www.attendanceworks.org

Reducing Chronic AbsenceWhat Will It Take?

Hedy Chang, Director, Attendance Workshedy@attendanceworks.org

March 14, 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?

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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

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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

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

country

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, starting as early as kindergarten and preschool, that students are headed for academic trouble and eventually for dropping out of high school. 

Chronic absence is even more important with Common Core since it will be harder for students to make up for missed time in the classroom.

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Chronic Absence:A Hidden National Crisis

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

The Long-Term Impact of Chronic Kindergarten Absence is Most

Troubling for Poor Children

40

42

44

46

48

50

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

Aver

age

Acad

emic

Per

form

ance

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.

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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

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With every year of chronic

absenteeism, a higher

percentage of students

dropped out of school.

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

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What Does It Take To Reduce Chronic Absence?

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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

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Site-Level 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 chronicallyabsent in prior year or starting to miss 20% or more of school

Someof a school’s

studentsStudents at risk for chronic absence

All of a school’s

studentsAll students in the school

RecoveryPrograms

InterventionPrograms

Universal/Preventive Programs

High Cost

Low Cost

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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

Community District

Ingredients for System-wide Success & Sustainability

1. Add Attendance to your longitudinal student database.

2. Build Public Awareness about chronic absence, why it matters, and the need for a comprehensive approach that starts with support not punitive action.

3. Establish Standard Chronic Absence Definition (missing 10% for any reason).

4. Call for Chronic Absence Reports (by district, school, grade and subgroup.)

Potential Implications for State School

Boards

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5. Ensure Reporting to Families offering real-time data and an alert for at risk attend

6. Require School Improvement Plans to examine and address chronic absence.

7. Support Capacity Building to ensure everyone understands data and best practices,

8. Call for Interagency Collaboration including joint review of aggregate chronic absence data to inform resource allocation and policy development.

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Potential Implications for State School Boards

For more information, go to: http://www.attendanceworks.org/policy-advocacy

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Wondering about your own state?New from DQC and Attendance Works: Monitoring Chronic Absence

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?

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The Parallels