Behavior Alerts | radixdocs

Behavior Alerts allow administrators to set up automated notifications that monitor student behavior patterns. Radix supports two alert types: Special Program Alerts and Repeated Behavior Alerts. Alerts are evaluated by a scheduled task and only run on school days.

Overview

Behavior Alerts are managed under School > Behavior > Alerts. From this page, administrators can create new alerts, view existing alerts, enable or disable them, access alert logs, and delete alerts.

The system requires the capability radix/discipline:managealerts to access the alerts management page.

Alerts main page showing the alerts list table and Add button

Alert Types at a Glance

Feature	Special Program Alert	Repeated Behavior Alert
Purpose	Notify when students in special programs (ESE, 504, Gifted, ELL) receive behavior entries	Notify when students accumulate behavior entries beyond a defined threshold
What It Monitors	Minor Violations, Minor Consequences, Major Consequences, and Total Points for program students	Configurable: Minor Violations, Minor Consequences, and/or Major Consequences
Trigger	Any qualifying behavior activity for a student in a selected program	Entry count exceeds the configured alert level within the date range
Programs Filter	Yes — select from ESE, 504, Gifted, ELL	No
Alert Levels (Thresholds)	No — reports all activity	Yes — define numeric levels that create threshold brackets
No Activity Notification	Sends a "no behavior log" message	Sends a "no repeated behavior log" message

Alerts List

The main alerts page displays all configured alerts in a sortable, downloadable table with the following columns:

Column	Description
Alert ID	Unique identifier for the alert
Name	The name assigned to the alert
Alert Type	Special Program or Repeated Behavior
Info	Summary of monitored items (programs or behavior categories selected)
Enabled	Whether the alert is currently active (Yes/No)
Daily Alert Hour	The hour of day when the alert evaluates and sends
Weekly Alert Day	The day of the week for weekly alerts (blank for daily)
All Year	Whether the alert counts from the beginning of the school year or the current term only
Created	When the alert was first created
Modified	When the alert was last modified
Actions	Edit, Enable/Disable, Alert Logs, Delete

The table supports sorting by columns, pagination, and CSV download.

Creating an Alert

Navigate to School > Behavior > Alerts
Select the alert type from the dropdown: Special Program or Repeated Behavior
Click Add
Fill in the alert form fields described below
Click Save changes

Common Fields (Both Alert Types)

Field	Description	Required
Alert Title	A descriptive name for the alert (e.g., "Daily ESE Behavior Alert")	Yes
Recipients	Select from users who have the viewalertreport and viewstudentreport capabilities. Multiple recipients can be selected.	Yes
Additional Emails	Comma-separated email addresses for recipients outside of Radix. Invalid emails are automatically removed.	No
Starting From Beginning of Year	Yes = count entries from the start of the school year. No = count from the start of the current term only.	Yes
Daily Alert Hour	The hour of day (in 24-hour format) when the alert should run and send notifications	Yes
Weekly Alert Day	Select a day of the week. If set, the alert only runs on that day. Leave as "Daily" for every school day.	No
Notification Subject	The email subject line. Supports placeholders (see below).	Yes
Notification Body	The email body text. Supports placeholders and will be converted to HTML for delivery.	Yes
Enabled	Yes = alert is active and will run on schedule. No = alert is saved but will not run.	Yes

Special Program Alerts

Special Program Alerts monitor students enrolled in special programs (ESE, 504, Gifted, ELL) and send notifications whenever those students have any behavior activity within the configured date range.

How It Works

At the scheduled time, the system checks if today is a school day. If not, the alert is skipped.
The system identifies all active, non-suspended students enrolled in the selected special programs by checking the student info fields: ese_specialed, fivezerofour, gifted, and ell_lep.
For each qualifying student, it counts: Minor Violations (behavior entries excluding recognitions), Total Points (unresolved entry points + resolution points), Minor Consequences (resolutions not linked to a referral), and Major Consequences (accepted referrals).
If a student has any activity (the sum of all counts is greater than zero), they are included in the alert.
The notification is sent to all configured recipients with a link to the detailed Alert Report.
If no students have any activity, a "no behavior log" message is sent instead.

Type-Specific Field

Field	Description
Programs to Include	Select one or more: ESE, 504, Gifted, ELL. Students in ANY of the selected programs who have behavior activity will be included.

