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Attendance and absenteeism
Simon BlakesleyAYSCBC Spring Conference
April 18, 2015
Overview- let’s jump right in!
• Introductions- who is in the room?• Is attendance important? • Is absenteeism easy to understand and address?• A snapshot on attendance- what do we know?• Findings from Yukon attendance research project• Conversation- what role might school councils play
in improving school attendance?
What the literature offers
• Student absence from school is a complex and perplexing issue (Kinder et al, 1995, Malcolm et al., 1996).
• Adding to this complexity is the absence of a single prescriptive way to reduce student absenteeism (Hallam & Roaf, 1997).
• Translated: no quick fixes, one-off solutions, silver bullets, or magic wands that will fix absenteeism have yet been found
Does attendance matter?
• Roby (2004) found that students who were chronically absent (more than 20 day in a year) were 75% less likely to graduate and that the relationship between attendance and achievement begins in the primary grades.
Attendance snapshot- average days absent per year
12 26.3 24.6 25.5
UG 18.5 20.8 19.8
10 30.9 23.8 27.5
11 23.6 27.2 25.5
08 22.1 18.2 20
09 21.8 20.5 21.1
06 16.4 17.1 16.7
07 19.7 23.5 21.8
04 16.6 17.6 17.1
05 14.6 18.2 16.6
02 16.8 16.8 16.8
03 15.6 16.8 16.2
K 17 17.7 17.4
01 15.8 16.4 16.1
K4 29.1 21.5 24.7
KH 19.7 19.7 19.7
Avg Absence Days for the year 20132014 - the periods between Sep 1, 2013 to J un 30, 2014
Grade Female Male Students
Attendance snapshot- number of students absent over 20 days
53
Total 837 948 1785 2471 2664 5135
UG 7 8 15 22 31
378
12 86 83 169 220 194 414
11 75 112 187 177 201
363
10 108 89 197 205 191 396
09 64 75 139 185 178
341
08 70 68 138 170 195 365
07 62 83 145 155 186
364
06 46 61 107 183 182 365
05 35 55 90 164 200
339
04 57 59 116 186 186 372
03 41 51 92 160 179
403
02 53 74 127 171 213 384
01 58 54 112 192 211
38
K 51 48 99 175 178 353
KH 6 7 13 16 22
Students
K4 18 21 39 90 117 207
Students absent over 20 days (40 AM or PM half Days) between Sep 1, 2013 to J un 30, 2014
Enrolment as of 6/ 30/ 2014
Grade Female Male Students Female Male
Initial Observations
• Absenteeism is a habit that appears to start early
• A substantial number of kids miss over 20 days per year (28% in K, 33% in gr. 2)
• There is a small reduction in the middle years but then increases by grade 7
• Absenteeism increases in high school
Considerations
• 20 days equates to a month of school
• If a student misses 20 days per year, after 13 years of schooling they will have missed 260 days.
• If a school year is 180 instructional days, that equates to 1.44 years missed, or a year and five months of school by the end of grade 12
Some thoughts
• Attendance is not simply a linear process, meaning… • You don’t miss a week and pick up where your friends are
• The first days back will be spent catching up
• The learning loss thus becomes cumulative
• It can be harder for student to connect with teachers and, make friends- relationships are affected
Early years absenteeism
• Chang and Gordon (2012): significant absences in Kindergarten and grade 1 leave students behind their peers and ill prepared to be successful readers in grade three
• Primary-aged children don’t often make the choice to miss on their own- this choice is made for them by care-givers
Benefits of good attendance (Government of New South Wales, 2003)
• Getting the maximum benefit from school will optimize your life choices
• Attending school regularly develops skills and attitudes that help a student be successful in later life, include self-discipline, punctuality, being organized and sticking to routines
• Attending regularly leads to making friends and learning to maintain relationships over a length of time
• School provides opportunities for socializing with friends
• Students are safer at school than on the streets
Attendance Research Initiative (2013)
• We framed our central research question in the following manner:
What can schools and communities do to work together to help improve student attendance
and engagement at school?
Participating schools
• Rural Schools• Tantalus School, Watson Lake Schools• The Porter Creek Family of Schools
– Porter Creek Secondary School– Jack Hulland Elementary School– Elijah Smith Elementary School– Takhini Elementary School
Our research approach
• Positive and appreciative in nature- what works?
• Questions framed with a focus on improving attendance
• Barriers to good attendance were sought out
• Exploration of ideas which would help to lower barriers and promote regular attendance
Teacher/principal interview questions
How would you describe students’ attendance at your school?
