July What’s Happening? Wednesday
Chronic Absence and Critical Early Warning Signs
July 4, 2014
Goal of the Call:
• Sue Fothergill, Senior Policy Associate at Attendance Works, will provide
insight into what it takes to reduce chronic absenteeism
• Get a snapshot of what United Ways are doing from a local California
perspective with Ed Center, VP of Education, United Way of the Bay Area
• Provide concrete tools for your United Way to Leverage
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Reducing Chronic Absence
Why Does it Matter?
What Does It Take?
Sue Fothergill, Senior Policy Fellow, Attendance Works
Spring /Summer 2014
www.attendanceworks.org
Why focus on Chronic Absence?
Chronic Absence is missing 10% or more of the school year for
any reason – this includes excused and unexcused absences.
Excused
Absences
Unexcused
absences
Suspensions
Chronic
Absence
Chronic absence
is different from
truancy
(unexcused
absences only) or
average daily
attendance (how
many students
show up to school
each day.
High Levels of ADA Can Mask
Chronic Absence
90% and even 95% ≠ A
Chronic Absence For 6 Elementary Schools
in Oakland, CA with @ 95% ADA in 2012
30%
30%
25%
26%
25%
20%
15%
10%
Chronic Absence for 6 Schools in New
York City with 90% ADA in 2011-12
12%
13%
13%
15%
16%
20%
20%
20%
A
B
C
21%
23%
20%
15%
7%
10%
5%
5%
0%
0%
A
B
C
D
% Chronic Absence
E
F
D
E
F
% Chronic Absence
98% ADA = little chronic absence
95% ADA = don’t know
93% ADA = significant chronic absence
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Chronic Absence
A Hidden National Crisis
 Nationwide, as many as 7.5 million students miss nearly a month
of school every year. That’s 135 million days of lost time in the
classroom.
 In some cities, as many as one in four students are missing that
much school.
 Chronic absenteeism is a red alert that students are headed for
academic trouble and eventually for dropping out of high school.
 Research shows that chronically absent students are less likely to
succeed academically, and are more likely to be suspended and
eventually dropout.
 Poor attendance isn’t just a problem in high school. It can start as
early as pre-kindergarten.
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Starting in PreK, More Years of Chronic Absence =
Need for Intensive Reading Support By 2nd Grade
Some risk
At risk
* Indicates that scores are significantly different from scores of students who are never chronically absent, at p<.05 level; **p<.01; ***p<.001
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Multiple Years of Elementary Chronic Absence
= Worse Middle School Outcomes
Each year of chronic absence in elementary school is associated with
a substantially higher probability of chronic absence in 6th grade
18.0x
Increase in
probability of
6th grade
chronic
absence
Chronic absence in 1st
grade is also associated
with:
7.8x
5.9x
•
•
Lower 6th grade test
scores
Higher levels of
suspension
Years of Chronic Absence in Grades 1-5
Oakland Unified School District SY 2006-2012, Analysis By Attendance Works
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Attendance Is Even More Important For
Graduation for Students In Poverty
Presentation to: The Interagency Council for Ending the Achievement Gap
November 7, 2013, CT State Dept of Education.
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What Does It Take To Reduce
Chronic Absence?
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Find Out Why Students Are
Chronically Absent
Myths
Absences are only a
problem if they are
unexcused
Sporadic versus
consecutive absences
aren’t a problem
Barriers
Child struggling
academically
Chronic disease
Lack of engaging
instruction
Lack of access to
health or dental care
Poor
transportation
Attendance only
matters in the older
grades
Aversion
No safe path to school
Poor school climate
and ineffective school
discipline
Parents had negative
school experience
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Site-Level Strategies for Building a Culture of
Attendance & Identifying Barriers
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Ingredients for System-wide
Success & Sustainability
District
Community
Conveys why building a
habit of attendance is
important and what
chronic absence is
Positive
Messaging
Schools
Actionable
Data
Is accurate, accessible,
and regularly reported
Students
& Families
Ensures monitoring &
incentives to address
chronic absence
Shared
Accountability
Capacity
Building
Strategic partnerships between
district and community partners
address specific attendance
barriers and mobilize support for
all ingredients
Expands ability to
interpret data and work
together to adopt best
practices
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What can United Ways Do?
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What can you do to respond to chronic
absence?
• Engage parents, families, and community partners
in this issue
• Partner with community stakeholders in calling for
chronic absence data
• Advocate for resources to address barriers to
attendance
• Help grantees integrate attendance into their work
• Ensure there is an Attendance Campaign in place
in your community
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Community Schools Education Initiative
United Way of the Bay Area
Ed Center, VP of Education
KEY PROGRAMMATIC COMPONENTS
• Expanded Learning Opportunities
• Parent Engagement & Involvement
• Adult Education
• Medical, Dental, Mental Health and Social Services
• Early Childhood
• Community and Economic Development
DATA IS EVERYTHING!
• You cannot run an effective community school without collecting the right
data and making data informed decisions.
• Who are the most vulnerable children?
• Are they taking up the services and supports we offer?
• Are these supports making an impact?
• http://www.uwba.org/files/galleries/United_Way-Community-SchoolsReport.pdf
Sample Elementary School
Chronic / Severe Absent
Resources
www.attendanceworks.org
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Attendance Works Resources
Our website has access to tools for monitoring, understanding and
addressing chronic absence, starting in the early grades. You will find
tools for implementing strategies at the school, district and state level.
• Make Every Day Count – Messaging
• Count Us In – Attendance Awareness Month
• Calculating Chronic Absence
• Bringing Attendance Home – Parent Engagement
• Parent Fliers
• Strategies and Tips for different groups such as after-school providers and
health care workers
Link to the web: http://www.attendanceworks.org/tools/
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Questions?
Sue Fothergill, Senior Policy Associate , Attendance Works,
Fothergill.sue@gmail.com
Ed Center, Vice President, Education, United Way of the Bay Area,
ecenter@uwba.org
If you have questions or feedback about What’s Happening? Wednesday, please contact:
Maggie Nicholas, 703-836-7100 x 548, maggie.nicholas@uww.unitedway.org
Take Action: Attendance Awareness Advocacy Campaign
• United Way & National Women’s Leadership
Council are hosting a social media advocacy
campaign for Attendance Awareness Month
• Join us for:
• Attendance Awareness Webinar – July 23 at
1pm ET
• Social Media Advocacy 101 Webinar –
August (Date TBD)
• Save the Date: Attendance Awareness
Month Social Media Campaign –
September 18
For more information, contact Lindsay.Torrico@unitedway.org or
Krissi.Jimroglou@unitedway.org
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Thank you!
We will be taking a summer vacation in August but we want your
feedback! Please stay tuned for a survey so we can tailor upcoming
webinars to fit your needs.
What’s Happening? Wednesday will return September 3rd!