Chronic Absenteeism: Why it Matters and Intervention Strategies

1. Chronic Absenteeism: Why it Matters and Intervention Strategies ESSEI 2016 Amber Humm Brundage

2. Connect with Us! Florida’s Problem-Solving/Response to Intervention Project • http://www.floridarti.usf.edu/ • Email: rti@usf.edu • Facebook: flpsrti • Twitter: @flpsrti Florida Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support Project • http://flpbs.fmhi.usf.edu/ • Email: flpbs@fmhi.usf.edu • Facebook: flpbis • Twitter: @flpbis

3. Objectives • Know what chronic absenteeism is and the implications • Understand strategies and tools that can help you combat chronic absenteeism as a barrier

4. Chronic Absenteeism and School Improvement • http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/11/12/455052958/want-to-make-a-school-better-get-kids-to-show-up

5. What is Chronic Absenteeism? • No standard definition • Often based on total number of days missed • Doesn’t differentiate reasons for absences • States vary in threshold for number of days (15-21) • Frequently defined as: • Missing 10% or more of instructional days • Florida one of few states that collect data on CA • FL reports students missing 21 or more days per year • Missing 15 or more days of school per year- OCR

6. How does this differ from truancy? • Truancy typically defined as specified number or frequency of unexcusedabsences within a given time period • Often an underestimate of the absenteeism magnitude • Florida law defines "habitual truant" as a student who has 15 or more unexcused absences within 90 calendar days with or without the knowledge or consent of the student's parent or guardian, and who is subject to compulsory school attendance.

7. How does this differ from daily attendance rates?

8. Where does CA occur?

9. Make a Prediction • Estimate how many k-12 students you think in the US are Chronically absent each year: • 100,00 or less • 250,000 -500,000 • 500,000- 1,000,000 • 1,000,000-5,000,000 • 5,000,000-10,000,000 • Estimate how many k-12 students in FL were absent in the 14/15 school year: • 50,00-100,000 • 100,000-200,000 • 200,000-300,000 • 300,000-400,000 • 400,000-450,000

10. What is the prevalence of CA nationally? • Based on national research, conservative estimates: • 10% of US students miss 21+ days of school per year • 14-15% of US students miss 18+ days of school per year 5-7.5 Million students each year!! • 13/14 OCR data found 6 million (13%) students missed 15+ days of school Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012; U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2016

11. What is the prevalence of CA in FL? • According to data reported to FL DOE during the 2014/2015 school year, 9.7% of K-12 students were absent 21+ days 304,060students • This is an increase from 13/14 with 9.5% of K-12 students and total number of 292,297 students

12. What does 304, 060students look like? 65,890 88,548 82,300 67,322 out of 76,100

13. 2014-15 Chronic Absenteeism Rates by District 0 – 9.9%  10% – 14.9%  15% – 19.9% 20% – 30% Source: Education Information and Accountability Services, Florida Department of Education

14. What is the Pattern of CA? • Rates of chronic absenteeism drop from a high in kindergarten each year through fifth grade and then rise significantly in middle and high school (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012).

15. Who is CA- by Demographics Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012

16. Implications of Chronic Absenteeism I

17. What are the Implications of CA? • (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012; Chang & Romero, 2008)

18. What are the Academic Implications of CA? • Students CA in Kindergarten have lower academic performance in 1st • Lowest achievement levels in 5th grade • 2 X’s greater impact for low SES (Chang & Romero, 2008) • Baltimore study found those who were CA in Pre-K and K more likely to be: • CA in later grades • Retained • Lower achievement levels (Connolly & Olson, 2012) • A study by GA DOE found that 3% increase (5 days) in attendance would have led to more than 55,000 students to pass ELA, reading or math standardized tests in grades 3-8 most impactful for those who missed 5-10 days of school (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012)

19. Implications of CA- Continued • Students with chronic absenteeism in middle grades are at high risk for course failure in high school (Allensworth, Gwynne, Moore & de la Torre, 2014) • Among 9th graders, attendance was the strongest predictor of course performance which was the strongest predictor of graduation (Allensworth & Easton 2007) • GA DOE found moving from 5 absences to 6-10 absences reduced graduation rates by 7-10 percentage points • Moving from 6-10 to 11-14 absences resulted in 11-14 percentage point decline in graduation rates (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012)

20. What are the Implications for Dropout- Utah 2010 Graduating Cohort? Henderson, Hill, & Norton, 2014

21. What are the Graduation & Post-Secondary Implications for Students with CA- National Center for Educational Statistics ELS 2002? Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012