What are the activities/events that students like/not like to engage in?
If a student misses a few days and it’s their first day back, how do the school personnel respond? What do you believe to be the three main barriers to your students attending school?
School council/community questions
Does your community benefit from good school attendance? How?
Is regular school attendance important? Why/why not?
Are there things that the school/parents/community could do to Improve student attendance?
Is there anything else you would like to tell us about what schools and communities can do to help improve attendance and engagement at school?
Participants
• 20-30 minutes interviews with over 100: • students grades 3-12• Teachers• School administrators• School council• First Nations government representatives
Cross-case themes
• Each school received a written summary based on the responses from their school-community
• These themes are representative of a synthesis of responses that we heard frequently
Attendance, learning, and catching up
• Two identifiable groups of students: those who have regular attendance, and those who are chronically absent.
• There is an identified group of students who are chronically late. For some teachers, lateness is felt to be the larger issue in relation to attendance (compared to absences).
• Teachers perceive they welcome students back in a warm, positive way. Student responses validated their perception, though some students feel teachers take their absence personally.
Attendance, learning, and catching up
• A wide variety of strategies is used in each school to assist students after they have been away: homework, 1:1 assistance, assistance from other students.
• Teachers also provide work/activities prior to extended absences
• Students identified that they, at times, miss gym or recess to complete homework. Yet, gym is one of the things that students enjoy most.
• Poor levels of attendance are becoming increasingly prevalent in the primary grades. It is not a phenomenon specific to older students.
• Primary students generally do not make the choice for themselves to come to school or not.
Attendance, learning, and catching up
• Students do not enjoy academic subjects. Students who are frequently absent have a difficulty with academic subjects. Some may never catch up.
• Writing and math were identified as challenging and of lower interest.
When these subjects are presented in ‘traditional’ ways (seat work, writing notes, worksheets, direct instruction) students are more apt to disengage.
• Students like hands-on, applied (Lego, robotics), cultural (drumming and dancing), active (skating, snowshoeing), skill-based (carving) activities and field trips very much.
Barriers to attendance: External factors
• Parents take extended holidays outside of regularly scheduled breaks in the school year.
• Perception on the part of teachers (and students) that some parents have an ‘indifference’ towards regular school attendance.
• There are home behaviours that do not foster good attendance: late
bedtimes, sleeping in, looking after siblings, relaxed guidelines in regards to TV, computer games and gaming.
• Some elementary students disclose to their teachers that they stay up until after midnight: sleep deprivation and chronic tiredness is a concern of teachers.
Barriers to attendance: External factors
• Some parents may not see the relevance of school, or view a particular grade as more/less important than other grades.
• Teachers realize that many parents may have had negative experiences with schools in the past
• There is a relationship between not being woken up in time (either by an alarm clock or family member), missing the bus, and arriving late
• Out of area students may be later than students living closer to the
school: if they miss the bus, they may not arrive until noon
What can schools/communities/parents/students do to
help improve attendance?
•Variability exists regarding what individual schools identified as potential actions to foster improved attendance.
•Therefore it is difficult to prescribe generalized solutions for all. That said, some suggestions included:
What can schools/communities/parents/students do to
help improve attendance?• Offer the services of a home support liaison/worker,
Community Education Liaison Coordinator (CELC), to connect with and assist families
• Engage parents with school so that they realize that school is a good place to be. Foster positive relationships and develop an educational awareness campaign that helps parents realize the importance of regular attendance
• A pick-up service for kids that miss the bus and who would
otherwise not have a ride to school
What can schools/communities/parents/students do to
help improve attendance?• A designated attendance worker at the school who could phone homes
in the first 60-90 minutes of the school day when students were late/absent
• Alarm clocks for kids
• The importance of building strong relationships with parents was highlighted
• Multiple pathways to learning (not just desks), with more experiential programming for students where learning is hands-on and fun
What did the kids say?
• The majority of students believe coming to school is important, and can link school to future opportunities in life, college and university, and getting a job.
• It is okay to miss school if you are sick or have a medical appointment, are taking an extended family trip, or are attending a sports tournament.
• There are some students who express that they don’t
like school and do not see it as important or relevant.
Kids on why other kids don’t come to school…
• They may be stressed or bullied, and need a break.
• Some kids don’t have ‘good’ parents, or don’t have parents, or have parents who don’t care about school.
• They find school boring.
• They’re playing video games (late at night).
Kids are connected to…
• Friends and family. • Students repeatedly mention being
connected to their teachers and school administrators
To improve attendance, elementary kids suggest….
• Start the school day a little later- around 9:30 a.m.
