Most of that documentation describes training you design once. The part that takes longest is the record of how many hours each tutor has spent with students, because that number differs from the hours they were paid for and it only exists if you have been collecting it.

Key takeaways

• CRLA certification is the College Reading and Learning Association’s certification of a college tutor training program, awarded at three levels.
• Each level adds at least 10 hours of training on 10 or more CRLA topics and at least 25 hours of direct tutoring per tutor, along with a hiring standard and regular evaluation.
• The application asks for samples of the logs you keep of each tutor’s training and tutoring hours, and CRLA states that timesheets alone are not enough.
• A first certification lasts two years, and each renewal lasts four.

What is CRLA certification?

CRLA certification usually means the International Tutor Training Program Certification (ITTPC), which the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) awards to a tutor training program at a college or university. It certifies the program rather than the people in it. It works like the accreditation of a degree program, where an outside body reviews the program and the program then awards its own credentials.

CRLA has certified tutor training programs since 1989. It counts data for accreditation reviews and a credential tutors can put on a resume among the benefits to your institution and your tutors.

How tutors earn a CRLA certificate

The phrase CRLA tutor certification usually refers to the certificate a certified program gives its own tutors. Tutors cannot apply to CRLA themselves. They complete a certified program’s training and tutoring hours at Level 1, 2 or 3, and the program then issues their certificate from a template CRLA provides.

So when a tutor asks how to get certified, the answer is to tutor at a college whose program is certified. A tutor’s certificate never needs renewing, because it records training already completed. Your program, though, can only issue certificates within the dates its own certification covers. CRLA keeps no list of the tutors who completed certified training, so a tutor who loses a certificate has to come back to you for a copy.

ITTPC and IPTPC

ITTPC covers peer, embedded and volunteer tutors, and writing or speech consultants. Mentors, coaches and Supplemental Instruction leaders fall under a separate CRLA program with its own application, the International Peer Educator Training Program Certification (IPTPC). If your center runs Supplemental Instruction sessions for historically difficult courses, the training of the students who lead them is certified under IPTPC.

The four requirements every level shares

Every level checks how you select tutors, how you train them, how many hours they tutor and how you evaluate them. CRLA publishes the full rules and each level’s topic list on its ITTPC requirements page, along with the new and renewal application forms.

Tutor selection

Before training begins, you show that each tutor knows the subject. For every tutor, your program needs:

• a grade of A or B in the subject they will tutor, or equivalent experience you can justify
• a recommendation from someone who knows the subject, such as a former instructor or a department chair
• an interview in which you explain what the job involves.

Equivalent experience can be work experience, related coursework or a test result, as long as you explain how you judged it.

Training

Each level needs at least 10 hours of training, spread over at least 10 topics from CRLA’s list for that level, with 30 minutes or more on each. The topics come from five groups at every level (the basics of tutoring, communication, learning and study skills, ethics and equity, and electives), with a minimum number from each group. At Level 1, for example, the basics include the role of the tutor and conducting a successful session.

At least 5 of each level’s hours must be TIS (tutor-trainer led, interactive and synchronous), which means a trainer runs the session live and the tutors take part. Beyond that, the format is up to you, so workshops, a two-day retreat, a course or a series of meetings all qualify, in person or online. The remaining hours can be self-paced reading or video. Whatever the format, you record each tutor’s attendance and the time spent on each topic.

Tutoring experience

Each tutor needs at least 25 hours of direct tutoring at each level, and you track those hours tutor by tutor. Direct means time spent with students, so front-desk coverage, Supplemental Instruction sessions and planning time do not count. CRLA also states that timesheets alone are not enough to document these hours.

Evaluation

CRLA asks for an evaluation process, formal or informal, that runs regularly, is specific to each tutor and lets the tutor see the results. Each level needs at least one evaluation during its training period. CRLA recommends that the evaluation match your training goals and that a trainer or supervisor who knows those goals take part.

CRLA certification levels, hours and fees

The three levels are sequential, so each one adds at least 10 training hours, 10 topics and 25 tutoring hours to the level before it. Level 1 covers the basics, Level 2 adds metacognitive skills (how students think about their own learning) and psychosocial ones (the emotional and social side of learning), and Level 3 widens to learning center management and student development theory.

These fees have applied to new and renewal applications since January 2024 and are current in 2026. Each additional program or campus on the same certificate adds $100 for members or $150 for non-members. You do not have to join CRLA to apply, but members pay $200 less at every level.

A member center that certifies Levels 1 and 2 for its main campus and one satellite campus pays $750, which is the $650 application plus $100 for the second campus. Without membership, the same application costs $1,000. Both campuses have to select, train, track and evaluate tutors the same way, and every tutor the center certifies at Level 2 has completed at least 20 hours of training and logged at least 50 hours of direct tutoring.

Review time, validity and renewal

CRLA reviews most applications within four to six months. A first certification is valid for two years, and it counts back up to one year before its approval date for tutors who had already met the approved requirements. A renewal with the same levels, programs and campuses is valid for four years, and you renew every four years after that.

Your renewal is due by the expiration date of your current certification. You can still renew up to 180 days after expiration for an extra $100 late fee, but a longer lapse means a new application.

What the application asks you to submit

The application asks for two kinds of material, documents that describe your training and records that show training and tutoring happened. CRLA posts the application questions and sample answers from a certified program on its requirements page, so you can see the format before you start.

Training documents

For each level, you submit:

• a syllabus, schedule or set of agendas showing which sessions cover which topics, for how long, and with what methods and materials
• materials from sample training sessions, two for Level 1 and one for each higher level
• for each sample session, its plan, the slides or handouts used, the learning outcomes it serves and how you assess them, and a short annotated bibliography of its sources
• the strategies you use to keep training materials within copyright law, such as fair use or permission from the copyright holder.

Hour logs

Your program keeps two logs for every tutor at each level. The training log records the hours and topics each tutor completed. The tutoring log records each tutor’s direct hours with students, and CRLA wants to see how you collect that data and how you count it.

For the tutoring log, the application asks for a sample. You attach a tracking log for at least one tutor covering at least two weeks within the last year, plus the report that adds that tutor’s hours up over time. You redact last names and ID numbers in every log.

Each level also needs at least one sample trainee evaluation, redacted the same way. Pick one that shows the evaluation was specific to the tutor and that the tutor saw the results, since CRLA requires both.

New or renewal application

Which form you use depends on what you are asking CRLA to certify. The application for new certification covers a first certification, a return after a lapse, and any added level, program or campus. The renewal application covers only a renewal with the same levels, programs and campuses as before.

A first application has no deadline. If you plan to add a level, CRLA suggests doing it when your renewal is due, using the new-certification form, because that costs least and keeps all your levels on one timeline. The certification that results counts as new and runs for two years.

Keeping the hour records CRLA asks for

The tutoring hours requirement depends most on how your center keeps records, because CRLA wants each tutor’s time with students counted apart from the rest of their paid hours. A payroll timesheet cannot separate the two, since it only shows when a tutor clocked in and out. Your tutoring log has to record sessions instead, meaning which student met which tutor and for how long, whether tutors keep it on paper, in a spreadsheet or in tutoring center software.

Decide how you count group sessions before you start, too. An hour with three students is one hour of the tutor’s time, even if your records show three visits.

Separate tutoring time from work time

Accudemia, the academic center management software we make, keeps tutoring time and work time in separate records. Each visit signed in through Accudemia produces a session log with its start and end times and the tutor the student met. A tutor’s own clock-in and clock-out is stored separately as a work-hour log.

You can filter the visit data by tutor, down to each session and the time spent, without exporting it. A report called Tutor Activity puts one tutor’s student activity beside that tutor’s work hours, though you run it one tutor at a time. That suits the one-tutor sample the application asks for. For the rest of your tutors, you work from the visit data filtered by tutor, and you still apply your group-session rule to it. Front-desk time is already out of that data, because it sits in the work-hour log, and Supplemental Instruction attendance is tracked in a separate module with its own reports.

Training attendance and gaps to watch

Tutors can register for training workshops in Accudemia. An event sign-in station (a kiosk set up for the workshop) then records who attended, while the time spent on each topic still comes from your training schedule. The reports only cover what was recorded, though. If you run online tutoring and let students join a session from the online waiting line on their own, those visits leave no session log unless staff add one. Your syllabus, session plans and evaluations stay documents your staff write.

How three colleges keep these records

Hardin-Simmons University, a private Texas university with just under 1,700 students, runs a CRLA certified tutoring program in its Academic Center for Enrichment. The center uses Accudemia data to show it meets its certification requirements, and the same records give its tutors the session history they need for their own certificates. Our account of how Hardin-Simmons runs its certified center includes the director explaining how the data documents tutor hours for CRLA.

Slippery Rock University’s tutoring program has also earned CRLA certification. In one of our user spotlight sessions, the coordinator of its tutorial center walks through the attendance and tutor hours reports the center uses for the direct-hours requirement.

Geneva College’s Academic Support Office shows the timesheet problem in practice. Before it logged sessions in Accudemia, its tutoring record came from the payroll system, which showed how long tutors worked but not which students they met or what they covered.

If you are preparing a first CRLA application or a renewal, request an Accudemia demo and see how session logs and tutor hours reports would document your tutors’ direct hours.

Where to start

CRLA certifies training that is already running, so you design and deliver your training before you apply. The hour logs take longest to build, because they only exist once tutoring has been recorded, so begin with them even if you plan to apply next year. These steps get a first application moving:

1. Start logging each tutor’s direct tutoring hours apart from their work hours this term, since the application needs at least two weeks of logs from the last year.
2. Choose the level that matches the training you already deliver. Level 1 is the base every higher level builds on.
3. Map your current training sessions to CRLA’s topic list for that level, and count the hours a trainer leads live.
4. Gather each tutor’s hiring evidence (grades, recommendations and interview notes) in one place.
5. Decide whether to join CRLA before you apply, since members pay a lower fee.

It helps to settle those choices before the first meeting, because each one shapes the next. The coaches you can staff, for example, limit how many students you can take and how often each one can meet a coach.

Key takeaways

• Student success coaching pairs a student with a trained coach who helps them set goals, build study habits and reach campus support before problems grow.
• Coaching works on a student’s habits, time and use of campus help, while advising plans courses and degree requirements and tutoring teaches course content.
• A new program is easiest to run with one group of students, such as first-year students or students referred by faculty, who meet their coach on a set schedule.
• You can tell whether coaching works from coached students’ re-enrollment and course results, but only if each meeting leaves a note from the start.

What is student success coaching?

Student success coaching is a one-to-one, goal-centered relationship in which a trained coach helps a student build the habits, skills and connections they need to stay enrolled. Campuses also call it academic coaching or success coaching, and the staff who do it are often called academic success coaches. The coach works on what sits around the coursework, such as time, study habits and knowing where to get help.

Coaching vs. advising and tutoring

Coaching sits between two services your campus already runs, which is why the lines blur. The three usually divide the work like this:

Advisors usually carry large caseloads and spend their time on degree plans, while coaches carry smaller ones, which leaves time for the habits and the problems outside class that get in a student’s way. If your coaching will sit inside the advising office, our guide to academic advising software covers what advisors look for in a system.

Counseling is a separate service that supports mental health, so a coach sends a student in crisis to a counselor.

What does a student success coach do?

Most coaching meetings mix three kinds of work, and the balance shifts as the term goes on, from planning in the first weeks to follow-up near exams.

Goals and a plan for the term

Early meetings usually turn a general goal, such as passing every course, into a plan for the term. The coach and student go through the courses, the deadlines and how many hours are left after a job, family care or a long commute. Later meetings then have something concrete to check against.

Time management and study habits

Here a coach helps the student change what they do each week. The coach might help them block study hours around a work schedule, break a research paper into weekly pieces, or try a different way of preparing for exams. The aim is to make better use of the hours and the campus help the student already has.

Getting to the right campus office

A coach is often the person who connects a student with the rest of the campus. That might mean tutoring for a difficult course, counseling, financial aid or career services. The connection only counts if the student goes, so the coach asks at the next meeting whether they did and notes the answer.

How to set up a coaching program

A coaching program is easiest to start small, with one group of students, one meeting schedule and one meeting note that every coach uses.

Choose who you coach first

Pick one group whose needs you can describe, such as first-year students, students returning from academic probation, or students referred by faculty with a concern. Also decide whether meetings are required or optional for the group. Required meetings reach students who would not come on their own, which suits a group such as students on probation. Then size the group to the coaches you have, because follow-up is the first thing to slip when a caseload grows too large.

There is no standard caseload for coaches, so work it out from the meetings you want. Multiply the number of students by the meetings each should have in the term, then by the hours one meeting and its note take, and compare the result with the hours your coaches can give.

Decide who coaches and how you prepare them

Coaches can be full-time staff, graduate students working part-time, or trained undergraduate peers, and many programs mix them. We recommend staff coaches for students whom faculty refer for absences or failing grades, since those cases need experience. Trained peers suit a broad group such as first-year students, where reaching everyone matters more.

Name your coaches before the term starts, and train them before their first meeting on at least these points:

• The goals of the program and the students it serves.
• How to run a first meeting and build a plan with the student.
• When to send a student to counseling or another office.
• What coaches may share with faculty under FERPA, the federal law that protects student records.
• How to write the meeting note.

If your coaches are students, CRLA (the College Reading and Learning Association) certifies peer training programs, including those for peer coaches and peer mentors, through its International Peer Educator Training Program Certification (IPTPC). The first level of that certification asks for at least 10 hours of training.

Set a meeting schedule

Decide how many meetings each student should have in the term, and book each student’s first meeting for the first two weeks, before the term gets busy. Regular meetings hold a student to the plan, because a goal that nobody asks about again tends to fade. Offer meetings in person and online, leave room for a drop-in between appointments, and agree how soon a coach reaches out after a missed meeting.

Connect coaching to referrals

Faculty, advisors and tutors notice problems that a coach does not see, so agree in advance how their concerns reach a coach. Each referral should go to one named coach who contacts the student. Decide what the person who sent it hears back. That can be whether the coach reached the student, what the student agreed to do and how the referral closed, while personal details stay in the coach’s notes. Our guide to spotting at-risk students and routing faculty referrals covers how to build a referral route that faculty keep using.

Decide what each meeting records

Before the first meeting, decide what a coach writes down afterward. A short meeting note is enough, as long as it records these four things:

• What the coach and student discussed.
• What the student agreed to do.
• Any office the student was referred to.
• The date of the next meeting.

Keep the note’s questions the same for the whole term, because a note that changes halfway through splits your records into two halves that will not compare. Decide at the same time who can read the notes, since a student may tell a coach things they would not want passed to an instructor.

What your coaching system needs to do

For a pilot with one or two coaches, a shared spreadsheet and a simple form can carry the meeting notes. Once several coaches are meeting students, separate calendars and documents stop showing you who has been seen, who has not, and what was agreed. At that point you need one system for appointments, notes and referrals.

Accudemia, the academic center management software we make, was built for tutoring and academic support centers, and coaching runs on the same appointments, notes and referrals. East Carolina University’s Pirate Academic Success Center runs two Accudemia centers, one for academic coaching and one for tutoring, so each service keeps its own policies while students reach both in one system. We describe that setup in how East Carolina brought coaching and tutoring together. Slippery Rock University runs its tutoring and peer academic coaching teams as separate centers too. In an Accudemia user spotlight, the head of its tutorial center explains that this keeps each team’s data apart.

Booking with the student’s own coach

Students should be able to book the coach assigned to them, and coaches should see their week in one calendar. In Accudemia, a center can limit each student to their assigned staff, and those assignments can be imported from a file rather than entered one by one. A single service can offer in-person and online appointments alongside drop-ins. Each center can also rename its Tutor and Tutoring labels, so your students see Coach and Coaching instead.

