reducing chronic early absence
DESCRIPTION
Keynote Address Presentation Hedy Nai-Lin Chang, Attendance WorksTRANSCRIPT
www.attendanceworks.org
Reducing Chronic Early
Absence
Spring 2013
Hedy Chang, Director
Why it Matters, What Can
You Do
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. In MI, unlike most other states, definition of truancy left to each district; MI reports 10 unexcused absences primarily for purposes of NCLB.
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.
Unpacking Attendance Terms
2
90% and even 95% ≠ A
High Levels of ADA Can Mask
Chronic Absence
7%
12% 13% 13% 15% 16%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
A B C D E F
Chronic Absence For 6 Elementary Schools
in Oakland, CA with @ 95% ADA in 2012
% Chronic Absence
3
98% ADA = little chronic absence
95% ADA = don’t know
93% ADA = significant chronic absence
20% 20% 20% 21% 23%
26%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
A B C D E F
Chronic Absence for 6 Schools in New
York City with 90% ADA in 2011-12
% Chronic Absence
Truancy (unexcused absences)
Can Also Mask Chronic Absence
4
Sporadic – Not Just Consecutive –
Absences Matter
• A 407 alert is issued when a student misses 10 consecutive days or 20 days over a
40 day period. It misses more sporadic 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
New York City Schools (2008)
5
Nationwide, as many as 10-15% of students (7.5 million)
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.
Poor attendance isn’t just a problem in high school. It can
start as early as kindergarten and pre-kindergarten.
6
Chronic Absence:
A Hidden National Crisis
Kent County Data Shows Chronic Early
Absence is a problem in MI
7
Community Research Institute 2011 Report - Grades 1st – 3rd
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is focusing
on three challenges to reading success that are
amenable to community solutions:
• The Readiness Gap: Too many children from
low-income families begin school already far
behind.
• The Attendance Gap (Chronic Absence): Too
many children from low-income families miss
too many days of school.
• The Summer Slide (Summer Learning Loss): Too
many children lose ground over the summer
months.
8
The Campaign for
Grade-Level Reading
9
Students with more years of chronic absenteeism, starting in preK have lower 2nd grade scores
* 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
64%
43% 41%
17%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
No attendance risks Small attendance risks Moderate attendance risks High attendance risks
Percent 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 Proficiently
in 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) 10
Chronic Absence Associated with Early Academic Trouble in Kent County, MI
CRI Report, 2011 11
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
Reading
Math
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.
12
13
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
The Effects of Chronic Absence on
Dropout Rates Are Cumulative
14
With every year of chronic
absenteeism, a higher percentage
of students dropped out of
school.
http://www.utahdataalliance.org/downloads/ChronicAbsenteeismResearchBrief.pdf
15
Reducing Chronic Absence is Key to
Reducing the Achievement Gap
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
% o
f A
ctiv
e S
tud
en
ts
Grade Level
% Chronically Absent Students By Ethnicity2011-12 School Year
African American
Asian
Latino
White
16
Why Are Students Chronically Absent?
Myths Absences 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 care
Poor transportation
No safe path to school
Aversion Child struggling
academically
Lack of engaging instruction
Poor school climate and ineffective school
discipline
Parents had negative school experience
Hope for a better future
+
Faith that school will help you or your child succeed
+
Capacity Resources, skills, knowledge needed to get to school
17
Going to School Every Day Reflects…
18
Universal Strategies for Building a Culture of
Attendance & Identifying Barriers
Increased Attendance Involves a 3-Tiered
Approach that Fits with Most Reform Efforts
A small fraction
of a school’s
students
Students who were chronically
absent in prior year or
starting to miss 20%
or more of school
Some
of a school’s
students
Students at risk for
chronic absence
All of
a school’s
students
All students
in the school
Recovery
Programs
Intervention
Programs
Universal/Preventive
Programs
High
Cost
Low
Cost 19
Variation Across Schools Helps Identify
Good Practice and Need for Intervention
Chronic Absence Levels Among Oakland Public Schools
(2009-10)
20
• Data-driven action: Data are used identifying where to place counselors, which students to target & to evaluate success.
• Attendance Improvement Counselors: Attendance
Improvement Counselors, along with Vista national service members helped the schools track data, adopt universal and targeted interventions, create incentives for good attendance, reach out to students and parents, and ensure a timely response to poor attendance.
