An Antidote to Drop-Out

1. Reducing the Achievement Gap in California: The Imperative for Reducing Chronic Absence Starting with School Entry May 2011 Hedy Chang Director, Attendance Works Co-Chair, Chronic Absence & Attendance Partnership

2. An Antidote to Drop-Out The 3 A School Success Framework • Developed by Annie E. Casey Foundation & America’s Promise Alliance For more info go to www.americaspromise.org/parentengagement

3. Defining Key Terms • Average Daily Attendance: The percentage of enrolled students who attend school each day. • Satisfactory Attendance: Missing 5% or less of school in an academic year. • Chronic Absence: Missing 10% or more of school in an academic year for any reason—excused or unexcused. • Severe Chronic Absence: Missing 20% or more days of school per year – approximately two months of school. • Truancy: Typicallyrefers only to unexcused absences and is defined by each state. In CA, it is missing 3 days of school without a valid excuse, or being late to class 3 times without a valid excuse.

4. When 90% Doesn’t Earn an “A” Students Who Miss More Than 10% Of School Are At Grave Risk Chronic Absence (=>10% absence) 0-90% Warning Signs (<10% but >5% absence) 91-94% Satisfactory Attendance (=<5% absence) 95 %+ Emergency: =>20% absence

5. Myths to Dispel

6. Chronic Kindergarten Absence Associated with Lower 1st Grade Achievement for All Children 1st Grade Math & Reading Performance by K Attendance Source: ECLS-K data analyzed by National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) Note: Average academic performance reflects results of direct cognitive assessments conducted specifically ECSL-K.

7. Students Chronically Absent in Kindergarten & 1st Grade Much Less Likely to Read Proficiently in 3rd Grade Source: Applied Survey Research & Attendance Works (April 2011)

8. School Readiness & Early Attendance Are Critical to Early School Success 3rd Grade ELA Test Scores By Attendance and School Readiness Level Proficient Source: Applied Survey Research & Attendance Works (April 2011)

9. The Long-term impact of Chronic Kindergarten Absence Is Most Troubling for Poor Children 5th Grade Math and Reading Performance By K Attendance 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.

10. Chronic Absence is Especially Challenging for Low-Income Children • Kindergarten and 1st grade can reduce the achievement gap for low-income vs. middle class students, but only if they attend school regularly. (Ready 2010) • The negative impact of absences on literacy is 75% larger for low-income children whose families often lack resources to make up lost time on task. (Ready 2010) • Only 17% of low-income children in the United States read proficiently by 4th grade. (NAEP 2009)

11. Chronic Absence is Especially Challenging for Low-Income Children • Poor children are 4xmore likely to be chronically absent in K than their highest income peers. • Children in poverty are more likely to lack basic health and safety supports that ensure a child is more likely to get to school. They often face: • Unstable Housing • Limited Access to Health Care • Poor Transportation • Inadequate Food and Clothing • Lack of Safe Paths to School Due to Neighborhood Violence • Chaotic Schools with Poor Quality Programs, etc. * (Romero & Lee 2007)

12. Chronically Absent 6th Graders Have Lower Graduation Rates Dropout Rates by Sixth Grade Attendance(Baltimore City Public Schools, 1990-2000 Sixth Grade Cohort) Severely Chronically Absent Chronically Absent NotChronically Absent Source: Baltimore Education Research Consortium SY 2009-2010

13. 9th Grade Attendance Predicts Graduation for Students of All Economic Backgrounds Need to recolor chart Note: This Chicago study found attendance was a stronger graduation predictor than 8th grade test scores. Source: Allensworth & Easton, What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools, Consortium on Chicago School Research at U of C, July 2007

14. Moving into Action Requires Knowing If Chronic Absence is a Problem Most Schools Only Track Average Daily Attendance and Truancy. Both Can Mask Chronic Absence. Variation in Chronic Absence for Schools with 95% ADA in Oakland, CA

15. Emerging Data Shows High Levels If the 5,421 students chronically absent in 09/10 had each attended 6 more days, OUSD would have received more than $1,147,000 in additional ADA.