A record of every contact the next coach can read

Every meeting should leave a note that another coach could pick up, and that only the right people can read. Accudemia logs each visit with the student, the staff member, the service and the time, and coaches can add comments that students do not see unless you share them in a report.

A center can also build a one-page meeting note form, which Accudemia calls a Session Assessment. Its questions can cover the goal, the agreed actions, any office the student was sent to and the next date. Instructors can read those forms only if you let them run the assessment reports, and then only for their own students. Southern University at Shreveport’s success coaches complete that form after every meeting, as the center explains in a video on how its coaches track each contact.

Referrals that reach a coach and report back

In Accudemia, each referral sends an email to the person named as its follow-up owner. Each one is also marked unassigned, assigned or past its due date, so the ones that need attention stand out. Referral updates are kept apart from the coach’s meeting notes, so the coach decides what goes into an update the instructor sees. At Shreveport, referrals on at-risk students go to a Success Coach, and the center chose to keep faculty closely informed. The faculty member who made the referral is alerted at every contact and agreed action until the referral closes with the student back on track.

Limits to know before a demo

Accudemia does not replace your student information system. It imports students, classes and enrollment from it on a schedule, including the single-file extracts that Banner and PeopleSoft produce, so degree plans and registration stay where your advisors already keep them. Referrals and multiple centers need the main edition, called the Accudemia License, rather than the single-center Accudemia Light.

To see coaching appointments, meeting notes and faculty referrals working in one record before your first term, request an Accudemia demo for the group you plan to coach first.

How to tell whether coaching is working

Coaching is working when the students you coach stay enrolled, pass their courses and act on their plans more often than similar students who were not coached. A randomized study at eight public, private and for-profit universities, published in 2014 in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, tested whether assigning students to a coach kept more of them enrolled. In the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse review of the study, 66 percent of students assigned to a coach were still enrolled after 12 months, against 61 percent of students in the comparison group. The 5-point gap is statistically significant, and the review gives the study its top rating for research quality.

That coaching came from an outside service by phone, email and text rather than from campus staff in person. Most participants were nontraditional students, who are often older or working, so a campus program may see different results. The review also found no statistically significant difference in degree completion, which was measured two years after coaching began, a short window for finishing a degree. The study shows that coaching kept more students enrolled, then, but not that it raised graduation.

Track these measures for the students you coach:

• How many enrolled for the next term.
• How many passed the courses they were taking.
• How many reached the office their coach sent them to, and how many referrals were closed.
• How many met their coach as often as the plan said, which shows whether the program ran as designed.
• What students say in a short survey at the end of the term.

Compare the results with a similar group, such as last year’s students with the same profile, because coached students are often chosen for being at risk. Their raw numbers can look worse than the campus average even when coaching helps them.

Where to start

A first term of coaching needs one group of students, enough trained coaches to serve it and a meeting note, and you can set all three up before the term begins. Then follow these steps, from before the term to midterm:

1. Pick one group of students and invite them before the term starts.
2. Name your coaches and train them on the plan, the meeting note and what they may share.
3. Book every student’s first meeting in the first two weeks of the term.
4. Agree with faculty how a referral reaches a coach and how they will hear back.
5. Review the meeting notes at midterm and adjust the schedule if students are slipping.

Software helps, but a monitoring program starts with a weekly review of the data and a named person who contacts each flagged student.

Key takeaways

• Academic monitoring is how a college collects and acts on data about student progress, such as attendance, grades and center visits, before problems grow.
• Attendance, missing assignments and visits to support centers often change before grades do, so they warn you first.
• Every warning sign needs a named person who reviews it and contacts the student.
• You judge the program first by what happens after each flag, such as whether the student got help and returned the next term.

What is academic monitoring?

In higher education, academic monitoring is the process of collecting data about each student’s progress and engagement, reviewing it on a regular schedule, and acting on what it shows before a student fails or withdraws from a course.

For a long time, monitoring meant watching grades, which only change after a student has fallen behind. Today it also covers three measures that move earlier: class attendance, LMS activity and center visits. When all three drop together, you usually still have weeks of the term left to act.

How monitoring relates to early alerts

Monitoring is the regular reading of student data across the term. An early alert is a flag about one student, raised by a faculty member or by an automatic rule, and sent to the person who will follow it up. Our guide to identifying at-risk students explains how early alerts reach the right person and how faculty hear what happened.

Why academic monitoring matters

Academic monitoring matters because it lets your staff make the first move instead of waiting for a struggling student to ask. Retention, funding and fair access to support all depend on how early that move comes.

Retention

Every student who leaves before finishing takes their remaining tuition with them and lowers your college’s graduation rate. Students often leave after weeks of missed classes and unfinished work, so a program that spots that pattern gives your staff time to step in. Our guide to student retention strategies covers the advising and support programs that help those students stay once you have contacted them.

Funding

By 2020, more than half of the states tied part of their public college funding to student outcomes through performance-based funding models, according to the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). The share of funding at stake varies widely by state. In those states, a record of which flagged students stayed and passed their courses shows the outcomes the state pays for.

Equity

Students who struggle for reasons outside class, such as long work hours or family duties, are often the ones who do not come in on their own. Vincent Tinto’s book Leaving College ties retention to a strong sense of community on campus, in class and outside it. A student who never visits a center or an advisor may lack that connection and be drifting away even while their grades hold.

What to monitor

The most useful data is usually already on your campus, spread across offices that rarely compare notes. Start with the sources you have and add others as the process grows.

Academic data

Your student information system (SIS) holds enrollment, course load, grade history and academic standing, including probation. Your LMS shows logins and submitted work in each course. Submissions change early, so a student who stops turning in work can be flagged well before midterm.

Engagement data

Engagement data covers class attendance, check-ins at tutoring and learning centers, advising appointments and attendance at campus events. A student who never visits the center, or whose visits stop partway through the term, deserves a second look when attendance in the same course is slipping too.

Financial and administrative signals

A hold on a student’s account or a change in financial aid can block registration and push a student toward leaving. Falling short of Satisfactory Academic Progress, the grade and pace standard for keeping federal aid, can do the same. These signals sit with the business office and financial aid, so agree in advance on who may see them and who acts on them.

Concerns people report

Some of what puts a student at risk is never typed into a system. An instructor may notice that a student seems overwhelmed, and residence life staff may hear about a crisis at home. Give faculty and staff one simple referral form, and those concerns can join the rest of your data.

Measures to watch

Once you collect the data, these measures help you decide which students and courses need attention first:

• Pace to degree, which shows whether a student is earning credits fast enough to finish on time.
• DFW rate, the share of students in a course who earn a D or an F, or withdraw. It matters most in the large introductory courses that many majors require, often called gateway courses.
• Engagement, a combined measure of LMS activity, attendance and use of support services.
• Sudden change in any of these, because a sharp drop in LMS activity or grades says more than one low score.

A four-step monitoring workflow

A monitoring program repeats the same cycle all term: collect the data, review it, contact the student and record what happened. Give each step a named owner before the term starts.

Collect

Pull the data from each system on a schedule your team can keep, automatically where you can, so nobody has to retype it. A weekly pull is enough for most signals while the program is new.

Review

Before the term starts, agree on the patterns that count as a flag, for example two missed classes in a row in one course or a week with no LMS login. That way every reviewer makes the same call. A pattern that shows up in two sources, like falling attendance and falling LMS activity in the same course, is a stronger case than one low quiz score.

Intervene

Each flag goes to the person best placed to act on it, and who that is depends on what the flag shows:

• Advisors for course load, registration and degree planning.
• Success coaches for barriers outside class, such as work hours or money worries.
• Center staff for tutoring in the course where the student is struggling.

Faculty can raise a flag too, and they add context the data cannot show. Whoever makes the contact, the first message works best when it names the class the student has missed and the service that can help.

In a short video walk-through, the Center for Student Success at Southern University at Shreveport shows its referral process in Accudemia, the academic center management software we make. A faculty member submits a referral and a success coach invites the student in. When the student completes an academic plan, the faculty member is told which actions were agreed, and the referral closes.

Measure

After each contact, record what happened, for instance whether the student came to tutoring, met an advisor or returned to class. Record false alarms as well, because they show you which flags to adjust.

Choosing tools for academic monitoring

Test each tool against the data and the process you already have. These questions are worth asking in any demo:

• Can it bring in the data you plan to watch, such as class enrollments from your SIS, or will staff enter it by hand?
• Can you limit each kind of flag to the roles your Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) policy allows?
• Does every contact with the student leave a record that the next staff member can read?
• Can it report at the end of the term on what happened to flagged students?

How AccuClass fits in

If class attendance is your earliest warning sign, our class attendance software, AccuClass, covers that one signal. It raises alerts automatically by rule.

Attendance comes in through the instructor’s roll call, sign-in stations or the AccuClass mobile app. You set the rule, for example a number of absences in one class. When a student triggers it, the alert goes to the student and the instructor, and you can add other recipients, such as an advisor.

Once a week, administrators receive a summary of every flagged student, so nobody has to run a report. AccuClass covers class attendance only, so the follow-up still needs an owner in your advising office or center.

How Accudemia fits in

Accudemia covers the records your support centers keep. It imports your classes and student enrollments from your SIS, logs each visit through sign-in kiosks and appointments, and lets tutors add comments and an assessment of the student’s progress to each session log.

In Accudemia, referrals come from tutors and instructors who are worried about a student, and Accudemia also calls them early alerts. Each referral goes by email to the follow-up person you assign and appears on a dashboard your staff check. If the follow-up person changes, the new owner can read every earlier comment in the referral’s history.

Accudemia’s built-in visit reports and its referrals summary show which referred students came in for a visit. Grades and assignment data stay in your SIS and LMS, so your team reads those systems alongside Accudemia.

To see visits, referrals and session notes kept together for each student, request an Accudemia demo and bring the warning signs you plan to watch.

Rolling out monitoring in phases

Start with one group of students and widen the program once the process holds up, because a small start shows how much staff time each flag takes.

Pilot

For the first term or two, run the process with one group, such as first-year students or a single college. Build a small team from advising, your support centers and institutional research, and agree on a few measures and who reviews each one. Keep the group small enough that your team can contact every flagged student within the same week.

Expand

Once the pilot shows which contacts help, adjust your flags and add colleges and support services one at a time. Train the faculty and staff in each new group as it joins, so every group starts with a process that already works. This is also the stage to connect your tools to the SIS and LMS where that saves staff time.

Scale

In the second year, the process runs campus-wide. Predictive models become worth considering at this stage, once your own records cover several terms and you can check a model against them. Comparing results across courses can also show which courses or policies hold students back.

Privacy, bias and faculty buy-in

Before the first flag goes out, decide who may see what, how you will check flags for bias, and how faculty will hear back.

FERPA

FERPA is the federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. It lets a college share records with school officials who have a legitimate educational interest, without the student’s consent, and those officials can include faculty. Your college’s annual FERPA notice defines who counts as a school official and what counts as a legitimate educational interest.

Check each monitoring role against that notice and against the US Department of Education’s FERPA regulations and guidance. It also helps to tell students what you monitor and why, for example at orientation, so a message from an advisor does not come as a surprise.

Bias in predictive models

Because predictive models score each student’s risk from past data, they can repeat any inequities that data reflects. Each term, check how flags fall across student groups. Use a risk score to decide whom to contact first, and leave decisions about the student to the people who meet them.

Faculty buy-in

Some faculty will see monitoring as surveillance of their students. Explain what you collect, who sees it and what a flag leads to, which is usually a conversation with an advisor or coach. Faculty also keep raising concerns when they can see where each one goes. Tell them when someone has contacted the student, and share a summary at the end of each term.

Measuring the results of academic monitoring

The first test of a monitoring program is what happened to the students it flagged, such as whether they used a support service after someone contacted them and whether they stayed enrolled. Your contact records answer that within a term. Over several years, the program should also move these campus measures, compared with the years before it started:

• Course success, for example a lower DFW rate in the gateway courses you targeted.
• Retention, especially from the first year to the second.
• Time to degree, or how long your students take to graduate.

To estimate the return, take the net tuition kept from students who would otherwise have left, subtract what the program costs, and divide the result by that cost. Count the tuition for every term those students stay. You can only estimate which students would have left, so state your assumptions whenever you present the figure.

Long-term reporting is easier when your centers record every visit. At Santa Barbara City College, which runs its centers on Accudemia, the Institutional Research office draws on those records each semester when it reports how the centers affect student retention and success.

Your first term of academic monitoring

The first version of your monitoring program can run this term on the systems you already have, in three steps:

1. Pick two or three warning signs you can pull without new software, for example absences in gateway courses, missing LMS work and center visits.
2. Name who reviews each one and how often, such as the advising office every Monday.
3. Record each contact and what came of it.

After one term, those records show how much staff time each kind of flag takes and which contacts led somewhere. Bring that evidence to any decision about adding or changing a tool.

Schools often start shopping when their separate tools stop agreeing and the same student has a different record in each. If most of the trouble sits in one area, such as attendance or fees, a specialized tool connected to the system you have may be enough. If it is spread across every office, one system that holds a single record for each student is usually worth the larger project.

Key takeaways

• A school management system is software that keeps student records, attendance, class schedules, grading, fees and family communication in one place.
• The jobs your offices do today tell you which modules you need.
• How well a system connects to the tools you keep matters as much as its list of modules, because otherwise your staff type the same data twice.
• Training and a named owner keep your staff using the system after the first weeks.

What is a school management system?

A school management system is software that holds your school’s student records and daily routines in one place, so every office works from one shared record for each student. Vendors also call it a school administration system or a school information management system, and the names usually describe the same kind of software.

Most systems are built from modules, one for each job, and many vendors let you buy only the ones you need. The common modules are:

• Student records hold each student’s enrollment, contact details, attendance history and disciplinary records.
• Class schedules set which teacher, room and students meet in each period, and when clubs and activities run.
• Attendance tracks who was in each class and who was absent or late.
• Grading and assessment keeps the gradebook, calculates results and produces report cards and progress reports.
• Family communication sends messages to parents and guardians, often through a parent portal (a website or app where families see grades and attendance).
• Fees and finance collects tuition, issues invoices, records payments and tracks spending against the budget.

An all-in-one system saves you from keeping a student’s record in several places, but every office changes its routine at once, so it asks more of your staff at the start. The alternative is a few connected tools. Connected means that data entered in one appears in the others without anyone retyping it.

What a school management system does for your school

Most of what a school management system saves comes from one change. Offices stop keeping their own copies of a student’s details, so a detail entered once reaches everyone who needs it.

Less time on administration

In many school offices, staff type the same details into several places. A new student, for example, needs an enrollment file, a class list and a fee account. With one system, the office enters those details once, and online registration forms let families type their own details for your staff to check.

Faster communication with families

When grades, attendance and contact details sit in one system, a teacher can update a family without hunting for a phone number. A system can also notify parents automatically when a student is marked absent, so they hear that day rather than at the next report card.

Data you can act on

With attendance and grades in one place, you can spot a student whose absences rise in the weeks before the grades fall, and step in while there is still time to help. Attendance is often the earliest of those signs, which is why our guide to tracking student attendance covers how to turn attendance records into an early warning. The finance module helps at budget time too, because it shows fees collected, payments outstanding and spending against the plan.

How to choose a school management system

Choose from a written list of your school’s needs, made before the first demo. A demo shows what a system can do, and only your list shows whether your school needs it.

Start from your school’s needs

Ask the people who will use the system what slows them down today. Your teachers, office staff and IT support each see a different part of the work, so put the problems every group names on the list.

