Tackling Attendance Challenges - Cohort 2 by School Improvement

2024-10-01 16:27:30 UTC

Chronic absenteeism has a negative affect on student reading scores

2024-10-01 16:27:44 UTC

Chronic Absenteeism leads to students creating bad habits outside of the classroom

Chronic absenteeism affects our students in all aspects (community, socially, in the classroom, out of the classroom).

2024-10-01 16:27:53 UTC

attendance whys

2024-10-01 16:28:11 UTC

We care about attendance because it affects not only the student the entire classsroom dynamic and communities including its affect on families economically.

2024-10-01 16:28:26 UTC

There are some things we are already doing to reduce chronic absenteeism, but we need more ideas

We are struggling as a state to bring down our chronic absenteeism numbers since the 20-21 school year.

2024-10-01 16:28:37 UTC

Research

2024-10-01 16:28:37 UTC

I can see that the research used could help to share why chronic absenteeism is an issue that needs to be addressed with parents, older students, and staff.

2024-10-01 16:29:05 UTC

Challenges with attendance has a negative impact on students not only in school but in life.

Initial Initiative Inventory Analysis

2024-10-01 16:29:07 UTC

I like the idea of using the Initial Initiative Inventory Analysis.

Initial Initiative Inventory Analysis provides questions and accountability as a whole

Chronic absences in K affect reading by grade 3

2024-10-01 16:29:16 UTC

The Why

2024-10-01 16:29:39 UTC

Absenteeism - Affects the student, the classroom, family and community.

2024-10-01 16:29:52 UTC

Currently we are trying to come up with a district wide team plan, to be on the same page throughout all grade levels.

Current state

2024-10-01 16:30:26 UTC

Looking at our data it seems that we are doing way better then statistics show with our 12 graders as opposed to being part of the cohort that is chronically absent so we are doing something right .

Truancy brings down the culture and climate of the school building. We are trying to get a team together.

2024-10-01 16:30:32 UTC

Current Work

2024-10-01 16:30:41 UTC

We have a large number of strategies that we are using to help reduce chronic absenteeism. The data shows that the efforts are helping, but we need to find a way to identify what strategies are worth continuing and what strategies are making a nominal impact.

2024-10-01 16:30:56 UTC

Chronic Absenteeism can affect teachers other students and the community.

2024-10-01 16:31:19 UTC

Chronic Absenteeism negatively affects a student's mindset and their connection with their classmates

Current State

2024-10-01 16:31:52 UTC

I look forward to diving deeper researching State data

Aaron

2024-10-01 16:31:57 UTC

Changing culture around attendance is a huge lift for any one person

Reflection

2024-10-01 17:05:05 UTC

Truancy is the last resort. Interventions to get kids back in school should be the focus. Creating a strong positive relationships with students and families will enable school to help students get into school regularly. There are MANY reasons why students are absent.

2024-10-01 18:15:28 UTC

Who needs to be added to our team to make sure all perspectives are represented?

Attendance Team

2024-10-01 18:15:31 UTC

Do the staff assigned to monitor attendance have the time do it effectively?

Teams

2024-10-01 18:15:36 UTC

Teams are important to tackle specific issues in order to fulfill that implementation part of the equation.

2024-10-01 18:16:07 UTC

Having the right people that know their role (on the team) can make the difference of whether a team is successful or falls apart.

2024-10-01 18:16:15 UTC

A team is important to achieve a culture of attendance.

Careful Selection

2024-10-01 18:16:28 UTC

Carefully choosing who should be on the team based on their role is vital. Some people may need to put their perspective into this in order to get the full picture of the school/district.

2024-10-01 18:16:32 UTC

Building a team of people in the district but also at the building level to promote attendance as well as getting in touch with parents/students when attendance is concerning. Getting everybody on board including teachers, secretaries, administrators, counselors, etc.

Team Makeup

2024-10-01 18:16:56 UTC

We need to include some key stakeholders voices - parents & students.

We have 1 community member as a resource currently, our authorizer, but we need to seek out other community partners to support and encourage attendance.

Building a Culture of Attendance

2024-10-01 18:17:24 UTC

I love adding lead students to the Attendance Team. Student Voice is important and can make a difference.

2024-10-01 18:18:00 UTC

An implementation team is ESSENTIAL. Monthly meetings to be on the same page as a whole to collaborate and implement systems district wide.

2024-10-01 18:18:34 UTC

An Attendance team helps keep students and parents accountable for being at school. members support each other and implement goals.

2024-10-01 18:20:07 UTC

Building a team and tackling attendance together gives you the best chance to successfully implement a process that will be beneficial in the long term and withstand any changes.

Managing Change

2024-10-29 14:15:11 UTC

Trust is Key!

Change requires a team belief and trust.

