________________________________________ Presenters: Hedy Chang, Elizabeth Burke Bryant,

1. A Webinar Presentation: Voices School Readiness and School Success Advisory Committees ________________________________________ Presenters: Hedy Chang, Elizabeth Burke Bryant, Charlie Bruner, Jack Kresnak, and Brad Strong. hnchang@earthlink.net www.chronicabsence.net

2. The 3 As School Success Framework • Attendance Every Day • Achievement Every Year • Attainment Over Time Developed by Annie E Casey Foundation & America’s Promise Alliance for Parent Engagement Toolkit

3. Definitions Chronic Absence: missing 10% or more of school over the course of an academic year for any reason. Research shows 10% is associated with declining academic performance. No standard definition exists. Good Attendance:missing 5% or less over the course of an academic year for any reason. Truancy: refers only to unexcused absences and is defined by each state, according to NCLB. Average Daily Attendance: the percent of enrolled students who attend school each day.

4. Myth 1 Attending Kindergarten regularly doesn’t really matter.

5. Reality: Chronic K Absence Affects Academics Chronic K absence is associated with lower academic performance in 1st grade for all children, especially reading for Latino children. Source: National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)

6. Reality: Chronic K Absence Affects Academics Among poor children, chronic absence in kindergarten predicted lower 5th grade achievement. Source: National Center for Children In Poverty

7. Reality: Poor 6th Grade Attendance Predicts Drop Out Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium

8. Myth 2 We don’t need to worry about large numbers of students missing school until middle or high school.

9. Reality: Chronic Absence Can Reach High Levels Nationwide, 1 out of 10 K & 1st graders are chronically absent. (Source: NCCPP) Chronic early absence can be even higher in some localities. (Across 9 districts, ranged from 5% to 25% of K-3 graders). (Source: Present, Engaged & Accounted For)

10. Chronic Absence Levels in New York City Schools COMPARING CHRONIC ABSENCE MEASURES PK-12 Note: 407 is issued when student misses10 consecutive days or 20 days over a 40 day period. Source: Nauer K et al, Strengthening Schools by Strengthening Families, Center for New York City Affair,s New School, Oct 2008

11. Reality: Chronic Early Absence Can Reach High Levels • Education of all children can be adversely affected when teachers divert attention to meet the needs of chronically absent children. • Addressing chronic absence can improve ADA which would increase resources available to all students. • Chronic early absence could be a sign to intervene before problems are more entrenched.

12. Myth 3 Most educators regularly monitor when students are chronically absent.

13. Reality: Most Do Not Monitor Chronic Absence • Schools typically only track data on average daily attendance and truancy (unexcused absence). • But both can mask chronic absence. • Especially in the early grades, children are not likely to be home without the knowledge of an adult who can call in to say they will be absent.

14. Reality: Most Do Not Monitor Chronic Absence • Even if schools ID truant or chronically absent students, data is rarely used to examine problematic attendance patterns (e.g. by classroom, grade, school, neighborhood or sub-population). • Educators may overlook sporadic vs. consecutive absences. • Absences/attendance are not always built into longitudinal student data systems. ( Not required by the America Competes Act or NCLB.)

15. Myth 4 Because families are ultimately responsible for children getting to school every day, schools can’t do anything to address chronic absence.

16. Reality: Schools + Communities CAN Make a Difference Characteristics of Effective Strategies • Partner with community agencies to help parents carry out their responsibility to get children to school. • Make chronic absence a priority, set attendance targets and monitor progress over time. • Examine factors contributing to chronic absence, especially from parent perspective • Clearly communicate expectations to parents • Begin early, ideally in Pre-K • Combine universal and targeted strategies. • Offer positive supports before punitive action. Source: Present, Engaged & Accounted For

17. A Comprehensive Programmatic Response

18. Tailored Approaches are Most Effective • When chronic absence occurs in the early years, consider the role that schools, families and communities each might play in contributing to and addressing attendance. • As children grow older, pay more attention to issues affecting youth as well (e.g. boredom in school, family responsibilities, peer pressure.) • Key factors contributing to chronic absence can vary by community. • High levels of chronic absence suggest systemic challenges affecting the school or community.

19. Part II: IMPLICATIONS FOR ACTION

20. At School Level • Create attendance data team to regularly review patterns of good attendance & chronic absence by grade, classroom and sub-population. • Offer attendance incentives school-wide. • Educate parents that attendance matters starting in Kindergarten & encourage families to help each other get to school • Reach out to chronically absent students & their families & find out barriers to attendance • Partner with community resources (i.e. afterschool, preschool and health programs) to promote attendance & address barriers. • Include strategies to improve attendance in annual school improvement plan

21. At District Level • Create incentives for schools and administrators to improve attendance and reduce chronic absence. • Invest in professional development around using chronic absence as an early warning sign. • Invest in outreach counselors to support attendance work. • Encourage community and public agencies to target relevant resources to schools with high chronic absence levels.

22. At District Level • Track absences electronically. • Calculate and publicly report the levels of good attendance & chronic absence district-wide, by school, grade and sub-groups. • Ensure underperforming schools with high levels of chronic absence identify barriers to attendance and address issue in school improvement plans. • Include good attendance & chronic absence (along with ADA & truancy) in data dashboards, school report cards and other forms of electronic communications.

23. At State Level • Inclusion of absence data in longitudinal student data base. • State assistance with generating annual reports on attendance including chronic absence. • Use of federal funds (Race to the Top, School Improvement Grants) to pay for the addition of absences to state and local data systems, professional development on responding to early warning signs including chronic absence, formation of school community collaboratives to improve attendance & achievement.

24. Part III: Examples of Taking Action Rhode Island, California, Iowa

25. 2010 Rhode Island Kids Count FactbookChronic Early Absence Indicator • During the 2008-2009 school year, 10% of Rhode Island children in grades K-3 were chronically absent (i.e. absent 18 days or more). In Rhode Island’s core cities, 16% of children in grades K-3 were chronically absent. • Almost one in four (23%) of Rhode Island children in grades K-3 missed 12 or more days of school during the 2008-2009 school year.

26. Statewide Activity – California California Background Statewide Longitudinal Data System Hurdles - State Mandate Law & Collection/Reporting The Chronic Absence and Attendance Partnership Statewide Coalition in California Broad Representation Education and Children’s Advocates Civil Rights Advocates Health, Business and Law Enforcement

27. Statewide Levers – California Policy and Advocacy Efforts IES Statewide Longitudinal Data System - Application Race to the Top – Application School Improvement Grant – Toolkit Education / Communication Efforts Legislation – Senate Bill 1357 Defines Chronic Absence, Enables Statewide Longitudinal Data System to Collect Attendance Data, Includes Chronic Absence Reporting in “Annual Report on Dropouts in California” and establishes intent to create an “Early Warning System” – contingent on funding & voluntary reporting Passed California State Senate

28. CFPC Experience – Iowa • Des Moines Community • Data showing CSA, not ADA, “eye-opener”) • Relevant to family-centered school work on individual child basis • Relevant to school-community dialogue and action in high absenteeism areas • State • Not on the state’s thinking for its longitudinal data base but state receptive to approach (if simple, annual measure: days enrolled - days attended)

29. CFPC Experience – National • Federal Institute for Educational Sciences (longitudinal database) could play regulatory and technical assistance role on this and on early childhood data incorporation (and very approachable) • Data Quality Campaign could play technical, educational, and interest group role in supporting, particularly working with early childhood groups (and very approachable) • Voices/Kids Count could play leadership advocacy role at administrative and Congressional level (especially around ESEA reauthorization)