Hitting a Homerun with Attendance

1. Elizabeth Gutting, Jennifer Russell, and Shannon Schmidt Hitting a Homerun with Attendance

2. About Our School • Public charter school in Baltimore City • Fourth year of operation • Serving 524 students • Began as K-4 in 2005, Currently K-7 • Demographics: FARMS: 80% ESOL: 15% SPED: 10%

3. Today’s Objectives • We will share strategies that successfully helped PPPCS meet attendance targets for the 2007-2008 school year. • We will brainstorm ideas for group and individual incentives to improve attendance.

4. Why is attendance important? • Impacts student achievement • Impacts school climate • Helps determine AYP—must not be significantly less than 94%

5. What are the barriers to increasing student attendance?

6. How Can We Improve Attendance? • Establish Attendance Committee made up of teachers, staff & administrators (11/07) • Meet monthly to analyze attendance data • Establish individual & group incentives • Establish individual & group interventions • Make learning fun so students want to come to school!

7. Committee’s Role • Maintain attendance bulletin board in a highly visible place • Organize monthly class attendance incentives • Organize monthly individual attendance incentives • Train & assist teachers with maintaining late logs • Participate in monthly ACT Meetings (Action Collaboration Team)

8. Teachers’ Role • Teachers maintain a “Late Log” • Teachers send home a letter discussing attendance and lateness • Teachers refer students to SST based on attendance • Teachers are “hooked” in competition and encourage attendance in their classes

9. Administration's Role • Office staff maintains attendance records and provides monthly attendance reports • Office staff phones families whose students miss 3 or more days in a row • Principal holds attendance hearings with families of students who miss 5 or more days • Administrative team provides monthly attendance updates to the Board, Parent Organization, and SIT Team • Attendance is considered in Student Support Team meetings • Administration provides coverage for an additional planning period for the teacher whose class is the weekly winner for best attendance

10. School-Wide Incentives:The Benefits GROUP REWARDS • The power of peer pressure • Positive reinforcement • Build upon group affiliation (i.e. Homeroom, Classroom, Team, Grade)

11. School Wide Incentives:Examples • Beach Party • Teachers vs. Students Kickball • Cookies and Cocoa • Game Day Barbeque • March Madness • Take Me Out to the Ballgame

12. Monthly Individual Incentives Individual Rewards • Rewards those students who have perfect attendance • Positive Reinforcement • VISIBILITY! • NUT cards: No Uniform Today • Candy bags • Certificates & Trophies • Bike Raffle

13. Individual Interventions • Office staff phones families whose students miss 3 or more days in a row. • Attendance hearings for families with 5 or more absences. • Attendance is considered in Student Support Team (SST) meetings. • Attendance referrals made for students with 10 or more absences. • Monthly attendance updates at Board Meetings, ACT (Action Collaboration Team) Meetings, HOPPP (Hands on Patterson Park Public) Meetings

14. What About Lateness? • Lateness is considered in attendance prizes and initiatives. • Late logs: teachers add up minutes of instructional time missed. • Excessive lateness letters sent home to parents. • Teachers refer students to principal for conference regarding pattern of lateness.

15. PPPCS Attendance Data

16. Comparing Our Data

17. Obstacles • Office staff experiences problems with recording data and pulling reports • Families do not show up to school-level hearings • Coordinating committee efforts and parent group efforts • Maintaining incentive funds • Continually analyzing data

18. Break Out • Is there an emphasis on attendance in your school? • How could attendance be better emphasized at your school? • What would be the roadblocks in creating more attendance awareness?

19. Ideas for Attendance Initiatives in Your School

20. Questions or Comments?