Curbing Chronic Early
Absenteeism: Implications for
Community School Collaboratives
Coalition of Community Schools National Forum
April 8, 2010
Philadelphia , PA
1
Getting to Know You
• What is your role?
_Educator _Community Agency Partner
_Researcher /Evaluator _Advocate
_Technical Assistance Provider _Other
• What kind of communities do you work in?
_Urban _Rural _Suburban _Mix?
• What are the ages of the students you target?
_ prek __elementary __middle school
__high school __all ages
THE CHRONIC ABSENCE QUIZ
TRUE OR FALSE?
Attending Kindergarten regularly doesn’ t really
matter.
We don’t need to worry about large numbers of
students missing school until middle or high school.
Most educators monitor when students are absent
for extended periods of time.
Because families are ultimately responsible for
children getting to school every day, schools can’t do
anything to address chronic absence.
Attendance Definitions
Chronic Absence: missing 10% or more of school
over the course of an entire academic year for any
reason. 10% was associated with declining academic
performance in our research. No standard definition
currently exists.
Truancy: refers only to unexcused absences
Average Daily Attendance: the percent of enrolled
students who attend school each day
Presenters
Hedy N. Chang,
Attendance Counts
Margarita Cotto-Hernandez,
Burton Elementary School, Grand Rapids MI
Abe Fernandez,
National Center for Community Schools, Children’s Aid
Society, NYC
Sue Fothergill,
Baltimore City Student Attendance Work Group
Myth #1
Attending Kindergarten
regularly doesn’t really matter
(FALSE)
Reality:
Chronic Absence in K Affects Academics
Among poor children, chronic absence in kindergarten
predicted lower 5th grade achievement.
Source: National Center for Children In Poverty
Reality:
Poor 6th Grade Attendance Predicts Drop out
Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium
Myth #2
We don’t need to worry about large
numbers of students missing school
until middle or high school.
(FALSE)
Reality:
Chronic Early Absence Can Reach High Levels
Nationwide, 1 out of 10 K & 1st graders are chronically absent.
(Source: NCCP).
Chronic early absence can be even higher in some localities.
(Across 9 districts, ranged from 5% to 25% of K-3 graders).
Chr onic Early Abs e nce Acr os s Localitie s
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
Locality
6
7
8
9
Chronic Absence in Baltimore MD
60.0
Rates of Chronic Absenteeism from 1999-00 to 2003-04
Both Cohorts
50.0
Sixth Grade Cohort
16.6
40.0
17.1
30.0
18.8
First Grade Cohort
18.9
17.1
20.0
39.8
30.1
13.1
10.0
11.3
5.3
4.1
99-00
00-01
0.0
*1st gr
2nd
gr
11.8
10.9
4.1
4.1
10.4
3.2
01-02
3rd gr
02-03
4th gr
03-04
5th gr
Severely Chronically Absent (<79% Attendance)
*Grade level assumes on-time promotion. Not all were promoted each year.
16.8
99-00
6th gr
17.9
00-01
7th gr
20.4
01-02
8th gr
02-03
9th gr
03-04
10th gr
Chronically Absent (79-88% Attendance)
Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium
Myth #3
Most educators regularly monitor
when students are chronically
absent. (FALSE)
Reality:
Most Do Not Monitor Chronic Absence
• Schools typically only track data on average daily
attendance and truancy (unexcused absence).
• BUT both can mask high levels of chronic absence.
• Especially in the early grades, children are not
likely to be home without the knowledge of an
adult who can call in to say they will be absent.
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 a target and monitor progress
over time.
•
Examine factors contributing to chronic absence, especially from
parent perspective
•
Begin early ideally in Pre-K
•
Combine universal and targeted strategies.
•
Offer positive supports before punitive action.
A Comprehensive Programmatic Response
Coordinated public
agency and legal
crisis response
Early outreach & case
management to families
with poor attendance
Attendance Incentives
Parent Education & Peer Support
Roll Regularly Taken in Caring Manner
Family Engagement in School
High Quality Engaging Educational Program
Access to Preventative Health Care
Quality Early Care and Education Experiences
Why Aren’t Schools and
District Doing More to
Address Chronic Absence?
