www.attendanceworks.org

Reducing Chronic AbsenceWhat Will It Take?

2014

Average

Daily

Attendance

• The % of enrolled students who attend school each day. It is used in some states for allocating funding.

Truancy

•Typically refers only to unexcused absences and is defined by each state under No Child Left Behind. It signals the potential need for legal intervention under state compulsory education laws.

Chronic

Absence

•Missing 10% or more of school for any reason -- excused, unexcused, etc. It is an indication that a student is academically at risk due to missing too much school starting in Kindergarten.

What is Chronic Absence?

What is the difference from ADA and truancy?

2

90% and even 95% ≠ A

High Levels of Average Daily Attendance (ADA) Can Mask

Chronic Absence

A B C D E F

-5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

7%

12% 13% 13%15% 16%

Chronic Absence For 6 Elementary Schools in Oakland, CA with @ 95%

ADA in 2012

% Chronic Absence

98% ADA = little chronic absence 95% ADA = don’t know

93% ADA = significant chronic absence

A B C D E F0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

20% 20% 20% 21%23%

26%

Chronic Absence for 6 Schools in New York City with 90% ADA in

2011-12

% Chronic Absence

3

Truancy (unexcused absences)

Can Also Mask Chronic Absence

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Number of Chronically Absent Versus Chronically Truant Students San Francisco Unified School District

# chronic absentees - 2010-2011

# students missing 10 days unexcused (as of May 16th 2011) 4

Why Does Attendance Matter For Achievement? What we know from research around the

country

Starting in PreK, More Years of Chronic Absence = Need for Intensive Reading

Support By 2nd Grade

* Indicates that scores are significantly different from scores of students who are never chronically absent, at p<.05 level; **p<.01; ***p<.001

Some risk

At risk

6

No attendance risks Small attendance risks Moderate attendance risks High attendance risks0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

64%

43% 41%

17%

Chart TitlePercent Students Scoring Proficient or Advanced on 3rd Grade ELA

Based on Attendance in Kindergarten and in 1st Grade

Students Chronically Absent in Kindergarten and

1st Grade are Much Less Likely to Read Proficientlyin 3rd Grade

No risk Missed less than 5% of school in K & 1st

Small risk Missed 5-9% of days in both K & 1st

Moderate risk Missed 5-9% of days in 1 year &10 % in 1 year

High risk Missed 10% or more in K & 1st

Source: Applied Survey Research & Attendance Works (April 2011)

7

The Long-Term Impact of Chronic Kindergarten Absence is Most

Troubling for Poor Children

40

42

44

46

48

50

52

0-3.3% in K 3.3 - 6.6% in K 6.6-10.0% in K >=10.0% in K

Ave

rage

Aca

dem

ic P

erfo

rman

ce

Absence Rate in Kindergarten

ReadingMath

Source: ECLS-K data analyzed by National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) Note: Average academic performance reflects results of direct cognitive assessments conducted for ECLS-K.

5th Grade Math and Reading performance by K attendance for children living In poverty. Academic performance was lower even if attendance

had improved in 3rd grade.

8

Multiple Years of Elementary Chronic Absence

= Worse Middle School Outcomes

Oakland Unified School District SY 2006-2012, Analysis By Attendance Works

Chronic absence in 1st grade is also associated with:

• Lower 6th grade test scores

• Higher levels of suspension

Years of Chronic Absence in Grades 1-5

Increase in probability of 6th grade

chronic absence

Each year of chronic absence in elementary school is associated with a substantially higher probability of chronic

absence in 6th grade

5.9x

7.8x

18.0x

9

By 6th grade, chronic absence predicts high school drop out.

Severely Chronically Absent > 40 days absent

Chronically Absent 20 to 39 days absent

Not Chronically Absent < 20 days absent

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0% 56.3%

41.6%

25.7%

withdrew from school - likely dropped out

High School Outcomes by Rates of Chronic Absenteeism in Sixth Grade

(Baltimore City Public Schools, 1990-00 Sixth Grade Cohort)Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium

10

The Effects of Chronic Absence on Dropout Rates Are

Cumulative

With every year of chronic

absenteeism, a higher

percentage of students

dropped out of school.

http://www.utahdataalliance.org/downloads/ChronicAbsenteeismResearchBrief.pdf 11

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. 12

What Do We Know About Chronic Absence in [Insert

your community]?

What Does Chronic Absence Look Like in Our District?