2024-10-29 14:15:43 UTC

2024-10-29 14:15:57 UTC

How do we create trust with every stakeholder in the school? Parents?

Ensure no child goes underserved.

2024-10-29 14:16:16 UTC

2024-10-29 14:16:41 UTC

All parts of the parts of Understanding change chart must be present for the best results.

2024-10-29 14:16:53 UTC

Vision is important!

Shared Values/Beliefs

2024-10-29 14:17:20 UTC

How do we get all parties (parents, students, etc) on board with the same beliefs that attendance does matter and how it is tied to success at school?

Everyone needs to be invested as a team member.

2024-10-29 14:17:32 UTC

Approach

2024-10-29 14:17:32 UTC

Ensure that the approach you take is appropriate for the audience and or population you are serving.

A planned approach to make sure all students are supported.

2024-10-29 14:17:54 UTC

Managing Change

2024-10-29 14:18:44 UTC

When you're missing one key component (out our Understanding Changes table), you will not get the results you wanted or needed.

Thoughts that keep me up at night.

2024-10-29 14:18:51 UTC

Most of my time is spent with the 1-5% of students that are receiving tier 3. Do I need to change my approach???

2024-10-29 14:19:56 UTC

Planned approach with a purpose that will help the student and family.

Tiered Approach

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-10-29 14:21:14 UTC

I would like to learn more and compare other framework MICIP, EWIMS, Implementation Science.

Make sure the lesson is efficient, effective, and quick.

2024-10-29 16:32:44 UTC

Managing Change

2024-10-29 16:33:54 UTC

The matrix clearly helps to identify what is missing in processes and what can go wrong if there are any missing components in change management. I LOVE this visual.

Making the lessons hands-on and interactive

2024-10-29 16:33:58 UTC

Group Lessons

2024-10-29 16:34:27 UTC

Start out with a small group of kids with an attendance lesson.

Make the lessons age appropriate and interactive.

2024-10-29 16:34:29 UTC

Lessons

2024-10-29 16:34:39 UTC

Making sure that students only hear the message/lesson once, not in every class.

Attendance Lessons

2024-10-29 16:34:44 UTC

Make sure to change up your lesson plan so it's not the same information every time. Repetitive lessons could lose the interest of students.

2024-10-29 16:34:46 UTC

Assist with ideas and materials to incorporate lesson plans.

Resource bank

2024-10-29 16:35:42 UTC

Create a folder of lessons or be available to pop into a classroom and model what you are looking for. Also use technology, create a quick video lesson and send it to the whole staff.

Teamwork

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-10-29 16:36:06 UTC

Managing change consist of have 100% buy in

Lessons should be...

2024-10-29 16:36:13 UTC

-quick

-not reinvent the wheel

-have teacher buy-in

-easy

-relate to specific subjects or standards

-age specific

2024-10-29 16:37:19 UTC

Planning for change and analyzing changes is important in avoiding feelings that could undermine the goal.

Attendance Strategies

2024-10-29 18:29:41 UTC

Reviewing each of the strategies helped us to identify which level of reward we have missed (classroom level, grade level, wing level, building level).

Classroom Culture

2024-11-19 14:41:20 UTC

Sharing ideas (even informally) about how teachers make attendance part of their daily culture... maybe do this at a staff meeting?

Suspensions

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-11-19 14:41:21 UTC

Please share thoughts or solutions about addressing absenteeism with/without issuing OSS?

Attendance Campaign

2024-11-19 14:41:29 UTC

It should involve a positive approach.

Messaging

2024-11-19 14:41:54 UTC

It is important to leverage all platforms (social media, website, parent communication, newsletters) to promote attendance and positive motivation to attend school.

Aaron

2024-11-19 14:42:00 UTC

March Madness - each classroom in a survive and advance...

2024-11-19 14:42:04 UTC

I want to remember to encourage kids to attend school without shaming or blaming and to be aware of the way i address these issues with the parents and scholars

Adaptive goals and reward systems for staff and students

2024-11-19 14:42:45 UTC

Attendance

2024-11-19 14:43:16 UTC

Setting realistic goals but increasing the number of days or percentage to continually move toward our overall goal of school attendance.

Attendance Campaign

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-11-19 14:43:28 UTC

Using Synergy to take scholar attendance as classroom by percentage.

Post Tips & Tricks

2024-11-19 14:45:33 UTC

Leverage our communication modes to share encouraging tips and tricks, as well as data about attendance.

Example of attendance frenzy-great for march madness

2024-11-19 14:49:19 UTC

Next week, we will begin the Attendance Frenzy, which is an attendance competition for first hour classes. Each week, one first hour class will compete against another first hour class; the class that has the best attendance percentage for that week will move onto the next week's bracket. Each week's winners will receive special prizes, and the prizes for the classes will increase in size/value each round.