Chronic Absence in NYC: Dramatic
Findings in 2008 Study
The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School
analyzed individual student attendance data citywide
with a focus on elementary students. The prevalence of
chronic absenteeism in grades K-5 shocked school
officials and the broader public.
o One of every five students in grades K-5 was chronically
absent. This number was as high as one in every three
students in the poorest neighborhoods.
Citywide: Absenteeism Most Intense in
Poor Neighborhoods
LEVELS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM BY DISTRICT
NYC PK-12 Trends Similar to Other
Inner-City School Systems
COMPARING CHRONIC ABSENCE MEASURES PK-12
How could we do a better
job of monitoring chronic
absence?
Collecting and Monitoring Data On
Chronic absence
 Attendance is tracked daily and in secondary
schools by class in Baltimore City
 Attendance data is uploaded to the principal’s
dashboard weekly
 Principals have access to an alert list of students
on track to becoming chronically absent, a list of
students who were chronically absent in the
prior school year, and the school’s chronic
absence rate as compared to its own rate in the
prior school year
Burton’s School Attendance Team:
 Weekly Meeting ( 1 hr. to 1 & half hrs. )
 Social worker from the local department of human
services, community school coordinator, district
attendance specialist, attendance secretary, and
principal. Principal leads the meeting.
 Meeting involves – review of excessive absences
and/or tardiness. Letters to excessive absences and/or
tardies students, decide which students will receive a
call and/or home visit based on the TR data.
What are effective
interventions to reduce
chronic absence?
Effective Strategies – Burton
Elementary
 Offering attendance incentives (STAR)
 Sharing the research with parents on chronic
absenteeism and its effect on their children especially in
the early grades (Pre-K, K, & 1st).
 Not “letting up” -- good attendance is expected and
that tardiness is not acceptable.
 Following-up on chronic attendance/tardy
students/families.
 Providing families with resources to remove barriers
that are keeping their children from being at school.
Tiered Strategies to Improve
Attendance
Tier 1 – Universal Strategies (for all students)
• Establish a school-going culture including. response to
each absence, welcoming back absent students,
communicating the importance of regular attendance to
the home.
• Utilize Global Connect or make phone calls home after
each absence
• Offer classroom attendance incentives for improved good
attendance
• Utilize school attendance incentives such as attendance
ceremonies, special trips for high attenders and rewarding
parents whose children regularly attend
Tiered Strategies to Improve
Attendance
Tier 2 – Intervention Strategies (for students who
miss 5 or more days of school)
• Refer a student with attendance problems to the SST
including all of the adults who touch the child’s life
(e.g. school nurse, after school providers, and the
community schools coordinator.)
• Assign special activities to increase at risk student’s
feeling of belonging
• Develop attendance plan with student & parents
• Provide the family with an alarm clock
• Refer to programs like Truancy Court or B-SMART
Tiered Strategies to Improve
Attendance
Tier 3 – Recovery Strategies (for students who are
missing at least 10% of their days on role)
• Involve external partners in the provision of needed
services such as mental health providers
• Conduct a home visit
• Refer the student to the Attendance Office
District Systems Reforms Affecting
Attendance
• Reforming school suspension policy
• Reducing the number of school
transitions by creating schools grades k8 and 6-12
• Increasing student and family options by
creating and supporting innovation,
contract, charter and transformation
schools
29
Results to Date
• % Missing 20 or More Days of School
SCHOOL LEVEL
% Chronic
Absence
2006-7
% Chronic
Absence
2007-8
% Chronic
Absence
2008-9
ELEMENTARY GRADES
14.0
12.4
11.3
MIDDLE GRADES
33.7
27.0
18.6
HIGH SCHOOL
43.5
42.1
42.0
ALL CITY SCHOOLS
28.7
25.6
23.2
Self Assessment Exercise
• Spend 5 minutes reviewing and beginning to fill
out self-assessment tool
• Share results with a partner
• Discuss implications for the role of community
schools in addressing chronic absence
DISCUSSION:
What can community
schools do?
Contact Information
Hedy N Chang; hnchang@earthlink.net
http://www.chronicabsence.net
Abe Fernandez ; abef@childrensaidsociety.org
Sue Fothergill ; bluesue73@hotmail.com
Margarita Cotto Hernandez;
HernandezM@grps.k12.mi.us