22. Responding to Chronic Absenteeism

23. Universal Interventions

24. Attendance Works 6 Key Action Steps

25. How do we respond to CA?

26. How do we determine interventions? • Use data to understand scope and magnitude of CA within districts/schools/grade-levels/subgroups • Engage in data-based problem-solving to understand root causes or contributors to CA and match intervention to need: • Universal interventions (Tier 1) • Small group and individual interventions (Tier 2 & 3)

27. Universal/Tier 1 Interventions: District/School Goals • Specify district/school-wide attendance and chronic absenteeism goals (e.g. 95% attendance rate, no more than 5 absences per year, etc.) • Know the current attendance and CA rate overall and by level/subgroup • Determine gap between current levels and goal • Consider multi-year plan • Develop a common definition of absence • What constitutes an absence? • How are absences calculated? • Suspensions/half days

28. Universal/Tier 1 Interventions: District/School Goals • Monitor progress • Establish clear protocols for who is responsible for monitoring and follow-up at district and school-levels • Establish protocols for data accuracy checks • Bright spot analysis- examine settings where the data are good or improving to see what can be replicated • Video example: Reducing Chronic Absenteeism: Every Day Counts (18 minutes) • https://relwest.wested.org/resources/220

29. Universal/Tier 1 Interventions: Messaging • How we raise awareness/the messages we use about the importance of reducing absences with stakeholders can impact attendance

30. Universal/Tier 1 Interventions: Messaging • In 2015 The Ad Council launched California School Attendance School Research Project with parents of K-5 students with 10+ absences. Major findings include:

31. Universal/Tier 1 Interventions: Messaging • Ad Council Findings Continued: Ad Council, 2015

32. From Attendance Works: Ad Council Messaging Recommendations • Approach the issue of absences out of concern, rather than compliance. Make parents feel supported, rather than guilty and in trouble. • Refer to absences by month, rather than by year. Point out that just “2 days missed per month” has consequences, instead of “18 days missed per year.” • Use simple, easy-to-understand language. Avoid complicated statistics, hyperboles, or metaphors. • Be realistic about what you are asking parents to do. Avoid implying that parents should send children to school when they’re sick. • Frame the discussion around “absences” rather than “attendance.”Talking about “attendance” validates what parents already believe they do; talking about “absence” focuses their attention on what they’re missing. http://www.attendanceworks.org/parents-really-feel-attendance/

33. From Attendance Works: Ad Council Messaging Recommendations • Describe how elementary school builds a foundation for future success. Help parents understand that learning is sequential—an absence is a missed opportunity to learn something their child will need in order to understand more difficult material later. • Give parents specific reasons why absences matter, rather than making vague statements. Say things like…“You cannot make up for too many absences with homework or take-home assignments.”“Too many absences will allow them to fall behind in reading, writing and math.”“Too many absences now can actually make them less likely to graduate high school.” • Connect parents to the class curriculum to help them understand what their child may be missing. Say things like…“We are learning to identify numerators and denominators this week. Please make sure your child does not miss school because his/her understanding of this lesson will make him better prepared for next week’s lesson on adding fractions with common denominators.” • Communicate with parents readily using text messaging to discuss absences. Make sure parents, of which the vast majority prefer to communicate with the school using text messages, are aware of the absence while also inviting them to a phone call http://www.attendanceworks.org/parents-really-feel-attendance/

34. Universal/Tier 1 Interventions: Messaging • Todd Rogers at Harvard University conducted study of attendance messaging (mailers) intervention with parents of 28,080 high-absence K-12 students. Major findings include: • Parents underestimate absences by about half • Parents unaware of absences compared to peers • Only 28% of parents correctly reported that their child missed more school than peers • Sending parents 5 mailers throughout school year that included information about their students total number of absences and relation to peer absences reduced CA by 11% AND reduced absences of siblings in the home

36. Parent Video for Messaging • Add Council Parent Video- Absences Add Up (2min) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8SIX2o2N1c&feature=youtu.be

37. Universal/Tier 1 Interventions: Incentives • Incentives can be powerful tools for improving attendance K-12 • Poster contests related to attendance theme • Recognition for perfect AND improved attendance • School ceremonies/meetings • District meetings/ceremonies • School marquees • Newsletters • Posters in hallways • Competitions for best attendance rate/greatest decrease in absences • District wide • School-wide • Grade-level • Homeroom/classes/periods

38. Universal/Tier 1 Interventions: Policy and Practice Examination • Evaluation of the extent to which district/school policies and/or adult behavior may be unknowingly contributing to CA is critical • Suspensions for absences • Tardy sweeps that result in ISS for the day • Fees for materials/courses • Fees or severe consequences for tardies • Make-up work policies for unexcused absences • Adult communication about absences or tardies