Scholar Rules

attend first hour, every day, on time!
be present by 7:35am
get pumped about the prizes and encourage your classmates to arrive on time

Staff Rules

add class attendance to the tracking spreadsheet by 7:35am (this will be sent to you daily)
encourage first hour scholars to get to class on time, every day!

This competition will run through the week of December 12. The bracket can be found below. Please reach out with any questions!

Not Perfect Attendance!

2024-11-19 14:51:52 UTC

Starting out with the goal to not be "perfect" attendance but something that is manageable for all students/classrooms. Maybe starting at 90%-95% of attendance and increasing as attendance improves.

2024-11-19 15:45:22 UTC

Attendance matters in elementary school too! Many parents don't realize the connection between elementary and secondary attendance - but they are connected and many students that have poor attendance in elementary school continue to have poor attendance when the reach middle and high school.

apples to apples

2024-11-19 17:34:06 UTC

Do you know if the data is consistent?

Data collecting

2024-11-19 17:34:08 UTC

data is only as good as the ability of the person pulling it.

Accuracy is key

2024-11-19 17:34:16 UTC

Making sure that the attendance data that is being collected is accurate and is being collected in an efficient way.

Proceed with caution

2024-11-19 17:35:15 UTC

Keeping in mind all of the factors that can play a part in Data potentially not being accurate.

Percentage Format

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-11-19 17:36:31 UTC

I like collecting attendance data as class via percentage. Informing parent and community of the importance of scholar being present.

Identify Needs

2024-11-19 19:53:43 UTC

Using data to identify needs as Tier 1 or Tier 2.

Transportation

2024-11-19 19:53:55 UTC

Being proactive and having back up bus drivers in case one or multiple gets sick, injured (surgery) etc.

Program use

2024-11-19 19:54:00 UTC

I love hearing all of the different programs that others are using and thinking of how those might work in my district. I would love to find out more about bringing in Washers & Dryers to our school and what the logistics of that looks like for everyone involved.

Educate the Parents!

2024-11-19 19:54:47 UTC

Providing consistent and relevant information to parents across different platforms to help inform and educate on the value and importance of their child's education.

You have to identify your School's root issue before you can tackle chronic absenteeism.

2024-11-19 19:55:17 UTC

Cultural Observations

2024-11-19 19:57:20 UTC

For students who cannot celebrate- maybe bring those students to an open classroom and they can work on arts & crafts or watch a movie. So they are still present at school and they're still included in the day.

Limited Resources

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-11-19 19:59:30 UTC

During our reflections today, a colleague brought up the issue of scholars having limited or no access to the Internet. I recognize the significance of Internet access for scholars. I appreciate the discussion, as it opened my eyes to the concerns that other school leaders are facing. Thank you for sharing! Scholar need a high volume of resources and support.

2024-12-10 15:28:13 UTC

Having all buildings in our district on the same page with the same expectations - keeping it consisent across the board for all students within the family.

2024-12-10 15:28:44 UTC

How do you educated your families as you go along????????????

Attendance Processes

2024-12-10 15:28:59 UTC

It is so vital to get staff "buy in" to make the processes successful. Teachers and stakeholders need to understand the "Why".

Adjustments District-Wide

2024-12-10 15:29:04 UTC

Being on the same page as a whole is key. Making adjustments as a team. Sharing new ideas or getting rid of old ones.

Clear, Concise Communication!

2024-12-10 15:29:14 UTC

Process Updates

2024-12-10 15:29:30 UTC

-greater transparency across teams

-easy process revision that don't require handbook updates

-parent thank you

-proactive early intervention form sent to identify barriers

-re-enrollment Attendance Support Plan

Try to be consistent across all buildings in the district. Keep your procedures updated to keep the process as effective as possible.

2024-12-10 15:29:35 UTC

2024-12-10 15:30:21 UTC

Keeping communication with the families positive and informative - not punative

2024-12-10 15:30:22 UTC

Having teachers and staff working together and being consistent on procedures.

2024-12-10 15:59:06 UTC

Having all staff on the same page and supporting our students - it's a TEAM effort. Shifting the mindset from it's one persons job to it's everyones job.

2024-12-10 15:59:17 UTC

It is important that this first phone call is about reinforcing the idea that we love and care about the student and their family

ESI

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-12-10 15:59:34 UTC

Early Stage Interventions is a team concept. Everyone need to be supportive.

2024-12-10 16:00:21 UTC

Providing a script to make things more comfortable for staff to help with the process.

ESI

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-12-10 16:00:50 UTC

Parent contact from teachers, along with documentation is key.

The Why

2024-12-10 16:00:56 UTC

I think it is key for staff buy in for everyone to know their "why" behind what it is that we are trying to accomplish. I feel with understanding the why along with a "team" support mindset approach is vital to success.

2024-12-10 16:01:21 UTC

Acknowledging there is an attendance issue and everyone involved consistent on the plan with follow through.

