Attendance and grading beyond the drop limit

My face-to-face history class meets twice a week for 30 times this semester, and I tell students in the syllabus that a fourth no-show means I will drop them from the class. However, there is a date when the only transcript option for students who get dropped is a W grade, which counts as one of their three attempts at this class. So what is the point of dropping students after that date if they can stay in the class, achieve its learning outcomes, and earn a passing grade?

I give points for attendance in the belief that presence and learning are correlated. If 70% of the points possible is required to pass the class, then at least 70% attendance is required to pass. With 1,000 points possible overall, then the attendance penalty should be greater than 300 points once the student has exceeded nine absences.

A simple progression does the trick:

• Perfect attendance = 120 points
• Four absences = -4 points each or -16 total penalty
  If the fourth absence occurs before the drop-without-notation date, I drop the student.
• The fifth absence = -8 points (-24 total penalty)
• Sixth = -16 (-40)
• Seventh = -32 (-72)
• Eighth = -64  (-136)
• Ninth = -128  (-264)
• Tenth = -256 (-520)

If a student misses class exactly nine times, the points for attendance will be -144. A tenth absence drops that to -400. Even if they earn all 87 points of extra credit, those students will have a maximum point total of 687 and therefore not pass the class.

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This also works with a class that meets once a week. In fall 2011 I awarded 10 points at each of 13 meetings and also had 1,000 total points possible in the class. Three was the limit then, but it should have been two and the attendance penalty should be greater than 300 points once the student has exceeded four absences:

• Perfect attendance = 130 points
• Three absences = -10 points each or -30 total penalty
  If the third absence occurs before the drop-without-notation date, I drop the student.
• The fourth absence = - 260 points (-290 total penalty)
• The fifth absence = -390 (-650)

If a student misses class exactly four times, the points for attendance will be -160. A fifth absence drops that to -520.