Attention rules — concepts

At a glance

Who uses it: Admins configuring rules; facilitators consuming the resulting flags.
Purpose: Conceptual overview of attention rules — what they are and how they surface in the app. For configuration steps, see the reference article in Reporting.

What an attention rule is

An attention rule is a configurable threshold that flags a student as needs attention when it trips. Flags appear on:

The student profile.
The case header (if a case is open for that student).
The Needs attention filter on the student list.
The daily digest (if subscribed).

What flags exist

AmplifyED ships with rules for common signals:

Inactivity — no case activity for X days on an active case.
Missed follow-up — a follow-up date that has passed without a new note.
Stale referral — a referral sitting in the inbox longer than X days.

Available signals depend on your plan and on which data sources are wired up (LMS, SIS).

How flags clear

A flag clears automatically when its underlying condition no longer holds — for example, a new note resets an inactivity flag.

Why we use rules, not alerts

Rules surface in the app and digest; they do not page anyone. The intent is to keep the watch list visible during the regular workflow, not to interrupt people. For real-time interruptions, use the case follow-up mechanism instead.

[SCREENSHOT: student-needs-attention-list] Students → list view filtered to "Needs attention," showing 12 students with their flag reasons.

FAQ

Are attention-rule flags audit-logged? The configuration of rules is audit-logged (attention_rule_upsert). The automatic firing of a flag is not — flags are derived state, not events.

Can I write a custom rule? The shipped rules cover common K-12 signals. Custom rules can be scoped during onboarding for districts with specific MTSS frameworks.