2024-12-10 16:01:24 UTC

Have the students teacher make the first initial phone call or email home. Essentially the teacher is the main face that the student sees everyday, and the main source of communication with parents (parent/teacher conferences) But the teacher also having the attendance team and admin for support. It is a team effort. Not just one person.

APP

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-12-10 16:02:49 UTC

Consistency is very important with addressing Attendance Processes and Procedures

2024-12-10 17:47:58 UTC

This is a good remember about the power of staff leading change in the building

Communicating the Expectations

2024-12-10 17:47:59 UTC

It's important to make sure that staff have the correct communication for what they are working toward. Include them in setting the goal to increase buy in. Then, be crystal clear on what is going to be expected of all staff going forward.

2024-12-10 17:48:07 UTC

Having all staff understand what is expected and providing a visual for what the end goal is. Also having the opportunity to look back and reflect to see where we are at with the goal and revising/revisiting (if necessary) in order to reach the end goal.

MICIP

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-12-10 17:48:44 UTC

MICIP Strategy Implementation Guide creates structure in the steps that needs to be take and how. The provide clarity at to how the strategy best support.

Connections

2024-12-10 17:49:29 UTC

As we have been talking about all day - A huge factor in the planning and implementation of any plan is to have teacher/staff buy in. It is also very important to set realistic goals and timelines. It is so vital to have a visual representation so that everyone can be on the same page and there are no surprises. The keys to success are buy in and clarity.

2024-12-10 17:49:29 UTC

Must be doable, organized, committed to and everyone knows their rule to play.

Setting Expectations

2024-12-10 17:50:29 UTC

Make sure that all staff members are aware of the goal and what is expected. Letting them know about their progress along the way and providing a visual for them to see the results.

MICIP

mrtrentchambliss — 2024-12-10 17:50:54 UTC

I appreciate and see value in the implementations that acceptable and unacceptable

Tier 1

2024-12-10 17:54:11 UTC

We noted that we plan to begin the following activities to increase effectiveness of our current processes:

Create a way for the early intervention form data to be accessible to office staff and all teachers.
Add a thank you note to parents that complete the early intervention form.
Monitor the effectiveness of the EIF.

MICIP

2024-12-10 17:54:47 UTC

Ensure that whatever you put into MICIP is able to be implemented from personnel and funding perspective.

2026-01-29 14:54:34 UTC

Monthly Classroom Attendance Competitions

Education campaign (utilize social media to inform parents on truancy and the importance of consistent attendance)

2026-01-29 14:54:39 UTC

2026-01-29 14:55:13 UTC

District-wide attendance raffles. Capture parents attention about it through social media.

2026-01-29 14:56:25 UTC

Monthly school-wide (or program specific) attendance raffles. Students earn entries/tickets based on attendance.

Positive Behavior Support train

Having an Attendance Team is Key & Getting all staff involved in the process!

2026-01-29 20:02:43 UTC

Create a universal attendance log that is available to all staff

2026-01-29 20:03:13 UTC

2026-01-29 20:08:17 UTC

Involve teachers in the intervention processes and provide necessary information for them to understand the importance of tier 2 interventions.

2/26/26 Ideas for Facilitating the FBA

2026-02-25 22:12:26 UTC

Creating RED FLAG system - Identify students within the first 20 days of school.

2026-02-26 14:45:51 UTC

2026-02-26 14:47:26 UTC

Students who have not responded to Tier 1 and 2 supports. Need more intensive support in the process.

2026-02-26 14:51:38 UTC

We need to understand the student’s cause of absenteeism. What is the root problem of them not being at school?

Identifying the antecedent allows staff to have a better understanding of the "why" behind the absences. Gives us the opportunity to come up with an intentional plan for the student .

2026-02-26 16:09:38 UTC

2026-02-26 16:09:45 UTC

The interventions in the book are helpful tools to use for personal cases at school.

The "ABC's" give you a better understanding on the student and their attendance.

2026-02-26 16:15:29 UTC

Identifying the student core behavioral issues. Meeting with all staff who come in contact with that student during the school day.

Be sure to ask follow-up questions to students to ensure that we are receiving the correct information and understanding the whole picture

2026-02-26 17:46:07 UTC

2026-02-26 17:47:01 UTC

Staff will need to focus on listening and hearing what the student is saying and not saying. Be able to read between the lines and connect the dots.

Using a team to complete the checklist. The more you know about the student, the better you are able to answer the questions and create a behavior plan that is aligned to the students needs.

2026-02-26 19:28:50 UTC

2026-02-26 19:29:09 UTC

The more you get to know the student, the better you can complete the Core Checklist.

Include more than 1 team members to help complete the checklist.

2026-02-26 19:30:28 UTC

You need to get to know your student and their individual needs before you can make progress.