Grade K Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10

Grade 11

Grade 12

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

2% 1% 2% 2% 1% 1% 2% 3% 6%

27% 27%

19%24%

15%11% 10%

7%4%

6%11%

12%

14%

20% 22%

25%

33%

PERCENT_x000d_severe chronic absence PERCENT_x000d_ chronic absence

PLACEHOLDER

If it is available, add in your district data here.

Sharing data with stakeholders is a helpful– but not necessary-- step for designing a community action plan. If you do not have chronic absence data

available, feel free to delete this slide.

Sample District-wide Chronic Absence Data, Single Year

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Is Chronic Absence Increasing or Decreasing Over Time?

Grade K Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10

Grade 11

Grade 12

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

15%

8%6%

8% 6%5%

10%

18%14%

49%

42% 41%

49%

9% 9%7%

4% 5% 6%

11%

19%

29%

53% 51%

36%

58%

18%

13% 12%9%

5%7%

13%15%

20%

47% 48%

44%

56%

2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013

Sample District-wide Chronic Absence Data, 3-Year Trend

PLACEHOLDER

If it is available, add in your district data here.

Sharing data with stakeholders is a helpful– but not necessary-- step for designing a community action plan. If you do not have chronic absence data

available, feel free to delete this slide.

15

Are Certain Subgroups of Students More Affected By

Chronic Absence?Sample District-wide Data, Single Year by Gender

Boys Girls-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Elementary

Middle

Boys Girls-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

High

Boys Girls-10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

16% 13

%

33%

19%

35%

39%

Moderate Chronic Absence

Severe Chronic Absence

PLACEHOLDER

If it is available, add in your district data here.

Sharing data with stakeholders is a helpful– but not necessary-- step for designing a community action plan. If you do not have chronic absence data

available, feel free to delete this slide.

16

Are Certain Subgroups of Students More Affected By

Chronic Absence?Sample Data, Percentage of Students Chronically Absent in Each Grade, by Race/Ethnicity

Grade K Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 50.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

Hispanic/Latino

African Amer

White

Asian

Other

Perc

ent o

f Stu

dent

s

PLACEHOLDER

If it is available, add in your district data here.

Sharing data with stakeholders is a helpful– but not necessary-- step for designing a community action plan. If you do not have chronic absence data

available, feel free to delete this slide.

17

Find Out Why Students Are Chronically Absent

MythsAbsences are only a problem if they are

unexcused

Sporadic versus consecutive absences

aren’t a problem

Attendance only matters in the older

grades

Barriers

Lack of access to health or dental care

Poor transportation

No safe path to school

AversionChild struggling

academically

Lack of engaging instruction

Poor school climate and ineffective school

discipline

Parents had negative school experience

Chronic disease

18

Site-Level Strategies for Building a Culture of Attendance &

Identifying Barriers

19

• If there are schools in your district that have improved attendance and are maintaining low levels of chronic absence, consider asking them to share what they do

Local Examples of Effective Practice

20

Increased Attendance Involves a 3-Tiered Approach that Fits with

Most Reform Efforts

A small fraction of a school’s

students

Students who were chronicallyabsent in prior year or starting to miss 20% or more of school

Someof a school’s

students

Students at risk for chronic absence

All of a school’s

students

All students in the school

RecoveryPrograms

InterventionPrograms

Universal/Preventive Programs

High Cost

Low Cost

21

Students &

Families

Schools

Actionable Data

Positive Messagin

g

Capacity Building

Shared Accountabili

ty

Is accurate, accessible, and regularly reported

Expands ability to interpret data and work together to adopt best practices

Conveys why building a habit of attendance is important and what chronic absence is

Ensures monitoring & incentives to address chronic absence

Option A – use this diagram or

the version on the next slide

Community District

Ingredients for System-wide Success & Sustainability

Strategic partnerships between district and community partners address specific attendance barriers and mobilize support for all ingredients 22

Positive Messaging

Actionable Data

Strategic Partnerships

Capacity Building

Shared Accountabilit

yConveys why building a habit of attendance is important and what chronic absence is

Is accurate, accessible, and regularly reported

Expands ability to interpret data and work together to adopt best practices

between schools, agencies, and community partners address attendance barriers and mobilize support for all ingredients

Ensures monitoring and incentives and sets expectations for school leaders and teachers to address chronic absence

Ingredients for System-wide Success & SustainabilitySite-Level Strategies

Option B – use this diagram or

the version on the previous slide

23

1. Take a moment to reflect and react to the strategies discussed in this deck

2. Work through the District Self-Assessment Exercise, individually and then as a group

What Comes Next?

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