16. Chronic Absence Found In Rural Not Just Urban Communities 1 out of 6 (16%) students were chronically absent.

17. Data is Needed for Identifying Programmatic Solutions • Chronic absence data (as well as other attendance measures) should be examined by classroom, grade, school, neighborhood or sub-population. • If chronic absence is unusually high for a particular group of students, explore what might be common issues (unreliable transportation, community violence, asthma and other chronic diseases, poor access to health care, unnecessary suspension for non-violent offenses, lack of engaging curriculum, child care or afterschool programming, foreclosures, etc.) • If chronic absence is unusually low for a high risk population, find out what they are doing that works. 17

18. Chronic Absence Disproportionately Affects Students of Color Los Angeles Unified School District 2009-2010

19. Variation Helps Identify Good Practice and Need for Intervention Chronic Absence Levels Among Oakland Public Schools

20. Schools + Communities CAN Make a Difference Characteristics of Successful Attendance Initiatives • Partner with community agencies to help families carry out their responsibility to get children to school. • Make attendance a priority, set targets and monitor progress over time. • Engage parents and students in identifying and addressing school, family, and community issues that contribute to chronic absence. • Clearly communicate expectations for attendance to students and families. • Begin early, ideally in Pre-K. • Combine targeted interventions with universal strategies that nurture an engaged learning environment, build a culture of attendance and ensure physical health and safety at school. • Offer positive supports before punitive action.

21. Examples of Successful Efforts Baltimore:Fewer unnecessary suspensions, reduced middle school transitions, expanded monitoring of attendance data, and a citywide campaign have helped cut middle school chronic absence in half. Grand Rapids: A community schools approach including outreach and case management for students with poor attendance has helped bring chronic absence down and student achievement up. New York City: Schoolwide incentives, celebrity wakeup calls and mentoring for at-risk students have reduced elementary and middle school chronic absence in pilot schools.

22. Recovery Programs Increased Attendance Involves a 3-Tiered Approach that Fits with Most Reform Efforts Students who are chronically absent & habitually truant 5-15% of a school’s students Intervention Programs High Cost Students at-risk for poor attendance and/or with rising absence rates 15-20% of a school’s students Universal/Preventative Initiatives and Programs All students in the school 65-100% of a school’s students Low Cost

23. Improving Attendance Takes an Cross-Disciplinary Approach Universal Attendance Supports • Safe and supportive school environment • Inviting and engaging classroom environment • Intentional family involvement and participation • On-going attention to attendance data • Rapid parent contact for unexplained absences • Recognition for good and improved attendance • Collaboration with afterschool programs and early childhood programs to build a culture of attendance • Increased access to school based health supports • A school plan and budget that reflects high attendance priorities • Individual Assessments and Intervention • Refer chronically absent/ truant students for intervention including SART &SARB • Identify and remove barriers • Provide on-going support • Recovery Strategies • Interagency Staffing • Case management and wrap-around services • Referral as last resort for court -based intervention Baltimore Student Attendance WorkGroup adapted from Scott Perry, Attendance Audit, Oregon

24. Considerations for Younger Children • Many parents may not be aware that attendance in pre-K & K matters. • Young children’s attendance is affected by what happens to parents. Multiple maternal and family risk factors increase chronic absence. • Participation in formal child care is associated with lower chronic absence in kindergarten. • Developing good on-time attendance habits begin in pre-K. • Poor health was associated with higher chronic absence for in K-3 for children from 200-300% of poverty. • While attendance is more affected by family conditions, children’s attitudes are a factor too.

25. Considerations for Older Youth • Attendance is more heavily influenced by the youth although family still matters. • Older youth may miss school due to family responsibilities ( e.g. caring for siblings or ill parent, holding a job). • Mental health, teen pregnancy, chronic conditions, and dental disease are top health concerns that affect attendance • Safety issues (In-school and community) play even greater role. • Students miss school due to suspensions for non-violent behaviors. • Students become discouraged as they fall behind in credits and graduation feels increasingly unattainable. • Direct and meaningful engagement of youth in the classroom and activities on campus even more essential.