Size and setting change what matters. A large school needs a system that handles many users at once, and a school with many electives or after-school programs needs flexible schedules. If your school has no IT staff, weigh how much setup and upkeep each option needs, because the vendor’s support team may be the only technical help you have. Colleges run a wider set of systems, which our guide to higher education software covers.

Then agree with your team on what the system should improve, for example a shorter enrollment process or faster replies to families. Those goals become the measures you check after launch.

Questions to ask vendors

The answers to these questions show how a vendor’s school management software will fit your school:

• What does the price include, how does it grow with enrollment, and are there setup or data-migration fees?
• How does it import the records you already hold, and who does that work?
• Which of your tools does it connect to, such as your learning platform, accounting software or online payments?
• Is it hosted in the cloud by the vendor, or installed on your own servers?
• How is student data protected, and who can see each kind of record?
• Who owns your data, and how do you get it out if you leave?
• What training and support come with it, and for how long?

Ask for a demo built on your own scenarios and, where possible, a trial with a sample of your own data. Score the answers against your needs list. Bring a teacher and someone from the office to the demo too, because they will try the screens they would use every day.

Jobs you can give to a specialized tool

You do not have to buy every module from one vendor. Many schools keep their main system, often an SIS, and connect a separate tool where they need more than it offers. Attendance is a good candidate, because it is taken in every class, every day, and a general system may not check students in with ID cards or send alerts on rules you set.

AccuClass, our class attendance software for schools and colleges, records attendance for each class session. Teachers can take roll on screen, or students can sign themselves in by swiping an ID card at a station or scanning a QR code with the AccuClass phone app. QR sign-in needs every student to install the app and log in first, so roll call or ID cards suit schools that keep phones out of class. AccuClass is built around class periods, so it fits middle and high schools, where students change rooms, better than an elementary school that takes attendance once a day.

You set the alert rules, and AccuClass can email any student marked absent for a class. When a student’s absences reach the limit you set, AccuClass adds the student to a staff list. It also notifies the student, the teacher and anyone else you name, such as a parent.

AccuClass is built for attendance and keeps no grades or fees, so it works beside your SIS rather than replacing it. It imports rosters from the files your SIS exports, on a schedule run from a Windows computer at your school, and sends attendance logs and summaries back the same way. Your IT staff can also connect it through published APIs (technical connections a developer can build on), or we can build a direct integration on request.

AccuClass runs in a browser on cloud hosting we manage, so you set up no servers, and data travels over an encrypted connection. Teachers see only the classes they are assigned to. The price is set by the number of students you track. There is no setup fee and no charge for extra classes or teachers, but card readers and other hardware cost extra.

If attendance is the job that takes your school the most time, request an AccuClass demo and see roll call, alerts and attendance reports set up around your class schedule.

Rolling out your new system

A new system pays off once your staff use it every day, and that habit forms in the first weeks after launch. So settle training and the rules for student data before launch day, while records are still being moved in.

Train staff and teachers

Train each group on the tasks it will do, for example grades for teachers and enrollment for the office. Practice with your own data teaches more than a slide tour, and a short written guide gives staff who join later the same start.

Name one person who owns the system after launch. That person answers questions and collects problems, so small issues get fixed before staff drift back to their old spreadsheets. Support matters most in the first weeks, so plan regular check-ins with each group and a simple way to report a problem.

When staff resist the change

Some staff will resist a new system, often because it changes routines that already work for them. Their objections usually point at real problems, so involve them in choosing the system and ask what would make the switch worth it. Then start with the module that removes the most retyping, because staff who see less work in the first week are more willing to learn the rest.

Protect student data

A school management system holds records that families expect you to keep private, so decide who can see each kind of record before any data moves in. In the US, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) limits who may see education records at schools that receive US Department of Education funds. The rules themselves are in the FERPA regulations, which the Department publishes on its student privacy site. A private school that takes no such funds is generally outside FERPA, but your state may still set student privacy rules of its own. Whatever system you choose, require secure sign-in, encryption, regular backups and access limited to each person’s role.

How to tell whether your system is working

Your system is working if the problems it was bought to fix have shrunk, so check them a few months after launch and then every year. These four measures fit most schools, and counting them before launch gives you a baseline:

• How many hours your office spends each term on enrollment and report cards.
• How many attendance records need correcting after the school day.
• How many families read your messages or log in to the parent portal.
• How many teachers use the system every week instead of paper or spreadsheets.

Parent surveys and re-enrollment figures add the families’ side, because a system your staff like can still frustrate parents. To improve a school management system you already run, review it once or twice a year. Look for duplicate records, permissions that outlasted someone’s job and modules nobody opens, then ask staff and parents where the system still slows them down.

Check your vendor’s updates in the same review. If it has added AI features, for example automatic reports or predictions about which students may struggle, ask what student data they use and whether you can turn them off. If it has added a mobile app, check whether families can use it or only staff.

Decide what to replace first

If most of your problems sit in one area, such as attendance or fees, add a specialized tool and connect it to the system you have. Ask the vendor to show the connection working with your own files before you sign, because a connection that needs retyping brings back the problem you set out to fix.

If the problems are spread across every office, plan for one system, because one record for each student ends the retyping everywhere at once. Choose during the school year, move your records over the summer and launch before the first day, so no records change systems mid-term.

Identifying at-risk students therefore starts with the data your campus already holds. What decides the outcome is whether those signs reach a named person early in the term, and whether that person acts.

Key takeaways

• An at-risk student is one whose circumstances or behavior predict course failure or withdrawal without help.
• Class attendance and tutoring center visits give the earliest warning, while grades usually confirm the problem around midterm.
• An early alert system works when faculty can report a concern quickly, every alert has an owner, and the person who reported it hears back.
• You judge an early alert program by its follow-through, which shows whether flagged students got help and stayed enrolled.

What is an at-risk student?

An at-risk student is a student whose circumstances or current behavior predict course failure or withdrawal unless someone intervenes. Risk shows up at different times, and you respond to it differently depending on when it appears.

Risk a student brings to campus

Some students arrive with risk already in place. They may be the first in their family at college, under financial strain, juggling work hours that collide with class times, or on academic probation from a prior term. You can often see this kind of risk at enrollment, so it calls for outreach in the first weeks of the term.

Risk that develops during the term

Other students become at risk during the term, and this form shows up in behavior. Attendance slips, submissions stop, and support services go unvisited. This is the risk an early alert system is built to catch, because it changes week by week and only current data reveals it.

The warning signs of an at-risk student

Warning signs often arrive in a similar order, and knowing that order tells you where to look first. Attendance usually moves first, then work completion, then grades. Grades arrive late, so by the time a midterm grade shows the problem, half the term is already gone.

Academic warning signs

These are the signs your campus can already see, roughly in the order they tend to appear:

• Absences start to cluster.
• The student stops visiting the tutoring or learning center, or never starts.
• Assignments arrive late, then stop arriving.
• Participation in class fades.

A missing tutoring visit is not a warning sign by itself, because many students who are doing fine never need the center. It becomes one when it sits beside absences or missing work, since a student who is falling behind and not seeking help is the student your alerts exist for. On any campus that tracks center visits, it is also one of the earliest signs you can measure.

Warning signs only people notice

Some signals never reach the systems that faculty and advisors check. A family emergency, money trouble or extra hours at an off-campus job usually come to light through a person, such as a professor who noticed something was off. That is why your early alert process needs a referral route that people can use, alongside rules that watch your data.

You can also act before any of these signs appear. The tactics in our guide to keeping students engaged before they drift work on the same early timeline.

Why campuses identify at-risk students late

Most campuses have the warning signs but no process that brings them together and puts them in front of someone who can act. Three gaps tend to cause the delay.

The signals sit in separate systems

On your campus, each office probably holds one piece of the picture. The LMS (learning management system) has submissions, the student information system (SIS) has enrollment and holds, the gradebook has midterm grades, and your center’s sign-in records show who asks for help. No single system looks alarming on its own, and nobody’s job is to read all four together.

Reporting a concern takes too much effort

If your reporting process is clumsy, a faculty member with a worried feeling about a student will simply not use it. The Center for Student Success at Southern University at Shreveport saw this with its homegrown early alert system, which proved too hard for faculty to use. Calumet College of St. Joseph ran academic alerts through a form on its website, which notified one office at a time, never told the student, and needed a new submission for every update.

Faculty never hear back

When a professor reports a student and hears nothing, it is natural to conclude the report went nowhere and to stop reporting. Referrals then drop, and the office can read that quiet as fewer struggling students, while the real number shows up later in your retention figures.

What is an early alert system?

An early alert system is the campus process that turns a warning sign into an intervention someone owns. It captures a signal, routes it to a named person, records every contact with the student, and closes only when the situation is resolved or deliberately handed off. Alongside those four steps you measure what happened from the first week, so that by the end of the term you know whether the alerts led anywhere.

Capture should work two ways. Automated rules watch your data for patterns such as absence counts, attendance percentages or missed submissions, while people send referrals about the things no threshold can see.

Campus emergency notification tools are also called alert systems, but they do a different job. An academic early alert concerns one student, weeks before a deadline, while an emergency alert reaches the whole campus minutes after an incident.

Questions to ask before you choose a tool

Whichever system you consider, these questions tell you whether it will fit the way your campus works:

• Which of your systems does it read from, and how often does that data update?
• Who can see a flag, and how does it handle student privacy under FERPA?
• What does a flagged student receive, and who decides the wording?
• How will you spot false alarms, and can you adjust the rules during the term?

How to build a referral loop faculty will use

Your faculty will send referrals when sending one takes less effort than worrying, and when they hear what happened afterward. The campuses below built their loops around those two conditions.

How three campuses rebuilt their referral loops

Southern University at Shreveport chose Accudemia, the academic center management software we make, mainly for its referral feature after its homegrown system failed. A referral about an at-risk student goes to a Success Coach, the staff member who contacts the student. The faculty member who made the referral is alerted at every contact, update and agreed action until the referral closes with the student back on track. We have published a fuller account of how Shreveport rebuilt its alert process around its Success Coaches, from intake to the faculty loop.

At Kishwaukee College, a small community college in Illinois, faculty concerns go through advisors, who turn them into referrals. The college then tracks whether the referred student attends and tells the faculty member whether the student followed through. Calumet College of St. Joseph replaced its web form with referrals that inform several departments at once, notify the student automatically, and keep one record that updates with every change.

What to copy, whatever platform you use

These habits work on any system, and they are worth building in from the start:

• A referral template with required questions, so every alert arrives with the information your center needs to act.
• An email to a named follow-up owner on submission, with copies to the staff listed on the referral.
• A permanent referral history that keeps every edit and follow-up comment, so the case survives a handoff between staff.

Make attendance data part of your alerts

Class attendance and support-center sign-ins are the earliest warning signs you have, and they are the ones most often left out of the alert process. Davis & Elkins College shows how much of that data can go uncounted. After it moved its center onto Accudemia, it recorded over 4,000 more visits than the prior year’s tools had captured, and it learned that its center was assisting 61 percent of its students. Its stakeholders now receive recurring reports on at-risk students automatically, instead of a summary once or twice a term.

Attendance can feed your alerts from the classroom, from campus-wide data, and from the center itself. We make a separate product for each, so you can start with the one that matches where your signals live.

In the classroom

AccuClass, our class attendance software, includes a Retention Center that flags students by rule, based on absence counts, consecutive absences or an attendance percentage. You can limit a rule to a group such as student athletes. Each alert notifies the student, the instructor and a third person you name, and administrators receive a weekly summary.

Across the campus

AccuCampus, our campus-wide student services platform, scores each student’s dropout risk every week from your institution’s own records, which can include center visit counts. The score appears on the student’s profile, where the advisor working with that student already looks, and who may see it is a permission of its own. Scoring needs several semesters of your data before the first predictions arrive, and its documentation is clear that a score is a signal for a person to act on, not a verdict about the student.

In the center

Accudemia handles the people side of capture. Its alerts are referrals raised by instructors and tutors, and it ties those referrals, sign-in stations and per-session assessments into one record. That is how Shreveport tracks whether its at-risk students follow through, both in person and virtually.

If your center already collects sign-ins but your early alerts still run on email and memory, request an Accudemia demo and see the referral loop working with your own intake, coaches and reports.

How to tell whether your early alerts work

Judge your early alert program by follow-through rather than referral volume. A rising referral count shows that your faculty are worried, and what you need to know is whether flagged students came in for help and stayed enrolled. That is why Shreveport pulls follow-through reports on its referred students, and why Santa Barbara City College’s Institutional Research office uses its center data to show the effect on retention and success term after term.

This evidence also protects your budget. The Community College of Denver’s EXCEL! Zone built its Session Assessment questionnaire (the questions tutors answer after each session) with Institutional Research, so the notes tutors record map directly to what the state requires for funding. In 2020, data showing the center’s impact on student success saved it from being shut down. When a budget committee reviews your center, it will ask for numbers, so it pays to collect them from the first week.

Early alerts get a struggling student to the right person. What that person does next is the other half of retention, and our student retention guide for center directors covers it, from first outreach to end-of-term measurement.

Where to start this term

You do not need a new system to begin. Most campuses can start with data they already hold and one route for referrals, then add tools once the process works. Start with these steps:

1. List the signals your campus already captures, such as class attendance, center sign-ins, LMS submissions and holds.
2. Choose one referral route and tell every faculty member about it.
3. Give every alert a named owner from the first day.
4. Measure follow-through from the first week, because that number shows whether the alerts work and makes the case for funding them.

The short version:

• Accudemia for college and university academic centers
• TutorTrac and TracCloud for institutions already invested in Redrock’s ecosystem
• Penji for centers that want the lightest possible student experience
• TutorBird for private tutoring businesses that bill clients
• Teachworks for lesson businesses, from solo tutors to multi-location academies
• TutorCruncher for tutoring agencies managing contractors and invoicing

Why a tutoring center needs dedicated software

A tutoring center needs dedicated software because attendance, scheduling, and reporting break at the same time, usually mid-semester. The spreadsheet that handled 40 students in September double-books tutors in October. Paper sign-in sheets record visits nobody can total by course when the dean asks which departments drive demand.

The failure that hurts most is the quiet one. The program doesn’t get cut for failing. It gets cut because nobody can prove it worked. A center that cannot produce visit counts, hours by subject, and semester-over-semester comparisons walks into budget season with anecdotes.

Purpose-built systems put sign-in stations at the door, booking rules behind the scheduler, and every session into a log a report can reach. The College of San Mateo runs seven subject-specific centers, a Math Center, a Science Center, an ESL Center, and a Writing Center among them, on one such system across its district.

How we chose these six platforms

We compared the platforms on the criteria center directors bring to procurement: scheduling control, drop-in and queue handling, attendance capture, reporting depth, integrations with campus systems, and honest fit by segment. Accudemia is our product. Its rows cite Engineerica’s published product documentation and customer material; every rival row comes from that vendor’s own public materials, checked in August 2026. Where a platform serves a different buyer than a higher ed center, the entry says so plainly. No platform was scored on features we could not verify in writing, and no testing was invented.

The six platforms at a glance

How these platforms price

Pricing runs on two models. Campus platforms license by institution or center, usually quoted rather than listed: Accudemia, for example, is licensed in three tiers, and the tier decides which features an account can use. Business tools subscribe per tutor or per plan. The comparison that matters is not the license fee alone but staff hours saved and funding defended: a center that documents its impact keeps its budget. For a single classroom or a small program that mainly needs attendance capture, AccuClass covers that narrower job, and most vendors, Engineerica included, price on request with a free trial or demo first.

