how do i use words in calculating formulas?

Book2.xlsx

Tried to find an answer but couldn't...

I am trying to set up a sheet that I can use to log attendance and calculate a % attendance. Below is the basic layout, what I am looking for is a way to set it up so that when i enter "Present" in a field, it will automatically add 1 to the first "TOTALS" Column, total "Absent"s would be calculated in the second column and all "Excused" in the third "TOTALS" Column. The "RATE" is just an attendance percentage based on the total of Present and Absent.

Is there a way for excel to understand that each word, Present, Absent, Excused is added in individual columns? Thanks everyone, hope this makes sense.

8/16/2011 9/20/2011 10/18/2011 11/15/2011 12/20/2011 1/17/2012 2/21/2012 3/20/2012 4/17/2012 5/15/2012 TOTALS RATE
PRESENT PRESENT ABSENT PRESENT PRESENT ABSENT EXCUSED PRESENT ABSENT ABSENT 5 1 4 56%
EXCUSED EXCUSED EXCUSED EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT ABSENT PRESENT ABSENT EXCUSED 3 5 2 60%
EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT EXCUSED EXCUSED 6 4 0 100%
EXCUSED ABSENT ABSENT PRESENT ABSENT ABSENT PRESENT ABSENT ABSENT ABSENT 2 1 7 22%
PRESENT PRESENT EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT 9 1 0 100%
PRESENT EXCUSED EXCUSED EXCUSED PRESENT ABSENT EXCUSED PRESENT EXCUSED PRESENT 4 5 1 80%
EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT ABSENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT 8 1 1 89%
PRESENT PRESENT EXCUSED PRESENT ABSENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT ABSENT PRESENT 7 1 2 78%
PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT 9 1 0 100%
PRESENT PRESENT EXCUSED PRESENT EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT 7 3 0 100%
EXCUSED PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT ABSENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT PRESENT 8 1 1 89%

Hard to see on the board. It's always better to attach (Go advanced>Manage attachments) an example spreadsheet.

Assuming your data is in rows, let's say Maximum of A:AZ
Your counts can be (for row 3 for example)
=COUNTIF(A3:AZ3,"Present")
for percent, format the cell as percent and
= COUNTIF(A3:AZ3,"Present")/COUNTA(A3:AZ3)
Does that help?

      ----A----- ----B----- ----C----- ----D----- ----E----- ----F----- ----G----- ----H----- ----I----- ----J----- ----K---- ---L--- --M---
  1   08/16/2011 09/20/2011 10/18/2011 11/15/2011 12/20/2011 01/17/2012 02/21/2012 03/20/2012 04/17/2012 05/15/2012 <>present excused absent
  2   PRESENT    PRESENT    ABSENT     PRESENT    PRESENT    ABSENT     EXCUSED    PRESENT    ABSENT     ABSENT             5       1      4
  3   EXCUSED    EXCUSED    EXCUSED    EXCUSED    PRESENT    PRESENT    ABSENT     PRESENT    ABSENT     EXCUSED            7       5      2
  4   EXCUSED    PRESENT    PRESENT    PRESENT    PRESENT    EXCUSED    PRESENT    PRESENT    EXCUSED    EXCUSED            4       4      0
  5   EXCUSED    ABSENT     ABSENT     PRESENT    ABSENT     ABSENT     PRESENT    ABSENT     ABSENT     ABSENT             8       1      7
  6   PRESENT    PRESENT    EXCUSED    PRESENT    PRESENT    PRESENT    PRESENT    PRESENT    PRESENT    PRESENT            1       1      0

Enter the values in K1:L1 as shown.

In K2 and copy across and down,

=COUNTIF($A2:$J2, K$1)