• Capacity-building: The Attendance Improvement Counselors also charged with building the capacity of the school staff, parents and community partners to understand attendance laws, use data, and develop a comprehensive approach that includes prevention and early intervention.
Los Angeles
Attendance Improvement Program
LAUSD Attendance Improvement Program Outcomes
Note: Program operated in 77 schools including 52
elementary and 25 high schools with poor K and 9th grade
attendance
• Strength-based approach with more positive perceptions of parents, higher expectations of their students and parents
• Greater levels of parent engagement
• A shared belief that everyone had a role in improving attendance and should work together
• Deeper levels of commitment to program implementation and delving into the causes of absence
• School leadership made improving attendance a high priority
Characteristics of More Successful AIP programs
• Professional development: trained site administrators and teams to interpret attendance data, adopt best practices and engage in peer learning.
• Actionable data: sent report every 10 days pm how many and which students are chronically absent
• School attendance teams: monitored the data and ensured appropriate support s are in place.
• Home visits: hired two outreach workers to conduct home visits to chronically absent kindergartners.
• Parent engagement and communications: Messaged thru newsletters, daily interactions with parents & attendance incentives.
• Community partnerships: used community agencies to offer supports at school sites and thru a district Attendance Review Committee formed to avoid referrals to juvenile court.
New Britain Connecticut
New Britain, CT – Year 1 Results
30%
24%
19%
15% 13%
15% 15%
19%
24%
20%
18%
13% 14%
11% 11% 12% 11%
14% 15%
13%
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ALL
Chronic Absence Drops from 20% to 13% in grades K-8 in New Britain, CT
2011-12 Baseline 2012-13
KSSN experience –
Impact Is Possible & Implementation Matters
26
Chronic absence, 2005-2012
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
Alger
Burton Elementary
Coit
Harrison ParkElementary
MLK - K-8
Sibley Elementary
• Superintendent and Principal Leadership
• District and Building Attendance Policy
• Teacher/Staff Buy-in
• Regular Attendance Meetings
• Parent Outreach
• Attendance Incentives
• Interagency Casemanagement
• Year End Assessment
KSSN Insights into Elements of
Success
27
Ingredients for Success & Sustainability
in a District and Community
28
Chronic Absence = The Warning Light On A Car Dashboard
• Ignore it at your personal peril!
• Address early or potentially pay more (lots more) later.
• The key is to ask why is this blinking? What could this mean?
29
The Parallels
Own the Issue
Mobilize the
Community
Drive With Data
The Superintendents Call to Action
To sign-up for the Call to Action, or to learn more, please visit:
www.attendanceworks.org/superintendents-call-to-action 30
• The beginning of school is when expectations and
norms are set for the year.
• The more days of instruction a student misses, the
larger the negative impact on achievement.
• Chronic absence is missing 10% of days which
would be 2 days by the end of the first month of
school. Schools could use this as a trigger to
intervene before students fall so far behind they
need more intensive remediation.
Why September Counts
31
http://www.attendanceworks.org/attendancemonth/ 32
Join us in September for
Attendance Awareness Month
Key Message #1: Good attendance helps children
do well in school and eventually in the work place.
33
Key Messages
Key Message #2: Absences add up. Excused and
unexcused absences result in too much time lost in
the classroom.
34
Key Messages
Key Message #3: Chronic absence, missing 10
percent of the school year or more, affects the whole
classroom, not just the students who miss school.
35
Key Messages
Key Message #4: We need to monitor how many days
each student misses school for any reason — excused,
unexcused or suspensions — so we can intervene early.
36
Key Messages
Key Message #5: Chronic absence is a problem we
can solve when the whole community, including
parents and schools, gets involved.
37
Key Messages
Key Message #6: Relationship building is
fundamental to any strategy for improving student
attendance.
38
Key Messages
Key Message #7: Reducing chronic absence can
help close achievement gaps.
39
Key Messages
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
www.attendanceworks.org
Attendance Works Hedy Chang, Director
Cecelia Leong, Associate Director
Phyllis Jordan, Communications Lead
301.656.0348
Sue Fothergill, Senior Policy Associate
Elise Dizon-Ross, Manager, Research & Development