Transcript Attendance-Counts-August-17-2010

________________________________________
Director, Hedy Chang, [email protected]
www.attendancecounts.org
REVISED AUGUST 2010
The 3 As School Success
Framework
• Attendance Every Day
• Achievement Every Year
• Attainment Over Time
Developed by Annie E Casey Foundation & America’s Promise Alliance
For more info go to
www.americaspromise.org/parentengagement
Chronic Absence: missing 10% or more of
school over the course of an academic year for any
reason. Research shows 10% is associated with
declining academic performance. No standard
definition exists.
Good Attendance: missing 5% or less over the
course of an academic year for any reason.
Truancy: refers only to unexcused absences and
is defined by each state, according to NCLB.
Average Daily Attendance (ADA): the
percent of enrolled students who attend school
each day.
PART I:
DEBUNKING
MYTHS
Myth 1
Attending kindergarten
regularly doesn’t really
matter.
Reality: Chronic K Absence
Affects Academics
Chronic K absence is linked to lower academic
performance in 1st grade for all children,
especially reading for Latino children.
Source: ECLS-K data analyzed by National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)
Note: Average academic performance reflects results of direct cognitive
assessments developed & conducted specifically for this national study
Reality: Chronic K Absence
Affects Academics
Among poor children, chronic absence in
kindergarten predicted lower 5th grade
achievement.
Source: ECLS-K data analyzed by National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)
Note: Average academic performance reflects results of direct cognitive assessments
developed & conducted specifically for this national study
Reality: Poor 6th Grade
Attendance Predicts Drop Out
Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium
Reality: 9th Grade Attendance
Predicts Graduation Better Than
8th Grade Test Scores
Source: Allensworth & Easton, What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public
Schools, Consortium on Chicago School Research at U of C, July 2007
Myth 2
We don’t need to worry
about large numbers of
students missing school
until middle or high school.
Reality: Chronic Early Absence
Can Reach High Levels
1 out of 10 K & 1st grader are chronically absent nationwide.
Levels can be even higher in some localities.
(Across 9 districts, range = 5% to 26.7% K-3rd)
Source: Present, Engaged & Accounted For, 2008
Chronic Early Absence Across Localities
30.0%
26.7%
25.0%
22.7%
20.0%
17.4%
15.0%
13.79%
12.9%
12.0%
10.0%
8.6%
6.0%
5.4%
5.0%
0.0%
%
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Locality
Chronic Absence Levels in New York City Schools
COMPARING CHRONIC ABSENCE MEASURES PK-12
Note:. A 407 alert is issued when student misses 10 consecutive days or 20
days over a 40 day period. The 407 alert misses more sporadic absences
while these are captured in chronic absence. 1 out of 5 elementary school
children were chronically absent.
Source: Nauer K et al, Strengthening Schools by Strengthening Families,
Center for New York City Affairs New School, Oct 2008
Reality: Chronic Early Absence
Matters
• Education of all children can be adversely
affected when teachers divert attention to meet
the needs of chronically absent children.
• Addressing chronic absence can increase
resources available to all students when funding
is tied to attendance.
• Chronic early absence could be a sign to
intervene before problems are more entrenched.
Myth 3
Most educators regularly
monitor when students
are chronically absent.
Reality: Most Do Not Monitor
Chronic Absence
• Schools typically only track data on average
daily attendance and truancy (unexcused
absence). But both can mask chronic
absence.
• Especially in the early grades, children are
not likely to be home without the knowledge
of an adult who can call in absences.
• Not common knowledge when absences
are problematic. (90% ≠ A )
Reality: ADA Masks Chronic
Absence
Chronic absence rates varied markedly at 10 schools
with average attendance rates of 95% or higher.
Chronic Absence Rate
18.00%
16.00%
14.00%
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
School
16.59%
13.19%
8.85%
8.96%
5
6
14.02%
14.81%
5.99%
3.41%
3.48%
2
3
0.68%
1
4
Source: Baltimore School Attendance Initiative
7
8
9
10
Reality: Most Do Not Monitor
Chronic Absence
• Data is rarely used to examine problematic
attendance patterns (e.g. by classroom,
grade, school, neighborhood or subpopulation) so school communities can
identify how to best intervene.
• Educators may overlook sporadic vs.
consecutive absences.
• Absences/attendance are not always built
into longitudinal student data systems. ( Not
required by the America Competes Act or
NCLB.)
Myth 4
Because families are
ultimately responsible for
children getting to school
every day, schools can’t do
anything to address chronic
absence.
Reality: Schools + Communities
CAN Make a Difference
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Characteristics of Effective Strategies
Partner with community agencies to help parents
carry out their responsibility to get children to school.
Make chronic absence a priority, set attendance
targets and monitor progress over time.
Examine factors contributing to chronic absence,
especially from parent perspective.
Clearly communicate expectations to parents.
Begin early, ideally in Pre-K.
Combine universal and targeted strategies.
Offer positive supports before punitive action.
Source: Present, Engaged & Accounted For
A Comprehensive
Programmatic Response
Tailored Approaches are Most
Effective
1.
When chronic absence occurs in the early years,
consider the role schools, families and
communities can play in contributing to and
addressing attendance.
2.
As children grow older, pay more attention to
issues affecting youth as well (e.g. boredom in
school, family responsibilities, peer pressure.)
3.
Key factors contributing to chronic absence can
vary by community.
4.
High levels of chronic absence suggest systemic
challenges affecting the school or community.
IMPLICATIONS
FOR ACTION
For Practice
1.
Create attendance data team to regularly review
patterns of good attendance & chronic absence by
grade, classroom and sub-population.
2.
Offer attendance incentives school-wide.
3.
Educate parents, starting ideally in pre-K, that
attendance matters & encourage them to help
each other get to school.
4.
Reach out to chronically absent students & their
families & find out barriers to attendance.
5.
Partner with community agencies and parents to
promote attendance & address barriers.
6.
Include strategies to improve attendance in
annual school improvement plan.
For Policy
1. Track absences for individual students,
starting in pre-K
2. Adopt standard attendance, chronic absence
and truancy measures at local, state and
federal levels.
3. Include attendance in longitudinal student data
systems.
4. Calculate & report on chronic absence and
other attendance measures by district, school,
grade & sub-population. Include in data
dashboards and electronic communications.
5. Establish school & district attendance teams to
review data and develop programmatic and
policy responses.
For Policy
6. Address chronic absence in school
improvement plans.
7. Offer incentives for schools, educators and
community partners (e.g. preK, afterschool,
etc.) to improve attendance and reduce
chronic absence.
8. Invest in professional development to help
educators recognize chronic absence as an
early warning sign and adopt strategies for
improving attendance.
9. Use chronic absence to guide allocation of
relevant community resources (e.g. pre-K,
health care & insurance, afterschool,
free tax prep & EITC outreach).