July What’s Happening? Wednesday

1. July What’s Happening? Wednesday Chronic Absence and Critical Early Warning Signs July 4, 2014

2. Goal of the Call: • Sue Fothergill, Senior Policy Associate at Attendance Works, will provide insight into what it takes to reduce chronic absenteeism • Get a snapshot of what United Ways are doing from a local California perspective with Ed Center, VP of Education, United Way of the Bay Area • Provide concrete tools for your United Way to Leverage

3. Reducing Chronic Absence Why Does it Matter? What Does It Take? Sue Fothergill, Senior Policy Fellow, Attendance Works Spring /Summer 2014

4. Why focus on Chronic Absence? • Chronic Absence is missing 10% or more of the school year for any reason – this includes excused and unexcused absences. Chronic absence is different from truancy (unexcused absences only) or average daily attendance (how many students show up to school each day.

5. High Levels of ADA Can Mask Chronic Absence 90% and even 95% ≠ A 98% ADA = little chronic absence 95% ADA = don’t know 93% ADA = significant chronic absence

6. Chronic Absence A Hidden National Crisis • Nationwide, as many as 7.5 million students miss nearly a month of school every year. That’s 135 million days of lost time in the classroom. • In some cities, as many as one in four students are missing that much school. • Chronic absenteeism is a red alert that students are headed for academic trouble and eventually for dropping out of high school.  • Research shows that chronically absent students are less likely to succeed academically, and are more likely to be suspended and eventually dropout. • Poor attendance isn’t just a problem in high school. It can start as early as pre-kindergarten.

7. Starting in PreK, More Years of Chronic Absence = Need for Intensive Reading Support By 2nd Grade Some risk At risk * Indicates that scores are significantly different from scores of students who are never chronically absent, at p<.05 level; **p<.01; ***p<.001

8. Multiple Years of Elementary Chronic Absence = Worse Middle School Outcomes Each year of chronic absence in elementary school is associated with a substantially higher probability of chronic absence in 6th grade 18.0x • Chronic absence in 1st grade is also associated with: • Lower 6th grade test scores • Higher levels of suspension Increase in probability of 6th grade chronic absence 7.8x 5.9x Years of Chronic Absence in Grades 1-5 Oakland Unified School District SY 2006-2012, Analysis By Attendance Works

9. Attendance Is Even More Important For Graduation for Students In Poverty Presentation to: The Interagency Council for Ending the Achievement Gap November 7, 2013, CT State Dept of Education.

10. What Does It Take To Reduce Chronic Absence?

11. Find Out Why Students Are Chronically Absent Chronic disease

12. Site-Level Strategies for Building a Culture of Attendance & Identifying Barriers

13. Ingredients for System-wide Success & Sustainability District Community Conveys why building a habit of attendance is important and what chronic absence is Is accurate, accessible, and regularly reported Positive Messaging Actionable Data Schools Students & Families Shared Accountability Capacity Building Ensures monitoring & incentives to address chronic absence Expands ability to interpret data and work together to adopt best practices Strategic partnerships between district and community partners address specific attendance barriers and mobilize support for all ingredients

14. What can United Ways Do?

15. What can you do to respond to chronic absence? • Engage parents, families, and community partners in this issue • Partner with community stakeholders in calling for chronic absence data • Advocate for resources to address barriers to attendance • Help grantees integrate attendance into their work • Ensure there is an Attendance Campaign in place in your community

16. Community Schools Education InitiativeUnited Way of the Bay AreaEd Center, VP of Education

18. KEY PROGRAMMATIC COMPONENTS • Expanded Learning Opportunities • Parent Engagement & Involvement • Adult Education • Medical, Dental, Mental Health and Social Services • Early Childhood • Community and Economic Development

19. DATA IS EVERYTHING! • You cannot run an effective community school without collecting the right data and making data informed decisions. • Who are the most vulnerable children? • Are they taking up the services and supports we offer? • Are these supports making an impact? • http://www.uwba.org/files/galleries/United_Way-Community-Schools-Report.pdf

20. Sample Elementary School Chronic / Severe Absent

21. Resources www.attendanceworks.org

22. Attendance Works Resources • Our website has access to tools for monitoring, understanding and addressing chronic absence, starting in the early grades. You will find tools for implementing strategies at the school, district and state level. • Make Every Day Count – Messaging • Count Us In – Attendance Awareness Month • Calculating Chronic Absence • Bringing Attendance Home – Parent Engagement • Parent Fliers • Strategies and Tips for different groups such as after-school providers and health care workers • Link to the web: http://www.attendanceworks.org/tools/

23. Questions?Sue Fothergill, Senior Policy Associate , Attendance Works, Fothergill.sue@gmail.comEd Center, Vice President, Education, United Way of the Bay Area, ecenter@uwba.orgIf you have questions or feedback about What’s Happening? Wednesday, please contact:Maggie Nicholas, 703-836-7100 x 548, maggie.nicholas@uww.unitedway.org

24. Take Action: Attendance Awareness Advocacy Campaign • United Way & National Women’s Leadership Council are hosting a social media advocacy campaign for Attendance Awareness Month • Join us for: • Attendance Awareness Webinar – July 23 at 1pm ET • Social Media Advocacy 101 Webinar – August (Date TBD) • Save the Date: Attendance Awareness Month Social Media Campaign – September 18 For more information, contact Lindsay.Torrico@unitedway.org or Krissi.Jimroglou@unitedway.org

25. Thank you!We will be taking a summer vacation in August but we want your feedback! Please stay tuned for a survey so we can tailor upcoming webinars to fit your needs. What’s Happening? Wednesday will return September 3rd!