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MMSD Attendance Trends: Hmong-Speaking High School Students

Discussing attendance trends of Hmong-speaking students, sharing information, action plan, feedback, and input solicitation for addressing the issue. Analyzing high school attendance rates of various student subgroups and proposing strategies to enhance attendance among Southeast Asian students. Presenting student distribution across MMSD high schools and focusing on supporting Hmong students for successful transition through community meetings, focus groups, and interventions for better attendance outcomes. Planning community-school meetings, fostering cultural competency, and enhancing high school structures to better support Asian students in the MMSD educational system.

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MMSD Attendance Trends: Hmong-Speaking High School Students

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  1. MMSD Attendance Trends: Hmong-Speaking High School Students August 29, 2005 MMSD Board of Education

  2. Purposes of today’s discussion… • Share information about attendance trends of Hmong-speaking students in MMSD • Describe action plan for addressing these trends • Solicit input into a plan of action • Obtain feedback

  3. Hmong-Speaking Students • There are currently 1122 students that self-identify as Southeast Asian in MMSD (K-12). • Of these students, 859, or 76% are Hmong-speaking. • 361 Hmong-speaking students are in grades 8-12

  4. Elementary Attendance

  5. MIDDLE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE Middle school students as a group have met the 94% attendance rate goal for the past 5 years. The ethnic subgroups of Southeast Asian, Other Asian, and White, all exceeded the 94% goal in 2003-04.

  6. HIGH SCHOOL ATTENDANCE Overall, the rate of attendance remains just below the 94% goal for high school students. The overall high school attendance rate declined slightly in 2003-04 from 93.6% to 93.3% due mainly to drops among the African American and Southeast Asian subgroups. Southeast Asian students dropped from 90.7% to 88.5%. White and Hispanic attendance rates remained almost unchanged from the prior year while rates for Other Asian students increased.

  7. Percentage of All Students that Meet the 94% Attendance Goal

  8. Hmong Students that Meet the 94% Attendance Goal

  9. Where are our Hmong-Speaking Students? High Schools 9-12 • East: 111 Students • Lafollette: 66 Students • Memorial: 54 Students • West: 42 Students • Alt Programs: 18 Students

  10. Where are our Hmong-Speaking Students? • Middle Schools: 8th grade only • Black Hawk: 6 Sennett: 14 • Cherokee: 8 Sherman: 15 • Hamilton: 3 Toki: 9 • Jefferson: 2 Whitehorse: 4 • O’Keeffe: 5 Wright: 4

  11. Our Plan: May 2005 • Hold Community meeting #1: April 29, Kajsiab House. Distribute notes • Conduct focus groups with Hmong students • Conduct attendance transition conferences with 8th grade Hmong students with a history of poor attendance

  12. Community Meeting #1Kajsiab House • Highlights • Representation from all 4 high schools and most middle schools • Representatives from community organizations • Small group discussions and networking • Relationship building and identification of next steps

  13. Student Focus Groups • 20 - 25 Hmong speaking students • May 25, 2005 • Skippers and non-skippers

  14. Why does attendance change? • Trying to fit in with peers • High school is open and allows more choices • Students don’t like the courses they are placed in • Classes don’t meet student’s needs • Home problems

  15. Is poor attendance a problem? • Yes! Staying in school is important • It holds you back if you don’t go • It gives us a bad reputation • Sometimes teachers mark our names wrong—they stereotype us

  16. What might help? • Adjust academic classes and provide choices of classes • Place Asian students in sections where there are other Asian students • Create a more welcoming environment for Asian students • Be more understanding of family issues • Address racism

  17. What can students do? • Arrange for students who have skipped and dropped out to speak to other students about their regrets • Provide tutors and academic support • Involve parents • Try to motivate peers • Do something fun!

  18. Attendance Transition Meetings • Early identification of students who may need additional support in high school • Spring interviews with 8th grade students experiencing attendance difficulties • Make connections to high school supports, (both student to student, and staff to student) in order to build relationships and problem-solving potential • Habitual Truancy Protocol

  19. Our Plan: Semester 1, 2005-2006 • Host Community-School meeting #2 (include students) • Share plan with secondary administrators and student support • Conduct additional internal research • Explore strategies used in other communities

  20. Our Plan: Semester 2, 2005-2006 • Host Community-School meeting #3 (include students) • Build cultural understanding and competency • Review and develop high school structures to support Asian students

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