Scheduling is where tutoring center software earns its keep

Scheduling is the capability that separates tutoring center software from a shared calendar, because the failure modes are policy problems, not calendar problems. Students book with no notice, stack appointments back to back, or stop showing up at all. A generic booking tool records those bookings; a center platform enforces the rules you set.

The questions to ask any vendor: Can students book their own sessions, including recurring series? Can you set minimum notice, booking horizons, and per-student weekly caps? Do reminders go out by email and text on your lead times? What happens after a no-show?

Accudemia’s rule engine answers each of those with a setting: booking notice and horizon controls, per-day and per-week appointment caps, email and SMS reminders with separate lead times for students and tutors, and a no-show policy that blocks repeat offenders from booking until the configured window resets. Calendar invites travel as iCalendar attachments, so a booked session lands in Outlook or Google Calendar.

Rules like these only hold when tutor availability is right on the day. Accudemia’s scheduling for tutoring centers keeps each tutor’s hours in step with their own Outlook or Google calendar, so a student never books a slot the tutor cannot work.

Accudemia: best for higher ed academic centers

Accudemia is Engineerica’s academic center management system, in use at more than 500 academic centers. Engineerica has built academic and event software since 1994; its earlier center system, AccuTrack, led the category for more than 20 years before Engineerica moved centers to cloud-based Accudemia, and University Business Magazine named Accudemia a Readers’ Choice Top Product. 96 percent of institutions using it renew annually.

Where Accudemia is strongest

Attendance flows in from desktop sign-in stations, tablets, QR and barcode kiosk sign-in, or the student’s own phone. Drop-in traffic runs on a waiting line students can join remotely and watch on center monitors: the University of Texas at Dallas broadcasts its queue, with per-table QR codes, across a Student Success Center that seats about 120 students at a time. Reporting is the deepest of the six: 111 standard reports, including semester-over-semester comparisons for grant applications, busiest-hour analysis for staffing, and FTE reporting for centers whose state funding rides on it. Reports can be scheduled and emailed to stakeholders who never log in.

Campus fit

Single sign-on runs over SAML 2.0, and published integrations cover Zoom, Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Schoology, Jenzabar, Salesforce, Office 365, and Google Calendar, with two-way calendar sync for tutor availability. Kilgore College’s Writing Studio schedules anonymous tutor slots to balance load across staff; East Carolina University runs coaching and tutoring on separate center licenses inside one system. Ask any vendor for its current integration list in writing; these lists change.

Limits, stated plainly

Terms cannot overlap, so institutions running overlapping multi-track semesters for classroom attendance are pointed at Engineerica’s AccuCampus or AccuClass instead. The Zoom integration needs a paid Zoom account and the full Accudemia license; the Light and Essentials tiers exclude it. Bulk data imports run through a Windows-only desktop tool.

See how Accudemia fits your center’s policies before you shortlist anything: request a demo and walk through your own scheduling rules in the system.

TutorTrac and TracCloud: best for institutions already running Redrock

TracCloud is Redrock Software’s current cloud-based system for learning, advising, and fitness centers at colleges and universities, and the company puts more than 30 years of experience in those spaces behind it. TutorTrac, its long-established predecessor, is the system many college learning centers have run for years. The platform covers scheduling, visit tracking, student retention workflows, and reporting.

Its strength is institutional continuity. A center that already holds years of TutorTrac data and trained front-desk staff gives that up at a real cost, and TracCloud exists to carry those institutions to the cloud without a vendor change.

The trade-off is that the line grew out of an earlier era of campus software. Institutions choosing fresh in 2026 usually weigh it against platforms that started in the cloud, and against student-app expectations the older interface was never built for.

Penji: best for the lightest student experience

Penji is built around the student’s phone. Students book appointments, join groups, and view drop-in schedules from a mobile app, across tutoring, advising, and campus-wide support services. Penji’s own numbers make the case for the approach: it reports that 41 percent of student traffic arrives through mobile.

The appeal is adoption. A booking flow that feels like a consumer app gets used without training, and Penji pairs it with automations for session logging and SMS outreach to students.

The trade-off is administrative depth. Penji’s simplicity means its reporting and configuration options are lighter than the systems built for center directors first. A center whose funding depends on detailed, filterable attendance reporting should test whether Penji’s reports answer the questions its dean actually asks.

TutorBird, Teachworks, and TutorCruncher: best for tutoring businesses

TutorBird serves private tutors, tutoring centers, and test prep centers that bill clients. It handles private and group lesson scheduling and attendance, then goes where campus products do not: payment processing, automated invoicing, expense and mileage tracking, and staff payroll. Parents and students log into a portal for schedules and payments.

Teachworks aims at lesson businesses from solo tutors to multi-location academies, automating lesson scheduling, teacher payroll, and client invoicing. TutorCruncher serves tutoring agencies, with contractor management, split invoicing, and automated pay runs, on subscription plans that start at 25 pounds a month.

None of the three positions itself for a college academic center. Their feature lists are built around billing and lessons rather than campus records systems or institutional reporting, and their pricing assumes paying clients rather than enrolled students. If your center charges customers, start here. If your center serves a campus, these are the wrong shortlist.

Which tutoring center software should you pick?

Pick by the sentence that describes your center. You run a college or university academic center, and budget season requires proof of impact: Accudemia is built for exactly that reporting and campus integration load. You already run TutorTrac with years of data: evaluate TracCloud before any migration. Your students live on their phones and your reporting needs are modest: Penji’s adoption advantage is real. You bill parents or corporate clients: TutorBird, Teachworks, or TutorCruncher, depending on whether you are a center, a lesson company, or an agency. Match the platform to who pays for your center: a campus budget or customer invoices.

Whatever you shortlist, run your own scheduling policies through a demo before signing. Booking rules, no-show handling, and the exact report your dean requests are where these platforms genuinely differ.

Plan the implementation around data, not the daily use. Campus platforms load students, courses, and enrollment from your student information system, so budget IT time up front: Accudemia imports standard CSV extracts from systems like Banner or PeopleSoft and asks for decisions like your student ID format before go-live, and vendors publish role-specific quick start guides for tutors, instructors, and students. A pilot in one center during a slow period, before a full rollout, is the pattern that works.

Security diligence belongs in the same conversation: ask where data is hosted, how access is controlled, and what the vendor signs regarding FERPA obligations. Accudemia’s documented controls include role-based permissions with 51 individually assignable rights, audit trails recording who changed appointments and session logs, and privacy options that mask student IDs and names on public kiosk screens. Get the practices in writing and have your institution’s IT security team review them.

Teachers can struggle to maintain accurate records using these manual methods, leading to discrepancies and lost instructional time. A student attendance management system automates this process, improving accuracy and efficiency. Manual entries often include mistakes, whereas an automated system cuts down on such slip-ups and keeps attendance data on track.

By saving the minutes spent on roll calls and ensuring records are instantly updated, these systems allow teachers to focus more on teaching while providing reliable attendance data for administrators.

In short, effective attendance tracking not only fulfills record-keeping requirements but also supports student success: consistent attendance is closely linked to higher academic performance.

Key Features of an Effective Attendance Management System

An ideal attendance management system comes packed with features that streamline tracking and reporting. Some key features to look for include:

Real-time attendance tracking

Attendance is recorded and updated instantly, giving educators up-to-the-moment visibility into who is present or absent. Real-time tracking means no waiting for end-of-day tallies: administrators and teachers can see attendance data as soon as it’s captured, enabling prompt follow-ups for no-shows or tardiness.

Automated reports and analytics

The system should automatically generate attendance reports and statistics. This includes daily and monthly attendance summaries, individual student attendance history, and analytic insights into trends. Such analytics help identify patterns like chronic absenteeism or days with frequent tardiness, allowing data-driven decisions on interventions.

Integration with LMS and SIS

Effective solutions connect with a school’s existing Learning Management System (LMS) and Student Information System (SIS) for seamless data flow. This integration eliminates duplicate data entry: attendance records sync with gradebooks, portals, and other academic records automatically. It ensures one unified platform where all student information (attendance, grades, etc.) is consolidated for convenience.

Custom notifications

Top systems can send alerts to parents and staff based on attendance events. For example, if a student is marked absent without prior notice, the system can immediately notify parents via email or SMS. Administrators might also receive alerts when a student hits a certain number of absences.

These automated notifications keep everyone in the loop and enable quick action if needed (such as checking on a student’s well-being or compliance with attendance policies).

Mobile compatibility and remote tracking

Modern attendance systems offer mobile apps or web portals so that attendance can be recorded from anywhere. Teachers can take attendance using a smartphone or tablet in the classroom or on a field trip. In remote learning scenarios, students can check in through a mobile app or QR code. This mobile compatibility ensures that the system remains useful even outside the traditional classroom: an important factor as blended and online learning become more common.

Types of Attendance Management Systems

Schools can choose from various types of attendance management systems, each leveraging different technologies. Often, institutions opt for a combination of methods to suit different needs. Here are the major types of attendance systems:

Biometric Systems (Fingerprint & Facial Recognition)

Biometric attendance systems use students’ unique physiological or behavioral characteristics (like fingerprints or facial features) to verify identity and mark attendance. This method is highly secure: it ensures precise, fraud-proof recording by eliminating the possibility of one student answering for another (so-called proxy attendance).

Common biometric approaches in schools include fingerprint scanners and facial recognition cameras. Fingerprint systems scan a student’s finger and match it to stored records; facial recognition cameras use AI to identify a student’s face from an image or video.

Each has its pros and cons: fingerprint scanners can be very accurate for adults, but they may struggle with young children whose fingerprints are still developing. Facial recognition offers a contactless alternative that tends to be more reliable for kids and can speed up entry as students don’t need to pause to press a finger on a device. Overall, biometric systems are valued for their accuracy and security: once set up, they operate quickly and require minimal supervision.

RFID & QR Code–Based Systems

RFID-based attendance systems rely on Radio Frequency Identification technology. Each student is issued an RFID tag or card embedded with a unique ID code. As students enter class or school, fixed RFID readers capture these tag IDs from a distance (even without direct line-of-sight) and automatically log the student as present.

RFID-based attendance via AccuClass

This means students might simply walk past a reader (for example, at a doorway or gate) and their attendance gets recorded without any manual scanning. RFID systems are fast and can handle multiple students at once, though they require students to carry their assigned cards and the school to set up the reader infrastructure.

Learn more: RFID attendance tracking system

QR code attendance is another popular method, especially for classrooms and events. The teacher generates a QR code (for the class or session) which is displayed on a screen or printed on paper. Students then scan the QR code using a mobile app to check in. The system records the scan, often associating it with that student’s ID.

This method leverages students’ smartphones and is relatively easy to implement (since many students and teachers already have devices with cameras). It does require that each student actively scans the code, but it can be quicker than calling names. QR codes and RFID are both contactless methods; the choice often depends on whether the school prefers using physical ID cards or students’ own devices. (Notably, some advanced systems like AccuClass support both RFID/proximity readers and QR code scanning for flexibility.)

For schools weighing the smartphone route, we compared the current QR code attendance apps, including what each one needs from students’ phones and what it costs to run.

Manual Login & Digital Roll Call

Not all high-tech systems eliminate manual attendance marking: some incorporate a digital roll call or login system. In these setups, a teacher or the students themselves mark attendance through a software interface (web or app). For example, a teacher might open an attendance app and tap each student’s name to mark them present, or students might log in to a classroom kiosk/tablet with their student ID.

This approach mirrors the traditional roll call process but moves it onto a digital platform. The benefit is that the attendance data is immediately stored in a central database (no paper to compile later) and can be analyzed or reported instantly.

Many schools use this method as a backup to more automated systems: if, say, a biometric scanner fails or a student forgets an ID card, the teacher can always manually tick them off in the system. Digital roll calls still save time compared to paper and ensure consistency, and they often integrate with other methods (for instance, allowing late students to be added by hand). In essence, it’s a hybrid manual-electronic approach that combines familiarity with efficiency.

Hybrid Systems

Hybrid attendance systems combine multiple technologies to provide a robust and flexible solution. Rather than relying on a single method, a hybrid system might use a mix of biometrics, card scans, and manual inputs to cover different scenarios. For example, a school could use fingerprint scanners at classroom doors, but also issue RFID cards as a backup for students whose fingerprints aren’t recognized.

Additionally, they might enable a mobile app check-in for remote learners or have teachers verify attendance through an online portal for certain activities. The goal of a hybrid approach is to ensure attendance can be captured reliably in all situations: if one method isn’t available or appropriate, another is in place. Modern platforms like AccuClass exemplify this flexibility by offering multiple tracking methods in one system, including Bluetooth-based proximity check-ins, QR code scans, ID card swipes, and more.

Such versatility is useful for institutions that have diverse needs (e.g. large lectures, small labs, off-campus programs) because it adapts to each use-case. When choosing a hybrid system, schools should ensure the different methods all feed into the same central database for unified reporting.

Benefits of Implementing an Attendance Management System

Adopting an automated attendance system can yield significant benefits for a school. Here are some of the key advantages:

Reduced errors and administrative workload

Automation minimizes human error and frees staff from tedious record-keeping. Software-driven attendance tracking eliminates manual paperwork and redundant tasks, saving teachers and administrators a lot of time. There’s no need to tally sheets or input data into spreadsheets: the system handles it. By cutting down on clerical work, schools can reallocate staff effort to more important tasks like teaching or student support.

Enhanced student accountability and engagement

When attendance is closely tracked and reported, students tend to become more accountable for showing up. Knowing that absences or tardies are being monitored in real time can encourage students to attend class more regularly. Some systems even boost engagement by incorporating interactive features (like polls or feedback during check-in). Overall, consistent tracking promotes better attendance habits and classroom participation.

In the long run, improved attendance often correlates with improved academic outcomes.

Improved communication with parents and staff

An attendance management system strengthens the communication loop between school and home. Parents can receive immediate notifications if their child misses class or arrives late, which means issues can be addressed before they compound.

Teachers and counselors likewise have up-to-date info to discuss with students or parents. This transparency reassures parents that the school is keeping a close eye on student well-being, and it enables collaborative efforts to address any attendance problems early.

Data-driven insights for decision-making

Beyond daily tracking, the accumulated attendance data is a valuable resource. Automated systems generate reports that highlight trends: for instance, identifying students with chronic absenteeism, or noticing if absences spike on certain days of the week. Administrators can use these insights to implement targeted interventions (like mentorship programs for frequently absent students or schedule changes if certain class periods have low attendance).

In essence, attendance data becomes an actionable analytics tool. School leaders can make informed decisions, such as allocating resources to where attendance issues are greatest or measuring the impact of attendance improvement initiatives over time. Access to accurate, analyzable data transforms attendance from a routine record into a strategic asset for school improvement.

How to Choose the Right Attendance System for Your Institution

Selecting the ideal attendance management system for your school or college requires careful consideration of several factors. Each institution has unique needs and constraints, but broadly, you should evaluate the following:

Budget and cost-effectiveness

Determine how much you can invest in a student attendance tracking system. Costs may include software licenses or subscriptions, hardware devices (biometric scanners, RFID readers, etc.), and maintenance or support fees. A system should be cost-effective: providing clear benefits for its price.

Keep in mind that the most expensive solution isn’t always the best; choose one that offers the features you need within your budget. Also consider long-term costs: for example, a cloud-based system might have ongoing subscription fees, while an on-premises solution might have a one-time cost plus hardware investments.

Hardware belongs in the same calculation: some solutions require devices like RFID scanners, while others rely on smartphone apps or QR codes, so weigh your existing tech infrastructure before budgeting for new equipment.

Scalability and flexibility

Ensure the system can grow with your institution. If you expect your student population to increase or if you plan to extend the system to multiple campuses or grade levels, the solution should handle that scale. Scalability also means accommodating more classes, new attendance policies, or additional features without a major overhaul.