26. Districts Should Provide: • Leadership. Hold schools accountable for nurturing a school culture that supports good student attendance and intervening when students begin to show poor attendance. • Reporting. Publish regular reports for each school with lists of students who have been or are now chronically absent by grade. Provide regular reports on current chronic absence levels as well as ADA, truancy, and satisfactory attendance by grade and sub-population to site administrators. • Data. Ensure attendance data is regularly (ideally monthly) reviewed and discussed at the site and district level by key administrators and staff. Invest the resources necessary to maintain high quality attendance data.

27. And Districts Should Also Provide: • Attendance Incentives Ensure all schools develop and adopt effective school wide approaches to recognizing good and improved student attendance and notice when students are missing school. • Parent Education & Mutual Support. Support schools in educating parents about the importance of attendance starting with pre-K and encourage families to help each other get to school. • Individual and Programmatic Intervention. Ensure early outreach to chronically absent students combined, as needed, with case management or follow up with courts. Identify and address systemic barriers to attendance, including a lack of engaging instruction or challenges such as poor transportation, lack of health care, etc.

28. Districts and Communities Should Work Together • Community Partnerships Helps schools identify and forge partnerships with community and public agencies that can help provide resources to address barriers to attendance and ensure that each school site is a safe and engaging learning environment. Consider using levels of chronic absence to identify which schools are top priority for collaborative relationships with community partners.

29. Data Usually Exists But Is Not Being Used Effectively • In most schools, teachers take roll every day. • In most districts, attendance for each student is recorded electronically. • Chronic absence is, however, typically not calculated and monitored even though the data exists. • CA is one of only 5 states that does not already have attendance in its longitudinal student database. SB 1357 has yet to be implemented.

30. States Should Provide: • Data Collection. Collect total days enrolled and total days absent, ideally through 180 daily attendance records, and include in databases. • Support for Districts. Strengthen capacity of districts to track and calculate multiple measures of attendance, and to support chronically absent students, ideally in partnership with other community agencies. • Research. Analyze the longitudinal impact of chronic absence in combination with poverty and other factors on student growth, high school completion and post-secondary success; share best practices. • Accountability. Require high levels of chronic absence to be addressed in school improvement plans & provide incentives for substantial improvement. • Reporting. Publish reports that feature multiple attendance measures and show rates by district, school, grade and student sub-populations.

31. Why Attendance Data Should be in CALPADS • New Year Roll Over. Most district information systems “roll over” attendance data each summer and do not make longitudinal attendance data accessible. • Student Mobility. Chronically absent students are often highly mobile. The state can help provide a fuller history and develop support strategies for vulnerable children. • Equity and Efficiency. States can provide dropout early warning systems based on attendance far cheaper and more equitably. • Accountability. States can hold districts and schools accountable for high levels of chronic absence.

32. State Policy Opportunity • Passed in October 2010, SB 1357 lays a foundation for adding attendance to CALPADS. • defines chronic absence as missing 10% of school for any reason. • requires CDE to prepare CalPads to accept attendance data contingent upon federal funds • encourages districts to voluntarily submit their attendance data in return for reports on chronic absence. • Establishes the intent to support the development of early warning systems

33. Local Policy Opportunities • Utilize Extended SARB Report Form for evaluating outcomes and transmitting results to the county superintendent (http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ai/sb/outcomereport.asp) • Adopt board policies to promote attention to chronic absence (see CSBA policy brief http://www.csba.org/~/media/Files/Services/PolicyServices/PolicyBriefs/2010_11_ChronicAbsence%20PB.ashx • and board guidelines http://www.attendanceworks.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/5113-1-Chronic-Absence-and-Truancy.pdf

34. In Summary Focus on Attendance Because: Increased Student Absences are: • An early warning sign of potential drop-outs • Predictive of academic failure • A flag for student disengagement and struggling schools • Costly for each school, district and surrounding community Measures of Attendance are: • Available • Easily understood • Predictor of failure in school • Indicator of effective engagement strategies by educators • A potentially powerful shared outcome that facilitates collaboration

35. Hedy Chang, Director www.Attendanceworks.org