Notification Placeholders

Placeholder	Replaced With
[[alertname]]	The name of the alert
[[notificationdatetime]]	The current date and time when the notification is sent
[[reportdatetime]]	The date and time the alert log was created
[[numberofstudents]]	Total number of students included in this alert run
[[selectedprograms]]	Comma-separated list of the selected programs (e.g., "ESE, 504")
[[occurancestartdate]]	The start date of the counting period (beginning of year or current term)

Special Program alert form with programs selector

Repeated Behavior Alerts

Repeated Behavior Alerts monitor accumulation of behavior entries and notify administrators when students exceed defined thresholds. This helps identify students who may need early intervention.

How It Works

At the scheduled time, the system checks if today is a school day. If not, the alert is skipped.
The system counts each student's behavior entries from the configured start date, separately for each selected behavior category.
It compares each student's count against the configured alert levels (thresholds).
Alert levels create threshold brackets. For example, if you set alert levels 3, 5, and 10, the system creates brackets: 3-4, 5-9, and 10+. A student is only alerted once per bracket — if they were already reported at level 3, they will not be alerted again until they reach level 5.
This deduplication works by checking the alert data log: if a student was already logged for a specific threshold level for this alert within the same start date period, they are not reported again.
The notification includes an auto-appended summary showing the number of students at or above the minimum threshold for each behavior category.
If no students exceed any threshold, a "no repeated behavior log" message is sent instead.

Type-Specific Fields

Field	Description
Behavior Categories	Select one or more: Minor Violations (behavior entries excluding recognitions), Minor Consequences (behavior resolutions), Major Consequences (referrals). Each category is counted independently.
Alert Levels	Select one or more numeric levels (1-99). These create threshold brackets that determine when alerts fire. For example, selecting levels 3 and 5 creates brackets: 3-4 entries and 5+ entries.

Understanding Alert Level Brackets

Alert levels are not simple thresholds — they create brackets. The system tracks which bracket a student has already been alerted for, so notifications are sent only once per bracket per student. This prevents alert fatigue while ensuring escalation is captured.

Example: You set alert levels to 3, 5, and 10.

Student Entry Count	Bracket	Alert Sent?
1-2 entries	Below minimum	No
3-4 entries	Level 3 bracket	Yes (first time only)
5-9 entries	Level 5 bracket	Yes (first time only)
10+ entries	Level 10 bracket	Yes (first time only)

A student who reaches 4 entries triggers the Level 3 bracket alert. When they later reach 6 entries, they trigger the Level 5 bracket alert. They will not be re-alerted at Level 3.

Auto-Appended Summary

Each Repeated Behavior notification automatically appends a summary to the notification body in this format:

"Minor Violations: X student(s) at or above Y occurrences.

Minor Consequences: X student(s) at or above Y occurrences."

(One line per selected behavior category)

Notification Placeholders

Placeholder	Replaced With
[[alertname]]	The name of the alert
[[notificationdatetime]]	The current date and time when the notification is sent
[[reportdatetime]]	The date and time the alert log was created
[[selectedbehaviors]]	Comma-separated list of selected behavior categories
[[occurancestartdate]]	The start date of the counting period
[[alertlevels]]	Comma-separated list of the configured alert levels (e.g., "3, 5, 10")

Repeated Behavior alert form with behavior categories and alert levels selectors

Alert Scheduling

Alerts are processed by the scheduled task 'Send Discipline Alert' which runs via Moodle's cron system.

The scheduling logic works as follows:

School Day Check: The task first checks if today is a school day using the Holiday Calendar. If it is not a school day (weekend, holiday, etc.), all alerts are skipped.
Weekly Day Check: If the alert has a specific weekly day configured, it only runs on that day.
Hour Check: The alert checks if the current hour matches or has passed the configured Daily Alert Hour, and if it hasn't already run today. This ensures alerts run once per scheduled cycle even if cron runs multiple times per hour.
All enabled alerts are evaluated sequentially.

Alerts depend on Moodle's cron job running regularly. If cron is delayed or stopped, alerts will be delayed. Check Site Administration > Server > Scheduled Tasks to verify the 'Send Discipline Alert' task is running properly.