A flexible system can adapt to different attendance scenarios (daily homeroom vs. period-by-period class attendance, for instance) and support various teaching models (in-person, hybrid, online). Planning for the future now can prevent the need to switch systems later.

Integration and compatibility

Consider how well the attendance system will fit into your existing technology environment. It should be compatible with your current SIS and other tools: for example, pulling student roster data from your student information system and pushing attendance records back into it.

Integration with LMS platforms is also beneficial so that attendance can be viewed alongside grades and class participation. Additionally, check the hardware compatibility: will it work with the ID cards or devices you already use on campus? A good system will have APIs or built-in connectors for common educational software, making the implementation smoother.

Data security and compliance

Bluetooth and location-based check-in methods raise a related question about student privacy. Most attendance platforms are designed to comply with data protection regulations; review your provider’s privacy policies and confirm they align with local and national guidelines before rollout.

Student attendance data is sensitive, so prioritize a system with strong security measures. Features like data encryption, secure logins, and role-based access control (so only authorized personnel can view/edit attendance records) are essential.

If the system uses biometric data, verify how that data is stored (it should be encrypted or stored as non-reversible templates) and that it complies with privacy laws and regulations (such as FERPA in the U.S. or GDPR in Europe).

Make sure the vendor has a clear privacy policy like we do and, ideally, experience in the education sector. Keeping student data safe and meeting legal requirements is a non-negotiable factor in choosing a system.

User-friendliness and training requirements

An attendance system will be used daily by teachers (and sometimes by students or office staff), so it must be intuitive and easy to use. A clunky interface or complex process can lead to frustration and low adoption. Look for a clean, straightforward user interface and features that simplify attendance marking (not add extra workload).

It’s wise to involve some end-users (teachers or IT staff) in demos to get feedback on ease of use. Additionally, consider the training and support provided: Does the vendor offer onboarding sessions or tutorials? How much time will it take to get your staff comfortable with the new system? Ideally, the system you choose should minimize the learning curve.

Good training materials and customer support can also make a huge difference in successful implementation.

In summary, match the system to your school’s needs. Consider your priorities: minimizing costs, integrating with existing systems, or having cutting-edge features: and use those to guide your decision. Comparing a few options against these factors will help identify which attendance management solution fits best.
One question comes up in nearly every selection process: is it difficult to switch from manual attendance to software-based tracking? The transition often feels intimidating at first, but reputable platforms provide clear documentation and training, and most schools find the shift far easier once they see how automated attendance saves time and eliminates errors.

Comparing Student Attendance Tracking Systems

The criteria above narrow the field. The five platforms below are widely used options, each with a different strength. One note on method: AccuClass is our own product, so we describe it as its maker, and the notes on the other four tools are drawn from their public materials.

AccuClass

AccuClass, our cloud-based attendance platform, records attendance through Bluetooth proximity sign-in, QR code scanning, and mobile app check-ins, and pairs them with real-time analytics and LMS integration. It is covered in detail in the next section.

Best for: institutions that want flexible check-in methods and real-time attendance analytics in one platform, from large lecture halls to online classes.

Vevox

Vevox pairs attendance with live polling and interactive Q&A sessions, recording student presence automatically while a session runs. It also reports how students interact with polls and connects with common learning platforms.

Best for: classes where attendance and audience interaction should run through the same tool.

MyAttendanceTracker

MyAttendanceTracker is a simple online tool that tracks attendance, grades, and notes, and generates reports by class, individual student, or date range. It keeps the learning curve minimal by leaving out enterprise-level extras.

Best for: smaller schools that want simple, low-overhead recordkeeping.

Top Hat

Top Hat builds attendance into a wider teaching suite: random attendance codes, geolocation check-ins, quizzes, and polls embedded in presentations, with attendance logged automatically as students take part. It can cost more than attendance-only tools, a trade-off that makes sense where the whole suite gets used.

Best for: instructors who want attendance built into a classroom engagement platform, in person or remote.

PowerSchool SIS

PowerSchool SIS is a full student information system, widely used in K-12 settings, that centralizes attendance alongside grades, scheduling, discipline, and health records, with analytics that help identify at-risk students. It focuses on being the system of record rather than on specialized check-in methods such as proximity sign-in or live polling.

Best for: K-12 schools and districts that want attendance inside their system of record.

Why AccuClass Stands Out

Among the many attendance management solutions available, AccuClass distinguishes itself with a robust feature set and user-friendly design tailored for modern educational needs. Developed by Engineerica Systems (a long-time provider of academic tracking software), AccuClass brings together the latest trends and best practices in one platform.

Here’s why AccuClass is a standout choice for schools and colleges:

Versatile Tracking Methods

AccuClass is a cloud-based system that supports multiple ways to record attendance, giving institutions tremendous flexibility. It allows proximity-based sign-ins via Bluetooth beacons, QR code scanning using smartphones, traditional ID card swipes, and even manual roll call through its app.

This means whether you’re dealing with a large lecture hall where students can check in on their phones, or a small classroom using an ID card reader, AccuClass has you covered. Such versatility ensures the system adapts to your workflow, rather than forcing you to change your processes.

Real-time Analytics and Insights

One of AccuClass’s most powerful features is its real-time analytics engine. Administrators and educators get immediate insights into attendance patterns through dashboards and reports. For example, you can instantly see if a particular student has been absent multiple times this week, or if one class consistently has lower attendance than others.

These analytics enable early intervention: catching attendance issues before they escalate. AccuClass essentially turns attendance data into actionable intelligence, helping staff detect and address problems faster.

Seamless Integration

AccuClass integrates smoothly with other campus systems. It can synchronize data with popular Learning Management Systems and Student Information Systems, so student rosters and attendance records stay consistent across platforms.

This reduces duplicate data entry and makes adoption easier for institutions already using tools like Canvas, Blackboard, or PowerSchool. The goal is to fit into your existing tech ecosystem without hassle. AccuClass’s integration capabilities also extend to exporting data: you can easily export attendance data for reporting or import student lists to set up the system.

Ease of Use

Despite its advanced features, AccuClass prides itself on an intuitive interface that even the least tech-savvy staff and students can navigate confidently. The mobile app and web portal are designed with simplicity in mind: buttons and menus are clear, and the process to take attendance or view reports is straightforward.

This ease of use means training time is minimal. Teachers can quickly get the hang of taking attendance with the app (by either scanning IDs or allowing students to self check-in), and students find it simple to sign in when required. A short learning curve ensures the school can start benefiting from the system right away, without the frustration that sometimes comes with new software.

Innovative Engagement Features

AccuClass goes beyond basic attendance tracking by including features to enhance classroom engagement and interactivity. For example, it offers a quick polls function that lets instructors pose a question and gather instant feedback from students during class. This can be used for quizzes or to confirm understanding of material: adding an interactive element to attendance time.

There’s also a self-service sign-in kiosk mode and options for students to mark themselves present under supervision, which not only streamlines the process but also teaches accountability. These extra features mean AccuClass can contribute to the learning experience (making attendance a more active process) while it’s tracking presence.

Cost Efficiency

AccuClass is often recognized for offering premium features at a more affordable price compared to other solutions. It provides enterprise-level functionality, including cloud hosting, mobile access, and real-time analytics, without the high costs associated with many larger school management systems.

This makes it accessible for a variety of institutions, from small schools to large universities. Because AccuClass is a cloud-based service, schools can save on infrastructure expenses and maintenance, as Engineerica manages updates and server upkeep.

In summary, AccuClass offers significant value, enabling schools to modernize their attendance tracking without excessive expenditures. The combination of flexibility, robust analytics, and user-focused design has established AccuClass as one of the top choices for educational institutions aiming to enhance their attendance management.

It consistently receives high user satisfaction ratings for attendance software, and its feature-rich yet user-friendly approach distinguishes it in the market. If your school is looking to streamline attendance management, AccuClass is definitely a solution worth considering.

Learn more about AccuClass

Industry Trends and Best Practices

The field of attendance management is evolving rapidly with technology. One major trend is the shift toward AI-powered and IoT-enabled attendance tracking. Advanced systems now use technologies like facial recognition and machine learning to automate attendance in real-time.

For example, AI-driven cameras can scan a classroom and mark who is present, or smart sensors (IoT devices) can log when students enter a room. These innovations promise to make attendance virtually frictionless and provide instantaneous data to educators.

Coupled with cloud-based software, attendance systems today often allow anywhere access to data and integration with online learning environments. Schools are increasingly adopting cloud solutions for their scalability and remote access—especially important in an era of hybrid and remote learning.

Data privacy and security have become a top concern with these new technologies. Using biometrics and continuous tracking raises questions about how student data is protected. Schools must choose systems that follow best practices in data security: using encryption, secure storage, and obtaining proper consent where required.

Many modern attendance tools are designed to comply with student data protection regulations, but schools should always vet a provider’s privacy policy. In fact, a best practice is to involve your IT and legal teams when evaluating such systems, to ensure the solution meets local and national guidelines for data security.

As one education technology report notes, biometrics can make schools safer and tracking more efficient, but privacy concerns persist and must be addressed. Schools should be transparent with students and parents about what data is collected and how it’s used.

Implementing an attendance management system successfully also requires organizational best practices. Schools that have done this well often start with a pilot program: testing the system in a single grade or a few classes: before full rollout. Training teachers, administrators, and even students on how to use the new system is essential.

This might involve workshops or step-by-step guides, and it ensures everyone is comfortable with the technology from day one. Communication is another best practice: inform parents and the school community about the new system and its benefits, and provide a channel for feedback or questions.

To gain support from stakeholders, schools can proactively address concerns, such as clarifying that fingerprint data is not stored as an actual image of a fingerprint, which can help alleviate privacy worries. Additionally, they should highlight the system’s benefits, such as the ability to send instant absence alerts. It is also important to continually monitor and refine the process by using reports to identify any issues, such as a malfunctioning scanner, and by gathering feedback from teachers on potential improvements.

Industry case studies have demonstrated the payoff of combining modern tech with best practices. For instance, one large urban school implemented a biometric attendance system and within a year saw a significant drop in unexcused absences as well as an improvement in overall academic performance.

The accuracy of the system, coupled with automated parent notifications, meant fewer attendance slips through the cracks. In another case, a rural school facing challenges with manual tracking adopted a mobile app–based attendance system. They experienced a remarkable increase in regular attendance rates, and parents appreciated receiving real-time updates on their children’s attendance each day.

These examples demonstrate that when modern attendance tools are implemented thoughtfully, schools can promote better attendance habits and intervene earlier when issues arise. In the coming years, we can anticipate even greater integration of predictive analytics—envision systems that can forecast which students are at risk of becoming chronically absent—and possibly the use of wearable technology for tracking attendance.

Nevertheless, regardless of the technology utilized, the essential best practices of securing data, training users, and actively using attendance data will remain crucial for success.

Real-time analytics also change what attendance data is for. Systems that send notifications when attendance falls below a set threshold let teachers or counselors follow up before academic performance suffers, turning the record into an early-warning signal rather than an archive.

Integration keeps that data useful beyond the classroom door. Many modern platforms, AccuClass included, offer APIs and integrations with popular learning management systems to consolidate records whether classes run in person, online, or hybrid.

This article is designed for student success managers, faculty members, and higher education professionals who already understand the basics but are seeking advanced insights to elevate retention rates.

Below, we explore the critical elements of retaining students, from identifying red flags early on to measuring the most relevant metrics. Let’s dive into the deep end of student retention and discover how to create an environment where learners can truly thrive.

Understanding the Nuances of Student Retention

Improving student retention often feels like orchestrating a symphony where every instrument, academic programs, campus services, faculty relationships, must harmonize to produce positive outcomes. However, beneath this concept lies more nuance than meets the eye.

The Difference Between Retention and Persistence

Students who continue their education without pausing or transferring to another institution are considered “retained.” At the institutional level, retention rates capture how effectively the college or university keeps students enrolled from one academic year to the next. Yet, persistence is personal; it’s the commitment a student makes to keep progressing academically, whether at the same institution or elsewhere.

Why does this distinction matter?

• Institutional Focus: Retention rates show how well the school is performing in guiding students from admission to commencement.
• Student-Centric Perspective: Persistence looks at a student’s individual motivation and capacity to overcome obstacles, highlighting issues such as family responsibilities, mental health, and self-efficacy.

When higher education administrators track both concepts, they gain a more complete understanding of their institution’s impact. A student might leave for a different university that better aligns with their academic goals, demonstrating persistence but not contributing to that first institution’s retention rate. Conversely, a retained student might be physically present but mentally disengaged, indicating lower personal persistence.

The Importance of Retention for Institutions

Retention numbers reveal an institution’s deeper story. While high retention typically enhances a university’s reputation, it also ensures financial stability through consistent tuition revenue and potential alumni contributions. Consider these specific benefits:

• Institutional Prestige: A school that consistently retains a high percentage of students attracts new applicants.
• Accreditation and Rankings: Governing bodies and ranking organizations often factor in retention when evaluating academic quality.
• Resource Optimization: Retaining learners means getting more mileage out of every student-focused program. When a university invests in campus facilities, labs, or specialized courses, those resources reap greater returns if more students stick around and make use of them.

Equally important is the message high retention sends to prospective students: “Here, learners flourish. Here, you’ll find the support you need to succeed.”

Identifying and Supporting At-Risk Students

While every student has a unique journey, certain patterns can alert administrators and faculty to heightened dropout risks. Recognizing these signals early allows for targeted interventions that can help maintain academic momentum and emotional well-being.

Personalizing Outreach and Engagement

Picture a busy campus as a bustling city. In such a crowded space, any individual can feel lost or overlooked. Personalized outreach combats this anonymity by showing students they are recognized as unique members of the campus community. Whether it’s a faculty member emailing a student about a low midterm grade or a success coach calling to check on a learner’s progress, personalization instills a sense of belonging.

Personalized communication often involves:

• Tailored Course Recommendations: Suggesting electives that align with a student’s career goals or interests.
• Customized Alerts: Sending an email or text message when a student misses multiple classes or falls below a certain GPA threshold.
• Proactive Appointment Scheduling: Offering one-on-one sessions with an academic advisor when early signs of struggling appear.

By designing touchpoints that speak directly to each learner’s experience, institutions can bridge the emotional gap that might otherwise lead to a student quietly disengaging.

Early Warning Indicators and Red Flags

When it comes to dropout risks, there are both hard indicators (like academic performance and credit accumulation) and soft indicators (such as social isolation or reduced class participation). Monitoring these red flags can act like a campus radar system, picking up signals long before a student decides to leave. Common indicators include:

1. Academic Decline: Sudden drops in grade point averages or repeated poor performance in critical prerequisite courses.
2. Chronic Absenteeism: Multiple missed classes or a string of late arrivals.
3. Financial Hurdles: Delayed tuition payments or frequent requests for financial extensions.
4. Behavioral Shifts: Noticeable lack of engagement in group discussions, avoidance of campus events, or skipping academic advising sessions.

One of the most effective methods to track and interpret these signals is by using a platform that consolidates data in a user-friendly dashboard. Systems like Accudemia by Engineerica, for instance, allow administrators, advisors, and faculty to spot patterns quickly and intervene with personalized outreach. By identifying at-risk students before they fall through the cracks, institutions can offer timely academic support, financial resources, or counseling services.

This kind of outreach is sometimes called proactive or intrusive advising: contacting a student before a serious difficulty appears, rather than waiting for the student to ask for help. The distinction matters because many students, particularly first-generation students or those hesitant to ask for help, will not initiate contact on their own. A workable version follows a specific trigger with a specific message. If an early-alert system shows a student scored low on the first two quizzes in a course, an advisor reaching out in week three or four might open with: “I noticed you had a rough start in this course. How are you doing, and can I connect you with support resources?” rather than waiting for a midterm failure.