• Do more special events.
• Capitalize on the gymnasium- open it earlier and make the activities fun and varied.
• More programming that is active and fun.
• Food- breakfast, pizza lunches (these are big deals)
Some high school observations
Comments on attendance, learning, and catching up
•Poor attendance was identified as a concern across all grade levels
•Some teachers expressed concern that there no weeks where students attend all five days- between absences, assemblies, holidays, an uninterrupted week is rare. Students seem confused by this.
Some high school observations
• When students are absent and then return many teachers commented on the warm and welcoming response they gave to students, without being invasive.
• Some teachers felt that being invasive was neither
effective nor was it their job.
• There is a perception on the part of some teachers that some colleagues do ‘grill’ students, and that absences many be taken personally by some teacher.
Some high school observations
• Some teachers make themselves available for individualized help and tutoring (even employing a “secret knock” that only students know when they want help at lunch), yet felt that many students who could use it don’t show up for assistance.
• The teacher homework page has benefits and drawbacks:a teacher can direct a student to show what was missed, but this doesn’t assist the student if they do not understand the material.
Teachers’ thoughts on programming
• Students like experiential, hands-on activities. Shop programs, fashion and design, lab experiments, drama/acting, music all suggested by teachers as activities that students enjoy
• For academic subjects, students appreciate creative writing, brain teasers, solving problems in groups, and using media (Youtube, current events, news) in class
A Yukon culture?
• There is a Yukon culture that supports lateness and absenteeism- it is okay to party and miss work or show up late.
• Schools, communities, and some homes may therefore not be on a similar “page” in regards to the importance of schooling.
• Is there a role for a large-scale PR/educational campaign on the importance of attendance?
Efforts to help can have unintended consequences
Comments on barriers to attendance
•There is a sense that students know how to “play the system” with respect to flexible and negotiated deadlines, giving students the ability to hand in partial assignments and still receive credit for them. •As a result, students will miss class, knowing that they will not suffer for it. This also results in a diminished sense of urgency with homework on the part of some parents.
Strategies that help students• Regarding catching up, a variety of approaches are used:
• tutoring, • teacher homework pages, • individualized help, and • modification of activities and amount of work assigned • These achieve varying degrees of success dependent on the teacher
and the learner.
• Learning Assistance blocks at the high school level are helpful to students who need to catch up
Some high school observations
• Spares= more freedom = more absences
• Some students work a large number of hours at a job and have to negotiate time off to write exams
With respect to academics• Students in English 10-12 hate presentation days
• Reading, writing, and math. Many don’t like these subjects and thus end up in lower-level classes
• Drills, reading, independent work, and repetitive work are not enjoyed. Some classes are seen as boring
• Students who have missed and are having academic struggles like academics even less
• Academics may be perceived as having less importance in the Yukon, where a person with relatively low levels of education can still get a high-paying job
Concluding observations on attendance
• Attendances issues are complex with interrelated factors (history, socio-economic status, motivation, family engagement, transportation, to name a few)
• Conversations including the whole school staff are important
• A single strategy may work for some, but not all students
• The best of intentions can have unintended consequences
Concluding observations on attendance
• Blaming or pathologizing does not address the factors underpinning poor attendance
• Academic, direct instruction “sit and git”- does not foster student interest in school
• Active, engaging, hands-on, experiential- teachers and students agree it helps with engagement at school
• The importance of relationships
Victoria Gold Yukon Education Student Engagement Society
• Attendance initiative grants- a partnership between VG and YE
• Money made available for schools that wish to try initiatives aimed at improving student engagement and attendance
• Second year of the initiative currently underway
Projects and results• Sample projects include:• Alarm clocks for kids• Clock radio project• Community research project• Home and School support liaison worker• Attendance fair (a ‘trade show’ focused on achievement and attendance)• Positive attendance monitoring and counselling
• Seven of the eleven (64%) schools that applied for attendance initiative funding show the same or improved attendance compared to the previous year when considering the average number of days that students were absent.
Projects for 2014-15FH Collins Secondary School
WH Continuation from 2013 - awarded $2600
Absentee Counsellor
Jack Hulland Elementary
WH Continuation from 2013 - awarded $11,500
Attendance Liaison
Porter Creek Secondary School
WH New Morning Breakfast program/Evening Café
Selkirk Elementary School
WH New Violin Classes
Vanier Catholic Secondary School
WH New Attendance Counselling Fund
Johnson Elementary School
Watson Lake
New I pads for middle grades
Watson Lake Secondary
Watson Lake
New Rewards/incentives for improved attendance