39. Targeted Interventions

40. Targeted/Tier 2 & 3 Interventions

41. Targeted/Tier 2 & 3 Interventions • Accurate problem analysis or hypothesis generation of reasons for absences is essential to matching interventions to need • Balfanz & Byrnes (2012) 3 reasons: • Barriers/Can’t- something prevents them from attending (illness, transportation, child care or family obligations) • Aversions/Won’t- avoidance of interactions or events at school (affective or perceptions physical/psychological safety issues, school climate, stress) • Disengagement/Don’t- would rather be somewhere else, do not make the effort to attend school and/or don’t see the value in school

42. Targeted/Tier 2 & 3 Interventions • Methods to validate/invalidate hypotheses • Collect data to determine the reasons for absences: • Surveys • RCA http://floridarti.usf.edu/rca/invitation.html • Self-Assessments • District: • http://www.attendanceworks.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/District-and-Community-Self-Assessment-Tool-3-27-14.pdf • School: • http://www.attendanceworks.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/School-Self-Assessment-Tool-revised-August-2014.pdf • Interviews

43. Targeted/Tier 2 & 3 Interventions • Intervention development is driven by and matched to need intensity across tiers • Develop specific action plans at various levels: • District • School • Grade-level • Class • Subgroup • Student

44. Targeted/Tier 2 & 3 Interventions Health • Mobile medical/dental • Collaboration with health department • School nurses • Collaboration with other health supports- e.g. USF Pediatrics Transportation • Bus passes • Car pools • Walking School Bus • http://www.saferoutesinfo.org/program-tools/find-state-contacts/florida • Umbrellas/rain gear Getting Up • Robo-calls • Alarm on cell phone/ alarm clocks • Buddy calls • Bed-time routines/curfew Affective • Mentors • Topical groups • Social skills • Anti-bullying • Club/Sport participation • Tutoring/academic interventions

45. Targeted/Tier 2 & 3 Interventions Adult Responsibilities • Connection with outside agencies • Family support plans • District/school child care facilities • Nurse Family Partnership • http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/locations/Florida/find-a-local-agency Housing/Material Instability • Laundromat vouchers/cards • Washer/dryers at school • Clothes closet • Extra materials • Connection with outside agencies • Backpack buddies • Boys and Girls Club • Food Pantries • Communities in Schools

46. Student Thoughts on Attendance • http://www.nyc.gov/html/truancy/html/news/student-produced-videos.shtml

47. What is your role in combating 304, 060? 65,890 88,548 82,300 67, 322 out of 76,100

48. Additional Readings Allensworth, E. M., & Easton, J. Q. (2005). The on-track indicator as a predictor of high school graduation. Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago. Retrieved from http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/publications/p78.pdf Allensworth, E. M., & Easton, J. Q. (2007). What matters for staying on track and graduating in Chicago public high schools. Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago. Retrieved from http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/publications/07%20What%20Matters%20Final.pdf Allesnworth, E. M., Gwynne, J. A., Moore, P., & de la Torre, M. (2014). Looking forward to high school and college Middle grades indicators of readiness in Chicago public schools. Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago. Retrieved from https://ccsr.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/publications/Middle%20Grades%20Report.pdf Balfanz, R., & Byrnes, V. (2012). Chronic Absenteeism: Summarizing What We Know From Nationally Available Data. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Organization of Schools. Balfanz, R., Herzog, L., MacIver, D., (2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping students on the graduation path in urban middle-grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions. Educational Psychologist, 42(4), 223-235.

49. Additional Readings Continued Chang, Hedy N. & Romero, Mariajosé 2008. Present, engaged and accounted for the critical importance of addressing chronic absence in the early grades. National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP): The Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. Connolly, F. & Olson, L. S. 2012. Early elementary performance and attendance in Baltimore City Schools’ pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Baltimore Education Research Consortium, Baltimore, MD. Henderson, T., Hill, C. & Norton, K. 2014. The connection between missing school and health: A review of chronic absenteeism and student health in Oregon. Upstream Public Health. Olson, L. S., 2014. Why September matters: Improving student attendance. Baltimore Education Research Consortium, Baltimore, MD. Retrieved from : http://baltimore-berc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/SeptemberAttendanceBriefJuly2014.pdf Chang, H., & Balfanz, R., (2016). Preventing missed opportunity: Taking collective action to confront chronic absence. Attendance Works and Everyone Graduates Center.

50. Contact Information Amber Brundage PK-12 Alignment Unit Coordinator abrundage@usf.edu Facebook: flpsrti Twitter: @flpsrti