Some institutions extend this into academic coaching, a service distinct from course planning and academic counseling. Coaches or specialized advisors work with students on time management, goal-setting, and study strategies, meeting regularly with students on academic probation or otherwise at risk to keep them on track. Because it requires more frequent contact and a smaller advisor-to-student ratio than standard advising, it is typically reserved for the students who need it most. If you are considering a service like this, our guide to building a coaching program covers which students to coach first, who should coach them and what each meeting should record.

Three conditions determine whether proactive advising holds up in practice: advisors need real-time data and clear criteria for when to reach out, they need training in outreach technique, and the outreach needs to read as genuine interest in the student rather than a scripted check-in.

An early-alert system draws that dashboard data from more than one source at once: the learning management system for assignment submissions and login activity, the student information system for GPA, credits, and prior-term performance, plus attendance records and support center visit logs. Predefined rules or a predictive model apply across all of them together, so a student who has missed two assignments in a core course and has not visited any support resource despite low quiz scores gets flagged even though no single data point on its own would have triggered a review.

The same combined data set also answers questions that go beyond individual flags: which student groups are underusing the writing lab and may need targeted outreach, whether students who attend at least three tutoring sessions in a semester pass at a higher rate than those who do not, and what percentage of first-year students are on track by midterms compared with the prior year. Built into a regular review cycle rather than treated only as a source of one-off alerts, the same data set supports both individual interventions and program-level planning.

Spotting these students early is its own discipline, with warning signs that surface in a reliable order and referral loops that decide whether faculty keep reporting. Our guide to catching at-risk students early walks through both, with the campus stories behind them.

Effective Programs and Initiatives

Even when universities maintain a strong support system, structured programs can amplify retention. These programs not only provide resources but also foster a cohesive community where students learn from each other and form meaningful connections.

The Power of Summer Bridge Programs

Summer Bridge Programs function as launchpads that propel incoming or returning students into a new academic year with more confidence and clarity. These programs typically run in the weeks leading up to the fall semester, offering:

• Academic Skill-Building: Workshops that tackle study strategies, critical thinking, and subject-specific refreshers.
• Campus Familiarity: Activities designed to help students navigate campus buildings, understand available resources, and connect with faculty early.
• Peer Networking: Organized meet-and-greets or group projects that encourage strong relationships among new students, as well as upperclassmen who often serve as mentors.

For institutions looking to strengthen retention, Summer Bridge Programs are transformative. They help students adjust to academic expectations and build a support network before the real semester stress begins. When learners start with a smoother transition, they’re more likely to stay when challenges inevitably arise.

Orientation Strategies That Cultivate Community

Orientation isn’t just about handing out campus maps and explaining cafeteria hours. Done right, it’s a window into the heart of the institution. By aligning orientation events with a holistic and student-centered approach, colleges can nurture a sense of belonging from day one.

Consider weaving the following elements into orientation:

1. Resource Showcases: Guided tours that introduce students to counseling centers, financial aid offices, and tutoring facilities.
2. Wellness Check-Ins: Short sessions or mini-seminars that highlight mental health resources, addressing issues like stress management and anxiety.
3. Peer Connections: Group icebreakers, mentorship opportunities, and social gatherings that spark friendships.
4. Follow-Up Communication: Regular emails or text messages in the weeks after orientation, reinforcing connections and offering help when needed.

These activities make orientation more than a one-off event, it becomes an enduring source of community. Studies show that when students feel they’re part of something bigger, they’re more inclined to persist, even when academics become demanding.

Peer Mentoring and Supplemental Instruction Networks

Peer-led support extends the reach of a retention program by putting successful students in front of the ones who are struggling. Because students often talk to each other more freely than they talk to staff or faculty, peer-led programs reach students who would not otherwise seek help.

• Peer Mentoring Programs: New or first-year students are paired with more experienced students who check in regularly, offer advice on exams and campus involvement, and point the mentee toward resources for issues that go beyond what a peer can handle.
• Supplemental Instruction (SI): A student who did well in a historically difficult course is hired to attend that course again and run weekly study sessions open to the whole class. Because the SI leader recently succeeded in the same material, sessions tend to produce higher average grades and lower failure rates in the courses that use them.
• Peer Tutors: Undergraduate or graduate students, trained and supervised by professional staff, tutor introductory-level courses. Students are often more willing to say “I don’t understand this at all” to a peer than to an authority figure.

These programs depend on recruiting the right student leaders and training them to listen, guide without simply giving answers, and refer issues up the chain when needed. Regular check-ins with program coordinators keep the peer leaders supported and catch problems in the mentoring relationships or study sessions early.

Holistic Student Support

Modern students juggle multiple challenges, from coursework to personal responsibilities, and from financial constraints to mental well-being. A holistic approach to retention recognizes that students are complex individuals who require comprehensive support.

Academic and Financial Assistance

Academic Support

Proactive academic support can make a decisive difference in retaining students who might otherwise flounder. Institutions can offer:

• Tutoring Sessions: One-on-one or group-based programs that clarify complex course material.
• Study Skills Workshops: Regularly scheduled workshops focusing on effective note-taking, time management, and exam strategies.
• Targeted Intervention: Data-driven alerts that notify academic advisors when students fail to submit assignments or show a decline in quiz performance.

Financial Assistance

Financial realities often determine whether a student completes their degree. By easing the burden, institutions open the door to higher persistence rates. Techniques include:

• Transparent Aid Options: Clearly outlining available scholarships, grants, and payment plans on a central webpage or portal.
• Emergency Funds: Short-term loans or grants for unexpected bills, such as medical emergencies or car repairs.
• Financial Literacy Workshops: Teaching students how to manage budgets, understand loans, and apply for scholarships effectively.

Even smaller changes, like offering micro-grants to cover textbooks or meal plans, can keep students enrolled. When learners feel secure financially, they’re better able to focus on their studies and participate in campus life.

Social and Emotional Well-Being

Imagine the college experience as a delicate balance of academic rigor, social exploration, and emotional growth. Mental health, often overlooked, is a cornerstone of this equilibrium. Students under stress are more likely to miss classes and less likely to engage in campus events. Over time, this disengagement can undermine both academic success and retention.

• Counseling Services: Providing free or low-cost sessions with licensed professionals offers students critical coping mechanisms.
• Peer Support Groups: Facilitating informal gatherings for students who share interests or backgrounds (first-generation, transfer, veterans) helps them relate and support each other.
• Stress Management Workshops: Teaching meditation, time management, or simple breathing exercises can lower test anxiety and burnout.

In addition, campuses can promote an inclusive culture by celebrating diverse backgrounds and perspectives. When students see their identities reflected in campus events and curricula, they feel a stronger sense of belonging.

Technology’s Role in Boosting Retention

Technological innovations have revolutionized virtually every field, and higher education is no exception. Systems that capture data, automate administrative processes, and streamline communication can significantly bolster efforts to retain students.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Being data-driven means more than hoarding numbers. It involves analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) and turning that insight into meaningful action. By tracking GPA patterns, attendance records, and even extracurricular engagement, institutions can spot trends that might otherwise remain hidden. This is where student retention software comes into play. Here’s how it helps:

1. Identifying Gaps: Pinpoint specific student populations (e.g., first-generation students or online learners) that need additional resources.
2. Allocating Resources Wisely: Focus on academic programs that consistently see the most dropouts, devoting staff and budget where they’re most needed.
3. Predictive Analytics: Forecast future challenges. For example, if data reveals that second-year STEM majors struggle with certain required courses, tailored tutoring can be introduced proactively.

Coordinating Support Into a Single Program

The sections above cover academic support, financial assistance, and social and emotional well-being as separate categories, but the institutions that get the most out of them combine several at once for the students who need more than one. Rather than offering tutoring in one office, advising in another, and financial aid somewhere else, an integrated program assigns each participating student a single point of contact who tracks progress across all of it and connects them proactively with tutoring, workshops, or supplemental instruction as needed, with the advisor, tutors, and faculty coordinating on that student’s status where permissions allow.

• Bridge Program or Extended Orientation: An intensive orientation before the term starts that covers college expectations, study skills, and available support resources.
• Learning Communities: Cohorts of students who take several classes together and share a dedicated advisor or mentor, building a peer network alongside academic support.
• Milestone Tracking: A clear definition of what “on track” looks like each term (credits earned, GPA, requirements completed), with a specific intervention that triggers when a student falls short.

Running a program like this takes a dedicated team or cross-functional group that meets regularly on participating students, and it requires advising, financial aid, academic departments, and student life to coordinate rather than operate independently. A smaller version targeted at students on academic probation or in a specific high-risk major can apply the same approach without the scale of a campus-wide program.

The City University of New York’s ASAP (Accelerated Study in Associate Programs) is a widely cited example of this model in practice. Community college students in ASAP receive personalized advising, career counseling, tutoring, financial support that covers any gap between financial aid and tuition, free textbooks, and subsidized transit passes, in exchange for attending full-time and participating in the support activities regularly. ASAP substantially increased graduation rates for its participants, essentially doubling the three-year graduation rate in some cohorts. Replicating a program at that scale is not realistic for every institution, but the same structure works at a smaller scale: one point of contact, layered support, and a defined participation requirement, applied for example only to students on academic probation or in a single high-risk major.

Turning a risk score into a result depends on two things working together: a model accurate enough to trust, and a process for acting on what it flags before the window for a useful intervention closes. A mid-semester model might estimate that a student has a low chance of passing a required course based on current grades and participation; the value comes from routing that flag to a specific next step within days, such as mandatory tutoring, a meeting with the instructor, or an advisor call, not from the score itself.

Predictive analytics works best as a supplement to advisor judgment, not a replacement for it. A model cannot capture a student’s personal circumstances or motivation the way an advisor who knows them can, so a risk score is a reason to start a conversation, not a verdict. Institutions that frame the resulting outreach as support rather than surveillance, and that tell students in general terms that data helps identify who might need extra help, get better engagement from the students the model flags.

Integrating Engagement Platforms

Engagement platforms serve as the digital backbone of an effective student retention strategy. By centralizing student information, they allow different departments, academic advising, financial aid, and residence life, to collaborate seamlessly. Platforms like Accudemia by Engineerica offer features such as:

• Appointment Scheduling: Students can easily book time with advisors or tutors, reducing bureaucratic hurdles.
• Automated Alerts: Early warning systems trigger notifications to faculty or counselors when students are flagged as at-risk.
• Analytics Dashboards: Real-time data on usage, attendance, and satisfaction surveys help fine-tune interventions.

When these tools align with an institution’s broader goals, they transform raw numbers into actionable plans. The result? A campus that’s more informed, more connected, and more responsive to student needs.

Enhancing Retention in Online and Hybrid Contexts

The digital transformation of higher education has opened doors for many non-traditional learners, such as working adults, parents, and international students. However, online and hybrid formats present unique challenges, from feelings of isolation to technology hurdles.

Addressing Unique Challenges of Non-Traditional Formats

Retaining online learners requires a conscientious approach that acknowledges the diversity of their life circumstances. Here are several strategies:

• Frequent Touchpoints: Use email, instant messaging, and discussion boards to maintain constant contact. A simple check-in can reignite a student’s motivation.
• Adaptive Course Content: Personalized learning modules allow students to work at their own pace, especially crucial when juggling job or family commitments.
• Peer Interaction: Virtual study groups, collaborative projects, and live Q&A sessions help replace the face-to-face connection often lost in digital learning.
• Tech Support: Offering 24/7 troubleshooting resources ensures learners aren’t derailed by login issues or software glitches.

Another important consideration is the flexible schedule. Students in remote or hybrid courses might be spread across various time zones and dealing with full-time work. Accommodating these differences fosters a sense of respect that encourages them to remain enrolled.

Measuring and Tracking Success

If you only look at enrollment rates, you might miss the bigger picture of student achievement. A more nuanced approach, factoring in retention rates, graduation statistics, and qualitative feedback, provides a complete portrait of an institution’s performance.

Metrics Beyond Enrollment

Commonly tracked metrics include year-to-year retention (often from freshman to sophomore year) and graduation rates at the four-year or six-year mark. However, deeper metrics can shed additional light:

• Course Completion Rates: A high pass rate in core classes often indicates robust academic support.
• Student Satisfaction Surveys: Qualitative data from surveys can highlight hidden barriers, such as dissatisfaction with dining services or limited library hours.
• Stop-Out Statistics: Counting students who pause their studies but plan to return. Knowing why these pauses occur informs strategic changes.

Looking at multiple data points helps pinpoint exactly where an institution might improve. And when these improvements are consistently made and measured, they create a ripple effect that benefits future cohorts.

Building a Culture of Ongoing Improvement

Retention strategies aren’t static. They require continuous feedback, re-evaluation, and adaptation to shifting student demographics and industry trends. Incorporating a culture of ongoing improvement involves:

1. Cross-Department Collaboration: Encourage regular meetings among academic advisors, faculty members, financial aid officers, and student affairs personnel.
2. Professional Development: Offer training on new technologies, pedagogical approaches, and student engagement tactics.
3. Feedback Loops: Implement forums, town halls, or online surveys for students and staff to provide real-time input on institutional initiatives.

When everyone at the institution, from top administrators to part-time tutors, embraces a mindset of continuous improvement, retention strategies evolve more rapidly and more effectively.

Conclusion

Student retention in higher education encapsulates a multifaceted journey where academic challenges, financial pressures, personal wellness, and campus engagement all intersect. By focusing on early identification of at-risk students, implementing structured programs like Summer Bridge initiatives, and leveraging the power of data and technology, colleges and universities can craft an environment that not only attracts learners but keeps them engaged until graduation.

Nudging and Behavioral Insights

Not every intervention requires a data platform or a structured program. Small, well-timed messages grounded in behavioral science, commonly called nudges, can shift outcomes on their own. Students, like most people, are prone to procrastination, forgetfulness, and feeling overwhelmed by choices; a nudge counteracts one of those tendencies at the moment it matters.

• A reminder timed to the moment it is needed, such as a text about a financial aid deadline, raises completion rates more than the same information delivered earlier and forgotten.
• Messages that frame a task positively and offer reassurance perform better than purely administrative reminders.
• Breaking a multi-step process, such as declaring a major, into a short sequence of separately timed messages keeps each individual step from feeling daunting.

Nudges are relatively low-cost and scale well with automation, which makes them a high-return addition to a retention program.

Tone and frequency both need testing rather than assuming an answer. A friendly, casual register works for some student populations, while others respond better to a more formal message from an official source; too few nudges make no difference, too many and students start to tune them out. Piloting an approach with a small group and measuring response before rolling it out campus-wide avoids committing to the wrong register at scale.

Institutions that prioritize retention look beyond mere numbers, they see human potential waiting to be ignited, guided, and ultimately celebrated upon degree completion. Whether you’re exploring orientation strategies, developing financial aid interventions, or integrating digital engagement tools, every action can shape a more supportive campus culture. For those seeking a robust way to unify these efforts, consider solutions like Accudemia by Engineerica. It offers academic center management features, appointment scheduling, and data analytics that seamlessly integrate into a broader retention strategy.

Remember, the journey toward improved retention is an ongoing process. Keep refining, stay data-informed, and never lose sight of the people behind the statistics. With determination and creativity, you can transform retention from a challenge into a hallmark of your institution’s success.

