Monfredo: New School Year, Let’s Work On Eradicating Chronic Absenteeism

Sunday, August 09, 2015
John Monfredo, GoLocalWorcester MINDSETTER™

As we start the new school year, it is imperative that every effort be made by the schools and by administration to get the message out. “ATTENDANCE COUNTS” is about the importance of school attendance and to consider a public relations campaign on this issue. Research shows that half of all students who miss two to four days of school in the first month of school in excused or unexcused absences will go on to miss nearly a month of school during the school year. Studies  indicate that attendance is a key predictor in determining student success in school. Teachers cannot work to build students’ skills and monitor progress if a large number of students are frequently absent. It not only impacts their learning but also the school climate and the effectiveness of the teachers with other students.

On the positive side, according to the statistics from last school year there are twelve schools within the Worcester Public Schools that have a chronic absenteeism of less than 5.8% and one of the schools has a zero percent of chronic absenteeism. That school is Heard Street Elementary. Other schools with a low percentage are University Park (lowest secondary school), Flagg Street, Worcester Arts Magnet, May Street, Wawecus Road, Tatnuck Magnet, West Tatnuck, Nelson Place, Thorndyke Road, Lake View, and Midland Street. One of the things that all the school have in common is that their population is less than 500 students. Smallness does make a difference in terms of reaching out and building relationships with parents and students.

Last year’s statistics in the Worcester Public Schools shows that 12.7% of students were chronically absent, a slight increase from the following year. Chronic absenteeism means students have been absent over 10% of the school year. Thus, the student was absent at least 18 days. The students who are chronically absent the most in the Worcester Public Schools are our comprehensive high school students with  figures closer to 20%. Grades 10, 11 and 12 show the highest amount! Some of the high percentages are due to suspensions.  

On the elementary level students in the kindergarten and grade one lead the way with chronic absenteeism. Obviously these students in the lower grades where readiness skills take place end up with lower reading and math scores as well as weaker social and emotional skills. Thus, these children are prime candidates for experiencing academic frustrations throughout their scholastic careers. Other statistics show that male Hispanics and low income students have a high rate of chronic absenteeism. 

In addition, poor attendance contributes to an achievement gap for students struggling with poverty and those from communities of color. According to Hedy Chang, director of Attendance Works (attendanceworks.org), 90% of students with severe attendance problems are from “low-income” families. Findings show unstable housing, limited access to healthcare, poor transportation, unsafe paths to school, inadequate food and clothing and poor quality of schools are poverty related barriers to attendance. These findings should direct us, and policy makers toward remedies that address the real causes rather than faulting the parent or student for truancy.  For some there is little access to health care to control the asthma that keeps them home but the Worcester Public Schools has teamed up with UMASS Medical to address this problem. In addition, some of the children face a dangerous walk to school according some parents due to traffic patterns.

The good news is that when students attend school regularly, they can see outsized literacy gains. Studies from Chicago showed that low-income children who attended regularly appeared to benefit from the instruction more than their higher income peers. They gained 8 percent more literacy skills in kindergarten and nearly 7 percent more in first grade. This narrows the reading gap between rich and poor by nearly a third. Likewise the Chicago research showed that students who arrived at preK with the weakest skill and attended regularly saw the biggest gains. When chronically absent students improve their attendance, they can get back on track academically, according to Baltimore researchers.

The research is quite clear confirming the connection between school attendance and student achievement. It reveals the critical importance of intervening as soon as absences begin to add up, whether early in a child’s school career or at the beginning of the school year. The good news is poor attendance can be turned around when policies and practices encourage schools and communities to partner with students and their families to monitor their data and implement promising and proven practice.

I would suggest that the Worcester Public Schools come up with a plan and include the community as a partner for it can not be done alone. First, the best predictor of chronic absenteeism  is a history of continuing poor attendance. The schools need to list those students at each grade level and start putting together an individual educational plan. The schools need to use their community partners and figure out available resources to motivate and assist the students. The support could be in the form of a personalized welcome to school or visits to the home from teachers or a community member. The schools, as part of their plan, can assign a mentor to the students and the mentor can check in with the students daily and call home for each absence. If the student is struggling with his school work or social dynamics the mentor would be there to help.  Mentors could come from the community, Big Brother/Big Sister organizations, church groups or from the colleges. Let’s also have each school team establish goals and benchmarks for the year and use the attendance data on a weekly basis to monitor their progress.

Come September, let’s be sure that home visits take place for those students who have been labeled as chronically absent in the past or invite those parents in for a conference  to reinforce the message and ask what can be done to help out. These meetings can also be part of a workshop on absenteeism or on a much broader level be part of a campaign on “Attendance Counts.”

Other ideas, according to research, show that engaging programs before and after school can improve attendance. Community walk to school programs or buddies has also been helpful.  Some students may need support with medical and dental or mental health challenges and again this would all be addressed in the student’s individual education plan.

As part of that team approach we need  a coordinated campaign with partners who have expertise in particular areas, including efforts to address homelessness, transportation, and health. In addition, partnerships among different agencies (e.g., faith-based organizations) that leverage community supports to improve attendance such as calls home and connections to community resources are needed.

The bottom line is that everyone must be on board! It can’t be as we have done in the past hold a partnership meeting within the community and not have an action plan attached or not have our partners be part of the solution. Let’s have a team (including community partners) at each school addressing the issue and following up with strategies for those students in need of service.

The approach to attendance should be a school-wide priority from day one with that effort continuing throughout the school year. School-wide strategies such as pep rallies at the start of the new school year, attendance contests, Student Success Summits on the secondary level at each school in the first month of the school year and throughout the rest of the year have also proven to work.  We should also encourage all schools to celebrate good attendance at their school in a variety of ways…assemblies, notices on the intercom, names in the monthly newsletter and letters to parents of children with good attendance. In the early grades stickers are a big hit with the children too. On the secondary level make it a big event each month with an attendance celebration.

The month of September is National Attendance Awareness Month so let’s start off the new year mobilizing schools and the community not only to promote the value of good attendance but also to take concrete steps toward reducing chronic absenteeism. Good attendance, even without improvements in the educational system, will drive up achievement, high school graduation, and college attainment rates. We, as a community, need to ensure that our students are ready, willing and able to attend school every day. This year let’s make this issue a priority in our schools and in our community.