon located in the upper right corner allows you to manage roll call settings and generate attendance reports based on the parameters you input. Once generated, you may choose to print your attendance reports.
### Additional Resources
- [How do I use the Roll Call Attendance tool in a course?](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-use-the-Roll-Call-Attendance-tool-in-a-course/ta-p/1003)
- [How do I edit the Roll Call Attendance assignment?](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-edit-the-Roll-Call-Attendance-assignment/ta-p/569)
- [How do I create a roll call seating chart using the Attendance tool?](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-create-a-roll-call-seating-chart-using-the-Attendance/ta-p/1024)
- [How do I run Roll Call Attendance reports in a course?](https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Instructor-Guide/How-do-I-run-Roll-Call-Attendance-reports-in-a-course/ta-p/1023)