Promote Your Academic Center:

1) Build partnerships with faculty and deans. Building relationships with faculty and deans is crucial to getting the word out about the why, what, how, and when. Letting faculty and deans know what your center is doing and partnering with them to help students succeed. I recall one hot summer day, our center staff brought water bottles to the faculty which had a homemade reminder label taped to the bottle that included the center name and location on it. We talked for a little bit with each faculty member and asked them for ideas for how to connect their students to the center. Simple gestures like these have very little material cost, make a lasting impression, and initiate a discussion with faculty that gets them thinking of ways to help.

“Hold events at your student centers to increase traffic and make students aware of your services”

2) Study and apply marketing strategies. Creating a campaign with multiple methods of communication will be key. With dean and faculty as your partners, send staff as representatives to speak in classes regarding the center and available services. Invite classes to visit the center so that students get familiar with the space. You could even create a scavenger hunt for students to take selfies at various service centers at the college for a small prize or candy.

3) Target new students. Make sure the orientation team mentions or invites you to speak to newly enrolled students. Create a handout to be given to students at orientation.

4) Take advantage of existing communication technologies. Create email campaigns that go to the students at regular intervals letting them know about the available services and the events and activities in your center. Send out SMS text messages with helpful and friendly reminders to students from your center.

5) Hold events in your center. One center had huge success with a “Purrs and Paws” event in their counseling center. They partnered with service animal organizations and invited students to come in to play with and pet the animals. They advertised it as a way to relieve stress.

6) Clear signage. Work with your facilities management to ensure that there are multiple signs with effective language for directing student traffic to your center. Perhaps instead of always using the center name, try listing the need of the student, for example, “Need a place to study… this way” with arrows pointing toward the center. Once the campaign works, the line at the door becomes the next problem, and managing drop-in traffic without appointments is its own discipline.

7) Use software that enables easy searches and customized language. The Campus Compass in AccuCampus is an example of a student-friendly interface for locating services and centers using either a browser or the student-facing mobile app.

“Partner with local and campus businesses to offer students freebies like certificates and coupons”

8) Use social media. Creating Facebook groups, tweeting about occurrences in your centers, and snapping Instagram photos of your spaces are all good ways to promote your center. As with any social media campaign, the more active you are and the more relate-able to your audience, the more likely you are to garnish attention.

9) Giveaways and Coupons. Partner with local and campus businesses to offer students freebies such as certificates and coupons. Put up posters and message students about the chance to get free stuff by visiting your center. Then when they come to pick up their prize, be sure to tell them about the center and services available.

10) Offer credits or badges. Students love being recognized for their efforts as much as your staff does. Create programs for students to receive learning credits in your tutoring centers or badges for meeting with their advisers regularly.

11) Put a link in every LMS course shell. Ask your LMS administrator to add a link to your center in the course menu of every shell, so help sits one click away from the coursework that prompts the need for it. Use the LMS announcement and messaging tools as well: a reminder posted there reaches students in the same place they already check assignments and grades.

12) Get your center into course syllabi. Ask instructors and department heads to insert a short note about your center, with location and hours, into their syllabi. Students return to the syllabus all term, and faculty who add the blurb once carry your message into every section they teach.

13) Link your center in staff email signatures. Have everyone on your staff add a line with the center name and a link to your scheduling page under their email signature. Every routine reply then doubles as a reminder that help is available, at no cost and with no extra effort.

14) Record a video intro for faculty to play in class. Staff cannot visit every section, but a short recorded introduction can. Film a two to three minute walkthrough of who you are, what the center offers, and how to book a visit, then ask faculty to play it during the first week of class and link it in their course shells.

15) Claim the screens in high-traffic areas. Find the busiest spots on campus (the library lobby, the dining hall, the student union) and put your center on whatever media they offer: a slide on the digital display rotation, a flyer on the bulletin board, a poster by the elevator. Students who never seek out your website will still walk past these spaces every day.

Whichever channels you choose, measure them. A center running on tutoring center software can report which outreach actually produced visits, which is the number that holds up in a budget conversation.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the best apps for teachers that can streamline your daily tasks, engage your students, and simplify classroom management. We assume you’re already somewhat tech-savvy, so rather than covering basic concepts, we’ll dive into advanced insights and practical ways these apps can elevate your teaching experience.

From tracking attendance effortlessly to spicing up your lesson plans, these tools are here to save you time and help you focus on what really matters: teaching. For the campus-wide view beyond your own classroom, our ed tech tools roundup covers the wider stack. Let’s get started!

Attendance Tracking and Classroom Management Apps

Every teacher knows that managing a classroom involves a lot of moving parts – from taking attendance to keeping students on their best behavior. Schools standardizing that first part increasingly run QR code attendance, where students scan in and the register fills itself. Attendance tracking and classroom management apps can lighten this load by automating routine tasks and helping maintain an organized, positive classroom environment. After all, wouldn’t it be nice to take attendance with a tap instead of a tedious roll call? Let’s look at two standout solutions in this category that can transform how you handle the daily logistics of teaching.

AccuClass – Efficient Attendance Tracking

One crucial task for teachers is student attendance tracking, and AccuClass makes this process almost effortless. AccuClass is an online attendance tracking system that turns your smartphone or tablet into a portable attendance recorder. Instead of manually marking a paper roster (and later transferring it to a spreadsheet), you can use AccuClass to record attendance in real time.

How does it work?

The app allows students to check in by scanning their ID cards or barcodes using your device’s camera. You can even attach a magnetic card reader to swipe student ID cards if your school issues them. This means no more chasing down students to ask if they signed the attendance sheet – the data is captured instantly and accurately. For tutoring centers specifically, our comparison of tutoring center software covers the platforms built for that job.

AccuClass isn’t just about marking who’s present; it’s a comprehensive class monitoring tool. For instance, you can enable self sign-in mode, where students sign in to class on a shared device or kiosk as they arrive. This empowers students to take responsibility for their attendance while freeing you to prep for the lesson.

Additionally, AccuClass includes a quick polling feature – you can pose a question and have students respond in the app, doubling as an engagement tool and a way to confirm understanding. All attendance records and poll results sync to an online system, reducing manual errors and ensuring you have up-to-date records at your fingertips. With cross-platform support on iOS and Android, AccuClass is accessible to virtually any teacher. In short, AccuClass saves time, minimizes paperwork, and helps you stay on top of student attendance without breaking a sweat.

Visit: AccuClass student attendance tracking app

ClassDojo – Positive Classroom Management

Managing classroom behavior and keeping parents in the loop can be challenging, but ClassDojo makes it fun and effective. ClassDojo is a popular classroom management app centered on rewarding positive behavior. Each student gets a cute monster avatar, and you can give or take away points in real time for behaviors like participation, teamwork, or homework completion. Rather than constantly saying “please stay on task” or “great job,” ClassDojo lets you reinforce those messages with points that students actually get excited about. It’s almost like turning your classroom into a game where students strive to gain points and recognition for good behavior.

What makes ClassDojo particularly powerful is its communication features. The app creates behavior reports you can easily share with parents, so they see how their child is doing. Parents can follow along through the ClassDojo parent app to receive updates and send messages.

Have you ever wished parents knew about a great moment their child had in class, or needed to inform everyone about an upcoming event quickly? ClassDojo’s messaging and class story features have you covered. You can post announcements, photos, or reminders to all parents in a secure feed (think of it like a private social media group for your class). This keeps parents engaged and informed without the hassle of juggling email lists.

The core features of ClassDojo are free for teachers, and it’s accessible globally, which is a relief for tight budgets. (There are optional paid additions for enhanced parent communication, but the free version is quite robust on its own.) With ClassDojo, you not only track classroom behavior in a consistent way, but you also build a positive classroom culture and maintain an open line of communication with families.

Other classroom management tools worth noting: Some teachers take classroom engagement to the next level with gamified apps like Classcraft, which turns class participation into a role-playing game adventure.

While solutions like Classcraft are a bit “nerdier” and more elaborate, they share the same goal as ClassDojo – motivating students to be at their best. The key is finding a classroom management app that fits your style. Whether you prefer simple point systems or full gamification, these apps save you from burnout by making behavior tracking interactive and rewarding.

Lesson Planning and Organization Apps

Crafting lesson plans and staying organized are at the heart of effective teaching. But relying on sticky notes or bulky planners can only get you so far. Lesson planning and organization apps help you design lessons, keep track of curriculum standards, and organize your teaching materials all in one place. With the right tools, you’ll spend less time shuffling papers and more time fine-tuning your instructional strategies. Let’s explore some top apps that can streamline your planning process and keep you organized throughout the school year.

Planboard – Streamline Your Lesson Plans

Say goodbye to lugging around a heavy lesson plan binder. Planboard is a free online lesson planning tool designed specifically for teachers, and it brings your planning process into the digital age. With Planboard, you can create and view your lesson plans for each day or week using a clean, calendar-like interface. Many teachers love how Planboard lets you align lessons with curriculum standards – you can tag each lesson with specific state or district standards and then easily track what’s been covered. This feature ensures you’re meeting all required learning objectives without having to manually cross-reference standards for every lesson.

Another big advantage of Planboard is its flexibility. Plans change – a fire drill interrupts the third period, or perhaps a topic needs an extra day. Planboard allows you to drag and drop lessons to reschedule them or reuse past plans by copying them over to a new date. That means when the unexpected happens (and it always does in teaching!), your carefully laid plans aren’t ruined; you can adjust on the fly without scribbling arrows all over a paper planner.

Additionally, Planboard supports sharing – you can share your lesson plans with colleagues or even with students. This is great for collaborative teams planning together, or for posting a lesson overview for students who were absent. Everything is stored in the cloud, so you can access your plans from anywhere, including at home or on your phone. If you’ve ever spent a Sunday night at home wishing you had grabbed your planbook from school, Planboard solves that problem. It keeps your lesson plans organized, accessible, and adaptable, ultimately saving you hours each week.

Trello – Organize Tasks and Projects

When it comes to staying on top of the countless tasks teachers juggle, Trello is a lifesaver. Trello isn’t designed just for educators – it’s a general productivity app – but many teachers have adopted its flexible system of boards, lists, and cards to organize their work. Think of Trello as an interactive to-do list on steroids. You create a board for a topic or project (for example, “Fall Semester Curriculum” or “School Club Activities”), then add lists to represent stages or categories (like “To Do,” “In Progress,” “Completed”). Under each list, you create cards for individual tasks or ideas (“Plan unit on renewable energy,” “Grade project essays,” “Call parents about field trip”). You can then drag cards from “To Do” to “Completed” as you finish tasks – it’s oddly satisfying!

For teachers, Trello can be adapted in endless ways. You might have one board for lesson planning, where each week is a list and cards are things to prep. Another board could be for tracking student progress or interventions, with lists for each student or class period. Trello also allows you to attach files, due dates, and checklists to each card. Need to remember all the steps to prepare for the science fair? Make a card with a checklist and tick them off as you go.

You can even assign cards to other people, which is perfect if you’re working with a co-teacher or coordinating with a teaching assistant. One of Trello’s strongest features is cloud sync: it works on your computer, phone, or tablet, and updates in real time. This means your to-do list is always up to date, no matter where you are. By visualizing your tasks and ideas on Trello, you’ll feel more in control and less likely to have something fall through the cracks. It turns the whirlwind of teaching tasks into an organized flow you can actually manage.

Evernote – Capture Notes and Ideas Anywhere

Great lesson ideas can strike at any time – during a meeting, on your commute, or while sipping coffee. Evernote is a note-taking app that ensures none of those ideas slip away. Think of Evernote as your second brain: it lets you jot down notes, snap photos, save web articles, and record voice memos all in one place. For a teacher, this is incredibly useful. You can create a notebook for each class or subject you teach and keep your observations, brainstorming notes, and research clippings neatly sorted.

For example, imagine you’re planning a unit on World War II. With Evernote, you could save an interesting article you found online directly into your “World History” notebook, scribble down an idea for a group activity, and even scan a picture from a textbook – all stored together. Later, when you design your lessons, you have all those nuggets of information at your fingertips. Evernote’s search function is powerful too, even recognizing text in images or handwriting. So, suppose you vaguely recall making a note about a “simulation activity” weeks ago. In that case, a quick search in Evernote will pull it right up, saving you from flipping through pages of a paper notebook.

Another benefit is that Evernote syncs across devices (phone, tablet, computer), meaning your notes from the curriculum meeting on your laptop will be accessible on your phone when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store.

Additionally, you can share notes or notebooks with colleagues if you’re collaborating on a project or lesson plan. While Evernote has a free version that covers basic needs, note that there are paid tiers if you want more storage or advanced features.

If Evernote’s style doesn’t suit you, similar note-capturing apps like Microsoft OneNote offer comparable functionality integrated with the Office suite. The key is to use a digital notebook system that frees you from sticky-note overload and lost scraps of paper. By keeping your ideas and information organized in Evernote, you’ll always be ready to enrich your lesson plans with well-curated content and spontaneous ideas you’ve saved along the way.

(Organizational tip: Don’t forget about cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox. While not “teaching apps” per se, they pair perfectly with these organization tools. For instance, you can store all your worksheets and slide presentations on Google Drive and link them in your Planboard lessons or Trello cards. Having your resources accessible in the cloud means you can pull up that crucial PDF or video in class without digging through a USB drive.)

Grading and Assessment Tools

Grading stacks of papers and gauging student understanding can consume hours of a teacher’s time. But what if technology could handle some of that workload and even make assessments more engaging for students? Grading and assessment tools are designed to do exactly that. They can automate scoring, collect real-time feedback, and turn tests into interactive learning experiences. By leveraging these apps, you save time and gain instant insights into how your students are doing. Let’s delve into a few top tools in this arena that will have you rethinking traditional quizzes and gradebooks.

Google Forms and Quizzes – Quick Auto-Grading

If you haven’t tried Google Forms for quizzes yet, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Google Forms (part of the free Google Workspace suite) allows you to create online quizzes that can grade themselves. It’s as simple as creating a form, adding questions (multiple-choice, checkboxes, short answer, etc.), and marking the correct answers. When students take the quiz, you’ll instantly get their responses collected in a spreadsheet, and if it was multiple-choice or similar, their scores can be calculated automatically. This means no more manually marking dozens of papers for straightforward quizzes – Google Forms does the heavy lifting for you. You can even set up answer feedback, so if a student gets a question wrong, the form can display a hint or an explanation you’ve pre-written.

Teachers often use Google Forms for quick formative assessments, like an exit ticket at the end of class to see who understood today’s lesson. The results come in live, so by the time the bell rings, you already know which topics might need revisiting the next day. It’s also fantastic for summative quizzes or even tests, especially in a one-to-one device classroom or for remote learning scenarios. Since all the data goes into a Google Sheet, you have an organized performance record, and you can easily spot patterns (for example, if most of the class missed question 5, you know that concept needs clarification).

And let’s not forget, Google Forms isn’t limited to quizzes – you can use it for surveys, feedback forms, or even simple assignments. It’s accessible on any device and easy to share via a link or through Google Classroom. In a nutshell, Google Forms turns the tedious parts of grading into a background task, giving you more time to focus on using the results to inform your teaching.

Kahoot! – Gamify Your Assessments

What if reviewing for a test could feel like a game show? Kahoot! has become a household name in classrooms for making quizzes exciting and interactive. Kahoot is a game-based learning platform where you create multiple-choice quizzes (or choose from millions of pre-made ones), and students answer in real time on their own devices while a master screen (like your laptop or projector) displays the questions. The fun twist is the game-like atmosphere: questions are timed, points are awarded not just for accuracy but also speed, and after each question, a leaderboard shows the top scorers. It’s amazing how a little competition and instant feedback can inject energy into a room – you’ll see even the quiet students get swept up in the excitement of earning points.