Managing Alerts

Enabling and Disabling

Use the Enable/Disable action on the alerts list to toggle an alert's status without deleting it. Disabled alerts retain all their configuration and history. Use this to:

Temporarily pause alerts during school breaks
Test alert configurations before going live
Seasonally activate/deactivate specific alerts

Editing an Alert

Click Edit on any alert to modify its settings. All fields can be updated. Changes take effect on the next scheduled run.

Deleting an Alert

Deleting an alert permanently removes the alert and ALL associated log history and student data. If you may need the alert again, disable it instead.

When an alert is deleted, the system removes: the alert configuration, all alert log entries, and all student-level alert data records.

Alert Logs

Navigate to the Alert Logs by clicking the log icon on any alert in the alerts list. The Alert Log shows a history of every time the alert was evaluated and sent.

Required capability: radix/discipline:viewalertlogs

Log Table Columns

Column	Description
Report ID	Unique ID for this log entry — click to view the detailed student report
Name	The alert name
Number of Students	How many students were included in this alert run
Recipients	Who received the notification
Start Date	The beginning of the counting period used for this run
Time Sent	When the notification was sent
Actions	View detailed report

The table supports sorting, pagination, and CSV download.

Alert Report

Click on a Report ID in the Alert Logs to see the detailed student-level report for that alert run.

Required capability: radix/discipline:viewalertreport

Report Table Columns

Column	Description
Row #	Row number
ID Number	Student's ID number
First Name	Student's first name
Last Name	Student's last name
Grade	Student's grade level
Special Programs	Programs the student is enrolled in
Log Data	Behavior data that triggered the alert. For Special Program alerts: shows minor violations count, total points, minor consequences, and major consequences. For Repeated Behavior alerts: shows entry count per behavior category and the threshold bracket reached.
Alert	The alert name
Alert Time	When the alert was sent
Start Date	Beginning of the counting period

The table supports sorting, pagination, and CSV download.

Alert report showing student-level details

Best Practices

Tips for configuring effective alerts

Tips for configuring effective alerts

Start with alerts disabled — configure and review all settings, then enable once confirmed. This avoids sending premature notifications.
Use descriptive names — include the type, scope, and target in the name. Example: "Weekly ESE Violation Alert" or "Daily Repeated Minor Violations - Levels 3,5,10".
Set alert levels thoughtfully for Repeated Behavior alerts — too low creates alert fatigue, too high misses students who need early intervention. Start with levels like 3, 5, 10 and adjust based on your school's patterns.
Coordinate with run periods — the "Starting From Beginning of Year" setting determines whether counts accumulate across the entire year or reset with each new term. Align this with your school's behavior tracking goals.
Use Additional Emails sparingly — for external stakeholders who need visibility. Internal staff should be added as Recipients so notifications appear in their Radix messages as well.
Review Alert Logs weekly — check that alerts are firing as expected and that the student counts align with your expectations. Use the CSV download to analyze trends.

FAQ

Q: What happens if no students meet the alert criteria?

Q: What happens if no students meet the alert criteria?

A: The system still sends a notification to recipients, but with a message indicating no behavior activity was found (for Special Program) or no repeated behavior was found (for Repeated Behavior). This confirms the alert ran successfully.

Q: Can a student appear in multiple alerts?

Q: Can a student appear in multiple alerts?

A: Yes. A student can trigger both a Special Program alert and a Repeated Behavior alert, or multiple alerts of the same type if configured differently. Each alert evaluates independently.

Q: Do alerts run on weekends and holidays?

Q: Do alerts run on weekends and holidays?

A: No. The scheduled task checks the Holiday Calendar first. If today is not a school day, all alerts are skipped entirely.

Q: How do I know if my alerts are running?

Q: How do I know if my alerts are running?

A: Check the Alert Logs page. Every alert run creates a log entry, even when no students are found. If you see no recent log entries, check that: the alert is enabled, the cron job is running, and today is a school day.

Q: What is the difference between 'Starting From Beginning of Year' Yes vs No?

Q: What is the difference between 'Starting From Beginning of Year' Yes vs No?

A: Yes = behavior entries are counted from the first day of the school year. No = entries are counted from the start of the current term/semester only. This affects both Special Program totals and Repeated Behavior threshold calculations.

Q: Can I send alerts to parents?

Q: Can I send alerts to parents?

A: No. Alert recipients must be Radix users with the appropriate capabilities (viewalertreport or viewstudentreport). Parent notifications for individual behavior entries are handled separately through the behavior entry notification settings in Plugin Settings.