Using Kahoot is straightforward. You prepare a quiz (called a “Kahoot”) in advance, perhaps to review key concepts from the week. In class, you launch Kahoot and students join on their smartphones, tablets, or laptops by entering a game PIN. As you start the quiz, each question appears on the main screen, and students choose an answer on their own device. You’ll hear a lot more enthusiasm about a quiz when it’s done through Kahoot – it turns assessment into a lively activity rather than a stress-inducing test.

Beyond the hype, Kahoot provides you with valuable data: after the game, you can download a report to see which questions were most missed and how each student performed. It’s perfect for quick formative assessment – for example, to check if the class understood yesterday’s lesson, you can play a short Kahoot and immediately identify concepts to review.

Kahoot is free for basic use, with optional premium plans that add features like longer questions or puzzle formats. But even the free version offers plenty to work with. Keep in mind, Kahoot’s strength is in real-time, in-class engagement. It might not replace traditional tests or detailed written assessments, but it shines as a review tool and a way to make learning fun. By gamifying your assessments with Kahoot, you’ll find students are not only more engaged, but they often retain information better, likely because they associate it with the positive, energetic experience of the game.

Socrative – Real-Time Feedback and Polling

For a more open-ended or versatile classroom response system, Socrative is an excellent choice. Socrative allows you to ask questions on the fly and gather student responses in real time, making your classroom truly interactive. You can think of Socrative as your personal clicker system or polling app, but one that goes beyond multiple choice. Teachers can send out multiple-choice, true/false, or short-answer questions to students at any time during a lesson. Students respond on their own device, and you see the results live on your screen. This immediate feedback is incredibly useful – it’s like taking the pulse of the class. If you ask a quick conceptual question mid-lesson and see half the class is confused (based on their answers), you know to stop and clarify right then and there.

One of Socrative’s popular features is the “Space Race,” where you can turn a series of questions into a group competition (rockets race across the screen as teams answer questions correctly). It combines the fun factor (similar to Kahoot) with content review. Socrative also excels in giving you organized feedback: you can export or view reports after each activity to see individual and class understanding. This can guide your review sessions or help identify students who might need extra help.

Another scenario where Socrative shines is during discussions or when you want every student’s input. For example, you might ask an open-ended question like “What’s one thing you found challenging about today’s lesson?” Students submit their short answers anonymously, and you can display a selection on the board to discuss. This way, even quieter students have a voice, and you get honest insights.

Socrative has a free version with core features that are usually sufficient for one classroom at a time, and a Pro version if you need larger room sizes or more advanced options. It’s web-based, with apps available as well, so it’s easy for students to join by just entering their room code on any browser. By using Socrative for ongoing formative assessment, you create a feedback loop in your classroom – teaching becomes more of a two-way street, and you can adapt in real time to your students’ needs. In essence, Socrative turns assessment into an integrated, low-stakes part of learning rather than a separate, stressful event.

Communication and Collaboration Tools

Teaching isn’t just about what happens during class – it’s also about staying connected with students, parents, and colleagues outside of class time. Communication and collaboration tools help bridge the gap, ensuring that everyone stays informed and engaged. Whether you need to send quick announcements, hold a virtual meeting, or share assignments and resources, there’s an app to make it easier. In this section, we’ll highlight a few of the best tools that foster communication in the educational community and help you collaborate effectively, even beyond the four walls of your classroom.

Google Classroom – Streamlined Class Collaboration

In the modern classroom, Google Classroom has become nearly as indispensable as the chalkboard once was. Google Classroom is a free platform that acts as a virtual extension of your physical classroom. It allows you to create an online class space where you can post announcements, distribute assignments, collect student work, and facilitate discussions.

If you’ve ever struggled with managing heaps of paper homework or sending countless emails, Google Classroom simplifies all that by organizing it in one place. Each class you create gets its own invite code for students to join. Once they’re in, you can post an assignment with instructions and attachments (documents, PDFs, links, videos – you name it). Students turn in their work through Classroom, and you can grade it and provide feedback digitally. No more “the printer wasn’t working” excuses or shuffling stacks of worksheets in your bag!

One of Google Classroom’s strengths is how it integrates with other Google tools like Docs, Slides, and Forms. Collaborative writing and projects become easier since students can work on a Google Doc together and you can drop in to see their progress in real time. It’s also great for facilitating discussions – you can pose a question on the Classroom stream and have students comment and reply to each other, extending the conversation beyond the class period.

For communication, Classroom lets you send announcements that pop up in student emails or notifications, ensuring everyone gets the message about tomorrow’s quiz or a change in the schedule. And let’s not forget the time-saving magic of Google Classroom: it automatically creates Drive folders for each assignment and each student, neatly storing their work so you (and they) can find it later.

During periods of remote learning or for flipped classroom models, Google Classroom really proves its worth. It becomes the central hub for all class activities. Even for in-person classes, many teachers use it to go paperless and keep resources accessible 24/7. Parents can also get involved by signing up for guardian summaries to see their child’s progress (though they can’t join the class directly, respecting student privacy).

Overall, Google Classroom fosters a collaborative environment where learning can happen anytime, anywhere. It’s simple enough to pick up quickly, even if you’re not tech-savvy, and robust enough to handle the workflow of a busy class. By adopting Google Classroom, you create a streamlined communication channel and workflow that benefits both you and your students.

Remind – Instant Updates for Parents and Students

Need to send out a quick reminder about tomorrow’s field trip or a sudden schedule change? Remind is the go-to communication app for teachers to reach students and parents in an instant, text-message format. Remind is built on the premise that communication in education should be as quick and convenient as texting, but also safe and organized. With Remind, you can send out class announcements or personal messages without revealing your own phone number, and without collecting anyone else’s. It’s all done through the app (or via SMS gateways), which protects privacy while ensuring messages get delivered right to each person’s phone.

The beauty of Remind is its simplicity. You sign up and create a class (or multiple classes). Each class gets a unique code that students and parents can text to a number or enter in the app to subscribe. Once they’ve joined your class on Remind, any message you send will pop up as a notification or text on their phone. The messages are typically short – think of things like “Reminder: Test on Chapter 5 tomorrow, don’t forget to review the key terms!” or “Update: Tonight’s school concert postponed to next Tuesday due to weather.” In addition to announcements, you can also direct message individual parents or students. For instance, if you want to privately tell a parent that their child aced an assignment or discuss a minor behavior issue, you can do so one-on-one through Remind, and all those conversations are logged.

One of the best parts is that messages can be translated into over 90 languages automatically. If you have parents who prefer Spanish, for example, you write your message in English and they’ll receive it in Spanish – a game changer for inclusivity. Remind also lets you schedule messages in advance, which is perfect for sending a note at a specific time (like a homework reminder at 7 PM when you know students might actually be doing it). The app is free for basic use, which covers most classroom needs.

By using Remind, you ensure no one misses important information. It takes the old paradigm of phone trees and paper notes and upgrades it to the smartphone era. The result? Better informed parents, more accountable students, and a stronger school-home connection that ultimately supports student success.

Zoom – Virtual Meetings and Remote Teaching

We can’t talk about communication tools without mentioning Zoom, especially after it became a household name in education in recent years. Zoom is a video conferencing platform that allows you to host virtual meetings, classes, or webinars with ease. While you might associate it with remote teaching, Zoom’s utility for teachers goes beyond just running online classes. It’s also perfect for virtual parent-teacher conferences, staff meetings, guest speaker sessions, or tutoring. Essentially, Zoom breaks down distance barriers – you can have a face-to-face conversation with anyone, anywhere.

Using Zoom as a teacher, you can host a class where students join from home (in hybrid or remote situations), complete with features like screen sharing (great for presenting a lesson or slideshow), breakout rooms (for small group discussions or activities), and session recording (so absent students can watch later, or you can review your own teaching). Even in a fully in-person setting, you might use Zoom to invite a guest lecturer from across the country to speak to your class, or to conduct an evening Q&A review session for students at home before a big test. For parent engagement, think of those times when scheduling an in-person meeting is tough – a quick 15-minute Zoom call with a parent can be far more convenient and still effective in addressing any concerns.

Zoom’s free version generously allows meetings of up to 40 minutes with around 100 participants, which covers many scenarios. Education plans or subscriptions can extend these limits, but for typical use (like a 30-minute virtual check-in or a class session), the free plan works fine. It also has features like waiting rooms and passwords to keep meetings secure, an essential consideration for protecting student privacy.

By integrating Zoom into your toolkit, you add a flexible channel for live communication. It makes your classroom borderless and ensures that learning and meetings can continue regardless of circumstances like bad weather, illness, or other disruptions. Plus, with features such as live chat and reaction emojis during meetings, students often feel more comfortable participating, which can lead to increased engagement even for those who are shy in person. In sum, Zoom empowers you to connect in real time when in-person just isn’t feasible, keeping the educational conversation going no matter what.

(Pro tip: If you’re looking for other ways to involve parents or share student work beyond text messages and live calls, consider apps like Seesaw. Seesaw lets students create digital portfolios of their work (photos, videos, drawings, etc.), and parents can safely view and comment on their child’s portfolio. It’s a fantastic complement to communication tools, as it actively involves parents in the learning process. For example, a student might upload a photo of their science project or a recording of them reading aloud, and parents get a window into the classroom that can spark meaningful conversations at home.)

Student Engagement and Interactive Learning

Even the best lesson plan can fall flat if students aren’t engaged. That’s where technology can really shine: there are apps designed specifically to captivate students and make learning interactive. Student engagement and interactive learning tools help you present content in new ways and encourage students to participate actively. Whether it’s through interactive presentations, educational games, or creative projects, these apps add an element of excitement and novelty to your teaching toolkit. Let’s explore a couple of standout tools that can energize your lessons and get students hooked on learning.

Nearpod – Interactive Lessons and Quizzes

Nearpod is like a magic wand for turning traditional lessons into interactive, multimedia experiences. At its core, Nearpod allows teachers to create or download lessons that include slides, quizzes, polls, videos, and even virtual reality field trips, all in one seamless presentation. When you use Nearpod in class, students join the session on their own devices, and you control the pace as you guide them through the lesson. This means every student is looking at the content you’re presenting (be it a slide, a 3D model, or a quiz question) at the same time, and you can inject interactive elements to keep them engaged.

Imagine you’re teaching a lesson on the solar system. With Nearpod, you might have a slide with key facts, then a short video clip of a Mars rover, followed by a 3D model of the solar system that students can manipulate on their screens. To check understanding, you insert a quiz question or a poll (“Which planet is known as the Gas Giant?”) right after discussing Jupiter. Students respond in real time, and you get to see a chart of answers instantly. If most students chose the wrong planet, you know to review that point.

Nearpod even lets you include open-ended questions or prompts where students can submit their answers or ideas, and you can choose some to share anonymously with the class for discussion. There’s also a popular feature where students can draw or annotate on their screens (for example, label the parts of a cell), and you can display some of those drawings (again, anonymously if you like) to discuss as a group.

One particularly engaging aspect of Nearpod is the Time to Climb game – a fun, mountain-climber-themed quiz game that adds a bit of competition. It’s great for review at the end of a lesson. Additionally, Nearpod’s library offers pre-made lessons across subjects and grade levels, which you can use or modify, saving planning time. They have both free and paid plans; the free version is quite functional but has limits on storage and some advanced features.

Overall, using Nearpod transforms students from passive listeners to active participants. It’s especially useful for keeping students focused during those critical moments of direct instruction, and it gives you constant feedback on their understanding. When students know a quiz or interactive activity could pop up any second, they stay tuned in! By integrating Nearpod into your routine, you can make even challenging or dry topics more lively and interactive.

Flipgrid – Amplifying Student Voice

Every student has a voice, but not all are eager to speak up in class. Flipgrid provides a platform for students to express themselves through short videos, turning traditional question-and-answer into a creative, reflective activity. Here’s how it works: as a teacher, you post a discussion prompt or question on your class’s Flipgrid (for instance, “Share one real-world example of Newton’s Third Law you observed this week” or “Recite and explain your favorite line from the poem we read”). Students then record a short video response on their own time, using a phone, tablet, or computer. All the responses show up in a grid (hence the name), and classmates can watch each other’s videos and even reply with their own short reaction videos if you allow that option.

Flipgrid is fantastic for a few reasons. First, it gives every student a chance to be heard. Some students might be too shy to raise their hand in a full-class discussion, but they might feel more comfortable recording a response when they’ve had a chance to think it through. You’ll often find quiet students shine with well-thought-out answers on Flipgrid. Second, it encourages creativity and ownership. Students can add drawings, text, or stickers to their videos, or use filters and frames (in a controlled manner) – it’s like educational Snapchat. This creative layer makes the process fun and engaging, and you often get more authentic, enthusiastic responses than you would from a written paragraph.

From the teacher’s perspective, Flipgrid is simple to use and moderation is under your control. You can choose to moderate videos (making them visible only after you’ve approved them), and you can set the maximum length of videos to keep responses concise (common settings are 1-2 minutes). It’s also an amazing tool for foreign language classes (students can practice speaking) or for any kind of reflection and sharing – think book reviews, science experiment observations, or sharing artwork with an explanation. Parents can be given access to view the grid as well, allowing them to see their children’s responses and the class’s collective thoughts (always a proud moment for them!).

Flipgrid is free to use, courtesy of Microsoft, and integrates with tools like Google Classroom for easy sharing of topics. By using Flipgrid, you create an inclusive space where each student can contribute without the pressure of speaking live. It’s asynchronous, meaning students can do it on their own schedule (within your deadline), which also opens opportunities for homework or remote learning activities. Ultimately, Flipgrid amplifies student voice and fosters a sense of community – students get to know each other’s personalities and ideas better by watching peer videos, which can strengthen in-class relationships too. It’s a modern twist on class participation that resonates with today’s video-driven culture while keeping the focus on learning content.

Conclusion

Technology has undoubtedly become an integral part of modern teaching, but the real magic lies in how you use it. The best apps for teachers are those that save you time on administrative tasks, keep students engaged, and facilitate better communication – all so you can focus on what you do best: teaching. In this article, we covered a range of apps across different aspects of a teacher’s work. From AccuClass’s effortless attendance tracking to the engaging quizzes of Kahoot and the collaborative environment of Google Classroom, each tool addresses a common classroom challenge with a clever solution.

As you consider which apps to integrate into your routine, think about your specific needs and pain points. Overwhelmed by paperwork? Try a planning tool like Planboard or a digitized gradebook through Google Forms. Struggling to keep parents in the loop? Communication apps like Remind or portfolio platforms like Seesaw can build that bridge. Need to spice up your lessons? Interactive tools like Nearpod and Flipgrid can breathe new life into your curriculum. Sometimes it’s about trial and error – you might test out a couple of apps before finding the perfect ones that fit your teaching style and your students’ needs. Start small, perhaps by adopting one new app for a specific task, and see how it goes.

Remember, technology is a means to an end. The goal is a more efficient, engaging, and connected classroom. The apps we’ve discussed here have proven to help teachers worldwide, but what truly makes them the “best” is how they’re used to support students. As you implement these tools, you’ll likely find that students respond with enthusiasm – today’s learners are digital natives, and they appreciate when educators meet them in that space. By organically leveraging these apps, you can streamline your workload (who wouldn’t like to reclaim some hours from grading or planning?) and devote more energy to creative teaching and one-on-one support.

In conclusion, don’t be afraid to embrace these modern solutions. Whether it’s managing attendance with a quick scan using AccuClass, organizing your lesson ideas in Evernote, or turning a review session into a fun game with Kahoot, each app is a step toward a smarter classroom. The best apps for teachers empower you as an educator – they amplify your impact, help build stronger relationships with students and parents, and ultimately make learning more enjoyable.